bluedogz design

It's super simple, sweet and not too late

2012-01-26T14:33:00.000-05:00

Have you ever thought, on February the 14th - UGH, I should have got my $&it together and made something cute for my boyfriend/girlfriend/kids/mom/bestie/crush...etc? You know, nothing super crazy fancy shmancy, but just something heartfelt and simple (I like heartfelt and simple, you?)...Well, this year I did it, and, if you want in on this pretty little idea, I am sharing...
I simply took one of our little Mini Ribbon Boxes (which are coincidentally on sale) and crafted a little love note to fold inside. I leave the rest, (and, the rest is not imperative), but you could add a tiny heart chocolate, a little photo of yourself or yourself with your Valentine, a pretty piece of jewelry, like an engagement ring even... or a folded up gift certificate for a complimentary make-out session (choose this person wisely).
Now listen, you might say
YES! I am ordering the mini ribbon box and I am doing this! and then get to the shipping charges and get angry...don't... Realize that we have no control over shipping charges and only charge you what we pay (sometimes even less), so be a good little shopper and stock up on a few boxes, this way the shipping becomes, well, like nothing. I am so happy that we had this little talk.
Now go, make pretty things and share the love!
xo Nadine

as an added bonus, here is the paper print out that says - I LOVE YOU SO MUCH.

This is for letter sized 8.5" x 11" paper. Print page 1 and then flip over your sheet of paper and print page 2 on the back, cut it out, fold it on the lines, and presto, you're in business! (if you have some heavy stock paper or card stock, it looks prettier!)

Harry's Birthday

2012-01-24T15:49:00.001-05:00

I hadn't caught up with my friend Mandy in forever, I had five minutes yesterday and I called her. She didn't even say "hello" she went right into "oh my god, I was just thinking about you" in her bubbly way... She was also scrambling to get something together for her adorable Harry's 7th birthday party. Since I had an hour to kill, and let's face it, it doesn't take much for me to agree to make stuff, I offered to throw something together for her. She was thrilled, here's what she told me,
- Harry's Winter Classic, it's a skating party and I was trying to find something cute and vintage - Coincidentally, I had just the thing!...Here's what happened,

Kind of makes me want to be seven again... Happy Birthday Harry!

a little new year Feng Shui-ing

2012-01-02T17:06:00.000-05:00

As 2011 was ending, I had this feeling of urgency to really start 2012 with a bang.
I have never really paid much attention to starting new or fresh on January 1st, but somehow, this year felt different, it felt necessary.
I pulled out my old notes from Katie Rogers (my Feng Shui mentor turned friend) and looked at the objectives I had a year ago and her suggestions and recommendations from our long distance consultation.
It was pretty amazing how much of what we had discussed had taken form in my life. From my company shifting and transitioning to designing for other companies to my finances. A year can make a big big difference.
I also realized how I can easily tell myself that I haven't achieved something or haven't done as well as I should have, yet I rarely take the time to look at what I actually do get done. This year, yesterday as a matter of fact, I decided to create a little list for myself of what I have achieved in the past year, and mostly, what I am grateful for. I know, you have probably all been doing this forever, but it's new to me, and it felt really good. If you haven't done it and are late joining the party, as I am, try it, you will be in for a pleasant surprise.
Well, my urgency for starting 2012 just right manifested itself in my living space (yeah, I know, there's a shocker!). I have to say, I love this place so much and have the best time playing in it, it brings me endless hours of joy (now, how to get the landlord to sell it to me!)...Anyhow, I checked my Feng Shui list and immediately saw that I could improve quickly and inexpensively.
I started with a little more charcoal grey paint. I had it leftover from here. So that certainly made the project take shape quickly, but I'm telling you, I love the grey! Having been a "white" wall girl for so long and loving that California white washed fabulous soft, comfortable look, I just never would have imagined how warm and cocooning and wonderfully elegant I find the grey. I started with the last white wall in the loft (remember, there aren't too many walls in here and the 2 largest ones are brick)

here's the before

and here's the after

alright, here's the total wall...

this photo sucks and apparently my fabulous design sense
told me that I didn't need to worry about Tess' table and lunch
in the photo...ugh.

I also started to re-arrange some of my art and my big gold mirror. At one point I thought I should run to IKEA and buy all new frames and really do it, until my better sense (*cough* bank account) kicked in and I said, meh, I can make do...which, I actually think worked out in the end. I moved the big gold mirror to the entrance hall, just to the left of the kitchen ( I was tired of standing on my coffee table to see if my shoes looked good with what I was wearing) and decided to worry about a new mirror later...Since the mirror was there now, I took my fabulous Christian Chaize photographs from 20x200 and put them on the grey wall, with Tess' blackboard (an early bluedogz design piece that I still had kicking around)...To top it off, my amazing Marc Tetro print, which pops even more than it usually does (which is hard to believe) on this wall!

I also put my little print of the vintage NYC map on the inside kitchen wall, normally, I had my Andy Davis surf print there, but I decided to move it...mixing things up in Feng Shui is key and I felt that things were becoming a little too predictable and stagnant...not good at all. Moving stuff keeps things alive and Chi flowing (just ask Katie!), plus, it gives you the feeling that you have a new house (kind of)...and that's exciting (to me). You like so far?
Then I had to address the living room, where it looked like I had lost a tooth, without the gold mirror.
(or maybe more like a lost my "grill")

from this:

to this (think lisp)

to this!

So much better, right?...I remembered that this rounded corner mirror was just collecting dust in my dad's basement, so I grabbed it, and the Paris map above it had been leaning precariously on a wall for months (NOT good Feng Shui at all!) and my Andy Davis surf couple print had spent a day or so, after I had taken it out of the kitchen leaning too...This leaning thing is a slippery slope, just saying, so I figured, get it on the wall and then deal later...I did, and I am loving it. I have a few more pieces that I absolutely love and have a lot of meaning to me that I will be framing soon and that are quite a bit smaller than these, I think I might end up with a pretty cool art wall above the couch. Added bonus? My living room is in my prosperity corner, let's face it, I MUST feel good there if I want to prosper. This whole little revamp is feeling good.
I also folded up the second cow hide rug that was under my dining room table for a change, just because it was feeling tired...I am sure I will put it back at some point, but for now, it feels right without it.
Next up...a chandelier make over...stay tuned!
and hey, move your stuff around if you need a change or a quick re-charge, and if you don't absolutely love it, dump it! Happy New Year everyone!

Wholesale Pricing

2011-12-21T13:13:00.001-05:00

I wrote another piece for the very cool Vianza, this time about wholesale pricing.
I also spent some time this past week reading all a lot of the amazing information on their blog. So much great stuff. If you are starting a business, restructuring your business, a designer, a retailer or just interested in business in general and Indie Biz...you really need to get familiar with Vianza.
here is my latest article,

and, if I don't see you before this weekend,
Have a safe wonderful holiday weekend,

thank you for reading!

The little open letter that could, an Update.

2011-12-14T13:03:00.000-05:00

Natalie's open letter to H&M is gaining momentum, here are some more links :
Montreal Gazette
Fashionista
The Star
The Tattooed Girl

Thinking of doing a trade show?

2011-12-14T12:44:00.001-05:00

It seems my blog posts about trade show booths get a lot of hits, especially right before trade show season starts (like here, here and here). I also get a little rush of emails with questions,
usually with a large HELP in the subject line.
I am thrilled that you like the info!
There is a new Indie Biz platform on the block called Vianza, I haven't seen anything like it and so far I like what I see. I am writing a few guest blog posts for them about trade shows and business.
Here is my first, things to think about or how to know if you're ready to do a trade show, hope you enjoy!
oh, and don't forget, if you have questions, comments, thoughts, feel free to let me know!

The little open letter that could. Happy Holidays!

2011-12-10T08:47:00.001-05:00

This past week as I was designing, I thought to myself - I wonder if I will ever make a difference in the world. I know, sounds a little dramatic, but it's true.
Then, last evening, I received this note :

Nadine,

I just needed to thank you again for connecting me with Christina. I can't believe my little letter made it all the way to H&M... And to so many other readers and potential shoppers. That's all because of you. It's so important to challenge the Goliaths of this world... And today you are proof that one person can make a big difference.

I hope you're having a wonderful evening!!

Natalie xo

I cried.

a lot.

I love this story.

I joined twitter a few years ago, and I love it. I follow roughly 300 people and there is probably a handful who I always look forward to reading. One is Christina Binkley of the Wall Street Journal in LA. Christina goes to every major fashion week, tweets and writes about it all and overall simply writes the best pieces on style. Christina has clout, when she writes, people read, she's big. She is also incredibly approachable and generous and I say this all from knowing her on Twitter. I read, whatever she writes. Voila, c'est tout.

The other person is Natalie Karneef, a writer here in Montreal. She writes for various magazines and newspapers, but it's her blog that I read and love. Whenever she posts anything on twitter about a new blog post, I click, I read and I usually cry. She writes about her life, her in- laws, her feelings. I adore the way she writes, she doesn't have a big super fancy high traffic blog, but she should. Her writing is so heartfelt and honest and real.

Last week, before going to bed, Tess was watching one of her shows on TV and I was flicking through twitter on my BlackBerry, squinting and trying to read. I saw a tweet from Natalie, it said something about an open letter to H&M, with a link. I clicked, (as I always do), and there I sat, desperately trying to read the post on that teeny stupid screen with my 44 yr old, (waiting just a little longer to get glasses) eyes and a loud kiddie show in the background. The letter was in regards to H&M's new line launching, based on the character Lisbeth Salander from the book The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo.

Here is the letter.

I was moved by the letter, I thought about how insensitive H&M was and Natalie and I sent a few tweets back and forth wondering how the mass merchant couldn't have thought of who they might offend...Blame it on the teeny screen, the kiddie show or maybe fatigue, somewhere along the way, I had not understood that the letter was in fact written by Natalie, that she was the rape victim. I don't know why I hadn't understood this...I was sure that Natalie had re-posted the letter and that it was something that was circulating on the internet or in the fashion/style bloggisphere.
Fast forward to 2 days ago and there I was, on my larger, more readable computer screen and up pops a tweet from Christina. It was something about how she was writing about H&M's launching of their new Girl With the Dragon Tattoo line. I quickly sent her a private message saying that I am sure she has read about the open letter to H&M, but if not, there was one out there definitely worth reading.
She responded that she hadn't seen it and asked me to send her the link.
I clicked over to Natalie's blog and as I was copying the URL I decided to re-read it.
That's when I understood. The letter had been written by Natalie, she was the rape victim. I clicked through all her links in the post (which are just a visual nuisance when reading on a postage sized smart phone screen) and the story started to come together.

I quickly started frantically messaging Natalie, apologizing for my oversight the previous week and what must have seemed so nonchalant in responding to her story, I felt like such an ass. I also told her that I was sharing it with Christina Binkley of the WSJ.

Then I started to frantically message Christina (remember, you only get 140 characters per tweet...so I sent a string of tweets to both of them!) telling her that this open letter was not what I had thought, but in fact, written by my twitter friend and not something circulating (at that point) widely.

I quickly got a message from Natalie telling me not to worry, that she was touched I was writing back and thrilled that I had passed it on to Christina. I also got a note back from Christina thanking me for the link and telling me that she would be writing about it. Ah, nice!

Well, this catches you up to last evening, and the sweet note Natalie sent to me.

From the note, I had assumed (and god knows, I am really in NO position to be assuming!) that Christina had been in touch with Natalie and that she had probably told Natalie that she would be sending her link to H&M.

I just love when this stuff happens, don't you?

But wait...

Look at this .

I told you Ms. Binkley had clout. Not only did she write one of her great pieces, yet again, but she clearly put Natalie's letter into the right hands and there is a response! (Just wait, I guarantee this whole story is only starting to get legs now!)

Maybe it's that magical time of the year.

I love and have always loved to connect people but this connection just feels different, it feels so much closer to home. I haven't worked out all that I am feeling inside, but I am so very grateful on so many levels; that Christina brought Natalie's letter to a much larger audience. That Natalie has never given up or backed down in her fight for justice. And maybe somehow, on some level, because so many of the most special people in my life have been hurt, abused and molested, maybe somehow, this connection is for all of you. Thank you all for being so strong, amazing and special to me. And a special thank you to the person who's abuse hits the closest to home, my perfect daughter's daddy. I will always be your witness. And I will always be grateful.

Happy Holidays everyone, from the bottom of my heart.

still making stuff - easy vitrine redo

2011-12-01T11:42:00.001-05:00

Even if things have been busy and transition-y...I always have little projects happening around the loft. A super quick one was turning Tess's little vitrine, where I keep her clothes, into what she now calls "the bird house".

The vitrine was purchased a long time ago when I was living in Basel Switzerland.
A jewelry store down the street was going out of business and was selling this little gem for about $100. Super cheap by Swiss standards! It has traveled with me ever since and has held just about everything, from office stuff to dishes, clothes and books. It's that great size, not too big and not too small and has lived in my various living rooms, bedrooms and home offices.

Since our loft has only one, miniature sized closet in the entire space, I decided that the vitrine would be Tess's wardrobe. It's perfect! Since Tess, from time to time, likes to "rearrange" her wardrobe, I decided that the clear glass front doors needed a little dressing. I had this great piece of... once again, all together now, "Ikea fabric" and thought it would be perfect. I simply cut two panels to fit inside the doors, used some very tiny L screw hooks and that was all...seriously, that. was. it.
I didn't sew any fancy loops or anything,
I pushed each one of the hooks right through the fabric. done.
Since this piece is actually in the living room area of the loft, I thought that this fabric was just the right combo of sophisticated but fun for Tess...she loves it, and I don't see the mess anymore, except for maybe my not so professional cutting job on the inside that I am now looking at below.
(oh well, apparently I got a little over excited!)

what's been going on, big hope + hard work

2011-11-29T14:49:00.001-05:00

I always get that sinking feeling when I haven't posted anything on my blog for a while...it feels a little lonely and neglected and not very motivating. Sort of like trying to get back into shape, (ahem)...
I like to think (as cliche as it sounds), that things happen for a reason. I don't believe that across the board, there is way too much pain and suffering in the world and, I do not believe that happens for a reason, but to generalize, I try not to get too consumed by the details and strive to keep looking at the bigger picture. Sort of like stepping backfrom the painting you are creating, or climbing a tree fast to look down to get a different view on things. I try to stay excited about what might be waiting just around the next corner, rather than always planning or stressing about what's coming. I try.
I've made some pretty big decisions this past year, I probably should have blogged about every detail and event, but I didn't, I mostly kept trying to look forward and kept working and kept hoping, because let's face it, hoping and working is really what being an entrepreneur is all about. And honestly, I am not even sure which comes first, the hope or the work. There is no way I could work this hard without the huge amount of hope I seem to always have, and there is no way that I could even imagine hoping as big as I hope without working as hard as I work. I guess I have summed up entrepreneurship haven't I?
hard work + big hope, or, if you prefer, big hope + hard work.
As most of you know, BlueDogz Design is in transition, it might be safe to say that the transition has actually happened. If you look at the website, (which is where you might have been prior to ending up here), you will still see some of our best sellers available to purchase. Feel free to purchase! :-)
In the meantime, I have been busy trying to put some new projects into action.
In four words, manufacturing less, designing more.
Why?
After a decade or so of setting up and tearing down trade show booths, designing, manufacturing, taking orders, chasing or neglecting sales reps, shipping, selling out, closing out, and starting all over again, the past few years of shows started to feel a little futile. What I mean by that is when you are paying upwards of $6000 for a booth and you spend only the first day or so busy and the last dayS waiting to see if anyone will actually show up at all, this to me seems futile. I don't believe that this happened because of one thing, or even a few things, but many things. All I can really do though, is decide what's right for me. Listening to fellow exhibitors complaining and worrying, spending boatloads of money for not enough return and aging a good 4-5 years per show, because I do believe that 1 trade show day is like a year in normal life, I had had enough.
But what happens when you know you have had enough, but are not too sure what to do about it?
I start calling, emailing, networking, basically, moving.
I decided that I would start taking on other projects and jobs, other than BlueDogz Design as I know it...I decided it was time to open up, broaden my horizons and see where I belonged again. I suppose I am still finding that out, but I can say that I have been trying like crazy, broadening and have had some interesting, fabulous and horrible little adventures. Two New York Gift Fairs ago, I decided to pull the plug. No more trade shows for a while. On the one hand, such.a.relief, on the other, scary.as.hell. (how would I sell?) If transitioning and re-finding myself professionally wasn't challenging enough, I am also bringing up my perfect 2 and half year old on my own. Well, thankfully she's perfect right?
Here are some of the things I have been up to lately.
I helped the incredibly talented Genevieve Parent build a set for a photo shoot for a large Canadian bank.
I have sourced, product developed and written tag lines and copy for the fabulous Marc Tetro.
I have styled photo shoots.
I have designed for the wonderful Placetile Designs
I have brokered design/photo gigs for other artists and figured out how to make a few bucks doing so
(why is it always so much easier to market others?)
I have consulted for several companies (on design, branding, web design, business)
I have designed websites, business cards, newsletters and logos.
I have been a guest speaker (twice) at the John Molson School of Business on entrepreneurship (thanks to the wonderful Cheryl Gladu).
I even applied for a job as display coordinator at the soon to be first Montreal Anthropologie (more on that later).
In between I have worried a LOT, had many sleepless nights, had some great laughs, prayed, got very excited, dreamed, hoped and designed a lot. I took the advice of one of the first people I met on Twitter and whom I admire, Rob Frankel, and started making calls. He said something once that I never forgot, that if you aren't making 100 calls a day, you really aren't doing all you can to get business. Hearing that freaked me out a little. I admit, I have never made 100 calls in a day, but I started to keep a list of all the ideas I had and who I could get in touch with to help me implement these ideas. I started to email and call companies, fellow companies in the gift industry and let them know that I was available, that I could design for them.
This might have been one of the hardest things to do...on a lot of levels...but I told myself to get over it and just do it, and I just did. The response I got was overwhelming. I will never forget some of the things that my fellow gift community business owners emailed or told me. Although most explained that they too were cutting back, that they too didn't have a budget and were just trying to keep things rolling, everyone I contacted told me how much they loved my work and that, when they did have an opportunity to hire or use outside design work, they would absolutely contact me. I was thrilled. And touched.
Through all the calling, I got some great jobs. One was for my friend Kristin Bowen at www.placetiledesigns.com it was one of the first times that I got to really bring to life someone else's vision...it was an amazing feeling. I was also pushed, asked to design a piece with a golfing theme, something I had never done. I am loving these new challenges.
All through this time, I was sharing what was going on with my friend Marc Tetro. We had always bounced ideas off each other and one day he said to me, "Let me pay you for this. I would call you more and feel better about bouncing ideas off you if I paid you. Be my consultant." Here was a man who is famous in the art world, who has had one of the most successful careers around, who I admire and adore and he wants to pay me for this...I couldn't understand what he needed me for or even why, and, he was my dear friend, it felt a little weird.
I said yes.
stay tuned.

all me all the time...

2011-03-22T13:31:00.000-04:00

The Fabulous Anne Alexander Sieder of the decor blog Pretty Haus did a little feature on, well...ME!

I know right?!

I am crazy flattered and feeling a little shy about the whole thing, but...I spilled the beans about A LOT of stuff...so, if you want to know a little more about me, about my experience in the gift community, about manufacturing overseas, about deciding to hire a shipping warehouse and about how BlueDogz Design might just be a company you can own...

go take a look!

and Anne,

THANK YOU AGAIN!

La Chair

2011-02-14T11:26:00.000-05:00

My late grandmother, Sarah, had a pretty ugly office chair. I ended up with it and after many years of sitting on it and not really like it at all, I decided it was time to give her, La Chair, a little makeover!

The backrest was a sticky sort of cheap vinyly material with a split right down the middle of it and the seat was a nasty sort of wooly, itchy feeling fabric...both were, well, kinda gross.

I went to my wallet's favorite fabric store right now, Ikea, and had an idea in my head, but I can tell you, I came home with something totally different...check it out...

I had found a sticker on the bottom of the chair that had been covered by the original fabric and the date said 1965, I decided to go with it! A crazy fun pattern of swirls and circles of green, navy, pink and mustard, outlined in black...I don't really know what possessed me, but I have to say, je like!

I also decided that with all this fun color, I was just going to leave the weathered wood the way it was, maybe I will eventually decide to paint it or stain it another color, but with all the wood in the loft, and the shots of color here and there, it just looked right!

A super easy job that anyone can do with a good staple gun and a little extra foam batting (it needed a little plumping), and Tah Dah!

(The Ikea fabric is Saralisa and was $6.99/meter, I only needed 1 m)

one of my favorite design sites

2011-01-17T19:45:00.000-05:00

Design Sponge, featured my Headboard as a "before and after"...uh, yeah, a little thrilled, to say the least!
and thank you everyone for all the kind comments on the site!

ahhhhh the headboard....

2010-12-29T15:14:00.000-05:00

it's done! the headboard of LIFE (as I lovingly call it, is done!)
I am making it sound like it was some huge thing to make...it wasn't! but it sounds more interesting, non? (that's french, not a typo).
You got a quick lookie here,
and I know that you thought, "hmmmm, what's she going to do with that?"...
Voila :

and here was more or less the process...(minus a few steps because I forgot to stop and snap a photo...I swear I am getting better at this documenting-each-step-of-way thing, but it is taking me longer than I thought to get used to doing it)

I started with a gorgeous frame...I am pretty sure there had been a mirror in it originally, as there was some left over silicone on the inside edge...Let me just take a moment here to tell you this...because I'll bet some of you are thinking "I really really REALLY want to make a cool headboard like Nadine, but I don't have the time or patience or budget to go looking for a fabulously ornate frame to use!" (I'm like a psychic right?)

Listen up, you do not NEED an ornate frame to make an amazing headboard!

Here are some ideas; use a simple rectangular frame, paint it in a high gloss fabulous color (like black or white or red or tiffany box turquoise-ish robins egg) and choose some great fabric...upholster the inside, as I did and presto, just as beautiful! Hate high gloss? no probs, choose matte, REALLY matte! it's stunning.
And, I see it like this, if the frame is plain-ish, go a little more over the top with the fabric colors/pattern or paint...if the frame is a statement piece in itself, you can go a little simpler in the paint or fabric because the shape is making a statement already...it's sort of like fashion, if you are going to wear statement shoes, you might opt for a simple black dress...if you are going for the statement dress, you might opt for a simpler shoe...you might also just freaking GO FOR IT...in which case I say AMEN, heck, we only live once right?...just make sure to take photos and share please! (Share...don't Scare!)
Another idea is to use a plainer frame and instead of painting it, why not upholster it too?! you can use a different fabric or the same fabric that you will use in the puffy headboard part...(I say use a different fabric...but what do I know?)...again, take photos and please share!
I chose to use the same paint color as my walls, A: because I love it, B: because I had leftover wall paint, C: because I have no budget.
I chose a fabric from...wait now...IKEA!!!!!! you are thinking, "oh NO you dint!!!!"
...yes I did!!!! Listen, I am going to tell you something here, for $6.00 how the heck can I possibly go wrong????...I actually blew the budget a little and bought 3 different fabrics before deciding to use the black and white. I chose a stripe first, because that was really what my original idea was. I even had a magazine photo, which I can't FOR THE LIFE of me find that I had seen and saved from years ago...oh well...something else will turn out stripey...I found it a little juvenile looking.

then I saw this little number and took pause...I wasn't nuts about the white background, however, I liked the drawing feel to it and the hints of pink and just the overall look of it...of course, when I got it home and held it up, (although I still really like it), I started getting all Feng Shui-ey about it and thought, "birdbrain, living in a bird house, up in a tree, tweet tweet, not much to say..." I don't know, I could free associate on this fabric till the cows come home, but I realized, NOPE...don't want birds watching my back, that's kind of for the birds...

and that is how I chose the black and white floral-ish/geyser-ish Wooshy type design...

As a last little Ikea fabric shopping point, may I also just say that many of the fabrics at Ikea have very large scale patterns...this might suck when making a skirt...but it ROCKS when making a headboard! I actually did not even go with the pattern, I chose a piece off the roll that was even in between the repeat and did not center it either...just adds something extra and super cool...dont you think?

From the collage photo above, you can see that this whole process only took a few steps...(minus the trips out to get all the supplies and schlepping La perfect baby with me to do all the schlepping...).

Once the frame has a few coats of paint on it, I place a large piece of gatorboard underneath it and traced the frame shape on it in chalk.

What's gatorboard? It's like plastic currogated cardboard

Why gatorboard? I did NOT want to start with heavy wood and saws and blah blah blah...so I decided to go with something light weight, easy to transport, relatively sturdy and most of all cuttable with a box cutter or xacto type blade.

Could you use hard cardboard? YES

Could you use wood or MDF? of course!

Was I being a little lazy? NO! I was being practical...leave me alone and stop judging...jeeeeeeze.

When the shape of the frame was traced onto the gatorboard I cut it out with my xacto to fit into the back of the frame. I will state the obvious here, when you put the board behind the frame you do NOT want it to fall out the front, you (really) want it to stay in the back, as though you have framed the board...

Ok, I then played around for a few hours with the best possible way to use the foam padding I bought. Let me just say, not the cheapest stuff around! I did not go to town and get the super thick stuff, I did not even go to the little town and get the kind of thick stuff...I went to like, the suburbs and bought 2 packages of the thin stuff...(remember my non budget)...turns out, it's great!

What also worked best for my piece was to cut the foam to fit through the FRONT of the frame...when I cut it bigger to really stuff it in and make it super pouffy, it just didn't look right...so again, I cut to to fit the front of the frame perfectly and then figured out where I wanted my fabric/pattern to line up.

When all this was done, I flipped it over (front of the frame facing down on the table), followed by the fabric (pattern facing down on the table), followed by the 2 layers of my thin-ish foam padding, followed by the piece of gatorboard cut to fit into the back. I now had a headboard sandwich...all there was left to do was staple gun the gatorboard onto the backside (lip) of the frame. I shot in a few staples and then really made sure that the fabric was not puckering or doing funky stuff on the front side by flipping in over a few times and checking. I also pulled the fabric to make sure it was smooth before stapling. It worked!

There is a bit of POUF to the board, but not too too much and the fabric is nice and smooth.

I also decided to hang the headboard about 8 inches higher than the mattress top to give it a little more grandeur...(needless to say, I used some good picture mounting slide-in heavy duty brackets to attach the headboard to the wall...hello?????...I mean c'mon right?!...couldn't resist some headboard joke! ;-P)

ET VOILA!

the headboard of LIFE!

my total costs? about $45

for good measure...la petite kid!

comments? would LOVE you to post them right HERE!

bathroom Avec Art!

2010-12-26T14:56:00.000-05:00

amazing how such a small bathroom can get so many posts...so to sum this all up...I needed to put some of "me", "my career" into my bathroom as my career area (in Feng Shui) of this loft happens to be situated right in the bathroom...yes, we went through some of the pros and cons of the situation...but I have been thinking and working on what to do here...Here it is:

I played with some of my patterns, drawings and designs and came up with a collage.
I sewed bits and pieces together and created something that I felt really represented my design work.

I have so many interests and I felt that I was able to represent a lot right here in this one piece.

It might even inspire a new little venture...you'll have to stay tuned.Below is a shot of the stitching that is throughout the piece and brings together all the different aspects into one large image. What do you think?

I had such a great time making it!

Bathroom (Part 2) kind of done.

2010-12-26T14:40:00.000-05:00

So, it's done!
The bathroom is charcoal gray, (very very very matte) and very cavish and fabulous and en-suite-ish, like the Cave de Snooze.
I would show you a photo...but, I want to make some art to go on the wall, since it is my career area, according to Feng Shui and the fabulous Katie. So I feel like I should be a good blogger, documentor of my life and projects and get them totally done before I really present them to you...then again, fuck it...you want to see? here you go! (kind of done)

i had bought this little chrome fixture years ago at a flea market and never used it

...using it now!

Surprisingly, I had another little moment at Home Depot when I needed more paint...nope, wasn't La Cage (as it was his day off), it was Stuart this time. My mother asked me the other day how it is that I know all their names...their aprons have that little spot where they have to write it in...(She actually thought I was really close with all of them?)
So I grab my dark gray paint chip and tell Stuart that I need it in a matte finish...he starts in on me...
"what are you painting?"
me: "my bathroom"
stuart: "oh, well then, I will give you semi gloss..."
me: "I asked you for matte, I am not buying semi gloss"
stuart: "you can't paint your bathroom in matte"
me: "watch me"
stuart: "you won't be able to clean it" (in a more aggressive voice and with some added eye rolling and pacing)..."I will give you eggshell finish"
me: "MATTE"
Helene, his boss shows up... "Stuart, give her what she wants! all the paints are treated for anti mold and she wants what she wants, GIVE IT TO HER".
stuart: big shrug, big eye roll, big sigh...very perturbed.
At this point, for informational purposes only, as I am NOT a diagnostition, Stuart is what I would describe as definitely falling somewhere on the Autism spectrum...a teeny bit Rainman-ish but possibly without the savant part...I think you understand.
I got my paint, he was pissed, to say the least.
me: "well, thank you, and for what it's worth, thanks for your advice..."
stuart: under his breath walking away "yeah, sure, anytime".
phew, made it out of the Depot again...

the soon to be headboard of LIFE!

2010-12-24T08:20:00.000-05:00

My friend Lynn, the one who takes all the beautiful photos of Tess, is, well, how can I say this?...a bit of a collector. She recently moved in with her man and is in a bit of a purging phase right now. Being the great friend that I am...check out what I ~~scored~~, helped her purge!

It's a big old frame with lots of detail and specialness and it is going to make the very best headboard EVER!
Katie told me that I should consider a headboard, that it is like "back up", "support", "got your back-ness" in Feng Shui...I was planning on drawing one on the wall, since the walls are like a giant chalkboard, but I still hadn't decided on what I wanted to draw. Then this beauty showed up!
I plan to paint it (probably the same color as the walls, that tone on tone thing, je Love), then, I would like to slightly pad the inside and upholster it in a fabulous fabric...I am thinking a stripe. I know that I have a photo in one of my magazines that I love (just have to find it!) that was similar to this...they used a striped fabric and it looked amazing...I will keep you posted on this project...I am VERY excited about it!
oh, and before I forget, HAPPY HOLIDAYS!

Feng Shui-ing my bathroom (Part 1)

2010-12-14T08:23:00.000-05:00

So as you likely know, if you have been reading about this whole feng shui-ing process...seems my bathroom is where my career area is located...career down the toilet? well, a little...silver lining? Water is the element for this area and let's face it, there is no shortage of water in my bathroom!
My idea, after creating and totally loving our Cave de Snooze was to continue with the cave-ish, cozy, den-like feel of that area, since the bathroom is right there!
You know, just as an aside here, it's funny, I have never, in all my years of apartments, houses, places I have lived, North America, Europe, city, burbs (UGH YES, don't get me started) have I EVER painted walls in a dark color...I have always gone for the airy, white, clean look of white! (NOT BEIGE, I did say WHITE! or close to it) but I am loving loving LOVING the charcoal gray of the bedroom alcove...you might want to give it a try...I am not trying to push you or influence you, but it's only paint right?...you might be pleasantly surprised!...which leads me right on back to the bathroom...

I had this high drama idea of very very high gloss navy blue...wouldn't it look great? the dark wood doors, the charcoal gray walls the navy blue curtains leading into the...TA DUH....high gloss drama bathroom...
Well, unfortunately the only drama was my kid, insisting on hanging out in the small bathroom with me, while I painted and basically placed herself in between my legs the whole time! (that includes when I was standing on the toilet seat to reach high places or on the edge of the bathtub)...yes, therein lay the drama!...the navy paint? not so much.
Let me also take you back one step...Home Depot.
My local Home Depot has this "fabulous" and I mean "FABULOUS" paint department guy...I call him "Cage aux Folles"(and up until this moment, only to myself) (need I say more? oh really?, ok, if you insist).
He's hilarious and flamboyant, skinny and fierce, black and wonderfully gay and a breath of fresh air in the very orange and big box Home Depot...I love that he's there, that he is oh so comfortable about being himself in a very power toolish kind of place...I love it!
Plus, no matter what I need there, I know that I will get a little wink/comment or maybe a finger snap as I give him my "hey you fierce guy, I get and appreciate you look".
So there I was with my deep dark navy paint color swatch and as I handed it to him he gave me one of those "oh jesUS, what is she up to NOW" looks...I grinned and simply and confidently announced
HIGH GLOSS!
He raised an eyebrow, gave me a little grin and then said, (a little under his breath)..."oh LOOK, I can see myself in my walls!!!!" then he snickered, ok...Cage Aux Folles, 1 point for you...damn, I hadn't thought about seeing my reflection in my walls, in the bathroom, OY...I was deeply ensconced in the whole drama thing, not the reflection thing.
Whatever.
I explained in my sarcastic and smart ass-ish way (which he APPRECIATES!) that this was pure and utter glamour, it was high drama, something HE should understand, and it is going to look fabulous...I told him that I was going to take some photos and that I could guarantee he would be running home to do the same thing in his bathroom. OK..."well, here's your can of drama darling" he muttered as he handed me the can of paint in his fabulous way...
I got home, cleared out the bathroom and got to work.
Hey, have you ever painted with high gloss?, Woah, kind of a drag (so to speak)...very liquidy!
That combined with putting navy over white?...Meh, not so enjoyable.
One and a half coats later, Tess knocking over the paint TWICE...Tess wanting desperately to be IN BETWEEN my legs the entire time (what's that about?)...I wasn't loving it...I REALLY wasn't loving it..the color I mean!

(you should know that these photos make the navy look MUCH better than it actually looked!)

And you know what? All I could think of was La Cage! He would ridicule me! Sheeee-it!!!
I slept on it, I looked at it in the evening, in the morning, mid morning...I decided it wasn't horrible, but basically, the state of the walls was not smooth enough or good enough to really pull off high gloss...of course it was after the fact that my very BFF (who also happens to be an interior designer extraordinaire) messaged me that high gloss can look cheap if the walls are not absolutely perfect...great, a little late Kir!
Back to the ridicule of La Cage Aux Folles...
Then I had this genius idea...I still had leftover charcoal gray paint, how about if I went right over the navy with it? I flip flopped a little about painting the bathroom the same color as the bedroom, even though they ARE connected, but I wondered to myself whether it might look like I was just too lazy to pick another color or make another trip to the Depot, you know?
Screw it, I went for it...I kept thinking, "En suite" yeah, which really means nothing in the grand scheme of things, but whatever, "En suite" was my twisted rationale for painting it the same color.
I started, and yes, it looked lovely! (thank god!)
Unfortunately, I quickly ran out of paint...FUCK!
I mustered up my courage and went back to the paint department of my local Depot, after all, I could deal with Cage right? I am a grown woman, his ribbing is fine, he's hilarious actually...I can do this...
IT WAS HIS DAY OFF!!!!! 1 point for ME!

(and let me just say, he will NEVER know about this whole high gloss flop!)

stay tuned for the charcoal En Suite!

me and INStyle Mag...BFF's Forevs!

2010-12-07T15:36:00.000-05:00

This adorable associate market editor from InStyle Magazine came into my booth at this past NY Gift Fair in August. I am always excited to see magazines that I LOVE in the booth, (same goes for stores I LOVE...of course, I love all the stores, but I just don't personally know all the stores, so when one comes in that I really know and love...it is SO exciting...even more so when they buy!) Anywhoo...
There she was, all sweet and nice and not even trying to be incognito, just a friendly nice gal!
She loved our CC boxes and our Be boxes and told me that she was scouting product for the InStyle December issue.
Now, it's not that I am blasé, apathetic or jaded, I AM SO NOT...you know that famous little sentence - You can't buy this kind of publicity!!! well, I really CAN'T!!!! so having a fabulous market editor from a fabulously favorite magazine like InStyle who wants to feature anything that is remotely connected to BlueDogz Design is A OK with me!!!
However, as with many style editors, one can never be sure that just because they came into your booth and loved your stuff, that alas, it will be featured on their glossy pages.
The next day, her assistant came in and asked for a whole boatload of samples...since we were packing up and closing about an hour later, I said SURE! take them NOW! She did.
Again, not any kind of a guarantee that the product would show up on the pages of the Mag.
After the show, they did what was expected and still totally exciting, they emailed for product info, pricing, inventory status etc, etc..I gave it all to them, gladly!
Yet again, a little while later, another email with more questions...may I also say, just because I really like polite, always polite! (not all mags are!) but...yadda yadda, still with no guarantees that BlueDogz Design products would be featured...hmmmmm
Low and behold, last week, earlier than expected, the phone rang...since it was pretty early, I ignored and stayed right where I was, in La Cave de Snooze. A while later, I got up and saw that my had been the early caller...(insert eye roll and UGH).
I didn't listen to her voicemail message (she tends towards to be a tad long winded...hmmm, now that I just typed that...oh nevermind...:-)) So, I just called her back.."yeah Mom, wassup?...kinda early no?"... "early?" she replied, "you are just lucky that I didn't call at 4am! because that was the exact time I was sitting on the lou (well, she said toilet) reading my new InStyle Mag and there on the glossy pages, WAY at the back (yes, she said WAY, just like that)...were your CC boxes!" and then, she said, they are $11, but if I want to buy them, how much would they be?..."$22 for you" I replied!
And that is how I found out that InStyle and me are BFF's forevs!...and...seems I am like only 1 degree of separation from CARRIE UNDERWOOD! (HA!)

before and after...the sleep cave...aka "La Cave de Snooze"

2010-12-03T15:11:00.000-05:00

Coincidentally, before my whole Feng Shui overhaul began...I was really spending an unhealthy amount of time thinking about wall painting...Jenna Lyon's home (yes, her fabulousness, of J Crew-ness) , featured in every fabulous magazine imagineable was etched in my brain and frankly, driving me a little curazy! (specifically her bedroom, since mine was driving me nuts)
Here's a peek at my inspiration: (via http://habituallychic.blogspot.com/ )

Interestingly, I learned on http://habituallychic.blogspot.com/ that in fact her bedroom is NOT this gorgeous deep charcoal gray, but rather, this:

Black chalkboard paint...now, I happen to LOVE black chalkboard paint, but I prefer the charcoal gray version! (plus, if you use matte finish paint, guess what? you can chalk it up all you want!)
Now, getting back to my place...as you likely know by now, it's a loft (just about 1000 sq feet), it has brick walls on both the east and west walls, windows on the north wall and the only actual wall walls are in the alcove/(slash)bedroom and leads to the small wall that is the front side of the open kitchen.
The alcove, is not anything other than a bedroom...it is the bedroom, and up until now, other than brick walls, the few walls we have were white...I kept feeling like I needed more color here, more warmth, honestly? (and this hopefully won't come back to bite me in the ass but), a little more interior drama!
Here is the before:

let's face it, do we EVER really make an effort in our BEFORE photos...nope!
(laundry basket, baby on bed, stool as bedside table...oy!)

and now...(drum roll please...) here is the AFTER!

...but you didn't think I was going to stop there did you?

heck no...

(notice that my lovely friends chalked a "happy birthday"

message onto my newly painted charcoal walls above the pillows...)

now it's becoming a true Cave de Snooze!

ok, so I didn't just paint...because once I had painted, I thought, hmmm how to go even further????

I had been thinking about separating La Cave de Snooze from the rest of the loft somehow and it all came to me, at once, in a moment of dramatic navy blue Ikea curtained brilliance (if I must say so myself)...

Ta Da! the curtains of LIFE! (as I lovingly refer to them) I am loving them!

(and you can imagine that napping is great for Tess in this plush, dark and cozy Cave de Snooze!)

I also switched out the old circa. 1993 big puffy pillow/santa fe-ish style covers for some simple gray velvet ones (yep, it's all about the velvet this week!) (perhaps my many years in the theatre?...hmmm will delve deeper when I have a minute...)

Anyhoo, gotta say, Snoozing in La Cave has been bliss...(and yes, maybe one day the crib won't be part of La Cave's decor, but for now, sorry Elle Decor, it's my reality!

So, what do you think?

Je L O V E it!

mi casa es Chi's casa...

2010-12-02T15:16:00.000-05:00

Next on the list in my Feng Shui- ing overhaul was my front door...yeah, as you can probably guess, the post-it-note with the door number sharpie-d on was likely NOT going to cut it...it didn't!
Katie and I had a nice chuckle about that one!

yeah, pretty bad!

So, I decided, after searching high and low for the very cute modern plastic 3-d sticky white numbers that most of the other lofts had (and that my loft door did NOT have) and that I could not find anywhere!? and that the owner's couldn't seem to get their hands on either...I would use some clean white sticker numbers in the same place that the other doors on the floor had their numbers stuck...

Ok, so my numbers are not 3 dimensional, or plastic, but they are darn sticky, white, the same size, very

pretty and utilitarian to boot! (ahh door numbers are so useful!).

While I was at it, I tightened all the door screws (which miraculously stopped the horrid squeaking...who knew?!) and gave the whole thing a quick wipe down with a damp cloth and some sweet smelling soap...Listen, this all might sound a little wacky, but I want CHi to make MY Casa Her Casa...to feel free to flow in with all her gifts and surprises and goodness!

better...(and no more squeaking!)

Shui-status update:

front door- Check

red ribbons- Check

crystals- Check

Old unnecessary stuff OUT- Check

upside down ladies gone- Check

suddenly....Money is starting to flow in....

listen, I am just as surprised as you are!!!

hello Chinatown...hello crystals!

2010-11-27T12:33:00.000-05:00

Along with the red ribbons as a quick getting-started place for my Feng Shui makeover/overhaul, Katie talked to me about a couple of places in the loft that could use some crystals...this worried me slightly...
I mean, as much as I want change, I DO NOT want my place to look like some crunchy granola person's macrame- ish looking, holistic-ish feeling, Chinatown decored lounge....am I being too superficial?...
So off I trecked to Chinatown! (about 2 blocks from where we live!)

Crystals, ok...ALRIGHT...crystals...whatever....
Katie told me I needed 2, OK...2 multi faceted crystals coming right up....She told me they needed some weight to them when I held them in my hand and needed to be hung on red ribbons/strings (again, in 9" increments and with intention!!!!). She told me I needed one on the heavy beam that runs right across the loft to cure the heavy beam and to disperse and balance energy...ok....I also needed a second crystal to hang up in the window that is directly down the hall and see-able from the front door into the loft, to keep the Chi within the space and not let it even be tempted to leave!
Katie told me that they wouldn't cost a fortune but to not expect them to be "like $5.00"...she was so right, I found them for $6.00 and frankly that was about all I could afford that day, $12 worth of crystals, done!
I took some time to look at all kinds of other cool stuff in Chinatown and was oh so thankful that Katie had not (yet) mentioned that I get one of those little flowing water statue- thingies!
oh please, NO NO NO! (plus the sound of flowing water inside makes me want to pee, like, pretty much all the time!)

I got home and hung up my crystals...here's what happened...

Within about 30 minutes of hanging them up, I had this urge to clean out what I didn't really need around anymore...(namely baby daddy's stuff)...Now let me say that I LOVE my baby daddy, however, right now, and with what he/we are going through, the old stuff does not need to be hanging out at my re-energized and newly fung shui-ed space...It was not hard, not sad, not even emotional, it was liberating and good, it was cleansing and happy, there was no anger, sadness or weirdness, it was just time to clean it up and move it, plus, alot of it was stuff he very likely needed, so in fact, it was good all around or win/win, if you prefer.

The ease with which this whole process took place was absolutely astounding.

then we moved onto ribbons...my career...upside down ladies

2010-11-26T14:55:00.000-05:00

It was time for my Feng Shui phone consultation! YAY!
Katie had all the info she had requested and I was ready to go.
I put baby down for a nap, I put the air conditioner on "sans" the cold part (it makes white noise, essential for phone conversations in a loft with a napping baby) I sat myself in my entrance hallway (it's the furthest spot in the loft from La baby) and I called Katie.
About an hour later I got off the phone with goose bumps, what an amazing call that had been...I was so excited to get things going.
Here are a few of the first big things I learned.
My bathroom/kitchen sink area (all parts of the loft that DRAIN OUT) was smack dab in the center of my Career Area (yikes!)
My office was in my Love Area and my living room was in my Wealth Area...(hmmmm).

This is where we started...It was agreed that I would do the biggest rehaul remedy, I would move the office area of my loft to the living room side and vice versa...

There were a few obvious little things to get around, but being creative and liking a challenge, I was going to make this work! (I'll get back to this part later)
Then, how could I fix the fact that my career was stuck in the toilet/sink?
Well, Katie explained that we could make this work, (since I couldn't move the bathroom)...The good thing is that water is the main element for Career...considering that there is a bathroom in my Career, there is a lot of water (YAY #1)...also, mirrors symbolize water, and POW, there is a huge mirror in the bathroom (YAY #2)...ok, this was looking up.

First thing was to "intentionally" stop my money from draining out...Katie told me to take red ribbon in 9" increments (either 9, 18, 27...etc) and tie them around all the drains in the loft, as I tie the ribbons I fuel it with my intentions to hold my money IN, to not let it drain out, to keep it with me, safe and protected, NO leaking!
I had 3 places to do this (kitchen sink, bathroom sink and toilet). She also mentioned keeping drain stoppers in the tub/sinks to further keep finances from "leaking out".
Next was to really pump up this career area, which was still, well, my bathroom...How does one do that?...
I had this cool framed print of these 1940's ladies doing handstands on the beach hanging over the toilet, Katie asked if I would consider changing the artwork. She explained that what this image was actually doing was adding even more downward momentum to the downwardness of the already downward flushing toilet...YIKES!
I told her that it was interesting, because I previously had a vintage map of NYC in that same place, but one day got a little freaked out that perhaps NYC would go down the toilet for me and since it is an important place for my business, I had moved it...
Katie asked what has happened in business since I moved the NYC print out of the bathroom and I realized that now, this coming January, I won't even be exhibiting at the Gift Fair ...UH OH...Upside down ladies, OUT!

Katie and I had a long conversation about how I could get my career/what I do/where I want to go with it and where I want my future, business- wise, creatively into my bathroom area.
The main colors for the career area are black/blue/deep colors...She liked the idea of me printing some of my patterns/artwork and framing and hanging them in the bathroom, or even painting the bathroom, or even painting one of MY patterns right onto the walls like a sort of wallpaper...such cool ideas! (stay tuned)
Katie also asked me to write down my career/business goals and dreams and place them in a special box in the bathroom somewhere, of course, like with all the cures, with intention!...
I started with the simplest, the red ribbons, within 20 minutes of getting off the phone, the ribbons were tightly tied around all outgoing pipes, oh, and the upside down ladies were off the wall and the nail holes in the wall were patched up with filler...
Next up would be a little trip to Chinatown, packing up what no longer served me, and furniture moving...

It all started with a box!

2010-11-25T14:14:00.000-05:00

As some of you know, things have been, well, eventful in my life lately...in a rather uneventful kind of way...
Personally, well, things could be better, baby daddy has had a rough go of life lately and has felt that working on his stuff without Tess and me would be better...ok then.
Business has been, as I like to put it challenging! And ya'll know that by challenging, I mean...it sucks!
Change has been coming painfully slowly...I have been getting some really fun and some REALLY THE OPPOSITE OF FUN free lance design jobs and that is good, but I still need alot more to be ok with this...
Raising this perfect baby is a blessing, and sometimes doing it all by myself feels like I might need to throw myself off a bridge for a second, (but I have to say, quite remarkably, those moments are few and far between).
My very favorite hobby in the world, Roller Derby, which at moments felt a lot more like a way of life than a hobby, has taken a back seat for a plethora of reasons; physical (a tear in my right shoulder), logistical (how to get to several, multi hour long practices with a baby?), and just basically getting grumpy about stuff that I know I can't change...which makes me grumpier...did I ever mention that I don't really like or get Organizational thinking? (and by Organizational, i mean the thinking of Organizations)
...maybe not? well I just did.
Anyhoo, it was time for some cleaning, cleansing, changing, moving, energizing...
This story is pretty amazing and part of what's even more exciting is that that it is JUST starting...

About a year ago I received the coolest email from a woman named Katie in Los Angeles.
She wrote one of those emails that as a business owner, you just love love love to get.
She had purchased one of my Mini Ribbon Boxes from a super cool store in Venise, CA and she absolutely loved it...Furthermore, she was a Feng Shui specialist and wanted to talk to me about maybe doing something together...creating a product together, a Wish Box.
She too had a new baby girl and she just sounded like one of those people you know you like instantly, When I told my BFF Kirsten about her, I said, "you know?! she's like us!"

As exciting as this sounded, I was swamped with life, a new baby, not too sure that I ever wanted to manufacture anything ever again in my entire life and not convinced that I would ever be capable of selling anything ever again in my entire life (apparently I was feeling a little bit gloomy that day).

We bounced a few emails back and forth again and then lost touch for several months.
I then touched base and suggested some friends of mine who manufacture beautiful silk boxes, that I could make the introduction for her...but she wasn't convinced...we again lost touch.

Then a few weeks ago, Katie got in touch again.
She emailed and told me that she was back in Alabama, (where she's originally from) and that she wants to make the Wish Box with the BlueDogz Design Paris Red CC box and that she would buy them from me and would I give her a bulk price? She was 100% clear about what she wanted! She had thought this through.

She also gave a little mention in her email that she was giving feng shui consults over the phone...

Well, that got me thinking! We set up a phone date.

A few days later (well, it could have been more than a week realistically, as we are both on baby schedules) we spoke on the phone. I was so right, I knew I would like her and that she was "like us".

It came to me in an instant, "Hey Katie, I only have 28 of the boxes you want left in inventory, how about we make a deal?, I send you all the boxes and you give me a Feng Shui consult?"...She loved the idea and we were off and running!

I made her a horrible video walkthrough of the loft we live and I work in (and by horrible I mean that for some cacamamie reason I thought that I should turn the camera horizontally or vertically at different times...WTF?) She later explained that it was fine, she watched it on her laptop and actually laughed out loud when she had to physically turn her laptop to stay with the program!

I also drew out a floorplan of our space and some still photos of our front doors (the loft door and the actual building entrance) and gave her some number info, street address and unit numbers.

Lastly, she asked me to focus on 3 objectives, areas that I wanted to change, boost, improve in my life.

I sent her everything via email and we set up a consultation date for the following week.

how much info is too much info?

2010-11-25T13:28:00.000-05:00

It's not always easy to know how much to share and how much sharing is just scaring...Do you ever think about your angry ex reading your blog? or a pissed off ex friend? Kind of creepy to think about...
So, Hey! If you are one of those people, I SEE YOU!!! and if you are so angry and pissed off, what are you doing here?...and if you are STILL here...then just face it, you miss me and you wish you hadn't been such a total ASS...or creep, or crappy ass friend...FACE it. We can probably get over it...Try me.

cute kids...armless?...and what's a TRF?

2010-11-07T12:02:00.000-05:00

I was perusing the old navy site this morning, as I had received a 30% coupon for in store use and thought I would see what was new and exciting...which led me to The Gap, well, because it's just a click on a tab away from Old Navy... which led to a hop over to Zara...can't tell you exactly why, oh wait...I remember now, the adorable Mia, the other kid in our building has fabulous clothes! I was admiring her adorable moto boots the other day and her grandpa chirped "Zara"...I doubt Tess could actually walk in them, or that they make them tiny enough for wee one, but now you can rest easy, as you now know my clicking inspiration...how cute is this stuff?

this raincoat might the cutest thing I have ever seen...but look at those boots!!!!

here are some close- ups...

then there is this look...

who needs pants when you have such a cute top and vest and boots? right?

and then....this....

how sweet of always spot on trendy Zara to use an armless child for their fall campaign!

Lastly, I just love the way one of their baby categories is named "JOGGING"....
coats, dresses, skirts......etc.....JOGGING!

and now, really Lastly, as you can see I put a question mark beside TRF...They carry clothes for

WomAn, mAn, Kids and this special thing...TRF...

when I took a look at the clothes I noticed lots of puffy jackets and short skirts...any ideas?

little robots

2010-10-25T14:13:00.000-04:00

Last night my uber talented friend Lynn and I, did a shoot for another friend's line, Twig Toys.
Most baby Tess photos you see and many of the photos on my site are done by Lynn. We have really been wanting to combine our ideas and start doing some work together, I style, she photographs!
Here are some of the results...

I like to POUF

2010-10-16T13:50:00.000-04:00

I have a little Pouf obsession. I just love Poufs!
I only have one right now, a beautiful red leather one that easily slips under my white tulip coffee table (chill, it's an Ikea...the table), but I admit, I spend perhaps an unhealthy amount of time perusing Poufs...metallic poufs, suede poufs, morrocan poufs... lately? fur poufs!
I fell for this one at http://www.westelm.com/

(pretty sexy huh?...sheepskin, no less...)

but then...I was thinking about my friend Flokati Phil and ... looky what he is hawking...Flokati POUFS!

They are not the exact same, yes, I know...but heck, for a nice cushy POUF we are talking $139 (with FREE shipping) vs $299 and no free shipping...not too shabby!
http://www.flokatirug.net/ (go to the link that says Rugs On Sale)

FoamWerks...run, don't walk!

2010-10-16T13:34:00.000-04:00

I had told you that I was going to be test driving some Foamwerks tools out at this past NY show, and my raving review is long overdue!
May I just say this, OMG Foamwerks tools are AMAZING!
You might think I am exaggerating, I am not, they make working with foamboard a whole new experience, a fun one at that!
I have been working with foamboard for years now, and have learned some great tricks from my friend Marc Tetro along the way. These amazing little tools however, make clean cuts and specialty cuts so much easier. Honestly, if you use foamboard for anything...foamwerks tools are a must!
I actually think that from now on I won't have to order that extra sheet of 4x8 at shows anymore for the just in case moments.
I *heart* foamwerks!
http://www.foamwerks.com/

the news!

2010-09-02T12:48:00.000-04:00

I touched on the fact that I had some news here and then published it here. Aching to know what it is?
Well, I am going to tell you anyways!

The little homemade, sewn press kits (that ended up making me a little crazy to create) but turned out pretty darn cool, contained more than cute stitching and our new, for the show, logo...it contained this:

then this:

followed by some of these:

these are patterns and artwork that I have working on whenever I have a free moment (and there are lots more!) designs that are not exactly what you are used to seeing from Bluedogz Design, but that are still very me! So what does all this mean?

It means that I am looking for design work outside my BlueDogz Design realm, it means that we should talk, we should shoot around some ideas, we should create some really beautiful things together.

Email, call or comment right here. Let me know if you need design or display work, don't be shy, and hurry up like my mother says!

By the way, spreading the word is always appreciated, so if you know someone who knows someone who knows someone, let them know!
keep surfing! ;-)

it's been a long time coming

2010-09-02T12:20:00.000-04:00

I finally updated my bio, on our site. It was almost 2 years ago that I took off the old story and left the message that something new was coming soon...better years later than never I guess, hope you like it.
http://is.gd/ePPxO

photo by lynn poulin

did you notice?...

2010-09-01T09:36:00.000-04:00

Some would say I am nuts for blogging about this, but I am doing it!
I am quite sure that I am not the only little company going through this and my thoughts or experience might help others, or, others might want to help me!
Here it goes.
You might have noticed while looking at the photos of my booth from the last show to this show, that not much has changed...if you didn't notice, leave this post NOW...here, click here! (go shop or something!)

For those of you who did notice, you are absolutely right, congratulations!

january 2010

august 2010

Now, for starters, after many different attempts over the years of displaying my line (and yes, the line has evolved...I'll get to that in another post)...I have concluded that it looks best, (so far), on white!
I have used white for several years now, and although after a week in the booth I am usually jonesing for a new wall color, so far, it has served my look well.

This time however, it was not the white walls or the basic white furnishings it was the product line that hadn't changed, you might have also noticed that I didn't have any BIG news regarding NEW products...yes, it's true. I woke up in a cold sweat several nights prior to the show thinking - how can I do this? how can I spend all this money to go to the show and not have new product to introduce!????.

Truth is, I simply could not afford to produce new products!
When you produce domestically or yourself, you have this wonderful freedom to make something new, show it at a trade show and then see what happens. From there, depending on the volume of your sales, you can adapt, you can hire a few people to help you produce, you can farm out the work to a larger company that can produce what you are making or you can even go overseas and have it made there if you need to.
When you are producing your line overseas there is this magic word that pops up frequently, MINIMUMS!
You usually can't just order 150 pcs of something, you usually have to produce in the 1000's. From there, you need to get it to North America (or where ever you are based) and distribute. Let's say you have a new product and you would like to make it in 6 colors/patterns...that could mean 6000 pieces right there! (minimum)

Now, for the large companies, it's no big deal. But then again, I take that back, in the last 2 years, I would venture to say that even for the larger companies, it has been a big deal.
You produce overseas, because the cost per piece is MUCH less expensive than making it domestically (obviously it depends on what you are producing!), the flip side is that you need to buy high volume.
When trade shows are busy and buyers have lots of money to buy, this is great. When trade shows are quiet and buyers are very very careful and the economy is, well, like it has been...this can mean trouble.

Here is the scenario; You design lots of great new products, get samples from your factory overseas, show them at a trade show and place an order for goods to be transported to North America ready to ship to your retailers within 4-6 weeks or so. But, the trade shows are quiet, sales are what the trade calls soft (that means mucho dissappointing!) , and you are getting a boatload (literally) of fabulous new chatchkas to sell! Uh Oh...now what?
Some would say, why place your order with Asia before you do your shows and see what you can sell first?
I say, everytime I have done this, I have lost lots of sales because I couldn't quote shipping for less than 12 weeks from the show...too long for many clients to wait. Or, if there are any snags in the schedule and the clients were willing to wait 12 weeks, once it gets bumped up to 15 or 17 weeks, forget it!
You see, the point is, you want to sell the stuff as fast as you are getting it in. Once you have it warehoused and sitting around for months and you have to do another 6 shows to move it, it becomes, well, painful.

That's where I am...the painful place. For a designer like myself, who has boatloads of product ideas that are sellable and makeable with 10 years of designing products that sell under my belt (cough, so to speak), but who can't keep spending money while not moving enough inventory, it's just plain painful! Now don't get me wrong, I am selling and to most retailers, my line is still relatively new and untapped, but to me...OY VEY, I am so ready to move on...
So that is why you didn't see the fabulous new product launches and the exciting new press releases...I just had to suck it up this time, design a new booth sign, put together a new little press kit, keep my head up and try to sell sell sell!
I had an amazing professor at University who once told me that to have security in life one had to know how to surf...Surf? I asked...Yes surf! He said . Life is like a series of waves and you go through it on a surfboard...some waves might knock you down, some you might surf like a pro, some will be pretty, some really really messy, but if you keep surfing you will always have security...I try to surf daily and I thought of Dr. Backus often this past week at the show and I surfed! I welcomed the waves I hadn't ridden before and I took the ride...I think in many ways this economy has humbled us, as sellers, as buyers, as people...Surfing always helps me...ever tried it?

still more great booths!

2010-08-31T06:11:00.000-04:00

My booth piece continues with more of my favorites in the simple, clean, lower budget-but-fabulous category from the August 2010 New York Gift Fair, here they are:

http://www.9spotmonk.com/ did a GREAT booth! foamcore white walls, covered in a fabulous high gloss orange vinyl adhesive. They also built a wall right in the middle of their booth which not only added 2 extra walls for displaying but also added architecture to the square booth. They used a craft paper brown to offset the high gloss orange to make their wall, for their bench at the back of the booth and for their floor.

LOVE this booth!

(and hope to have a link to share with you soon on where they got their orange high gloss vinyl!

http://www.flipandtumble.com/ took white and clean to new heights!

They did a floor that looks like wood, simple white furnishings (Ikea) and white walls.

They lined their white walls with their fantastic bags, making the colors simply POP!

I think the simplicity of this booth and the almost laboratory look of it was a really smart way to showcase their products, let me tell you, walking down their aisle, you HAD to look in their booth, and that, as the fabulous martha would say, is a good thing!

Lastly in this series, one of my favorite little booths at the show, http://www.baileydoesntbark.com/ .

Everytime I walked past this booth, I would admire and swoon a little...

Using simple dark stained wooden shelves and tables with non color, natural textured extras and vintagy details they acheived a beautiful soft look yet with a very sophisticated feel, right down to their beautiful sign! (the font is amazing!).

Through their display, they did a great job showing their clients how easy and impactful it could be to show their products once clients order them and have them in store.

They are showing retailers that their products look great grouped (hey retailers, buy a bunch of our stuff and you too can have this look!) Hello? who wouldn't want this look!?

So smart! So effective...YAYE Bailey Doesn't Bark!

(for some crazy reason I didn't ask...but I hope Bailey is a cat or a fish...or a pet rock...)

lots of really great booths!

2010-08-29T13:15:00.000-04:00

The NY Show, especially (in my humble opinion) the Accent on Design and Studio sections of the show had lots of really great looking booths. Again, my focus here, is not to show you the booths with endless budgets, big ole bells and crazy loud whistles, but rather, the simpler, smaller, lower budget, everyone-can-do-something-great, type booths!
As a reminder, these 2 sections are not pipe and drape sections, so this will change the overall look of the booths in general. These 2 sections are also quite a bit more costly per square foot than some of the other sections of the show.
Here are a few booths that caught my eye:

The Vie Luxe booth in Accent on Design. They used beautiful screens with their logo and pattern. They also took a simple square booth and added some architecture to it by simply creating a wall in it, with the screening. Other than some simple white modern tables, the shelving unit they used at the front and some great little bouquets of flowers in and around their products the rest remained simple and clean with the focus on their products and the amazing press attention they have received.

http://www.vieluxenyc.com/

Here is a little booth I spotted while walking around Accent on Design. I normally would never snap a shot of a booth if the exhibitor is not around, but since this was the last morning of the show and since I only had really nice things to say about it...I took a chance! Hope you don't mind Tedde!
http://www.tedde.com/

Again, in my opinion, here is a perfect example of simple and clean!

The company logo clearly visible, the products displayed on these chunky looking blocky shelves (LOVE THIS!) and the overall feel of the booth is soft yet sophisticated and elegant, without being unapproachable, which is also very important in my opinion.

This booth says, "Hey, I'm hip, I'm hot and I want you to come in and check me out!" They even put up this cute little Back Soon sign, right in line with their look! Nice work Tedde!

Here is the adorably stunning booth of Andrea Panico or Pico Design and her Little Architecture line. As simple as this booth looks, don't let it fool you, Andrea spent hours and hours cutting out the hanging diplays so that they looked just perfect...and they did! She opted for no floor covering, which I think looks great and dark grey walls. She added a mustardy yellow table and 2 white stools and her logo and that was it, simple can make such a statement when done right! http://www.picomeanslittle.com/

Lovell was a first time exhibitor and WOW, I thought she did a fantastic job! It helps that her product is really great looking, but again, she kept it simple. She had the show install her walls (as she was not too sure how to get that done simply...she will read my blog and know all the ins and outs! :-) ) and she also rented her shelves from the show. These things really add up, would you believe in the 3 digits?...trust me, I know...but, I have to say, I think she was wise in not making herself crazy and trying to do it long distance without having the resources in NY...She won't do it this way again and can achieve this same fantastic look for a lot less money, but if we simply look at the aesthetics of the booth...I say she did GREAT! She also did something really smart, by making little canvases of her product patterns and displaying them right below her logo...I thought this was a really nice touch.

Now, as you know, I pretty much think I know all the low budget tricks, but Allison showed me a new one and I think it's pretty spectacular! The Hercules Hook! (I am watching way too much Elmo and not enough informative TV!) anyhow, take a look, she used these right through her foamboard and they WORKED!

Allison...I am impressed! great line, great booth, great hooks! (and Canadian! of course!)

http://www.lovelldesigns.ca/

Right across the aisle from Lovell was another Canadian company called Pi'lo. I have to say, out of all the booths in the Studio section of the show that actually used the supplied stretched canvas walls, this one was one of the best! It looked fantastic and blended with Heather's line beautifully. Every time I walked past this booth I wanted to go in and look, or curl up and have a relaxing little snooze. It was soft, serene, soothing and so pretty! Simple wooden shelving, bamboo matting for the floor, a white console that tied in with wicker drawers and a white standing shelves. Heather kept the palette neutral, soft and natural, the result was a unified booth with a real feel to it, not just products lining shelves. http://www.pilo.ca/

more to come....stay tuned...

New York International Gift Fair - August 2010

2010-08-28T13:51:00.000-04:00

Yes, I survived another NY Gift Fair...I would have posted sooner, however, I came home with a terrible cold and guess who got it?...Tess! The little one has been sick for a full week, fever, rash, no appetite, trouble sleeping, crying and so unhappy...it has been a LONG week, let me tell you! (happy to report that she is starting to turn a corner and it seems she is feeling a bit better...phew!)
I actually went into this show not really knowing what to expect. I think that generally, we are all hoping that something magical will happen, that suddenly trade show aisles will fill up with buyers aching to spend huge amounts of money, but so far, unfortunately, this is still not the case. Buyers are still careful, understandably so. There seemed to almost be high fiving going on, lots of "so happy to see you here" comments, lots of buyers stating simply, "well, you are still here and we are still here and that's something!".
We are all trying to weather this storm, come out the other end and still be standing somehow.
I suppose hearing everyone say the same thing in some way is reassuring. It's nice to somehow know that BlueDogz Design is not the only little company struggling. And it was great to see some of our long standing clients. Not necessarily buying HUGE, but buying nonetheless, and every little bit counts!

Arriving at the booth was a bit messy...my pallet, which I reported would be sitting quietly in my booth, waiting for my arrival and eager to be set up, was NOT waiting for me in my booth, but rather halfway up the aisle and partially in another nice exhibitor's booth...this was so NOT the plan.Getting that reassuring email from Freeman (the company in charge of drayage at the show) saying that my pallet had been delivered to my booth the day before leaving to drive to the show was apparently a bit of a stretch.
It would not have been so bad if the aisle had been clear enough to get one of the Freeman gentlemen to move my pallet to my booth for me, but our aisle was piled high with crates and bins and booths and junk, there was barely enough room to walk the aisle. This made life a little more complicated. I had to tear down the pallet up the aisle and lug everything piece by piece to my booth, via 3 aisles east and through other people's booths, where we could actually get stuff through.
Honestly? I don't have much compared to other companies in terms of booth decor and storage but this alone took about 3 hours, (always be ready for the worst!).
Ah, the booth...without the stretched canvas walls (as requested) and with the booth carpeting (which we had requested NOT be installed). Well, one out of two ain't bad!
We usually get the canvas and no carpet, eventhough we don't use either, but this time it was reversed.
I italisized the word carpeting because I have to say, WOW, that was a sad excuse for a Carpet!
Not only did it not cover the whole booth space that we rent, missing almost 2 feet along the entire frontage of the booth (if my math is right, in a booth that is 25 feet long that is about 50 square feet, right?). It was even more skinny and non carpetish than ever. Kind of like a piece of black felt taped to the floor. I'm very happy that we don't count on the show carpet to complete our booth look.
Here is the booth:

We ended up ordering electricity this time even if our booth comes equipped with lights. The extra lighting supplied by the clamp lights really brightened things up.

more to come ... stay tuned!

I hate to waste...

2010-08-28T12:55:00.000-04:00

I am back from the August 2010 version of the New York International Gift Fair, and, suprisingly (yeah right!) I have alot to say!
Before I start however, I wanted to keep you up to date on my new business cards and postcards, the ones I mentioned here . I used a new printing company, http://www.gotprint.com/ and it was also the first time I sent my documents to print without having a real graphic designer format everything for me...this is where you might be thinking - "woah, Nadine...times tough?"... the answer is YES! So, I did what I had to do and you know what? I am SO capable of doing that part myself...big round of applause for me! hip hip horray...ok, enough.
Here is what I ended up with.

these are my new business cards...a new look to freshen things up. My pertinent info is on the front side and I simply used a new design element on the back side (sketchy roses) with some sketchy lines, for an area that can be used to jot down a note or reminder...a dual purpose business card!

Here is the front side of my new 4x6 postcard...a photo I happen to LOVE! taken by my friend http://www.lyndahkicks.com/ (she took all the fabulous photos of Tess that you see on the blog also!). At http://www.gotprint.com/ you have the option of rounded corners (je LOVE) for a few dollars more!

Here is the backside of the postcard!...I was really happy with the result and most of all, I am thrilled that I was not forced into buying 5000 of each...I love changing things up and keeping things fresh and having 5000 of anything these days is just too much, even if the price is right. So this time it felt good knowing that I did not have to throw a bunch of pretty postcards out at the end of the show. I ordered 250 each of the postcards and the business cards and I feel free now to design a new card or postcard in the next month or so! May I also say that their customer service was so great that when I had ordered UV coating on the backside of the postcard, they emailed me to ask me if I was sure that I really wanted that...they were right, I didn't! Writing on UV coated cards sucks! (unless you use a sharpie), so I opted out of the UV coating on the backside. Thanks GotPrint!

press kits

2010-08-12T11:01:00.000-04:00

I mentioned that I had some news for you in my last post...I do, but first, I want to show you what I was working on yesterday. The news is actually wrapped up in my new little press kits for the NY show, the press kits are what I have been working on...
I wanted to have them professionally printed, I had this very complicated idea....had to scrap that...then I decided to print them myself...the printer decided to have a break down and I had to uninstall it reinstall it and mess with it for almost an entire day...fixed it. This of course came after a total PC melt down last week, where apparently I contracted some horrible virus, that I also somehow fixed!...and then, last, but certainly not least, as I was using my sewing machine for this project (a last minute, almost throw in the towel on the cool press kit idea, IDEA) it too, decided to have a tantrum!...I fixed that too.
Here is a little peek at what the press at the NYIGF and some select companies are going to get this show.
They are 4" x 5" and are printed on card stock. I then sewed them together to make little books.

I am going to package the whole kit in a cello sealed transparent envelope with my new business card and my new postcard...photos to follow!

sidetracked...

2010-08-09T14:43:00.000-04:00

there I was on a roll...and you all decided to email me offline and ask me a gazillion questions about booth design and ideas...first off, thanks for all the email and feedback, it's nice to know that you are reading these postings, remember, you can leave your comments right here, yes, here! right on the blog...don't be shy!
secondly, we are leaving for the show this weekend, in other words, time is running out on this stuff...
thirdly, it really isn't, so relax.
as I found out, many of you have great ideas and are using this information to tweak your booth more than anything, I like that!...given this knowledge, I will make sure that I spend some time taking photos of great booths or great booth elements for you to peruse. I will stick with the chiconomy style booths, where my experience is based, fun, clean, impactful stylish looks for those who can't or are not willing to break the bank or ship a house across the country. I look forward to taking some time to walk the show and check out the booths and to share them with you within the following few weeks.
I will also have used the new Foamwerks tools, so I will also have all the news on that. Plus, of course the show news!

I have also been sidetracked by a few other things recently...
it's pretty new news, so hold tight and stay tuned...I am feeling ready to announce...(NO! I am not pregnant!)
In the meantime, happy boothing and you'd better stop by our New York International Gift Fair booth! #4149

more layout options

2010-07-21T16:04:00.000-04:00

I had shown you an easy foam board layout for a 10'x10' booth here , by using 3, 4'x8' foam board panels per wall. You would place a panel at each side, right to the corner and overlap a 3rd panel in the center of the wall, like this (this shows one wall).
For a 10'x 10' booth, this design layout would use 9 panels of foam board.

Here is another way to plan your layout.

Find the center of your wall. Line up 2 panels of foam board so that they meet in the center of your wall. Now you will have 1 foot left of space on either side to cover up.

At this point, you can play around with your design a little bit...

1- You can start putting up your side walls now, but start at the front poles on each side, like this.

You will have 2 panels per wall, on your back wall, the panels will be centered, on the side walls your panels will be lined up with the front poles. Result will be 2 feet of unfoamed wall on each of your side walls (the area near the back of your booth), plus, 1 foot on each side of your back wall that is unfoamed. In other words, your 2 back corners will be open.

2- Here comes the fun part...well, some of us weirdos think this is fun!...

You can now decide how you would like to cover your empty space in the back corners.

You might want to use a panel that is scored down the center to fit into the corners. You can slip the excess behind your already set panels, or trim them with a sharp box cutting tool/blade.

You might decide to make a diagonal wall, by attaching a panel from your back wall to your side wall. There are no rules here...you can do both corners differently, one as a fit corner and one as a diagonal, get creative! This can actually make your very square booth look a little bit more interesting and architectural.

* A note here on storing excess samples or supplies. If you decide to do a diagonal wall, you can actually use the space behind it for some storage! Sometimes we simply tape one side closed on the bottom near the floor and this way we can open the diagonal wall when we need to get back there. (very convenient!)

see our diagonal wall (below) on the right, we displayed our press features on it.

we also kept the trunk in front of it to keep the wall in place!

we did the same thing here (below) with a diagonal wall.

If you make a mistake, cut down your foam board in the wrong place or find that your booth is not exactly the dimensions you had planned for, or the perfect square you had hoped for, don't sweat it, once it's all up and your samples are displayed, if a seam is not perfect, or if one wall is not exactly the mirror image of the other, it won't show...relax, no one will notice! If you need to cleanly run white tape down all your seams to keep things straight and secure, do it! it will look fine (try to use matte rather than glossy tape for that!), if you need to use some heavy duty clamps or extra velcro tape or hot glue- do it!...this is all illusion, it doesn't have to withstand weeks or months of use, it's temporary and really just theater, keep that in mind!

shelves?

2010-07-20T14:17:00.000-04:00

By now, you have probably noticed that some of the photos of my booth feature shelves on the foam board walls...These amazing shelves were the perfect size and weight for trade shows and were available at Ikea for years, to make matters even better (at the time), they ran about $3 per shelf, can you believe it? They called it the STRIPPA shelf (trust me, it is taking every ounce of restraint I can muster to not comment on the name).
Back to the perfect $3 shelf. Kind of too good to be true!...Yes, yes it was! Ikea does not make them anymore. (Waaaaa WAAAA, can you hear that disappointment music?...) I will post a bunch of close up photos of them however, when I am reunited with them in August at the show, if you know a carpenter or woodworker, you might be able to have some made, the construction is crazy easy.
If you want to use another type of small shelf, you can, and hanging them might sound like a process, but in actual fact, it is not that horrible to do, it just takes a little patience, some measuring and some organizing.
Here it goes.

Basically, what you are going to do, is sandwich your foam board between a strip of wood and a shelf,
that is how the shelf will stay up.
In the case of the STRIPPA shelves, there were simply 2 holes supplied, right in the shelves to hang them up.
A screw in each and presto, the shelf was up.

here's a closer shot of a single shelf, you can see where the screws go in on either side of the clipboards.

My process went something like this.
1- I would decide how many shelves I wanted to use and where I wanted to place them on the walls.
2- I would organize my 4-5 ft wood strips and drill holes about a half inch from the top of each one (hole should be wide enough to get a tie wrap through).
3- I would tie wrap the strips of wood to the top pipe (through the drilled holes). The strips of wood would now be hanging down from the top pipe/bar.

you can repeat this step as many times as you need, ie: if you want to put 3 shelves up on this back wall, you will need to tie up 6 wood strips, 2 per shelf. You can do the same for your side walls.

4- Once my wood strips were in place, I would place a sheet of foam board in front of the wood strips, essentially hiding them. For example, if I was starting to put up my foam board in this example on the left side of the back wall it would look like this.

5- Before you do anything else, it's time to attach a shelf! I would simply hold my shelf where I wanted to hang it, have a helper hold it, or have the helper reach around and hold the wood strips in place, and drill! (I liked to put my handy little level on the shelf before drilling, just to make sure that it was straight)...As I drill the screw through the shelf holes, they go right through the foam board and into the wood strips behind it. The wood strips ensure that everything is solid and tight and able to bare weight without the foam board tearing. In essence, the wood is carrying the burden of the weight and the foam board is simply sandwiched between the wood and the shelf. It's that easy!

later that day...

but, here's what it will look like (without xray vision)

So, there you have it...the process I used to put up sturdy little shelves in an unstable little world!

I will be testing out lots of new ideas at the show this August however, as I am working with http://www.foamwerks.com/ testing out all their really cool products! I can't wait to share ideas, tips and tricks!

now we are getting somewhere!

2010-07-20T11:58:00.000-04:00

I was lucky enough to get a comment from the NYIGF on some of the concerns I wrote about in this post .
If you haven't seen it, here is what was said:

Nadine,

Thank you for your comments, and participation in the New York International Gift Fair. We appreciate the hard work (and expense) you invest in creating a dynamic booth display.

With the hope of answering some of your questions…
Foam board provided at GLM-managed tradeshows at NYC's Javits Center is flame resistant. As there is only one US manufacturer of flame resistant foam board, costs related to production and meeting EPA standards are high. Additionally, Javits Center union labor charges - for installation and removal of each panel - are included in the price per board. (Of note, Georgia is a right-to-work state, in which unions are not required.)

Regarding booth carpets at GLM-managed events at Javits: after four uses, 60% is sent to Mexico for reuse by needy families; 10% is reused by dolly manufacturers; 30% is not recycled (but they’re working on it). Aisle carpet is saved and 100% is reused/recycled at our insistence.

We are looking forward to a great show in August! In the meantime, feel free to contact us with any additional questions.
Regards,
Cate Salvatore, on behalf of the NYIGF

The timing was perfect, and the information pertinent as we are presently talking with 2 fire retardant companies about toxicity levels and product specifications/ details in terms of just this subject...stay tuned...this is getting really good!... How great would it be if exhibitors could get all they need to make a fabulous booth direct from show producers at affordable pricing? I say it would be win win! agree?

round poles, flat poles...

2010-07-19T13:44:00.000-04:00

This is a quick post to let you know that whether your booth comes equipped with round pipes
(photo A)

or flat pipes (photo B) (sounds strange, but some do!)

you can attach your foam board to either.

If you are not getting too fancy (ie: putting up shelving or hanging anything that is heavy to the foam board) the quickest way to attach your foamboard to the pipes is using heavy duty sticky velcro tape.

I love this stuff! But remember, it is STICKY! You won't be able to re-stick it on your foam board once you have stuck it, you get one chance for this only!

You can buy this at hardware stores or even some office supply stores, I go to http://www.homedepot.com/ or http://www.lowes.com/ usually. It has 2 parts to it that "Velcro" together, one strip will stick to the other, and both strips have sticky outsides. Simply take a good sized piece of it, stick it to the back of your foam board up close to the top edge (but not over the edge, still on the back), peel off the other side and stick it right to the pole/drape/curtain...whatever it is. Presto, your wall is up! I know right? so simple!...

Another popular way to hang foam board to booth structures is using tie wraps, or cable wraps,

these thingies:

Basically the easiest way to use them is to puncture a hole through your foam board a couple of inches below the top edge and stick your tie wrap through the hole from the front, then around the pole/pipe and then secure it closed, you can clip off any excess tie wrap bits that are ugly, too visible or sticking up. DO NOT tie the tie wrap SO tight that it rips your foam board, because then, you are in trouble. Tie them just tight enough to hold them in place and then use some tape or velcro to straighten them out and position them.

Now, this whole sticking the walls up part is quite simple, but take my advice on a couple of things

1- Make sure that the bottom edge of your foam board is ON the floor, don't try to hang it up an inch or so above the floor- your board will be straight and much stronger if it is ON the floor.

2- Plan your foam board layout BEFORE you start sticking stuff up willy nilly.

For example, if your booth is 10' x10' and you know your foam board is 4' wide, how are you going to plan your walls?...decide if you want to start with 2 sheets of board up against each corner (or side wall) and then one overtop, in the center. In other words, the center sheet would overlap on each of the side sheets, like this:

You would then repeat this same process on each of the side walls, thus using a total of 9 sheets of foam board.

*Remember, if you are going to use any sort of a clamp type lighting solution, the clamps will also help to secure your foamboard to your booth's structural pipes.

I will give you several more layout possibilities in the next post, stay tuned!

trunk obsession

2010-07-19T11:57:00.000-04:00

I have this weird little obsession, I love trunks! I love good looking, rather masculine looking trunks! I have lugged trunks home from Europe, bought trunks at flea markets, have one that my parents bought together more than 40 yrs ago and I even use one of my favorite trunks in my trade show booth, (I wrote about it here).

The other day, while working on a design job for a client, I ended up on the restoration hardware website. More specifically right here.

OMG! BEAUTIFUL....don't you think?
I have never been a huge fan of Restoration Hardware, actually, come to think of it, I am not sure why not?...these are gorgeous! Nice work RH!

your booth and you! a love/hate relationship.

2010-07-16T15:48:00.000-04:00

After the previous posts, you might be asking yourself how I could possibly have more to say about foam board...I do...lots more! After using it for years, I have had coups, and, I have had terrible mishaps, I have found great ways to use it, stick stuff to it, hang it, hang stuff to it (even heavy...yes, I CAN!, and will show you how) and embellish it and make it look interesting and architectural...

But do you know what one of the best things about foam board is? When the show is over, I walk out of the convention center and I leave it there...that's right, I never look back...I walk right out! Why? Because at about $20 per sheet and given the fact that foam board would not travel very well on my single pallet, I say, forget it, move on, let it go, buh bye!

As you learned in a previous post, and from links, foam board is made of foam on the inside, HA, go figure! Therefore, if you step on it, puncture it, rip it or scratch it, you really can't repair it, unless you use tape, and a sheet of foam board with tons of tape keeping it together is not sleek or elegant (remember that!).
So, in my humble opinion, move on, for the few hundred dollars that you will spend on booth stuff that you will leave behind, trust me, it's worth it. You will save time, energy, headaches and your pack up will be so much speedier, and as you know, or will know soon enough, when the show is over, the show is OVER, you just want to go home. Leave the old foam board, move on and go home! (I give you permission).

Although that is definitely a PRO for foam board, because you get out and get home quickly, the obvious CON is that you have spent some money on something you can't really reuse. Unless you have the HUGE box that the foamboard came in (and you might not get the box unless you ordered a box full) and a big enough pallet/crate to ship it properly so as not to have it damaged during shipping, you are NOT going to want to reuse it.

Recyclers, reusers, people greener-than-thou, please accept my apologies now and don't moan about it, this is my advice, take it or leave it. I look at it like this, extra hours, extra wasted energy, extra shipping, thus extra fuel consumption, all that to then show up at the next show and see your do-gooding fall to pieces because your recycled foam board has shown up all crapped up and broken...SO NOT WORTH IT! If you can make it work, and keep it for a couple of shows, you are my hero and you should definitely start a blog about how to preserve and ship foam board and link it to me, or at least, a blog post about it.

Cool, now that's out of the way.

Factoid: At this point you should really know that for some crazy fabulous reason, the booths at Americasmart in Atlanta can be foam boarded for you for a VERY reasonable price, and there are even quite a few color choices. Wondering if you should spend the money?, I say YES, let them do it for you, they do a great job. I don't have too too much that is positive to say about the Atlanta show (Gifts and home furnishings market specifically) but this foam board option is amazing. I can't for the life of me understand why it is so affordable in Atlanta and so outrageously expensive in NY, and the Atlanta job is 100% better too (with a wooden structure behind the foam board even!), one of the many mysteries of the trade show universe, I might need to further investigate one day.

Here is an example of your booth that you just spent tons of money on, this one is your basic 10' x 10', you might even get a wastebasket and chair if you are lucky, rest assured, they will be ugly and old.

You will likely get a cardboard sign with your company name on it and possibly the booth number. You will most definitely toss it in the supplied wastebasket, smart move! It's really ugly.

Your show will likely have a show color that is chosen for the carpet, depending on which section you are in, or you can pay more money and choose a custom color that can be installed for you, also relatively ugly, if the carpet is black, heads up, it will absord TONS of light, expect to either really EXTRA light your booth or have a darker looking booth.

This kind of booth is called a pipe and drape booth. Pipes fit together to make up the structure of the booth and ugly, usually beige satiny drapes are hung on 3 sides for your taking down/ covering up/ hiding pleasure.

Some shows have not so ugly drapes, in our present juried in section Studio, at the NY show, we have an off white stretched canvas/muslin type fabric that is on the walls. It's actually not that bad, looks much better than than the usual drape used and yes, we pay lots more to be in this section.
Do we cover it up? We certainly do! (there goes that!).
We also opt to not have carpet in our booth. We will get to our flooring soon, (in a rush? I mentioned it here) but last we checked, apparently the shows are cutting down hundreds of ugly synthetic forests and plants to make the horrendously expensive ugly carpets exhibitors can order, word has it that they do not recycle them or reuse them, they are simply thrown out at the end of the show...hopefully someone will comment otherwise, but last we checked, that was the story and I don't like it!

Save a synthetic ugly carpet tree, opt out!

Are you getting impatient now? Wondering how we went from this:

to this:

this

or this, relatively painlessly and quickly?

Stay tuned, next post, how to actually get the foam board to hang on the walls!

WALLS!!!

2010-07-14T18:05:00.000-04:00

WALLS...WHAT DO YOU PUT ON THE BOOTH WALLS NADINE????
Definitely a common question these days...FOAM BOARD! is the simple answer.
What is foam board (aka foam core, foam core board)? it's this really cool stuff that is best explained by the experts, so I will refer you here. You can also look here, and here.

There are a gazillion options for your walls, and I have tried several different looks. I have used colored draping that I hung over the supplied walls or drapes using metal S hooks (lots of ironing involved, in my opinion they always looked a little too drapey and not quite sleek enough). I have used painted canvas that I equipped with silver grommets on the top edge for hanging, and again, although less drapey than drapes, still not easy to keep flat and smooth looking. So far, short of building custom walls out of wood, which I have never felt compelled to use (for a few very key reasons that I will mention below*) Foam board has been my best wall choice to date in terms of ease, expense and overall look.

*Wooden walls would be ideal for certain situations, using sheets of plywood or ie: super easy to paint, super easy to drill into (think shelves, hooks, anything really), however, for me, unless you live around the corner from where you will be exhibiting, or have a budget and can hire a carpenter/handyman/painter, delivery van and installer, well, you are likely not even reading this blog post, because you have an unlimited budget and all of the above staff on hand...if you do have the budget and staff on hand but are still here reading this blog post, first off, hi! and if you need a new booth concept and want to hire someone to do that part, call me now. (seriously).

So, back to foam board.
We use the large 4' x 8' sheets, so far, in white. You can buy black or white at most art stores or art supply companies and some offer custom colors or an array of colors that you can choose from. The price difference between the white and black and color is usually quite substantial, if you have the time during set up, Foam board can be painted using acrylic paint and a roller, so you could actually make it any color you want! Our supplier of choice, by far, is http://www.utrechtart.com/
I repeat! BY FAR! why? Not only do they deliver in a bunch of show cities, if they don't deliver, their customer service is so amazingly outstanding that once, in DC, they actually sent an employee with us to help us walk the many sheets of foam board to the convention center from their retail store (many blocks)...see why we love them? ...and guess what? that's not all, I have another amazing story to tell you about them a little later.

Factoid: Foam board is light and easy to move around and lift, 10 or 20 sheets together?, not so much, it gets heavy and rather awkward to maneuver.

Foam board will run you about $17 to $22 per sheet (4' x 8' sheet, or 48" x 96") the 2 thicknesses that you will usually find are 1/2" or 3/16th", we use the thinner 3/16th thickness and the prices here are for this thinner version. You can usually buy foam board in boxes of 25 sheets, you will see this online alot, but most places will sell it to you per/ sheet. http://www.utrechart.com/ will sell you the number of sheets you need, you do not need to buy a huge box. A great solution is also to call some other exhibitor friends and order together, this way you can share a box or a few boxes if necessary. Utrecht Art will deliver to the Javits Center usually for FREE, depending on which day you need it. For the gift fair, it's usually perfect for their Friday delivery and almost always arrives at around noon. We organize to have someone available to run out front and receive it- or a few people if the order is big. This door to door delivery in NYC is a trade show exhibitor's dream!!!! While we are ordering foam board, we usually order our flooring with Utrecht Art also, depending on what we are using, our last show, and this upcoming show, we used, and will be using a glossy mounting board for our flooring, it worked perfectly! More on the floor a little later...
Are you finding this information helpful? have I told you anything you didn't already know? are you looking forward to what's next? let me know, leave a comment.

a quick word on booth location and lighting

2010-07-14T14:17:00.000-04:00

At this point, you probably have a booth and want to make some changes or just streamline a little bit, or, maybe you are considering getting a booth at an upcoming trade show.
Either way, there are a few really important things to consider.
Location. Yes, like with anything, location is important, but maybe not as important as you may think. You absolutely do not want that little screwed up booth lost in some back corner by the broom closet! I remember once I had a booth in building 3 of AmericasMart in Atlanta (it was one of my very first shows) and I couldn't find my booth! GREAT start! if you can't find your booth, how are the buyers supposed to find you? They didn't!...It was nightmarish!...
No show producer will appreciate me telling you this, but if they could sell you a bathroom stall as a booth, they would!
You need not be the top booth at the top of the aisle, front and center to have a great show...and you probably won't get that booth anyhow, but if you know that you have some good, established companies in your aisle, or, on the contrary, lots of new and exciting little companies that any good buyer will want to go check out, then you should be pretty safe.
Remember, (and this doesn't apply to Atlanta...Atlanta is a whole other story, that I will get to) a good buyer will walk the whole show. They are human, they will miss stuff, they might be on a call while passing your booth and simply not look up, it happens, and it sucks...but thorough, good buyers, looking for interesting, new, innovative products, ideas, display inspiration and trends will walk the whole show. The New York Gift Fair is set out on a grid, it is organized and easy for buyers to know where they are at all times and what they have seen and not seen yet, (unlike the Atlanta show! Ahem).
So before you say YES or NO to a booth that a show proposes to you, think through the pros and cons and ask for all the information. This is not an inexpensive venture you are embarking on.

Lighting.
A dark booth is a death sentence! Yep, no doubt about it! Bright, sunny, inviting booths, are going to get a buyer's attention, save the dark stuff for your living room or better yet, your bedroom. If no one can see what you are selling, no one is going to buy it.
Some shows supply you with lighting, Je Love these shows! How nice is it to show up to your booth and have the lights up and ready to go?...SO nice.
Some shows supply you with lights, but, not enough lights!
Now this really pisses me off! Why? because you think you are getting a deal (you never really are when it comes to trade shows!, if it's too good to be true, like most things, it probably is. Actually, I am wrong here, if you think something just makes normal sense for the price being charged at a trade show, check again, you are probably only going to get half or a quarter of what you thought you would be getting). This last thing in brackets was NOT a joke.
So let's say you are lucky enough to get lighting in your booth and you see that it's just not enough?...then what? The show will gladly add lights to your booth...GLADLY!...at the upcoming show in NY this August, to add extra lights to the tracks that we are supplied with, at show site, an extra eeny weeny teeny 50 watt light will cost you about $96.50.
Here's another option, rent electricity.
Most shows will offer you an electrical outlet for about $99 or so. If you can plug stuff in, then you can clip up your own inexpensive but very lighty, clamp lights. Make sure to follow the rules on this, some shows will allow you 4 clamp lights per electric plug, others let you go crazy. Just make sure to check out your options, sometimes electricity is a much better buy than lighting, and you can use your own lighting or pick up lights for under $10 each.
like these:

remember to try different bulbs, a flood, soft light, different watts, to see what will work best in your space.

Another thing to consider is if you have a crossbar across the front of your booth or not. If so, check to see if clamping to that bar will give you the brightest lighting or if clamping to the side walls and directing the lights to different areas works better for you. If you plan on bringing your own lighting, remember that you will need extention cords and a power bar so that you can plug the lights into something and turn them on and off with just one switch, this is very helpful.

once you have set up...what will happen to your boxes and pallet?

2010-07-13T13:54:00.000-04:00

In the last post, I gave you some resources and ideas on how to get your product and booth stuff into a convention center and what to do with your product at the end of the show (how to get it out, and where to keep it if you're like me and just you don't want to take all home with you).
You might be asking yourself some questions at this point?
What will happen to my empty boxes or bins during the show?
Where can I leave my pallet?
What about all my extras, like my tool box? ladder? or my big bulky winter coat? where can I hide it?
No worries...I've got you covered. I've lived through it and I have found solutions (if you have better solutions, be a sport, let me know! thanks.)
First thing is storage during shows.
"Empty" is what the shows call your shipping boxes, cartons, bins, etc...they will want to give you big bright stickers to place on your empty stuff, so that they can take it away and store it for you during the show. Very kind of them, and, at many shows, this will be the simplest solution, so do it! ....However, (yes, there is a huge HOWEVER)...If the show you are exhibiting at is, for example, off the top of my head, how about at...THE JAVITS CENTER in nyc...this will be a BIG BIG pain in the ass!
Why?
Simple answer. The Javits Center can take up to 6 hrs after the closing of a show to get you your Empties back...If you are anything like me, this will not be good news to you. Trust me, these guys are not sitting around having lunch or sleeping in your cartons, they are working around the clock to get you your stuff, but there are 1000's of exhibitors, gazillions of boxes/ crates and pallets and, shocking as it may sound, YOU are not their priority, even though we all know that YOU should be! (don't they know who YOU are?????). As a matter of fact, many of the Empties at the Javits are taken outside and packed up in long trailers during the show, so you have to understand that it's a process to get it all back to you.
*As an ASIDE- and this is important and not everyone tells you about this...At any show, if you are going to store your Empties with the show management (as they usually require you to), shrink wrap everything you need securely to your pallet. Otherwise you just might not get back all that you sent away a few days prior. Trust me on this. When all you want to do is go home after a show and as they say in Canada "get the puck outta there!" the last thing you want to do it run around and try to find cartons, shrink wrap, a new pallet and bubble wrap...just trust me! The more organized you are the faster you will get home!
I can tell you from experience that where your trade show is storing your empties during the show will determine how fast you will get them back at the end of the show.
Chicago Living and Giving show? empties come back FAST...Atlanta, depending on which building you are exhibiting in, can range from speedy to "OMG I am just going to walk out of this place NOW and never look back!", Boston, a small show, never waited long. So be safe, just ask. Ask someone who knows and if they are not sure, ask someone else. If you can, ask to be taken to where they will be storing your empties, or simply follow them, and then you'll know. (Although, this will probably not work at the Javits Center!, but at the least, they will tell you where they are taking it).
Let's say you are at the Javits, the show wants to take your empties far far away to a far away land of cartons and pallets and bins and you decide - "OH NO YOU DON'T, BlueDogz Design told me this might happen!" What should you do?
Here are some of my tips.
If you packed in cardboard boxes, break them down and flatten them out, it's always easier to hide a flat cardboard box than an actual 3 dimensional box. If you have packed in bins, like I do, stack them one inside the other as much as you can and then if you need storage for bubble wrap or extras, put it all in the top box.
Usually, during my booth design layout process, I account for my empties. I know, maybe a little too anal for some, but from experience, this kind of organization works for me. As you can see, my last booth in NY had a 4 foot table used as a display piece, I actually had my 4 empty (or relatively empty) bins hidden under this table, all my extra bubble and packing wrap and my tool box.

As you can see, I incorporated my fabulous silver trunk into my decor (I hate to brag, but the trunk is to die for! what's worse? I only paid $20 for it at a flea market...HA, a shopping coup!).
Not only does it look cool, and add some sparkly and shine to the booth, it is great for storage of coats, bags, extra shoes, catalogs, pens, bottles of water and order sheets, supplies that we need on a daily basis during the run of the show. Believe it or not, between these 2 pieces, all of my extra stuff is hidden away...except for my pallet. Ah the dreaded game of hide the pallet!
Ok...Scooch in closer now and keep what I am about to tell you quiet...
You can actually hide stuff in the Javits Center...The show would KILL me if they knew I was telling you this, but if you are quiet, cool and a teeny bit ninja-like, it is a relatively easy thing to do, here's how.
Often, at the very end of aisles, there are empty areas or areas where the show has put up extra pipe and draping to hide ugliness or extra show junk. Take a look behind the curtains, you might find the perfect spot for your pallet...the time to do this sort of thing is as late as possible at the end of set up day, or even early in the morning on the day of the show's opening...this is because, chances are, most things have been put away and not much else will be moved around or packed up at this point...usually you are safe and your stuff will be untouched. You might want to clearly mark your booth number, name or cell number on your stuff/pallet, so that if someone needs to move it, hopefully they will be kind enough to let you know.
Another option is to make friends with an exhibitor that has all or some of the following;
a booth at the end of an aisle, against a wall, or with an area that looks like it could be easily used to hide stuff, often these areas have a dead space behind them, perfect for hiding...BE NICE, BE POLITE...you know the old expression, "you get more bees with honey than...", yeah, you know it...LIVE IT! offer to buy them lunch, a bottle of wine, a few water bottles, something....they are doing you a BIG favor! Plus, let's face it, being nice, is, well, nice!
Another option? seek out an exhibitor who does one of those drapey decor jobs. You know, the booths that use numerous long tables all draped in fabric...if they are not hiding stuff under every single one, you can ask if they would mind if you hid a few things under one of them...getting the idea now?
Don't worry if an exhibitor snubs you or tells you NO...there are creepy people everywhere, but most are really nice and you can capitalize on the whole good karma trade show vibe that goes on pre-opening. Yep, it's alive and well. It should be! It's kind of like the trade show world's version of paying it forward in a screwed up trade showish way.

a shrinkwrapped pallet in the middle of our bare booth...

2010-07-13T12:13:00.000-04:00

Did my last post stop you cold? did you wonder, "how did she get her booth delivered on a shrinkwrapped pallet?, "was that expensive?", "complicated", "how how how?"...
Relax, here is everything you need to know.
First off, what's a pallet (aka, a skid)? (alright listen, if you don't know what a pallet is, you are really new at this, but that's ok, I won't tell anyone and I will even show you a photo of one)...here you go. Most standard pallets in the USA and Canada are 48" x 40". If you need one at the end of the show at the Javit's Center, you can usually ask one of the guys out back on the docks and you will be able to get one, do NOT expect this to be as easy on the Piers in NYC or other shows necessarily, so be organized. If you are looking to find one in your area, you can call shipping companies or even ask a local business in your area that ships alot or receives alot and they should be able to point you in the right direction. They are not feather light, most good sturdy pallets weigh around 30 to 40 lbs, so expect to pay for this extra weight when/if you are shipping your goods.

want more pallet info and the complete history of pallets? (not sure why you would? but heck, I'm thorough, here it is: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pallet .

Another little detail at this point, shrink wrap!

Basically, with good quality shrink wrap and a bad case of dizzy when the job is done, one can pretty much securely attach anything to a pallet. Just pull tight and start circling your pallet with the wrap, and make sure that you also circle the actual sides of the pallet, this will keep your stuff attached to it, a kind of important detail...you will be amazed at how secure you can get stuff on there!
In an ideal pack job universe, everything that you will need to set up, exhibit, write orders and pack up at the end of your show, will be shrink wrapped to this pallet, perfectly packed in perfectly fitting boxes that all line up and make a perfect cube...perfectly up to about 4 ft in height...but let's face it, nothing is perfect! (well, except my daughter...but we won't go there right now).
Here is an excellent step by step guide to how to shrink wrap, http://www.wikihow.com/Shrink-Wrap-a-Pallet .
You would be amazed at what my pallet looks like and what I can get on it. (I will take photos of it the minute I am reunited with it in NYC in August, promise!) But long story a little bit shorter, I can get ALL of my product samples, 6 ikea display tables (which I am really just lugging around and not even using at this point), 1 round wooden table with heavy legs, tools, sign, a step ladder, a fabulous silver trunk, booth chairs and catalogs onto 1 single skid! To save on time and space, I found that packing all my product samples into large plastic bins with some layers of bubble wrap to keep things safe has really cut down on packing/ unpacking time, breakage during transport and stacking ease and uniformity on the pallet. Where can you buy shrink wrap? any packaging store or supplier like http://www.uline.com/ or even your local http://www.staples.com/ or http://www.officedepot.com/ store...wondering if the rolls you see with the cardboard handles are worth buying? YES! they definitely are!
For those of you who are going big, you might want to look into a crate or custom packing system on wheels. You will definitely increase your shipping expenses, but it might be worth it depending on your products or needs. I am not going to go into detail about this sort of thing, because I am really geared at helping the companies that want to do this trade show thing as painlessly and inexpensively as possible. But here is a photo of what a crate would look like.

Where is my pallet when it's not in my booth?...
ah, the question of the day...
IN NEW JERSEY!
I know right?, my warehouse is out in California, I live on the east coast and my pallet is stored in New Jersey...wtf? right?...well, actually, it's quite simple.
There's this guy... Stuart Stockelberg...and he takes care of all of it for me! (love him!)

He works with a company called http://www.servicebyair.com/ and they have changed my packing and shipping and moving to and from trade show procedures from complicated and tiresome to simple and affordable.
Since most of my shows are (were) on the east coast, I decided that I was tired of moving my stuff around, these guys pick it up right out of my booth after the NY shows, and bring it in (or ship it) to the next show. They are connected with a storage warehouse and the one pallet costs me roughly $35 / month to store in NJ, so in between any shows, I simply leave it there and pay the storage. The in and out of the show shipping usually runs about $125 each way, sometimes more, sometimes less, depending on how heavy it is. I have also used them to ship my pallet to other shows, sometimes they quote better than anyone else, sometimes they don't, you have to check, but the service is fantastic and these guys KNOW trade shows, so you don't have to worry about hidden charges or delivery into convention center prices. There will be no surprises and I highly recommend them.

Of course I encourage you to shop around, as there are other companies offering these services, likely even at the Javits Center or connected to your show, they might work out swimmingly, or not, just do your homework and ask exhibitors who have used the company you are considering hiring.

here comes NYC again...

2010-07-12T12:55:00.000-04:00

I confess, I used to do the whole circuit of trade shows, Atlanta, Chicago, New York, sometimes Boston and San Francisco, plus, sales reps would do some of the shows in Dallas, LA, Seattle and Portland with my line...I believe that my sales would be alot higher if I added a few more shows to my present list. I know that my expenses would be a boatload higher if I added more shows to my present list. What's my present list you ask? New York International Gift Fair. The show I love to hate, or hate to love...(it's a long story).

It's July 12th. In a few weeks from now I will be trading my Beetle for my father's SUV, praying baby will have a nice long nap (in an ideal world, 6 hrs or so), packing up my odds and ends and heading to what I inevitably say will be "my last trade show EVER!"
I will head out early in the morning on a Friday and get to NYC around 2pm. The parking game will start...how long can we get away with parking in front of the Javits Center, can we bring in what needs to be brought in and leave the car there so that we can get a few hours of setting up the booth done? (thus saving the trip to the hotel/check in/ parking etc...?). Sounds silly, but this detail is key in saving time and energy on a set up day, ask any carni, I mean, exhibitor and they will agree!
(although highly illegal, ahem, you might be offered to "help out" one of the parking guys in front of the Javits Center and he in turn, might want to "help you out" wink wink...magically, somehow, the parking problem is not such a problem anymore, but you didn't hear that HERE!)

For the last few shows, the baby dance would then start, but I won't even be attempting it this time.
Babies are NOT allowed on the show floors during set up and tear down, understandably so, but not always a logistically easy feat for a small company without a nanny and a breast feeding Mom...anyhow, she is older now and things will be easier, there will be no baby in the booth during set up!

We will get to the bare booth, find our shrinkwrapped pallet with essentially our whole booth sitting in the middle of it and the week of craziness will ensue.

I have recently decided to focus several parts of my blog on booth set up, logistics and resources to help you! (fellow exhibitors, first time exhibitors and anyone who needs great, inexpensive, relatively simple but impactful ideas for booth design and set up). Why? you might ask.... Well, it seems my blog is getting lots of traffic from first time exhibitors or just nice folks who appreciate what I have done with my booth over the years. You would be shocked at how many phone calls and emails I get asking for help. (Dare I say, almost more than calls for orders some weeks?!...no no no, never!)

So, my thought is, heck, why fight it? let's see where this takes me...here we go! if you enjoy the postings, tips, resources and help that I will be offering you, or just have a question, please leave a comment! or send and email!
It is your feedback, calls and emails that have pushed me in this direction, so keep pushing!

jacob javits convention center in NYC,
a beautiful photo that I found at http://www.merakohblog.com/

(looks so calm and peaceful, not really so much in reality!)

anthropologie love...

2010-03-20T11:30:00.000-04:00

I have a confession to make, I have a little bit of an obsession with Anthropologie.
Yes the clothes are pretty and I have found some amazing pieces there over the years, and yes, the catalog is also pretty and amazingly fun and inspiring to peruse...but holy mother of merchandising GODS...their displays, photography and styling is GENIUS! Would I like to work for the company? (which is Urban Outfitters actually) uh, YES!!!! (pick me, pick me!). Anyhow, I just got yet another gorgeous email from my personal friend "Anthro" and take a look at what they did this time- combining some of my very favorite things. Cardboard, doll houses, architecture, style and utter cuteness...I might need to go buy some cardboard and new blade and start building my very on dollhouse!

the big city can be exhausting!

2010-03-20T10:41:00.000-04:00

This was a photo that Lynn took of Tess in NYC this past trip.

I don't know if it's because I know what each and every gesture or sound from Tess means, or simply because the composition, color and subject is utter perfection, but I adore it!

January 2010 New York International Gift Fair

2010-03-08T13:06:00.000-05:00

finally have the amazing booth shots that fabulously talented Lynn took!

I will be posting her info as soon as she gets her website together...so that you can all hire her!

yeah yeah, I know, no web site yet,
I guess she wasn't sure this whole computer/internet thing was going to stick! :-)

need booth help, suggestions, tips & tricks and resources?...get in touch!

the speeding ticket

2010-03-01T17:29:00.000-05:00

I tell my friend Paulette all the time, "you don't drive like you jam!". She is an absolute speed demon on a derby track, and I mean crazy amazing fast!, on the flip side, she drives like old people make love (I can't remember what movie I heard that line in, but it cracks me up!), she's slow and steady and maybe a little distracted even...kind of a boring driver, if you can imagine that.

P (as I call her, aka: The Iron Wench) likes to come back with, "you don't either!", here's what she is saying, I drive like she skates! (and no, I don't skate like she skates, sadly, and never ever will mind you, but that's ok, because very few humans ever will, I do however, skate vicariously through her).
However, get me behind the wheel and I become the Iron Wench in my VW. I am precise, fast, cunning, speedy, rarely if ever wipe out and I am perhaps a little cocky, yes, I said it, with years and years of driving under my belt from snow storms to hail and rain and you name it...I am a damn good driver! plus I can do an amazing 2 move parallel parking job into a vert tight spot, left or right, just saying.

So, there we were, early morning on a Friday at the end of January, Kicky, baby Tess and I, minding our own business on the way to the NY Gift Fair somewhere is nowhereville upstate NY, when suddenly, after driving behind a police cruiser for at least 20 minutes, he pulled over, pulled back out behind us and turned on his siren...DAMN! SHIT! FUCK!
Times are tough dammit, I do not want to shell out for some damn speeding ticket when I can use that money to do a little shopping! UGHHHH I have my priorities!
I promptly pull over and tell myself to "be nice" thinking that perhaps I can get us (and by "us" I mean ME) out of this little situation...apparently not.
The Ray Banned Officer asked me if I knew why he was there...it took all I had to not give him the sarah silverman answer "because you got all D's in high school?????", but I just said, - because I was following behind you? ( which he ended up quoting on the ticket! the jerk, do you know how stupid it sounds when you read it out of context?, oh, you do, don't you? you just read it! :-)
So, he takes my licence and registration and goes back to his cruiser for what seemed like a remarkably long time while Kicky and I keep saying back and forth to eachother- how can he possibly know how fast we were going when he was way in front of us?????- YES, and by US I mean ME!
He finally comes back, still Ray Banned and hands me a ticket (apparently my charms are not so charming) and in essence says that for the last 20 miles or so, I had been behind him- DUH, doesn't he know that I know?...then he says that when he would slow down, I would slow down...again DUH???? and then he said, when he would speed up, apparently I would speed up....whatever...he said that he went as high as 81mph and that is why the ticket reads 81 mph.
Definitely not a very nice man, I mean he could have stopped me at 71mph and said the same thing, but NO, he had to go to 81mph...well, I don't believe him. OK, I can hustle sometimes and I admit it, I am speedy, but I am NOT stupid, or blind. Bottom line? I SAW him, I was not out to win any cop tricking awards, I was NOT going 81 mph. no way, no how!
The date on the ticket said that I had to either show up (at a PO box apparently) on February 22nd at 10am or file a plea before this date. I realized on February 22nd that I hadn't done either, except bitch about the ticket ALOT.
I decided to take things into my own hands and figure out what I could do about this. I called a number on the ticket and got a very nice lady that told me that I needed to call the court clerk directly, call and ask for Christina the clerk. That was my first clue that this was a very small town, hmmmm, this could be interesting.
I called and asked for Christina the clerk and a nice older voiced man answered and said, - sorry, Christina just left to go to the bank with the court's money. I laughed and asked when she would return and he simply said, - maybe I can help you. I doubted it, but heck, I figured I would try.
Long story a little shorter?...the guy on the phone with me was the JUDGE!!! and he was telling me (in a nutshell) that he hated hearing that I might just plead guilty to "be done" with the whole ticket situation and that it was my RIGHT to fight this ticket and I should! He explained that the worst that would happen by submitting my NOT guilty plea would be an immediate offer to reduce the ticket, meaning rather than admitting to 81 I might be offered 75mph, this man was talking my language!
He told me to fax in the form, tick the NOT GUILTY box and I would hear from the court, he also asked that I not write his name at the top of the fax, which of course I didn't...
I will keep you updated on this one!
lesson #1...don't plead guilty to a speeding ticket, just DON'T! it seems that less than 3% of people actually plead NOT guilty and that you will at the least have your ticket speed reduced or maybe even thrown out...I am hoping for the latter.
Lesson #2...probably just shouldn't speed, but I am the IRON WENCH on 4 wheels!

hmmmm, this blogging thing is easy to slack on...

2010-03-01T16:29:00.000-05:00

and we were doing so well!
alright, I am back on track now.

Back from the NY gift fair, (more) back on my derby skates than before, winter might just be coming to an end soon (although every time I say that, it magically snows again!), baby tess is sprouting a little tooth (yes, her first!) and will already be a year old soon, and I have a few things to discuss with you all. (or just YOU) whoever you are that might be reading this, or, if you are my ex or some other friend that doesn't talk to me, you are a little stalkerish for being here, (just saying).

Alright then, now that that is out of the way, I would also like to mention that perhaps this whole law of attraction thing does work...after blogging about a bag that I had absolutely fallen in love with, I had the wonderful opportunity to get my little paws on one (at cost! shhhhhh whilst at the NY show)- Now don't bitch and complain about that, we actually show at one of the same trade shows (much to my utter delight), there has to be some kind of advantage to being in this industry other than paying absolutely crazy prices for trade show booths, setting it up in record time in stinky dirty conditions, sitting in the booth through great shows or shows where hearing crickets would be considered busy, and then regardless of the outcome, packing it all up and doing it again. A little Carni-like if you really want to know (as in, Carnival folks that move from town to town and set up, pack up, over and over again).

Anyhow, long story shorter, I got the bag in Bone (that's a color) and it's going to be amazing! (I say "going to" because I haven't received it yet, but it's coming!).

As for the show, (photos are coming) I am happy to say that things seem to be moving along, certainly on the upswing! There seemed to be more buyers around, more buyers actually buying, and an overall less gloomy/doomy feeling than recent past shows. It looks like I will finally be doing business with some fabulous retailers that I have wanted to work with for years, wrote some exciting orders for great international stores in Tokyo, Saudi Arabia and Canada, had a bunch of interested magazines and press stop by the booth and have shipped and will be shipping to lots of new clients and some of our great regular clients within the coming months. So, phew (for now!) seems like we are still in business!

The actual trip to NYC was pretty great, except for the speeding ticket, but I will get to that later.
Although daddy wasn't able to come with us this time (which made the momma kind of nervous...). Roller-auntie Lynn came to keep baby Tess smiling and she did one heck of a job! I did hear a few comments along the way like "how do you do this all the time?" and "I am so not ready for this!",

but OMG she was amazing with her!
I was a little worried the first day of the show, when by 3pm I still had not heard a peep from auntie Lynn and Tess...by 4pm I was dying. As of this point, I had never really been away from my teeny girl for more than about 3 hours in a row. Just as I was dying, in they strolled with big smiles and lots of toys and doo dads in the stroller, (the ones that you hand tiny people to keep them occupied as long as possible while you are trying to get something done or go from point A to point B). When I asked where they had been, Lynn smiled and said- "Hey, you need to work! don't worry about us, we are fine!".
For someone who usually controls stuff, this was oddly comforting and incredibly reassuring!
Needless to say, auntie Lynn was fast asleep by about 9pm that night.

I have known roller auntie Lynn for several years now (her derby name is Lyn dah Kicks, I like to call her Kicky, not only are we team mates on the same roller derby team La Racaille, but she is a wonderful friend.
I trusted her implicitly, obviously, when I asked her to come to NYC with us and care for her royal "babyness", but she exceeded all my expectations. Within 2 days she knew all of Tess' baby sing along book songs and didn't think twice about doing a little jig or making a kooky face to get her to smile or giggle, in public or privately! On several occassions I saw her pushing the stroller loaded with all kinds of paraphenalia, winter coats, water bottles, toys and her photography stuff (she is a professional photographer to boot!), while CARRYING a squirming Tess in her arms and still smiling! Moms, join me in a quick "Halleluja Auntie Lynn" moment!, Tres Impressive!

The booth once again made me quite happy! I am definitely in the "keep it simple" mindset for now, and I think that the overall feel and simplicity of the booth design is a pretty great backdrop for the line.
Basic white!
The line pops on white and I find that it's much easier to focus on the products rather than the actual booth, which is really what we want when working with buyers. I had some fun with my black Sharpies again this show, by drawing out picture frame mouldings on simple brown cardboard and cutting it out and adhering it to our foamboard walls with a glue stick. It served to add a little architecture to the plain walls and table with a little bit of a sense of humour, maybe Victorian humour (given the design of the mouldings?...maybe I am pushing it here!). Also, since the fabulous Marc Tetro (amazing artist and dear friend) and I still show together, the simplicity of the booth design is still perfect in giving us a unified look, while also keeping both lines independant and distinctive.

So all in all, things are pretty ok! although still what I consider to be a somewhat scary time to be a small business, the flip side is that BlueDogz Design is so lean to run that I am thankful I am not a big huge company right now with lots of overhead and families to feed. I look forward to see what the next months will be like business-wise and to see where my ideas and life will take us.

Stay tuned for the speeding ticket, great baby and booth photos (by Kicky!) and I guess it's time to get into some derby...

thank you for calling but...

2009-11-28T13:03:00.000-05:00

Is it just me?
or does calling someone and NEVER getting a person at the other end make you crazy too?
I am not talking about a government office or customer service, I am talking about calling a human, someone you actually know, someone who might be 2 people, someone who might be dating your father and someone who might even be your father...
how much more annoyed might you get if you are not just calling because you feel like saying "hey", but because either both or one of these someones actually ask you to call, repeatedly?
Me? I get annoyed.
So, whether it's because you are so popular that you get countless inbound calls per weekend (icpw- just made that up!) or because you are being stalked by a psycho and feel that you must turn off both your landline ringer and your cell phone, why o why on earth do you ask me to call?

By the way...the lame excuses, the giggles and the snippets of information that boil down to "we are so into eachother that we just can't pick up a call" don't make it better. ew.

i didn't mean to, but i fell in love

2009-11-21T12:10:00.000-05:00

I was in Burlington VT yesterday and my Mom and I bought Tess the most darn adorable clothes I have ever seen! (by my Mom and I, I mean I was there, she was buying!
gotta LOVE grandmas!)
Baby Gap was having this amazing 50% outerwear sale (Tess didn't have anything warm enough for our arctic weather yet). I also finally found the most perfect buttery soft worn in jean overalls for her (lined in soft soft grey cotton), in the boys section.

Yes, I know, she's a girl, you might be saying, stop with the jeans and tees,
But I can't ok? I just can't!
I am a jeans freak myself and I am not about to dress my baby girl in frou frou party dresses when her favorite activities are drooling, rolling around on the floor and rubbing just about everything on her gums (which comes full circle, back to the drooling)...oh, and did I mention that she LOVES intercepting the spoon full of green mushy organic peas as it is about to hit her lips so that she can then crinkle up her little nose and laugh while she spreads the green mush all over the place? yep, she LOVES doing that!

So, here are a few more of the fabulous purchases that
grandma made for her absolutely perfect grand daughter;

an adorable green empire waist tee
a chic cordoroy button up the back top.

Over at Old Navy we found these 2 adorable thermal button front onesies!

I would have happily snapped pics of Tess in all her new things,
but she is busy doing this right now:

But Wait! The baby clothes are great,
however this post is about falling in love.
I walked into Sweet Lady Jane on Church Street,
(a store I have loved for many years)
and as I am still not doing much me shopping,
because I am still feeling pretty blimpy with big ole' nursing boobs
(that was probably TMI, sorry), accessories are key at the moment...
Well let me tell you, even skinny, I would have fallen in love with
this wonderfully gorgeous OMG!!!
(I am calling it an OMG because bag, in this situation will just NOT cut it!)

(especially in the dark brown!, though all the colors are fabulous!)

it is unbelieveable!

the most buttery soft leather you have ever touched (with amazing detailing and worn-in goodness) and there is a shoulder strap you can hook on for a more messenger style
(yeah, messenger? who am I kidding? ...) It is actually the most sophisticated "comfort piece" I have ever seen!

Anyhow, I just can't get it out of my mind and it is just not in the budget and that totally sucks and so I will simply covet right now while I share my anguish and heartache over it with you!

(the photo does not even do it justice!...and it might even make me look kind of skinny because it's huge and so beautiful that you focus on the bag and not my chubbiness!)
(had never heard of the company before Monserat de Lucca, apparently Anthropologie carries some of their pieces too).

b boy in the capital!

2009-11-13T11:24:00.000-05:00

...while baby Tess and I were busting our butts selling selling selling at the show in DC last weekend, Daddy B Boy was outside busting some moves...

Back from DC!

2009-11-10T10:54:00.000-05:00

We made it back! holy crap that was a whirlwind!
There is alot to blog about, including follow up on the aircard, the credit card processing, chef ROCK STARS and doing a retail show in general, however, here is a peek at what the booth ended up looking like...I am not one to brag, but I think we definitely had the best looking booth! (Tess was very excitied about that!)

our back wall with sharpie "mouldings" and a foamboard shelf/built-in thingy

the whole booth and bit of our Salsa neighbor's booth

some quality time with my chisel tip sharpie...

2009-11-02T11:49:00.000-05:00

While most of you were busy enjoying Halloween I decided to spend some quality time at home with my jumbo chisel tip Sharpie. I am an admitted "HalloWinch" (my friend Stephen's word- perfectly describes me!) I am enjoying the very short time I have to not "do" Halloween with Tess, so until I have to, I am doing other very important tasks during this very special night for so many of you (whatever!).
In getting ready for the Metro Cooking Show in Washington, this Halloween night, I decided that it was the perfect night to get some architectural elements done for the booth, just me and my Sharpie! Something impactful, easy to transport and cheap!
Here's what I did.
I went to Staples and picked up one of those extra large pads of paper (the ones you can hang on an easel to do presentations, 2 ft wide by approx 3.5 ft tall).
I then started to measure out my Mouldings...

Then I started to fill things in...

I was not concerned about perfectly coloring in the lines, as a matter of fact, I was going for this "sketchy" almost "cartoonish" look.
Here is the finished product!

Once I had finished one, I put another sheet over it and simply traced the lines and did it again and again and again- yes, this was a long Halloween night!
Anyhow, the point is, I have mouldings for the booth now!
You will see the results very soon in photos, but basically, I will be using pushpins to tack these drawings all along the bottom few feet of our white foamboard walls to add some depth and architecture to our space, also, everything in the booth will be black and white except the products, so they will really pop!
upshot? cool mouldings, very transportable (just roll them up!), inexpensive (the cost of the notepad and the sharpies, I did go through 3 and my time? forget it! I didn't have to dress up and that's priceless!)
what do you think?

extras (tips and tricks for your next show)

2009-10-24T12:44:00.000-04:00

In my previous post, I wrote about our new booth design for our upcoming retail show, but that is just one aspect of the mind numbing details that had to be figured out in the last few weeks.
Since I ended up having to research just about everything to get ready for this show, I thought, heck, hopefully I can save at least someone else the absolute horrendously boring task of going through all this minutia themselves, why not share it? (phew, this should make a tiny dent in my karmic debt, right?).

Being someone who needs to picture stuff in my head, once I had a pretty good idea of how I wanted to present product I could start thinking of how customers would pay me for it (yes, others might have started with this part, something I might want to think about...anyhow). Obviously, this brings in a new set of problems. Cash is never a problem, so yes, check that off the list, but what about credit cards?
Being primarily a wholesaler (we sell to stores, who in turn sell to the end user), I made a decision long ago that I would not get too technical or fancy and incur large monthly fees for top of the line/newest fangled credit card processing options. For Visa and Mastercard, we actually have a set up where we can simply call in for authorizations (you can process dozens of transactions with just one phone call), but that won't work at a retail show, I am certainly not going to call in each time someone wants to pay with a credit or debit card.
For American Express, we have a card swipe machine that plugs into our phone line and although we do pay about $25/month for the machine, our telephone processor doesn't deal with Amex, so it had to be done. Now, here's the thing with the card swipe machine, the DC convention center charges approx. $400 for a phone line for the 2 day show- OUCH! Of course, we could go for a wireless machine, but I just can't substantiate the cost at this point.

I started to search around the internet to see what I could come up with, couldn't I simply process cards over the internet? I would only have to make sure that I could get online using my laptop.

Getting online: (call the show's internet/phone line provider)...the DC convention center charges $99/day to get onto their wireless network...ahem, sorry, what now? $99 PER DAY???????????? (are they smoking crack?)...The first person I speak to tells me that due to network interference, I will only be able to get onto their network, but if I really want to be 100% sure about my internet connection, I should get a phone line (yes, for $400) and get a special DSL line installed (sure, no problem...NOT).
I decided to call back again, and thankfully I did not get the same person! This time, the helpful lady on the line lowered her voice to an almost whisper and said- "just use an aircard and you will get online without a problem, no one is crazy enough to pay these prices!"- that was exactly what I was hoping to hear.
Aircards: Don't have one, (yeah I know, I know, I tweet, I blog, I facebook, I even design and maintain my own website and NO I don't have an aircard, blackberry or even iphone! since I am coming clean on this, you may as well know that my cell phone does NOT even take photos!, which is starting to really suck, because having the perfect child that I do, people want to see photos and I am not going to trapse around town with a photo album, that would be so, well...heavy, anyhow, ok, sorry, back to Aircards.

Well, believe it or not I actually limit my internet use to home/office or hotel (when traveling), I do not have an aircard. I started to look around for a wifi service provider that I could use (as our ISP's pricing was crazy for aircards)...I also asked people on twitter for recommendations. It finally came down to contracts, I decided NO to more damn contracts for now (if possible), why would I pay a monthly fee for something I really only need when I am traveling?, especially, when my goal is to travel less now for business, as we have a baby.
Here's what if finally came down to: http://daypasswireless.com/
They will send my aircard with limitless wifi access on Verizon to my hotel in Washington and it will be waiting for me when I arrive. I give them the day I want to start and I will only get billed starting that day and when I am done, I drop the aircard into the postage paid return envelope that they send with the aircard and drop it into the nearest mail box to go back to them- DONE! |I will be paying $8.79/day plus less than $10 for all the postage and handling, now that's a far cry from what the convention center was offering!
Great, now that I will have internet access, we can get back to online credit card processing.

This took ALOT of research!
Once again, being the contractual commitmentphobe that I am, I was looking for a somewhat temporary solution, since I am not sure if we will be doing retail shows all that often or not. So after seeing a gazillion sites that had lists and lists and lists of extras and charges, contracts and even the craziest system requirements I have ever seen, I came across one that looked pretty good, (they will remain nameless). As an aside, the great thing about twitter is that you can mention something in a tweet and suddenly BOOM, you get those types of people following you and selling you stuff/services...that's exactly what happened when I tweeted that I was looking for an internet credit card processing company. (do not mistake this for an online shopping cart solution, that's when you want to sell on your website, what I wanted was a company that could provide me with a solution to take cards live (not over the phone or online), swipe them if need be (or not if not necessary, based on rates and via a swiper that plugs into my laptop) and get instant verification and authorization.
So I started to communicate with this company A and the rates weren't horrible and I was told that I did not have to sign a longterm contract. I was told that I would be set up as a moto account, meaning, it was like I was doing business online, so I would not be swiping cards. I asked why I should be set up like this, since I would be swiping cards and I know that you will always get better rates when doing a face to face card transaction than via phone or internet- "not so", he told me (first big red flag!). Then the paper work started arriving into my email box and low and behold, all kinds of hidden costs. If there is no contract, then why do I have to pay a $50/month charge if I don't use it? why can't I just stop the service? I was told that he did not want to do all this if I was just going to cancel the service, HUH? I thought he got that this was the whole point, I wanted to use this type of service when and only when I need it!

I finally found http://www.securepay.com/ and Chris helped me out with exactly what I wanted. "Yes, of course you can stop and start the service whenever you want and as often as you want, many of our clients do this", "Well yes, of course we will give you better rates if you are swiping cards, as a matter of fact, for just $3/month (which you can send back whenever you'd like) we will mail you a card swiper that you can plug into your laptop, this way when you swipe you will get these great retail store type rates and when you don't swipe, the rates will just automatically go to the moto rates". While he was at it, he sent me the very simple and quick forms to fill out online and actually walked me through it all over the phone- 5 minutes, DONE!
I decided to call back company A to thank Mr. A for all his emails and explanations for their completely cryptic terms and conditions (which he told me in the emails to MAKE SURE TO READ CAREFULLY BEFORE SIGNING, yes, in BOLD) and to let him know that I found another company that could better serve my needs. He immediately emailed back with all kinds of ways he could match them and to tell me , "Nadine, nothing in life is free :-)" (yes, there was a smiley at the end).
Can I just say this, it really pisses me off that we so often are forced to become experts at other people's jobs just to figure out if what they are selling us is actually what we need or not?
It seemed to pay off this time, but I think I would have opted for bamboo shoots being shoved under my fingernails one by one rather than do this legwork again, if given the choice.
(I omitted the story about trying to actually stay with the processor I currently have and simply change the means to online for now, OMG it's amazing how some companies will not even try to keep a client that has been with them for over 8 years!)
Let's summarize: online access, online credit card processing, card swiper.
Now don't for a minute think that the convention center is going to just give me an electrical outlet to plug in my laptop, hot glue gun or breast pump....NO way Jose...you will PAY for that...stay tuned!

details details details

2009-10-23T17:44:00.000-04:00

In getting ready for the Metropolitain Cooking and Entertaining Show that's coming up in less than 2 weeks in Washington, I have found myself, once again, stuck deep in the depths of trade show preparation and details. I pretty much have NYC down to a science, I know on my drive down, what I need and where I can get it, from my booth flooring from the Home Depot to the wood slats I use to put up my very simple and effective Ikea shelves. I even get together with a few other exhibitors who do the Gift Fair and we order foamboard together (gives your booth a hard wall look for a much less expensive price and you can walk out of the booth and leave them at the end because for the price, they are NOT worth saving) through Utrecht Art Supplies in NYC. We organize it so that someone is at the Javits Center at the right time and Utrecht delivers it right to the door for us on the first set up day, so convenient!
We actually have a skid that stays in the NY area now.
After each show, we pack up our samples and booth decor (tables, chairs, shelves, booth sign etc) and shrinkwrap it, then we walk right out of the Javits Center and that's that. We have Service By Air pick it up (right out of our booth) and they store it for us and bring it in or ship it out to our next show.
Storage for the one skid runs us about $35/month, plus we pay for transporting it in and out, (they will ship it from coast to coast if that is what you need).
This costs us less than shipping everything back and forth all the time in between shows and saves us on logistical headaches and organizing. We keep almost all our needed supplies on that skid (a tool box with everything you would possibly need to set up a booth) even a step ladder, our electrical cords and clamp lights. New samples are usually sent from our warehouse to our hotel in NYC or a local Fedex office and we get fresh flowers and any little details we need at each show.
So now we are going to DC, and, it's not a trade show, but rather a retail show.
As mentioned here, we need to think about presenting, stocking and selling, rather than simply displaying and order taking (as with wholesale trade show).
Once again, baby Tess will be accompanying us, but this time we will not be driving, but rather flying.
We have decided to not rent a car. We are staying close to the convention center and we will make it work without the added expense and hassle of driving around to pick up supplies and schlepping a 7 month old along.
Originally, I had thought about hiring a DC area rollergirl to do some running around for us, (another wonderful example of how great it is to be part of the rollerderby community/network), to pick up flooring, do an Ikea run for us, etc but after a steady run of unforeseen obstacles, even that wasn't necessary.
The final decision was that we would not get our skid sent to DC, (we only need about 1/3 of what is on it) and to incur shipping expenses for only 1/3 seemed silly. Great! one big decision made!
New problem, what kind of booth decor would we use and how could we get it done quickly and inexpensively without our usual booth stuff on hand?
We could do the Ikea run; pick up new Strippa shelves (at $4 each we can afford to leave the others in the NY area and just buy more). NEWS FLASH! Ikea no longer makes Strippa shelves! F#%K!
To make a very long story a little shorter, this type of situation just seemed to keep happening, we would get 3 steps in and then BOOM, it wouldn't work.
Here's what did work. Utrecht Art Supplies worked! May I just say, "Utrecht, I love you!", the customer service is amazing and they always seem to come through when no one else does!
Conveniently, they have a store just blocks from the DC Convention Center (YES!), I called about foamboard and that was absolutely NO problem. When I asked if they could deliver, they told me not to worry, a couple of guys will help out or walk it over to the convention center, it won't be a problem!
Cool, walls taken care of.
Then came the flooring issue. We usually use this relatively inexpensive, (very heavy), white coated masonite that comes in 4'x8' sheets at Home Depot. We get it cut into squares to fit nicely over the floor of our booth (we tape it together with white tape) and it also fits into the car to transport to the convention center, (usually 3'x3' pieces or so).

As mentioned, we are not renting a car, so there goes that idea, but what to do to get the sleek, glossy white backdrop of a booth that BlueDogz Design products look so great on?...
Once again, our fabulous friends at Utrecht saved the day. I explained the issue and what we were looking for and they had a bunch of great, disposable, inexpensive ideas to get the look we are after, we have decided on shiny white mounting board. We are quite sure it will hold up for 2 days of traffic, it is sweepable, so we can keep it clean and it is the look we are after. YAY!
Now what about those shelves?
My usual shelving process with foamboard is, may I say, absolutely ingenius! (Yes, I said it. I wouldn't normally brag, but this process is pretty darn brilliant, see photo just above). I am constantly asked how I get the shelves to stay up on foamboard, I should write a book on it (hmmm) I will share, promise, stay tuned.

Well, this is where a sudden new design was born! Xnay on the shelves for this show, we are going bold, graphic and new....(and heck, it will eliminate the whole power tool, wood and shelving process...take note, I just let some secrets slip out). The entire back wall, 8 ft high, by 10 ft wide (which will look like a sleek white wall, thanks to the foamboard) will have fabulous BlueDogz Design clipboards hanging all over it, on little clear adhesive hooks. We will be able to get approx 10 across in approx 6-8 rows, trust me, it is going to look stunning! In the middle of the wall, we will have our new sign (I love it! you?)

In terms of booth furniture, to display all of our, displays and products, we have decided to simple rent 2 large ugly trade show tables from the venue (one 4 ft long and the other 6 ft long) and do something special to them (once again, stay tuned, I will show you step by step how to transform ugliness to utter fabulousness!) ...I will also share info on how you won't need a phone line (for $400) to process credit cards, how you won't need the convention center's $99/day wifi, to get on the internet (hopefully) and how you don't even need to buy an aircard to get unlimited WIFI service for less than $10 a day with no contracts.
Damn, I am starting to sound like an infomercial.
Fine, but if you do shows, you are going to thank me for doing all your ground work for you!

things are coming together for DC

2009-10-19T14:26:00.000-04:00

As some of you might already know, (ie: my twitter followers) BlueDogz Design is heading to Washington DC in a couple of weeks for the Metropolitain Cooking & Entertaining Show. Since it is a retail show and not one of our regular wholesale "trade only" shows (where we sell to retailers), it brings with it some major changes in how we will set up our booth, what we need on hand (as we will be selling directly out of the booth), general logistics complications and of course what some of you might already be asking yourselves...what the eff is BlueDogz going to a cooking & entertaining show for?
Well, here's the deal. The wholesale shows are just not what they used to be, at least not in the Gift Industry! Although we still get business and visibility at trade shows, in the last year and half or so traffic is WAY down (and don't believe anyone who tells you otherwise, they are liars!), buyers are much more rushed and more apt to just breeze through and ask for a catalog, order writing at the shows has simply changed, the shows have changed. So what's a small company to do? Especially a small company that did most of it's sales at trade shows?
My favorite answer, SURF!
I had this amazingly wise professor at University that told me that all we really needed to know how to do was surf. If we could surf through whatever life threw at us, we would always be ok. Just like surfing, sometimes you wipe out, sometimes your timing is right, sometimes it's tough out there and other times it's perfect...you can never predict, you will never get the same wave twice, you will take your share of hits and spills and you will likely get caught inside...but if you can just stay afloat and keep surfing and depend on the water to BE unstable and moody, you will get through anything. I LOVE that advice!
So we are surfing over to DC for some selling and to show these foodies what great gifts BlueDogz Design has to offer. For Hosts or Hostess', as shower or bridal favours, for organizing in style or for jotting down lists or thoughts, we have all the supplies covered!
From our Teeny Tags, to our clipboards, to our CC boxes, we are going to show these fabulous DC foodies how to glamourize and punctuate their gifts, tables and spaces with useful, affordable and total prettiness!

I can't wait to show you how the booth will turn out.
I have been mulling this one over for weeks now and I have finally come to some decisions. As a teaser, I will let you know that we will be showing all products like a candy store, here is a fantastic photo of a candy table designed by Amy Atlas that I think is Absolutely Gorgeous! - so imagine this idea, but without the candy, essentially, our products become the candy! Sweet huh!?

We will stay true to our white booth, but this time (since we are stocking goods and not just displaying samples) we will have some fun new twists to the booth design. We are also using fresh new tag line for the show,
BlueDogz Design, Purveyors of Delicious Gifts!
what do you think?

sleep when she sleeps...

2009-10-12T10:59:00.000-04:00

I remember when Tess was first born, numerous people told me,
"make sure to sleep when she sleeps!"...

Clearly these people with the wonderfully good advice must have had around the clock help, personal chefs, a cleaning staff and a wet nurse.
We, on the other hand don't. As entrepreneurs who need to work, people who like to shower once in a while, those who attempt to clean up on occasion and parents who like to eat without simultaneously breast feeding or juggling a little one ALL the time, funnily enough, unless it's actually during the night,
we do NOT sleep when she sleeps...
plus, let's face it...if we did, how would we ever catch moments like this?

Yesterday, which was a Sunday, as I was catching up on some email and extra work (while preciousness SLEPT-btw, it is the fabulous Marc Tetro who named her that, but we like it! )...I found myself doing that email conversation thing- (you know, when you email someone, they email right back and so on) with none other than TV personality and celebrity designer Courtney Cachet (she chose our Be Boxes to be on her "Coolest List"- more to come on this later- I am THRILLED!!!), at one point she emailed..."so you work on Sundays too? :-)..."at that point I thought- Damn, busted, I should have waited until Monday to respond to her email and I would have looked so much cooler, but then I thought, since I am someone's Mom now, I will likely never be considered cool again, unless it's like the "Hey, your Mom is cool, for an 80 yr old!" kind of way, so Yes, here it goes- I own it- I work on Sundays, I do not sleep when my baby sleeps (but I DO shower), I am really not very cool (unless playing roller derby ups my cool factor just a little) and frankly I have never cared less!
Oh, but guess what?...I'm in good company! because my exciting new email friend Courtney Cachet works on Sundays too! not because she was blackberrying me from her private jet en route to Bora Bora but because she has TWO little ones and does NOT sleep when they sleep either!

since you are here,

2009-10-09T16:08:00.000-04:00

and not here, check out our great sale items here!

it's been a long week...

2009-10-09T15:53:00.000-04:00

it's been a long week at Bluedogz Design Headquarters,
apparently we are all feeling it!

wishing everyone a happy weekend!

just in case you are looking for a great blog to read- check out www.peaceloveluxe.com
the adorable and talented Heather Smith blogged about,
yeah, you guessed it, yours truly and her products (that would be moi!)

can I tell you that I am thrilled, flattered and so touched!
after a week that basically kicked the crap out of me
(frankly, I feel like Tess looks)
it was a great ending to a tough week.
"Thanks Doll!" ;-)

sometimes, (well often actually) simple is AMAZING!

2009-09-02T09:44:00.000-04:00

When in NYC 2 weeks ago for the New York Gift Fair (posting below), we had very little time to do much other than work, sleep and breastfeed! (Well, I did the breastfeeding part)
But I did finally manage to make it to Muji the amazing Japanese store in the NY Times Building on Monday night. I had been wanting to go on the last few trips to NYC, but had never seemed to make the time.

I visited Muji for the first time in Tokyo in the 80's, it was amazing.
If you don't know about Muji, check them out http://www.muji.com/.
Simplistic, clean, interesting and useful products and accessories, from food, to the greatest desk and office stuff, to organizational pieces, to furniture, to clothing. They were true pioneers in my opinion in their store styling and displays, their affordable pricing, their eclectic yet perfectly put together product lines and their basic, yet sophisticated color pallet of unpainted wood, stainless steel, clear glass, recycled paper, white and uncolored easy on the eyes purity.
On Tuesday at the NY gift Fair, one of the Muji buyers actually came into the BlueDogz Design booth and looked around at the line, you can imagine my excitement when I noticed her name tag and realized who she was.
Her English was not great but she was adorable and wanted to know more about the line.
I told her that our products were all made of recycled wood, and she smiled and repeated..."a- wooo?"...I said, "wood" and she again said "a- woooo000?" , sounding almost the same as the first time she said it, but the rising intonation at the end convinced me that she now understood that it was wood, or, "a-woooo" as she called it- (same diff!, heck, she's a Muji buyer, she could have said "a- poooo" and I would have likely smiled and loudly said YES! that's right!).

She smiled at me and promptly left after looking things over, but I was truly thrilled that she had come in at all.
Well, back to the store...I have been in a real "not shopping" phase the past several months, only buying necessities and baby things, not really wanting to buy clothes luckily, because I still feel fat and just cutting back, because let's face it, times are tough!- but I simply couldn't resist this at Muji :

It's a notecard that came flat with an envelope, but when you open it up, look at what you get...
the NEW YORK CITY SKYLINE! all for just $8. I am totally mesmerized by it and it makes me so happy!

See the way it picks up the light? total product envy on this one!

Here is how it is made:

So simple, little die-cut layers of card stock that are stuck to the sides in rows. Tah Dah- that's it!
(oh, and they also had London and Paris...I will SO be getting the other 2).
Needless to say, this is not being used as a card or to wish anyone well, call me selfish and mean, don't care! This little piece of art went right onto my shelves, the ones that hold all kinds of my favorite things, the ones that took me 2 whole weeks to put up because our brick walls are old and not flat and uneven. (more on the shelves later!)
My Muji NYC skyline is perfect! it looks like a little stage, with perfect back drops and perfect lighting design, I love it!

the NYIGF...it came...it went...we survived

2009-08-28T18:32:00.000-04:00

The anticipation almost killed me!
So many questions, so many worries, so much newness this time.
Baby Tess was coming to NYC for my most important show of the year, the New York International Gift Fair (August edition), not only was it my first time doing a show with a baby, but it was her first time traveling, being in the car for more than an hour or so at a time, even sleeping in a bed other than hers (and by hers, I mean ours).
The questions kept me up at night...
1- how would she manage the drive? (did I mention that our perfect daughter HATES the car?- no?, well, yup!)
2- how would we set up the booth with a needy 5 month old?
3- would she ever sleep?
4- where would I nurse her? (pump?/ nurse? / oh god, the thoughts were killing me!)
5- would we be stuck with take out all week? or would she decide to suddenly love her traveling seat and hang out at restaurants with us for hours on end? (don't forget I was nauseated for 10 months out of the 9 month pregnancy, I am still rejoicing at being able to eat great food again!- this is VERY BIG for me).
6- what would buyers think when they walked into the booth and saw a baby?
7- would the 5 feet I shortened our now 25 ft long booth (and saved a 9 quadrilljiillion dollars) be too small and be all squishy?
8- would Tess' stroller fit into the booth with me and her daddy and all the products?
9- would people think that we are totally poor, pathetic and mean to not bring a nanny with us to the show? (and by nanny, I mean my Mom)
10- would buyers think that I was totally, .....unprofessional? (oh god no! not that!)

and these questions didn't even touch on all the worries I had regarding business...
a- would there be any buyers?
b- would I cover my 6 quadribillion dollar booth and expenses?
c- would we write orders? (trick question, see a)
d- would we get to the booth and find that there was a massive dirty brown shag covered concrete pillar sitting smack dab in the middle of it, with a huge plactic trash can filled with murky dirty NY water teetering on a skinny old unstable pole wobbling on top of it, that the show just conveniently forgot to tell us about? would the nightmares about trying to cover the mess with white duct tape and inkject printer paper come true?
e- would someone crazily important in the gift industry walk into the booth and make me an offer I couldn't refuse? but then, might I realize that I do NOT have enough freaking inventory to ship the damn amazing order? (the first part is more of a dream than a worry, the second part is how I can turn a dream into a worry).
f- would Jonathan Adler, who's fantabulously stylish and chic booth is just a few aisles away from us become completely obsessed and stalkerish towards BlueDogz Design (wait now, how did this get in here?...)

Well long story a teeny bit shorter...WE SURVIVED! (quite swimmingly I might add...see answers to all my very important worried questions below)
but first...drumroll please, Tess decided, right there, in NYC that it was by time she start using her hands and arms to push up on when chillaxing on her tummy (as opposed to her face and toes)... tell me that she is NOT the smartest baby on the entire planet earth!
(check this out...)

Answers:

1- Interestingly, the drive was not the hightlight of our week. She screamed, well...ALOT...did I mention that when she screams ALOT in the car, I tend to cry?, no?, well I do...(it's just that little perfection rarely cries at all) so to hear the insane shrieks, like some psychopath in the back seat is impaling her is just a little more than I can handle, yep, too much! To make matters just a smidgen worse, the usual 5 hr trek, took just over 7 hrs, due to what came to be known as "tit stops", yes, lots of those interestingly.

2- HA, we ACED this one! We strolled into the Javits Center, with all the commotion, the crappy smells, the dirt and noise and Tess decided to check out...YES...she fell ASLEEP! woo hoo, we are the BEST parents ever!!!
3- Sleeping? (insert high 5) Aced again! As at home, Miss Thing loves her morning slumbers. She spent most mornings snoozing away at the Hotel with Daddy waiting for her to wake up...Once she woke, Daddy washed and dressed her and they rolled into work around noon. Apparently all my worries about the different bed, the new smells, the noisy city etc...were completely unfounded. So happy I wasted all that time on that.
4- In a word- EVERYWHERE! Yes my girl likes her milk at room temperature, straight from the boob and pretty much anywhere. And, that is exactly what she got! We ended up finding a good booth boob spot and it became her own human drive thru!

5- Yes, Take Out is was...ALL WEEK- but let's face it, everything in NYC is Take-Out-Able...so no complaints. Plus, Daddy got his Five Napkin Burger early in the week, so all was good.

6- They wanted samples! yes, baby Tess samples!- our answer? sorry, we broke the mould.
Holla Indigo/Chapters buyers- the baby is NOT for sale so you can stop emailing and calling...please. :-)
7- not bad...worth the 9.4 quadramillfequillion dollars I saved!
8- just- so sometimes we kept the stroller a little in the aisle.
A couple of times, when we spotted a really important buyer walking by we would launch the stroller into them in hopes of knocking them over, or just slightly maiming them and then politely offering to help them in the booth, and by help, I mean an order for a dozen or so of each item that we sell (we are thoughtful that way) and of course we happily would offer them free shipping for their trouble and injuries. Of course they would answer- oh no- it would be our pleasure to pay for shipping, we love shipping charges! ...oh sorry, I fell asleep for a minute...I'm back now.
9- We don't have a nanny, I mean, a REAL nanny, heck, we don't even have a fake nanny...nope, no nanny. Let's face it, I miss Tess when she is napping, how would I possibly be able to be without her for hours on end?
As for the Mom thing, well, if she is very very very good, and I mean VERY good, we might consider it for the next show...be good Mama!
10- I am wayyyy too control-y and type A to be considered unprofessional, so if taking my perfect child with me to a trade show is unprofessional, then bring it on, I can handle it, REALLY!

Business...
a- YAY! there were buyers, matter of fact, the first 2 days were even busy. Now, this is BIG for the gift industry right now, I mean BIG, so this is great news!
b- OY vey...this one is always the killer...right now, as of today, with every single penny tallied, it is a tight call, and by tight, I mean REALLY tight...but...I some great things in the works, and I am not just SAYING that, so I will keep you posted on this one. On another note, did I mention that Bergdorf Goodman was in?
Holy Crap would I like to sell to them!
c- YAY! we wrote orders! some great re-orders, some fab new accounts, some dumb dinky orders that will never re-order because their initial order doesn't make sense (but they don't want to listen, so whatever) and even a few that I had been trying to reel in for a while now...ha...got em!
I even got to meet some awesome bloggers like http://www.treehugger.com/ and http://www.peaceloveluxe.com/ that I know via their blogs or twitter and of course it is always beyond exciting to get great Magazines in the booth wanting to snap photos of product (holla http://www.countrylivingmag.com/)
d- NOoooooo not my gals at GLM, Bibi and Randy rock! just a bad dream (I think we call that ANXIETY)...the booth was even better than we could have hoped for. At the last minute, Randy let us know that one end of our booth could be open, because an aisle was going to go there, rather than another booth- YES double exposure, and then, when we arrived at the booth there was approx. a 4-6 booth opening right in front of our booth which over passed to yet another aisle, talk about awesome! we loved it! (and by loved it! we mean DON'T MOVE US, please).
e- Still doing the whole "Secret" thing on this one, c'mon I am picturing it, let's go already!
f- Well we were on our way to filing a restraining order when Mr. Adler decided to push back and relax a bit in terms of his BlueDogz Design stalking...Thanks for understanding Jon-o! It's just that it's very difficult to talk to our clients when you keep grabbing stuff off our shelves and get all like- OMG I HAVE TO HAVE THIS NOW!!!!!! NADINE DID YOU DESIGN THIS????? YOU ARE BRILL!!!!! (and by BRILL, he meant brilliant... I think... it was just that he was so loud that it was hard to make out the words).

review on Grosgrain Garage

2009-07-07T14:13:00.000-04:00

The fabulous Lisagh King, who writes the fabulous blog Grosgrain Garage gave our new clipboard collection a fabulous review- thank you Lisagh! that's alot of fabulous!

Official Launch!

2009-06-27T11:37:00.000-04:00

This past week, we decided to (finally) officially announce our new Clipboard Collection with a formal press release. We had never used prweb before for our press releases, so this was the first test. I will keep you posted on what happens and let you know about my experience with prweb.
So far, so good!

My Montreal

2009-06-27T11:01:00.000-04:00

Recently, I was lucky enough to be featured as a Mom Around the World by Shelley Rivoli.

I was asked all kinds of questions about Montreal and traveling around the city with a baby. Take a look at the article for tips on where to go, where to eat and what you can do when visiting Montreal.

As a side note, I learned alot about photography while doing this article. Apparently when your mate is standing at a distance and trying to photograph not just you and the baby, but also as much of the scenery as possible, the photos have a tendancy to look like they were taken by your very own stalker. These didn't make the cut.

it's spring!

2009-05-11T17:57:00.000-04:00

Don't we all start things with such great intentions? and then somehow, it's getting around to just doing it!...I have had some great excuses for not doing a better job at getting this blog going, well, at least one really great excuse...I had a baby girl!!!

Yes, Tess was born on March 26th, 3 weeks earlier than her due date and more beautiful and perfect (and tiny, just 5lbs 1oz) than I ever could have imagined.

Now I am not just in love with her Daddy, but madly in love with this tiny little person too...EVERYTHING has changed!

So when I thought I would start this blog to discuss (and limit it to) style, design, giftware and of course BlueDogz Design, I can't possibly not blog about my life too, this amazing little baby and my favorite hobby, roller derby...yes, you read it right, roller derby!

It was a toss up for a long time...business, life, business and life...hmmm, what to do with this blog...well, stay tuned, you might get a lot more than you bargained for.

To begin with, I would like to introduce you to my amazing view while I work.

I simply have to look down into the carrier strapped to my chest/back and I can admire this beautiful little face (usually) napping so peacefully...

On a good day, I can get 1-2 hrs in a row of work done with her quiet and snoozing...on a really good day I can get those 1-2 hrs twice!
Just for a quick rundown, at 6 weeks Tess has been to her first roller derby tournament (and her team won!), she has made lots of noise through at least 10 business calls, she has almost doubled her birth weight, she has grown longer eyelashes, her eyes are getting bluer and she has puked on her parents more times than we can count (and that's in only 6 weeks!), I think these are amazing accomplishments.

As obsessed as I am with my child, amazingly, business is humming along...I am definitely feeling a change in the economic climate (are you?)...lots more calls and orders coming in in the last few weeks and generally hearing that clients are feeling less afraid and ready to get things moving again- YAYE!
We are too! We are presently updating the website and you will see our brand new collection of clipboards up any day now- 18 new micro designs, 8 new mini designs and 6 new BIG designs. From great new florals to cool personalise-able designs to new hip polka dots, damasks and a great flash art pattern!...here is a quick sneak peek at what's coming:

Also exciting in this new collection is that now, each micro and mini clipboard comes with not just 1 notepad, but 2!!! You still get the other great options; the painted clipboard (on recycled wood), a pencil on a ribbon, 2 strong magnets on the back and now 2 great notepads with matching covers and white perforated paper, what more could you possibly need?

welcome!

2009-02-26T12:06:00.000-05:00

Welcome to the BlueDogz Design Blog!
I am excited to share design ideas, new product launches, great gift suggestions and what is going on in my BlueDogz and everyday world with you, let's see where this takes us!
hope you enjoy!