Putting a smile on my face

You know the expression - "Kodak" moment.  For grandparents those moments turn into memories.  Here is a photo of our "oldest" granddaughter, Aubrey, now 29 months old, on Christmas morning with an apron she received as a gift.  What a cool idea - to have her name on the front of the apron.  She loves to "cook" and make "smoothies" with her Daddy. She had so much fun at Christmas.....and expected Santa to come every day....I agree with her - that would be a great idea - but might bankrupt the parents (and, of course, the grandparents).  How fast they grow!  Sister Charlie is already 7 months old & crawling everywhere.

New Hits Just Keep coming

A new day is like the cheesecake in our office 'frig......so yummy with great new art. Here are two companion pieces from Desiree Habicht. Desiree is known with consumers for her wonderfully selling fabric programs. She is expanding her portfolio to appeal to all types of products with our vendors. I know you will love Peace and Hope shown here. Stayed tuned for more surprises everyday. Enjoy this day & remember "You don't stop laughing because you grow old; you grow old because you stop laughing."

Fun New Art from Maureen

All of our artists are busy getting new art to us. We always tell them we love new art as much as chocolate (well....my VP, Beth Fields, would question that)!!! Here's some new ones from Maureen Costello, who is very, very chilly up in Michigan (where Teresa Kogut also lives). Burrrr chilly.
Thanks, Maureen!

Atlanta Gift Show

What a great show! Atlanta continues to be the "granddaddy" of all shows! Beth, Ashley & I spent 5 days at the show, each of us had dozens of appointments everyday, and had tremendous response to all the great art from our mega-talented artists and great ideas we shared with our vendors. We were equally thrilled to connect with new vendors. The future is blazing bright! We took photos of products and trends to share with our artists! Beth and Ashley loved having their new IPads to showcase artwork. I did it the "old fashion" way. I'm going to let them learn all the ins and outs of the IPad so they can show me quickly and easily!! We have a lot of work, which we love, love, love, and look forward to seeing new products in the marketplace this year and next. Kudos to all our artists for giving us such wonderful work to share with our vendors.

Glad it's gone

It was magical to have snow last week - such a rare occurrence for Charlotte - and it stopped us in our tracks for two days! Here is a photo of our backyard showing a wonderful old birdhouse we bought some 20 years ago from Alabama Folk Art (whom we used to represent in the gift market under our old, former wholesale company, The Linda Mc. Company). Alabama Folk Art was a true creative genius and had the very best primitive bird houses, signs, etc. We miss them. The snow is gone, the sun will be out today and it is going to be a beautiful day in the Queen City.

Fun for Bill

Boy oh boy! did Bill and son-in-law Kevin have a blast. They played Augusta National (I think they plan to play in the Masters - ha!!!). They were invited by a friend of Bill's, played the 9-hole course, dinner in the Club, and were invited to visit the Champions Locker Room (lots of Green jackets), go up into the Crow's nest, spent the night in the Butler Cabin (definitely NOT a cabin - more like a 5-star resort), then played the course the next day. Both Kevin and Bill played well....surprisingly well considering the course. To put it simply - they had the time of their lives.

Fun in Mexico

Here we all are on the Malecon in Puerto Vallarta. So few photos of all of us together and all of us smiling! Kudos to the man who took the picture. Wonderful memories of a wonderful trip. Can't wait for the next one!

Aubrey and Charlie

Who wouldn't love these two beautiful faces! Aubrey (there's the Georgia hat)is a wonderful big sister and Charlie just follows her everywhere with her eyes. It won't be long before she will be walking and keeping up with big sister. Aubrey always wanted to wear one of my necklaces, and here she is sporting one for our night out on the town. She always wanted to take a taxi, saying "I love taxis!!"

Georgia girl

Aubrey had the best time "stealing" Grendie's (that's "Granddaddy") Georgia hat and wearing it. Usually it ended up being thrown in the pool. It became a game between the two of them. (she'll probably have a big collection of Wisconsin Badgers and UNC Tar Heel hats, too). But, as Aubrey says, " Goooooooo Georgia!"

Our beautiful granddaughters

Her is Aubrey loving her float! She could spend all day in it!