Creepy Thanksgiving cards from days past

What better way to say 'happy Thanksgiving' than two children, dressed in their Sunday best, carrying a pair of dead birds? Available on Etsy.

Last year, Mitya and I hit up an antique postcard, coin, and stamp fair, where, among other things, we stumbled upon early 20th century Thanksgiving postcards. These postcards, many of which showcased cute children trying to hunt and trap turkeys, would shock even the most enthusiastic carnivore. So, in the spirit of Thanksgiving and celebrating America's past, I've shared some of the most creepy vintage Thanksgiving postcards I've found, courtesy of Etsy.

How governments work. Available on Etsy.

There is just something too creepy about the expression on this boy's face. Available on Etsy.

This one is deceptively cute, if you ignore the little boy's axe and the pun poem. Available on Etsy.

Congratulations, you shot the turkey. You're a big boy now! Available on Etsy.

Saving the best for last. This one wins the award for Creepiest Antique Thanksgiving Card Ever! Available here.

Want to see more of these? Check out my list here. Also found out in the course of my research that BuzzFeed also did a round-up of creepy Thanksgiving cards, here.

The Social Butterfly: My social media strategies

Being a technophobe, I was very resistant to social media when it first came on the scene. You see, I started Chelleline Cards back in 2007, before Facebook had Pages, before Twitter, and before Instagram and Pinterest. The main ways to market yourself were blogs, MySpace, Facebook (to your personal friends), and Flickr. I signed up for all of them, half-heartedly promoted on them, and then dropped most of them. So, understandably, I was quite skeptical of social media when it popped on the scene.

Over time, though, I did eventually set up a Facebook page (2010), a Twitter account in 2013, and an Instagram account a few months ago when my dad bought me a pay-as-you-go smartphone.  I've come to see them as a way for people - friends, fans, store owners, and whoever else - to learn about the goings-on here at Chelleline Cards. It's also much more interactive than the website or blog, which means I can get instant feedback to what kind of content people will respond to. Entrepreneurship can be lonely and isolating, so it is nice to reach out and hear back from people via these channels.

I tend not to post the same things on all the social media sites, though. Although I rarely have someone following me on all three channels, I've found that my fans and followers on the different sites respond to different content. So, on Facebook, I will usually post the "official" information about the company - orders of cards being sent to certain stores, new designs, pictures from events that Chelleline Cards attended (the Treasure Island Flea, for example, or the National Stationery Show).

On Twitter, I also do shout-outs for events like First Friday Raleigh (we have two stockists in the downtown Raleigh area), the Treasure Island Flea, and NSS, and I do post new listings on Etsy, and occasionally mention if cards are being sent out to certain stores, when that store has a Twitter account. What I post on Twitter that I don't post on Facebook: interesting business articles, other general interest/news articles, and pithy observations on life and entrepreneurship.

On Instagram, it's a mix of my personal life (such as pictures of trips we take) and behind the scenes photos of the business. Unlike the majority of Instagrammers, though, I don't take photos of myself or of Mitya (or anyone else). You can find photos of us in other places online, but I don't know, I feel uncomfortable posting photos of myself on a regular basis. It feels just a bit too personal to me.

On my blog, I usually post my own thoughts about running a business. 

Now, I don't have a whole lot of followers on any of the sites, so you're probably wondering, why listen to me? It's a valid question. After all, who am I to give advice when I don't participate very actively on Twitter and Instagram?

But, if, like me and many microbusiness owners, you're wearing many hats and looking to not get overwhelmed by social media, having an outline of what content to post on what channel could help. Also, it helps to realize that social media is not your full-time job, and that these channels are merely an outlet to share a side of the business and your life that you normally wouldn't be able to on your website. This will allow you to build a following slowly and organically, and will prevent you from suffering from social media overwhelm.

On Quitting

I've experienced a lot of frustration with Chelleline Cards over the past year and a half, mostly due to losing touch with many customers due to our two moves - first from Montreal and then from Raleigh. I've contemplated going back to the work force - which, to be honest, sounds really wonderful at this point - but in our new town, there really aren't any jobs for me. I also don't really know what kind of job I would look for if I were to go back to the rat race. In the past year, I've looked for advice on when you should throw in the towel, and have balked at almost everything I've read (quit if you're not making a full-time salary after 3 years, etc., etc.).

I also balked whenever someone suggested alternative career options for me. The truth is, there was also a part of me that didn't want to give up on Chelleline Cards. I'd given up on so many other things in my life. I gave up on becoming a scientist. I gave up on pursuing a Ph.D. in English and a career as a professor of literature - probably the only other job I would have loved as much as Chelleline Cards. I went to law school and decided not to pursue a law career. I gave up writing and with it, my childhood dreams of writing a novel. I started a great NYC cultural events blog, New York Brain Terrain, and stopped three years after I started it.

After all of this, I didn't want to give up on Chelleline Cards, too.
 
The truth is, only you know when it's time to quit. No one else can tell you that - not your parents, not your friends, not a book or online article.

In fact, the most useful piece of advice I read about quitting was from "Think Like a Freak", the new book by the authors of Freakonomics. They have a chapter called "The Upside of Quitting," and it was in the closing paragraph where I found was I was looking for:

"We might add that Winston Churchill, despite his famous advice to those Harrow schoolboys, was in fact one of history's greatest quitters.  Soon after entering politics he quit one party for another, and later he quit government altogether.  When he rejoined, he quit parties again. And when he wasn't quitting, he was getting tossed out.  He spent years in the political wilderness, denouncing Britain's appeasement of the Nazis, and was returned to office only when that policy's failure had led to total war.  Even in the bleakest moments, Churchill did not back down one inch from Hitler; he became 'the greatest of all Britain's war leaders,' as the historian John Keegan put it.  Perhaps it was that long streak of quitting that helped Churchill build the fortitude to tough it out when it was truly necessary.  By now, he knew what was worth letting go, and what was not."

If I could turn back time: Things I wish I'd done differently at NSS

As I mentioned previously, I did extensive research on the National Stationery Show for two years before I actually exhibited there. However, as with all studying, nothing can prepare you for the real thing. (unless, of course, the "real thing" is a test.) If you're considering exhibiting at a trade show for the first time, I've outlined here some things that I wish I'd done differently - things that I wasn't able to find on any of the many blogs or articles I read about trade shows. Others may have differing opinions.

If I could do it again, here's what I would change:

1. Have a catalog ready at least one month before the start of the show. I've had a catalog since 2011 and have updated it once a year, but I'd been putting off making the catalog because I was completely dependent on my husband for taking the photos and adding them to the catalog. I was afraid to ask him because he was busy with work. However, in April, I discovered that scanning the cards with the same blue backdrop actually works just as well - and sometimes even better - than taking product photos! And I learned and re-learned how to work with InDesign, so I was able to update my catalog by myself.

Anyway, personal anecdote aside, it's great to have a catalog ready in advance of the show in case you want to send it to any prospects. I had several stores on my dream list that I would have loved to send catalogs to, but I wasn't able to because the catalog wasn't ready. Would it have made a difference? Maybe, maybe not.

2. Send pre-show mailers 3-4 weeks before the Show. I couldn't find a lot of information on this beforehand, but in any case, I ended up sending mine out pretty late - probably 2 weeks before the Show. If I had to do it again, I would send it at least 3 weeks, and probably more like 4 weeks before the start of the Show.

3. Give catalogs to all buyers who stop into your booth. Be incredibly generous with people who stop into your booth. If I were doing this again, I would give a catalog to every buyer who stepped into my booth! During the first day, I was overly cautious in handing them out. I wish I had not been! Especially now, when I'm left with about 25 catalogs from the Show! (Yes, I know I can use them to send out with my orders or for direct mail marketing, but they also have a huge "2014" on the front cover...so time is running out!) When I stopped by my friend Brad's booth on the first day, his sister (who didn't know I was an exhibitor) asked me, "Would you like a catalog?" I should have taken a lesson from her and done the exact same thing right away! Instead, it took another day or two for it to sink in. So...take a lesson from me and have a catalog free-for-all in your booth!

4. Get business cards from everyone you talk to. Another tip that took me a little longer to learn. But yes, I do wish I'd gotten business cards from everyone I spoke to, especially from the first day (which was the busiest for me).

5. Curate your greeting card and product selection. When I was preparing for the show, two of my retailers advised me to display everything I had. So I did. I even brought back some designs I had discontinued, thinking, who knows, maybe someone will want it! However, displaying everything - or almost everything - from 7 years worth of work in an 8x10 space, not to mention fitting in 3 other designers, is not a great idea. I think the amount of cards overwhelmed and maybe even scared off people, and my best work got kind of lost in the mix. Next time, I would curate more effectively.

6. Leave the majority of your press kits in the Press Room. The show management will tell you to make 50, leave 30 in the Press Room and 20 in your booth to hand out to the press. Well, if you're a first-time exhibitor, chances are that the press will not be seeking out your booth. Even though I've had a lot of press mentions in the past, most people don't really know who I am. So I would recommend leaving 5 in your booth and the rest upstairs. Also, check periodically to see how many are left and to make sure no one has messed with your press kits.

7. Display your cards on shelves. I went through many debates with myself and Mitya over whether or not to install shelving. Ultimately I decided to stick the cards on the wall because (I thought) it was easier, and because the retailers I asked for advice recommended I do that.

Well...I don't think it really makes a difference for potential retailers whether your cards are on the shelves or stuck to the walls, but it makes a huge difference for you, the exhibitor. It took me so long to tape the cards to the wall. I didn't put them in the plastic sleeves because I didn't want light reflecting off of them and I wanted people to be able to touch the actual product. So I had to tape the insides of the card to the envelope and then tape the back of the card to the wall. It takes a lot of time! And taking them down takes a long time, too! Installing and taking down shelves would have been much quicker. Also, I wouldn't have ruined the cards, either. So, learn from my mistake and install shelving in your booth!

8. I wouldn't have exhibited at the National Stationery Show. This has potential to cause controversy, but I just had to put it out there. I'd thought that, having gotten into over 40 stores on my own and with the help of a sales rep, my line would have been a success at the Show. That was not the case. Whatever the reason (and there are plenty of theories), my money would have been better spent exhibiting at the New York Gift Fair (which I was initially considering, and which my retailers strongly recommended over the Stationery Show) or even just traveling to a few select cities to scout for stores. However, some people did do very well, so you never know. I don't want to get into a deep discussion about it here, but if you are trying to decide between shows and would like to hear my perspective, send me an e-mail. I'd be happy to help!

Blog Hop!

I was tagged in this blog hop by Queenie of Queenie's Cards. Basically, the idea is to talk about your work and then tag two other people to participate. It's a great way for your fans to get to know you better and to help promote other artists!

Queenie and I met through my friend and her booth neighbor, Keisha of Punch Street, while we were all preparing for the National Stationery Show this past May. We exchanged several long emails before the Show, and then finally grabbed dinner at Shake Shack Monday night of the Show and headed over to Bryant Park to relax and chat for a while. We instantly bonded, and when I found out that Queenie's birthday is the same day as that of one of my best friend's, I wasn't surprised at all.

Queenie's designs are super cute on their own, but they are doubly clever because of the witty puns that accompany them! Here are two of my favorites:

                                                                       (I love pomeranians!)

I love seals, too! Plus, this card made me feel smart because I didn't have to look it up its meaning. Thanks to 5.5 years of French in middle and high school, and 2 years of living in Montreal!

Now to the questions:

1) What are you writing/working on?

I'm currently working on an order for Hanji handmade paper and gifts in Toronto, and for the McCord Museum in Montreal. I just released a new line of paper Christmas ornaments. I'm also working on some Kansas-themed cards, and a bunch of other things I'll be announcing soon!

2) How does your work differ from others in your genre?

Because papercut collage is so time- and labor-intensive, there are few artists who create greeting cards in this medium. The few I know who work in this medium have resorted to printing their greeting cards. (I admit that I've done this to some extent, too.)  

I also try to be different in terms of content. I stay away from trends, and if I have an idea that I then see in other cards (because that will inevitably happen), I abandon it. Any relation to trends is purely accidental. For example, my octopus cards were inspired by a stuffed animal octopus I found in the bottom of a bin at a store in Park City, Utah, more than 10 years ago - and not because octopi had become trendy. I also try to represent popular themes in ways that have never been done before and, barring that, to come up with a pleasant combination of colors and shapes.

3) Why do you create?

I started creating because I wanted to do something with my hands after years of being inside my head. Now I can't stop!

4) How does your creative process work?

In the simplest iteration, I'll have an idea, sketch it out, choose the colors, and cut the shapes out and assemble them together. Other times, it's much harder. I'll spend a lot of time brainstorming, sketching different ideas, playing around with them, and seeing what works. 

Now it's my turn to tag people! I am tagging Keisha De Paz of Punch Street. Keisha and I were introduced to each other courtesy of a journalist who had interviewed her for Forbes. She's also a fellow law school graduate, and started her line of cards after watching an episode of The Wire. She started out with a line of urban cards and has evolved her brand to include "trinky things" - cards with jewelry. Unfortunately, her website is under construction so I can't grab any of her images to show off here!

I'm supposed to tag two people, but I'm too scared to ask anyone else, so...if you see this and would like to participate, just let me know and I'd be happy to promote you here! 

Show me the money: My National Stationery Show Budget

I've been meaning to do a post on the Stationery Show for a while, but life kept getting in the way: orders, going to Russia, looking for new apartments, packing and moving, etc., so blogging was pushed to the side for a while. But we have moved, and we finally have internet, and even though we're still unpacking and searching for some furniture, things are getting back to normal, so I thought it might be a good time to talk about the Show and how I was able to do it on a budget.

Booth walls. There are basically 4 options for walls: hardwalls (either built by yourself and shipped or carried in by yourself, or provided by Javits), foamcore walls (either built by yourself or by Manny Stone), paper walls, and curtains. I ruled out curtains pretty early on, even though this was the cheapest option, because I had way too many cards to be able to put them on hanging boards. I didn't want to use paper because I was afraid it would look unprofessional. I don't have carpenter friends or storage for hard walls, and I didn't want to pay to have them made, shipped, and stored, especially considering this was my first show, so I decided to go with the foam core walls. I knew that Manny Stone charged an arm and a leg, and I knew from the research I'd done that many previous exhibitors had simply set up foamcore walls themselves. I decided to go the DIY route, since it was the most cost-effective option aside of curtains and paper walls.

There are several foamcore wall suppliers:
-Utrecht Art (they don't, however, sell flame retardant foamcore, so you would have to get it treated by a specialist. Javits doesn't let you spray it yourself anymore and show them the empty bottle.)

-Uline.com

-Setshop.com - I ultimately went with them. They are recommended by Javits for paper walls, but (and Javits/GLM/etc. don't tell you this) they also sell flame-retardant foamcore and deliver directly to Javits.

Cost of 7 4'x8' foamcore walls + delivery = $505.00

Lighting. I probably could have done more research on this, but I read on Sycamore Street Press' blog from their 2008 Stationery Show post that they recommended using Home Depot clip-on lamps and buying the 500W electricity for Javits. This was recommended as a cheap option, so I went with that. It freaked me out, though, when I found out that the lamps were outfitted for fluorescent lighting and couldn't take more than the equivalent of 60W candescent. So...check the wattage on your lighting before you buy the lamps!! I was complimented on the good lighting in my booth, which made me feel a little relieved.

Cost of 8 clip-on lamps and lightbulbs from Home Depot = $119.76
Cost of electricity = $113.50

Floor. With the floors, you again have several options. You can leave it as it is (good, I heard, if you have an industrial look), or you can cover it up with a large rug, carpet tiles, or foam tiles. Some people also had a hard white floor installed, which I believe comes with the Javits package. I bought the carpet tiles from FLOR at a 25% discount + free shipping, but I saw a lot of people using foam tiles, which were much cheaper. Wish I'd known about them before, because not only are they cheaper, they're also lighter and therefore cheaper to ship back!

*Update: You can also get cheaper carpet tiles at Home Depot! Thanks to Vicky for this info.

Cost of FLOR tiles for 8x10 booth = $360.63

Furniture. This I left until the last minute. Fortunately, we were lucky and found a desk on sale at Target for $50! We also borrowed the fold-up chairs from Mitya's aunt (yay, free furniture!).

Cost of desk = $50.00
Cost of chairs = $0.00

Miscellaneous Booth Items. This includes the wall decorations, the trays for our samples, the double-sided tape we used to stick up the cards, glue sticks, pens, clipboards.

Cost of paper for wall decorations = $20.00
Trays (2) = $25.00 (yup, this was purchased during the same last-minute Target trip where we bought the desk. We were not so lucky with the trays.)
Glue sticks and double-sided tape = $40.00 ($40 for glue sticks and tape? How much did they buy? you're probably wondering. Well, this was another stupid money mistake. About $27 of this was spent at the last minute at a pricey stationery store on the UWS. The other $13 was spent using 50% coupons at Michael's in North Carolina.)
Clipboards (3) = $5.33
Labels for cards = $11.73
Cloth storage boxes = free (from Mitya's aunt)

Booth Fee. Let's not forget the ever-so-hefty booth fee!

Cost of Booth = $2376.00

TOTAL BOOTH-RELATED COSTS = $3626.95

So, these are the costs related to the actual booth. But there are a lot of other expenses, too! Let's go through them:

Transportation. We decided to drive up to New York from North Carolina, because we didn't want to deal with cramming everything into two suitcases (especially not those carpet tiles!). And then, because my husband couldn't take the entire week off work, we actually had to rent a car, drop it off in NYC after we dropped off our things at Javits, and then he had to fly back on Monday and I had to take the train back. Also, we had to take either the subway or a taxi to Javits every day. Even though I lived in New York for 6 years and still know the subway system like the back of my hand, I shamefully had to take the taxi several times because of all the stuff we had to haul there and away and because I was running late to the Show two of the days (I'm not a morning person).

Car rental = $84.86
Plane ticket for Mitya = $181.00
Train ticket for me = free because I used my dad's Amtrak miles
Gas for car = $50.00
Taxi and subway fare = $45.00

Lodging. Thank God for family and friends in NYC! We stayed with Mitya's aunt and uncle, but happily, I have no shortage of free places to stay in NYC. This saved us around $1000.

Cost of lodging = $0.00

Food. I skipped breakfast and lunch most of the days of the Show. Dinners were limited to Shake Shack, pizza, and Hummus Place (although we did also treat Mitya's aunt and uncle to dinner at a Turkish restaurant, perhaps I should include that in our lodging cost :)).

Cost of food = $131.00

Pre-Show Marketing. This includes the mailers we sent out, the shipping costs for the mailers, the catalogues, the order forms, the press kits, and the buyer's list we purchased from Javits/GLM/signature mix. Even though the catalogues and order forms aren't *really* show-related (I'm still using them now), I'm including them in this section because I don't know where else to include them. :)

Mailers (1000; 500 for Chelleline Cards and 500 for Chelleline Voyages) = $51.28
Cost of sending mailers = $150.00
Printing catalogues and press kits = $1100.00 (I did this at Staples, again, another last minute decision, and I'm sure I could have found a cheaper solution if I'd done more research.)
Folders for press kits = $80.00 (Another last minute purchase, had to pay extra to get it shipped to us on time)
Stickers for press kits = $15.00
Order forms = $42.70 (done at FedEx/Kinko's)
Buyer's list = $240.00
Promotional pins = $101.93

All other costs. This includes the cost of shipping stuff back to our apartment (since we returned our rental car and I was going back by train, I couldn't carry everything back with me), the cost of printing our Voyages postcard samples, and anything else I couldn't fit into one of the above categories.

Shipping lamps, carpet tiles, etc. via UPS = $80.76
Cost of printing postcard samples = $200.00
Can't think of anything else for now....

TOTAL COST OF THE NATIONAL STATIONERY SHOW (all expenses included!) = $6,180.48

In conclusion, it is possible to do this show for under $10,000, and even under $5,000 if you're smart with money! If Mitya had been able to stay the whole week with me, we would have parked our car at our friend's house in New Jersey and would have been able to save $350, because we wouldn't have needed the rental car and plane ticket or to ship everything back via UPS (although we probably would have needed another $50 in gas and would've spent more on food since Mitya eats more than I do). Also, I made some stupid mistakes, namely with the floor and the printing that could have saved me more money, probably at least $500 or more. And you can probably spend less than I did if you go with paper walls or curtains.

If you're thinking of doing your first show, and trying to do it on a budget, feel free to email me at chelleline@yahoo.com with any questions. I'm happy to help!

It's beginning to look like fall in Raleigh...

Working on a few Raleigh-themed cards for the City of Raleigh Museum!

N&O article on Chelleline Cards

The Raleigh News & Observer is the newspaper I grew up reading. I read the comics there as a kid, became informed about the world through its front page when I was a teenager (I made myself read at least one article a day), and found out about Triangle events through the now-defunct What's Up section on Fridays. So it was a great honor when a journalist from the N&O contacted me about an interview! I spoke with them about the beginnings of the business, sales, getting my work into stores, and about the other talented designers on our team, my husband, my mother, and my friend, Pauline. The article was published this Tuesday in the "Shop Talk" section (Section B, Triangle) and can also be viewed online.

Thanks very much to Corinne Jurney for this wonderful opportunity!

The Road to NSS: Down to the Wire

With less than two weeks to go before the Show starts, things are getting down to the wire. My biggest accomplishment this past week was getting all the mailers out. Not an easy task, as I enclosed a collage card with a majority of them (and since I have a small amount of inventory, I had to make many of these cards as I was writing them), handwrote long notes for nearly all of them, and handwrote the addresses. Yes, I'm crazy. But it's done! It's scary and exciting to think about these mailers going out into the world, and how people across the US, Canada, and the world are receiving them at their boutiques and opening them up and learning about Chelleline Cards.

Our Heart Constellation card was also a Best New Product finalist, which means another new task: getting the display board ready! This probably deserves another post in itself. Our Crossroads of Love card was also featured in Stationery Trends' Pre-NSS issue! It was so exciting! Again, this deserves a post in itself, too.

Here's the status of the to-do list as of May 6, 2014.
 
NEED TO DO:

1) Highest priority on new designs:
- new task: print catalog
-create Voyages catalog and select new postcards. In progress. update 5/7/14 done!
- new task: print sample postcards update 5/7/14 done!

2) Next highest priority on mailing postcards to stores:
- store research - in progress. done!
- send mailers - will do when research is "completed" or after I run out of time to do more research, probably the second. In progress done!

3) Third highest priority: The Booth
- "shelves" for booth - in progress, can probably do more. (When I have pictures of my booth, you'll see why shelves is in quotation marks.)
- 2 large collage images - 1 done, 1 to go done!
- other elements - need to do. done!
- new task: experiment with layout of cards done!
- new task: make sure lighting is ok
- new task: item number labels for samples on wall

4) Press Kits
- add photos, images to text
update 5/7/14 done!
- new task: find previous press clippings and organize done!
- order press kit folders done!
-  print stickers for press kits done!
- print

5) 3 samples of each card design - in progress
new task: make and print labels for all card samples. - in progress.

6) New tasks: design Best New Product display board

The Road to NSS: Burning the candle at both ends

I finally finished all of my orders last week! They were mailed off last Tuesday, and I won't be soliciting any orders from my current stores until after the Stationery Show.

I was feeling a bit worn out on Friday, so I took the day off on Saturday. Saw some farms with my husband, ate dinner at Satisfaction Pizza, watched a few Doctor Who episodes. It was much needed and I woke up Sunday energized and ready to get back to work!

Here's the status of the to-do list:

NEED TO DO:

1) Highest priority on new designs:
-finish new cards - 7 hand-drawn designs have been scanned and edited in Photoshop. Need to make printable files. 3 out of 7 collage designs made. Update Friday, April 18th: all new collage designs finished! Done for all!
-photograph new cards. Done for Les Cartes de Pauline (our new card line). Still need to photograph and/or scan the other new cards. Update Saturday, April 19th: done for all new cards except the 7 hand-drawn ones Done for all!
-edit photographs of new cards. Done for LCDP. Update Saturday, April 19th: done for all new cards except the 7 hand-drawn ones Done for all!
-add new cards to wholesale catalog. In progress for LCDP. all except 7 hand-drawn ones Done for all!
- new task: print catalog
-create Voyages catalog and select new postcards. In progress. 

2) Next highest priority on mailing postcards to stores:
- store research - in progress. done!
- send mailers - will do when research is "completed" or after I run out of time to do more research, probably the second. In progress

3) Third highest priority: The Booth
- "shelves" for booth - in progress, can probably do more. (When I have pictures of my booth, you'll see why shelves is in quotation marks.)
- 2 large collage images - 1 done, 1 to go
- booth signage - done.
- other elements - need to do.
- furniture. Previously, we were going to bring the furniture up from NC, but Mitya's aunt offered us her furniture to use. Score! 
- new task: experiment with layout of cards
- new task: make sure lighting is ok

4) Press Kits
- add photos, images to text
- new task: find previous press clippings and organize
- order press kit folders
- print

5) 3 samples of each card design - in progress

So the biggest accomplishment this past week was finishing all of the new cards and updating the catalog (as well as finishing all current orders). So glad to get that crossed off the list! Now onto the next task...

The Road to NSS: One month to go!

This week has really flown by! Can't believe it's Thursday and there's only one more month until the Stationery Show. I've decided to re-order the to-do list this time, and list things in order for priority. Here's the state of things as of today:

NEED TO DO:

1) Highest priority on new designs:
-finish new cards - 7 hand-drawn designs have been scanned and edited in Photoshop. Need to make printable files. 3 out of 7 collage designs made. Update Friday, April 18th: all new collage designs finished!
-photograph new cards. Done for Les Cartes de Pauline (our new card line). Still need to photograph and/or scan the other new cards. Update Saturday, April 19th: done for all new cards except the 7 hand-drawn ones
-edit photographs of new cards. Done for LCDP. Update Saturday, April 19th: done for all new cards except the 7 hand-drawn ones
-add new cards to wholesale catalog. In progress for LCDP. all except 7 hand-drawn ones
-create Voyages catalog and select new postcards. In progress.

2) Next highest priority on mailing postcards to stores:
- store research - in progress.
- send mailers - will do when research is "completed" or after I run out of time to do more research, probably the second.

3) Third highest priority: The Booth
- "shelves" for booth - in progress, can probably do more. (When I have pictures of my booth, you'll see why shelves is in quotation marks.)
- 2 large collage images - 1 done, 1 to go
- booth signage - done.
- other elements - need to do.
- furniture. Previously, we were going to bring the furniture up from NC, but Mitya's aunt offered us her furniture to use. Score!

4) Press Kits
- add photos, images to text
- order press kit folders
- print

5) 3 samples of each card design - in progress

Oh, and I also am working on current orders for stores as well! Priority on those is high as well!

The Road to NSS: Things are getting done edition

Things are getting done, but there's still so much left to do. It doesn't help that I'm starting to get all these new ideas for cards - probably a side effect of all the Stationery Show preparations - and feeling like I have no time to make these new card ideas that are popping into my head like daisies after rain. Why didn't they come to me last fall, when I was having a creative block (and had more time)? Or in January or February? Why now? It's unfair, I tell you!

So, here's the status of the to-do list:

NEED TO DO:
- more card designs to finish 7 designs in progress (all hand-drawn, need to be scanned into Photoshop and made into PDFs to print), 7 collage to do.
- photograph new cards done for new card line this afternoon when I was stuck outside on the deck, locked out of the apartment. Still need to do for other cards.
- edit photographs of new cards
- revise wholesale catalog on hiatus for now. Current listings (2013 and earlier) have been edited, waiting until photos of new cards are taken, edited and ready.
- continue researching stores still in progress
- continue working on and finalizing booth design in progress
- print new business cards done!
- work on press kits still in progress. Text done, need to order folders and brand the text in Photoshop or Illustrator
- create elements for booth still in progress
- design and print stickers for display cards in progress
- create print versions of my mother's card line done! but need to:
- create print versions of approx. 10 cards that I forgot to scan in earlier.
- select new Voyages postcards, greeting cards and print samples still in progress (we may not do greeting cards for Voyages)
- create stamp for new card line done!
- 3 samples of all cards in progress 

The damage so far:

Booth fee = $2376.00
FLOR tiles (at 25% off with free shipping) = $360.63
Clip-on lamps from Home Depot = $119.76
Electricity = $113.50
Carbon copy wholesale order forms = $42.70
Printing costs for mailer = $51.28
LOUIE Awards submission = $150.00
Labels for cards = $11.73
Freebies = $101.93 (not so free after all, I guess!)
Business cards = $17.67

Total as of April 10, 2014 = $3345.20