American Crafts Christmas Party

American Crafts continues to be a blessing for me as we continue to grow the Pebbles Inc. brand. I feel blessed to be the creative director and work with the people that I do. They have been very good to me. Tonight we went to their Christmas Party and were once again entertained by Wayne and his Let's Make a Deal show.

Happy Day Collection Samples for CHA

Life has been pretty busy as I juggle the Christmas Season with creating samples for the upcoming CHA Tradeshow first part of January. Who plans a show first part of January? The Scrapbooking market remains soft and we are continuing to reach out into the home decor and papercrafting areas. While my heart remains at home, I continually need to remind myself to count my blessings that I am able to design for a living and inspire other people. All creativity will come back to the store afterwards :)

      My mess

cha 2014

Memories of CHA:

Loving the time I get to spend with the people I work with. Sleeping with one of my BFF's, this year in matching pi's. Darcy fell and injured her knee in the booth, instacare & crutches... she was a trooper! I fell and rolled on my shoulder and twisted my ankle, we were quite the pair. Jim calling to drop off keys and our scramble to be presentable : ) Felt I spent half my time looking for tools during set up. Grateful that Ken, Jason and Sean flew in to help with set up and take down. I think Long Beach is the best little airport in America. Visiting with store owners. Bumping into old friends. Gathering catalogues to look through later for the store. Getting my picture taken with Rupert from Survivor... he was of course in the tie dye booth. Jen Hadfield came to introduce her new line coming out in June. Eating my See's Candy and white cheddar popcorn for snacks at night time, knowing I was going home to a new way of life. Picking up Winchell's in the morning. The tear down of the booths... it helps to laugh and enjoy this long time together... Starting the book, The Fault in our Stars. 

last supper...

The night before anyone leaves on a trip, they pick their last special meal. Milagro's Sweet Green Chili Stuffed Chicken Quesadilla for me. HEAVEN. We never know when we will make the front page news. I leave for the Anaheim CHA show in the morning and I am so very tired. The show is piggy backed on the Christmas season and I have spent many over-nights working on the creative samples. I love what I do, but wish the show could be in February or March. I am looking forward to visiting with friends and seeing what's new in the market.

cha show las vegas

The Craft and Hobby Show was held in Las Vegas this year. A lot of work getting ready for it but once I get there, it really is a week of visiting with old friends and making new ones. It is nice to meet the store owners that bring Pebbles Inc. into their stores and love our designs. This year since it was so close, I drove down with Darcy, my bff roommate that makes it a fun girl friends week for both of us. I woke up and my mind went directly to Winchell's donuts (no longer available in Utah) and we always left a few minutes early to make a donut run. White cake with cherry glaze and coconut for me, white cake and glaze with sprinkles, along with white old fashion for Wayne. Can there honestly be anything better? It made me think of the time when my nieces drove to Las Vegas just to get their dad Winchell's for his birthday... love in a box.

This year, it was especially nice to see Craig and Anny from Crea, along with Chris Skinner  and Delanie formerly from EK Success.

I continually feel grateful for the home that American Crafts has made for Pebbles Inc. and most especially for the good people I work with :)

2013 cha show anaheim california

We hit the ground running until we got home. I am bone tired, but happy. It has been said that work is good for man and I agree. There is a certain satisfaction that comes with putting in a hard day of work. I was able to help create a new booth for Pebbles Inc. which made a world of difference in our presentation. My sister Bonnie would often say that presentation is everything. She was right. 

Memories:

Rooming with Darcy and staying up too late :)  Loving the people at American Crafts and feeling grateful for each one of them. It has been a good home for Pebbles Inc. Wayne trading his first class seat with my regular seat on the way there. Listening and understanding the store owners. Eating at Cheesecake Factory two nights in a row so I could have my favorite dish ' Crispy Chicken Costoletta' or heaven on a plate, as I call it. Thinking it's time to lose weight and eat healthier (again). Introducing four new party lines with Amy Locurto and looking forward to four more. Setting up the booths with Mark and Josh. Catching up with old friends in the industry and making new ones. Walking the show floor each morning from 7:30 to 10am and picking up catalogues for Pebbles in my Pocket. Tiffani Smith was able to come down to the show with her husband. One day melding into another. Tearing down the booth and sharing our last dinner together at Carolina's.

One night I ate at a sea food buffet with Mark, Josh and Ken. At the end of the buffet, there were trays of cookies.  I asked the woman working there if they were coconut macaroons. No english she replied. Hmm. They looked like coconut macaroons to me. No english she replied to me. Hmm. English macaroons? Then there was something yummy next to them and I asked if they were cream puffs. No english she replied. Hmm. English cream puffs at a sea food buffet? No english she replied again and then I knew. She didn't speak english. Duh. When I am really tired, I can be way dumb.