National Stationery Show, NY '09

Wow! What a show that was! Heading into the show, I didn't know what to expect with the news touting grim reports on the economy everyday. As predicted, the show was smaller by 1/4 in terms of buyers and exhibitors. We simply didn't know if small was good or bad. Thankfully, it was good. A smaller show allowed a more concentrated pool of serious buyer and exhibitors to mingle and that is always good!

Let's start from the top. Three days before heading out to NY was a mad rush of wrapping up marketing material (aka press kits and giveaways) for the show. On top of the mad rush, my family came in town from Taiwan to go to my bro's graduation  at Vegas. Talk about a mad house trying to juggle between being a hostess, a good daughter and a business owner! With a few flared tempers and minimum casualties, I managed to finish what I needed and dashed off to NY on the redeye with Dan, the muscle to my  brains (ok, maybe he's also the brains but don't tell him I admit that). Poor guy just returned from a 3 day trip to Hong Kong and I dragged him off to NY within 2 days of his return. Talk about a messed up sleep schedule!

The plan was to hit the ground running on our 7 AM arrival Thurs. morn. We hit the bed instead and passed out until late afternoon. 

Fri. morning we cab off to the Javits Center and begin our set up. 

A before shot of booth #2063. The cardboard box Dan is sitting at doubles as a computer table and dining table for cheap greasy Chinese food.

Dan complains that I never let him out of his cage!

Ta da! An after shot of booth #2063. It's show time!

Business cards and giveaways. The bread crumbs were a hit!

Throughout the show, the energy on the floor was great! Not only did we meet returning customers, we also made new ones and picked up a few reps. along the way. More updates on that when contracts are solidified! A few of our twitter friends were twittering about the floor. It's awesome to finally put a face to a tweet!

Overall,  we were able to make a presence throughout the show with a few items in 3 categories in the Best Product display, a mention or two in the stationery trend lecture (Thanks, Sarah of Stationery Trend Magazine), a  surprise picture of me in my booth in Day 3's Stationery Today (Thanks, Kim also of Stationery Trend Magazine).

On the last day, clock chimes 12 and the grand carriage turns back into a pumpkin! (Literally! The photo was taken at 12:23 pm.)

It was bittersweet when everything came down. I didn't realize I was heading home to a three day weekend and, boy, am I grateful for it! More posts soon on other booths from NSS.

And, yes, thank you Dan for being my muscle. As the ladies in the next booth commented, you are wonderful eye candy!

Postage hikes for Invitaions

An article I just read in Martha Stewart's Bride Guide brought up an important reminder that USPS will have a rate hike on May 11 from $.42 to $.44. This poses a problem for brides who send out invites right before that date and are waiting for reply cards to come in before or a little after May 11. The new $.44 stamps won't be on sale until May 11 and some small RSVP cards won't fit several tiled stamps. The solution is simple- the Forever Stamp. For more information on new rates visit USPS.

R.I.P. Lifestyle

What a sad sad day. One of my favorite magazines, Domino Magazine, had the plug pulled on them today. It was such a great escapism magazine! It looks like Domino isn't the only lifestyle magazine to get the boot. In the last few months InStyle Home and Cottage Living, Blueprint, Country Home, O at Home has all been axed. Sigh... 

Featured Store: Urban Mercantile, San Francisco

I spent the past Christmas weekend up north with Dan's family in Cupertino. Talk about a food coma Christmas with fresh steamed crabs, prime rib, his mother's famous oatmeal muffin (legend has it that Dan inhaled 13 muffins in one sitting, must've been his younger days), cherry pie (another famous recipe) and way more food than I can list.  

After a day of visiting friends in the city, Dan and I decided to explore Haight-Ashbury (hmmm, quite an interesting sub culture there) and walk off some calories while we were at it. Lo and behold, on the way, we passed by Urban Mercantile, one of the wonderfully modern boutiques that carry our products. Of course we went in to look around and take some pictures for our blog (which also gives us the idea to feature stores we like every so often!). What a store! The shop is full of precious collections for the home. I was a bit sad that owner, Bradly, wasn't there that day.  I highly recommend stopping by if you're in town.  

Urban Mercantile

85 Carl Street San Francisco, California 94117

 

To Live and Buy in LA

LA Times writer Jeannine stopped by our booth at Unique LA and mentioned our collection. Woo hoo! Thank you Jeannine for the write up! Click the image for the complete article. 

Unique Los Angeles 2008

What an exciting weekend it was! We has so much fun showing our wares and meeting new people at the first Unique Los Angeles holiday gift-mart. The vendors there are such a creative bunch. I was tempted to splurge everything I made there on things I wanted for myself (forget holiday shopping for other people!). Fortunately, I had the sense to hand over the loot to Dan who made sure I only spent what I needed (holiday gifts. bah!)

Check out our new sign! It was cut on a CNC by the incredibly talented furniture designers from A Single Tree.  Thank you John and Brendan for the last min. save!

Brendan checking the cuts. 

I'll post more in the days to come some of the items I LOVED at Unique LA. Sadly, I didn't take enough (or any at all!) pictures. 

Good Impression

Thanks Sarah at Ideal Bite for writing an awesome feature on our products! 

Click on the photo to see the complete article. 

Special deals on TISELLE product available online at Broadway Paper or at Pulp 425 S. La Brea Ave. Map It (323-937-3506).  Unique Los Angeles Independent Design & Gift Sale, Dec. 13-14, 11 am-7 pm. 

Mention {Ideal Bite} at Pulp or enter {Biter} at Broadway Paper’s checkout online, and get 10% off any TISELLE product through Dec. 31. Mention {Ideal Bite} at the Unique LA event-booth #3012, and get a holiday gift with purchase.