our parents...

it is almost chinese new year (tomorrow is new year's eve) and we are headed out to las vegas. our parents will also be joining us for this show - i don't think my dad or mom will be doing much selling there but they are there for moral support (and you will probably see them taking lots of pictures at the booth from across the way)...

...my parents didn't have an easy life when they came to the US. in fact, there are parts that they don't talk about a lot. once in a while, they will mention something that we didn't know about their childhood or past. they both came to the US alone as students on green cards... they know what it was like to be poor (hence they have passed on the pack rat-ness to us somewhat). it often amazed me that when my dad retired, he was making less money than i was when i was 2 years out of college. but we made it - often times on his 1 salary - all 4 of us.

... when i see this picture, it seems hardly real to me that my parents are both in their 60s approaching their 70s (thank goodness they will be passing the good genes onto me). and let me tell you how EXCITED they are that they are going to be grandparents 2x over this year. my dad told me on his BD " i am almost 70, it is time for me to have grandbabies!"

... but i know they will be at LV to be with us and give us moral support with 2 pregnant women waddling around with their DHs. and we will probably be yelling a bit under the stress but hey - it is all good - we are family.

and i will also leave you with one more complete peek:

if you are at CHA , pop over and say hello at booth 1165.

presenting...

... as promised, here are the lunch break (the tall one) and coffee break (the short one) tins with their fabulous coordinating chipboard books! deb and i decided to package these items separately (the tins and books) b/c some people might like to see tins without a book or visa versa - this way you can pick and choose what you want and don't want!

i really dig these tins and books as there are so many uses to them! and you *will* be knocked over by the pricing we have on all 4 of these! i promise.

when deb and i start developing new products, we try to think of things which gives our products an extra kick - the signature packaging, the versatility of the product and of course the value.

and i think people are starting to associate that with our Maya Road name - it is important to us. that is why we spend the 48 hours of traveling back and forth to asia to make this all happen a couple of times a year. and as you have seen from our products, we try to make things that can match so many things! it doesn't matter if you are into shabby chic items, bold geometric designs or floral themes, our products will hopefully provide you with the base and accents you need to make the products your very own!

well, the show is a mere 4 days away so lots left to still do.

hope you have enjoyed all of the peeks here!

one more peek...

this is a peek at one (of the two) tins we will be putting out at this show. we have 2 very CUTE ones - one named lunch break (the tall one) and one name coffee break (the short one). when i put them side to side, they crack me up b/c it is like arnold swatarzenegger and danny devito from the "TWINS" movie.

what makes our tins different than others you have seen out there? good question and i do have a couple of answers.

1. price point - just wait til you see what the retail cost is on these - very very reasonable
2. there are matching chipboard books which fit inside each tin (sold separately). these are super cool as you actually can put an whole album in each tin (or 2 albums will fit too!).
3. unlike some other tins, these ones have a removable handle for easier template tracing and gluing papers down.

the one you see here is the LUNCH BREAK one and it measures 8" x 6" x 4" (approx). i jazzed this one up with some hawaiian papers, antiquing spray, stamps and some maya road ribbons, twill and chipboard.

check back tomorrow for some more looks at our chipboard books!

friendships...

... so i was going for my run today and thinking about a friend of mine, jeff. jeff and i have know each other for like oh 17 years or something. we met in HS - he was this angry long haired nerd and i was just this nerd. but we became friends (you should see our PROM picture LOL!)

we went to college together - pretty much the same classes, hung out together and got in trouble together. i found this notebook the other day - jeff and i used to pass notes in college about things we wanted to do after process control lab (don't ask - nerd speak). you can see we liked to pass notes a lot LOL! i think all of my college notes almost has places where we were talking about what we wanted to do after class. ah, those were the days... we were best friends for many years.

well as things go, friends tend to ebb and flow and at some point in time, i couldn't call him my best friend any more. that bothered me for a while but we were headed in different places in our lives - i was starting a new job and getting married and he was going back to school for yet another degree. our weekly conversations turned to monthly and our daily emails turned to weekly. it has been almost 8 years now since i left college. it was about 9 months since we last spoke.

i called jeff out of the blue the other day and i was happily surprised that it seems like our lives seem to not be going into separate directions but we were possibly paddling in the same direction. i had hesitated to tell him i was pregnant but i did and he told me that he was going to be entering into a committment ceremony with the love of his life and wanted me to be there - which i hope to be and he was very excited that i was about to become a mom.

and it seems to me that my friendship allotment is whole again. i still keep this notebook because it makes me smile.

feelling slothy...

... yesterday for some parts felt very slothy to me - i HAD to take a 1.5 hour nap b/c my head was killing me, i ate a row of brownies i made straight from the pan (about an hour before dinner), i convinced my DH we should go out to eat b/c i was too tired to cook and then around midnight i laid in bed to read my mayo clinic baby book in the A-Z definitions section for a wind down (yes i am a nerd)...my baby belly is super heavy to me as i have never weighed 150 lbs before now. my body is doing some weird but absolutely amazing things! i don't think i have waddled so much in my life!

but TODAY is a new day, i am going to stick my toe out in an hour to see if it is cold outside and go for a run. i will make this a productive day not b/c i have to but because i want to and i choose to. so much to do - i have a thousand ideas running through my mind like rats in a maze.

since yesterday, i have been eyeing our new MR ribbon slides - i know i showed the paislies yesterday but i have some more today - some new MR blossom ribbon slides - i have scanned them with the paisleys so you can see how they coordinate. these will come out at CHA in less than a week (gulp).

enjoy!

kickin' it old skool...

... this peek is for some slides which deb and i are EXTREMELY excited about! our new paisley slides which match our new SoHo ribbons! we haven't done slides like this before in more than one color but i guess once you go this way you can't ever go back! these are super super COOL! i could fondle them all day but then i wouldn't get anything done and that would suck. so for now, i will leave this photo with you to enjoy - i will show some more slides we have tomorrow.

mojo...

it seems you can't choose when your mojo comes and goes. mine is here right now and i don't know how long it plans on staying but i hope to milk it for all it is worth! i think the excitement (and pressure) of the tradeshow is getting to me but we will see how it all turns out in only a week...

i have been eyeing this blossom book since we release it at MT with a thousand ideas in my head and i FINALLY was able to do something with it (i managed to snag one of these as the rest of them have flown out our doors). i really like this BLOOM book i was able to put together. i will be sharing it with my lil' buddy, miss E, as she learns to read in a couple of months. i hope she enjoys it...

... and i wanted to also say a public thank you for the person (or persons) who nominated us for a scrapjazzy award! i didn't even know we were nominated in 2 categories til i was looking over there a couple of days ago and i saw our ribbons and chipboard were nominated. we didn't win but that is ok, to me it is the affirmation that you all like what deb and i have set our hearts out to do - complete with the support of our families (our parents, our in-laws, our friends, our sibilings and more - more about that later in the week)...

... i plan on posting some more sneak peeks tomorrow so check it out!

the excitement is building!

wow, i can't believe that CHA is about 10 days away. i have been working on some projects for the show and i especially am proud of this bouquet of pens i made. i think they will make our booth a bit brighter (and full a little bit more of cuteness)...

speaking of cuteness, i just saw our new boxes in our Lunch Break and Coffee Break line! and all i have to say is wowziers - if you have been looking for some lunch tins, you will HAVE to check these out! we will even have chipboard books that will fit in each tin available! these are the epitomy of cuteness (raised to the infinite power)!

so have a happy friday, ya'll!

something to ponder...

did you know that if you make $35,000 (USD) a year - you have more money than 95% of the world's population? i was listening to the radio today and heard about this website : http://www.globalrichlist.com/ - you can put in your salary and it will tell you where you fall in the world's population in terms of money wealth. it is a good way to put things in perspective. while $35,000 a year isn't considered great wealth in the US, sometimes it helps to take a step back and reflect upon what you truly have.

all i have to say is...

... ahhhhh!!! i am lovin' our new ribbons!

bliss...

... so i was at the gym today (on one of the rare days i get to go) and i decided to see what pace my running had slowed to - i used to run close to a 7 min mile (at least for a couple of miles) but i have slowed considerably since being pregnant. i was still booking it at a 8:30 min/mile pace for about 2 miles. i am sure some of the guys around me were a bit taken aback that a visibly pregnant woman was running faster than they were (LOL)! i know i will get back into the swing of things after our baby is here.

but that running was really good for me. i usually don't listen to any news, music or anything else when i run. i use that time to reflect upon things which are troubling me or are coming fast and furious my way (like CHA for example) and after a bit of sweating, it seems that everything is light years away - a state of bliss for me... fellow runners know what i am talking about.

speaking of bliss - i created myself this laughing cow cheese wheel BLISS album - just to remind myself when i am blue that truly it is just a state of mind away from BLISS. i listed questions to reflect upon - blessings i have, pictures of me smiling - all to bring me back to being thankful for all i have. you can see the new Maya Road ribbons peeking out from some of the pictures. i really love them and how they coordinate with our current line!

bedtime stories

wandering through the bookstore the other day, i stumbled upon a book that deb and i had as a kid that we would read over an over. the book was "a bargain for frances" . and i have so many memories of curling up and reading it again and again (even though i knew the ending). i told david i wanted to buy this book for our kids. and i told him the premise of the story. i don't want to spoil it for you but basically, frances got punk'd over a tea set from her friend thelma and well it was bad news that thelma messed with frances b/c thelma got punk'd back. david laughed when he heard this b/c he said "that explains a lot about you" - i pretended that i didn't know what he was talking about. but we have this book again and i plan on passing it along to our kids to read.

i created this LO the other day as i was thinking about 2006. i had some bits of papers and left over embellishments on my table i wasn't ready to chuck yet so i decided to create this LO. this year should be fairly interesting and challenging. but i enjoy that. and i wanted to capture this in case i feel differently later (LOL)!

another peek...

as promised, here is one more peek at some ribbons we are releasing at CHA LV! it is the weeks right before the trade show that the pressure starts to mount - for planning everything. that is one thing about this business, if you are not one to work on short deadlines and be grace under fire, then perhaps this would be a nightmare beacuse as murphy's law goes, NOTHING will go as planned and everything will be delayed. but you make the best of it. but i am one to thrive and blossom and grow under pressure. deb is too.

i think that it might also help that we are used to this. when we were teenagers, one of my cousins, maisie, had her own import/export business. she would do tradeshows all around the country. we got to tag along when my mom helped. i remember doing one in orlando - again a 3 day trade show with all the bells and whistles. the best part of that show was that someone came up and asked to purchase everything in the booth. we were excited b/c that meant NO TEAR DOWN! my cousin has passed away now but even when we do trade shows now, i get some fond memories of her.

technology...

i got this KUTE KUTE KUTE turtle from a friend, Katie. Katie lives in Hong Kong and we had met on a message board. i had the wonderful opportunity to meet up with her once and have lunch (along with Gab) and she was kind enough to send me this cute baby present.... it was kind of funny b/c i was expecting a package from Asia with some samples and when i first saw the package this was in i was thinking, "hmmm this is strange, i though i would be getting like 10 lbs of samples" but then to my delight, i opened it up to find this turtle from a fab store called "Shanghai Tang". so thank you, Katie! i am sure our baby will love it!

i am amazed though at how technology has transformed things especially in the scrapbooking industry. so many of the ppl i meet, trends i hear about is all online. it isn't like the traditional way where things are done so much more face to face. i have formed friendships, made contacts, established us as a company merely by the presence of the internet (and of course DSL - otherwise this would be painful). things that we can accomplish now wasn't possible 7 or 10 years ago... it is an interesting thought.

well the good news is that we got more of our samples and trust me they are FABULOUS! i will post another peek this weekend.


...

i am inspired...

by shoes. ok so besides collection scrapbooking supplies and hello kitty and japanese stationery, i also have a passion for SHOES. but no stilettos for me (bad ankles) although i do have a couple of pairs of shoes call "roach killers" as affectionately dubbed by some guys i worked with (they are pointy in the front and skinny heel - the guys claimed i could corner a roach and stomp it with either end).

but my faves (besides my running shoes) are shoes like these! ahh, the color and the low heel appeal to me so much. i have some pairs similar to this but in hot pink and turquoise blue but not GREEN yet! maybe it is the color of life and spring but i am inspired by these shoes. i think i might have to make a green layout today. but the point is to be inspired by the things around you. that is how creativity begins. creativity is also like training for a marathon - you have to practice and keep at it. that is how you get to the state of creative karma. and you have to accept there are good days and bad days and the mojo ebbs and flows...

...on a side note, i got this pic from the J Crew website - i wonder if someone wore these shoes b/c the soles inside are all bent.

baby...baby...

...well something has been weighing on my mind this last week. we will find out shortly if this little one is a boy or a girl. if anyone has asked me and knows me well will know my answer is that "i hope it is a girl". it isn't that i have anything against boys but i grew up with a sister and boys are still a bit of a mystery to me.

... but i know when we find out i won't be disappointed one way or another. be it a boy or girl, i know that our connection cannot be broken (except when they turn all "mom-you-don't-know- anything" during their teenage years). i also know that i will have to be the punishment giver as my DH is too much of a softy. and when i think about that, it overwhelms me a bit. me... no wait... the two of us bringing life into this world. are we ready?

... i guess i can't ever be 100% ready but now there is someone that is going to be joining us that is totally in our care and it does take my breath away a bit.

... i guess i find myself worrying a bit and i am typically not much of a worrier. i know that this shall pass and i go with the flow. but we find ourselves talking about things we only chatted lightly about before - daycare or no daycare? how do we do punishments? how do we respect our advice our parents give us but remind them that this is our baby? and finally will david learn to change a diaper with one hand ( i have seen him practice on other ppl's kids and it is NOT pretty - trust me).

...but like i have found in the past, worrying really doesn't get you anywhere you need to be going so i will put this all in God's hands and respect and love what we have been given.

another peek...

as promised, here is another look at some of our other ribbons we will be releasing - it is hard to show the detail in mere photos - you really have to see it for yourself... but these are our color releases this time in our SoHo line - they are superimposed on the word "love" all throughout our ribbon.

and remember the paisley ribbons i showed you before - just WAIT till you see the paisley slides we have planned! they will be the metal enamel ones and unlike our others, these will be multi colored on 1 slide!

have a great day you blog stalkers!

C

natural bliss...

i managed to drag my butt out of the office before dark today to go for a run.

i am not sure if i am really more tired now that i am pregnant or i am just using the pregnancy as an excuse to lighten up on my exercise program (smile). but i saw this picture of me i put on our fridge that serves as a reminder to me of *how i feel* after a run. granted this was in beautiful hawaii and i had just done a 54 mile relay race but it doesn't matter - after any run, i have the same glow to my face.

so after i managed to get my running clothes on and stopped to use the restroom like 3x, i was out the door. the first 2-3 minutes were hardest- it was starting to get cold, i debated whether or not to go get the gloves and then it felt like my baby was sitting on my bladder. but i pushed on for my short 20 minute run. but afterwards, i was very happy i did it. i felt the same feeling i did in this picture.

i will be the first to admit that i am a true blue introvert. after a day of talking on the phone and also at trade shows, i am beat. i am tired and cranky. but then the run changes me - with natural bliss.

what more can i ask for?

PS, i just got more ribbons in my hands today so you are in for a treat tomorrow - wait til you see some others we have planned for CHA - even my DH said "wowizers!" when he saw them!

goals...

...i can't believe it has been exactly 1 year since i left a job i was good at to run Maya Road. time flies... tonight we are going to a party where i will meet some of the naysayers that told me small businesses don't make it and tell them how wrong they are. but they should have known better. i will admit it is hard being a small business though as we don't have the endless capital and we watch our costs and inventory pretty carefully. it is hard. sometimes i do get a bit discouraged not b/c i don't believe in our items or what we do but b/c we are small and in ways limited in things we can/cannot do but in many ways, we can also move more stealthly and quicker.

... every year, i made a list of semi-resolutions. things i want to accomplish but not something i will die if i don't . i did have a resolution to be published as i hadn't been before and before i knew it, i had found the niche for me! i even made the cover in Dec of paper crafts (well not me but my project) and that was pretty awesome for me. my project is in the upper right corner (the gift card holder). and i am happy to say that most things that i have published i use (cards, etc). (still trying to fight the pack rat tendencies). i also love to experiment and mix things - our products with others, different "canvases" etc. this year will be tough, we have some goals for the company and i have some personal ones too balanced out with our new arrival-to-be. it should be interesting and challenging but i love it. i wouldn't have it any other way.

my random friday thoughts...

...i saw the FUNNIEST sight yesterday - there was this jeep next to me at a stop light and on it was an ad for "ask me about weight loss/smoking ear staple" which i thought to mean some sort of device stapled to your ear that helps you to stop smoking or lose weight - i pulled up next to the driver and i saw this woman (who was puffing away at a cigarette). i cracked up a bit about it...

...onto business. i can't believe CHA LV is only 3 weeks away! wow, where has the time gone? i remember our first CHA in Dallas in 2004. we had this tiny 4' x 6' table and about oh 40 products. and my DH and friend had built this portable peg board that was like 4 feet tall and 6 feet wide. and no one seemed to be able to meet our $50 minimums b/c we had so few products! LOL! how could we have grown from THAT to where we are now. the Good Lord is looking out for us for sure...

... going to trade shows seems always to be like a first date of sorts - i can't explain it. it is like starting over again and seeing if your customers still like you and if you will have a second date, etc, etc. it never is easy... speaking of easy - i found some cool jeans yesterday which have patches of tearing that i will weave our new ribbons into - we will see how that goes. i thought i got a size that would fit me but i am not sure anymore how much weight i will gain in the next 3 weeks - i might have to just hang them in the booth if my belly gets a lot bigger...

... with that i wanted to say TGIF... wait til next week when we show some more goodies we have planned!

baby names...

... my DH and i actually would love to name our baby (if they are a girl) "Maya" but we thought that would complicate things if we had a second baby and he/she was wondering why they didn't have a company named after them (i guess we could call them "Road" - LOL).

... anyhow it is THURSDAY and i have a *better* sneak peek to share with your all. here is the paisley but in the colors that we will be showing at MT... again the paisleys but these are much better than my last dinky samples... oh yeah, wait til you see the ribbon slides we have to match these (wink wink)

enjoy!

having a good sense of humour...

... i am not a very emotional person in many ways - but i have a good sense of humor. David's sister and brother just gave us the most hilarious baby album which really cracked me up - they had taken our sonogram and added some creative photoshop ideas and some Maya Road products! here is a scan of some of the pages. looking at this album destresses me from all the stuff going on for our next show, the business and the coming attraction of a baby!