Confessions of a Blogophobe

This will be my second attempt at sending out a blog blurb… the first was mistakenly done in Hindi, not to be translated. Who could know? My sweet partner and friend, Eileen, has persuaded me to admit to the root of my fear of blogging. OK, I love her too much to say no. I used to be a consummate journal fiend from an early age. Everything went into my diary since I was very quiet and shy but also emotional. My youngest sister (by 6 years) was a continual pest, into everything of mine. “A compliment” my dad would say. One very memorable junior high day, I was playing football with the guys. I was a devoted tomboy. We were huddled up, getting the play from the quarterback. I was told to run deep and wait for the pass, while Steve, “with the eyes like deep pools of chocolate” was to go down the left side….. Well, that was weird and why are they looking at me? The pass went out of bounds so we came back to the huddle. “Kip since you have the “blond hair and sea blue eyes of a surfer”, head for the creek…. Oh, no, this is sounding familiar. My stomach flipped and I could feel the non-hot flash flush creeping up from my toes. Then, the primal scream!! (Never to appear again until childbirth) “Where did you get it?” After a long, guilt laden pause, the confession…. “Your sister sold pages from your diary, 25 cents each. She wants a new Barbie doll.” Never have I shared again…. Until now!


I have been working on designs for our new line of baby items... bibs, burb cloths, blankets... all of the things we never had time to make for our own little ones. Check them out! Eileen & I will be adding new items as we finish them, some in our signature patchwork patterns. Rhinestones are waiting in the wings! The soft pastel colors are so sweet and uplifting, you have to smile just looking at them. Who can resist the little bears, ducks, rocking horses and baby bottles. And the new chenille and "Minky" fabrics are so soft. We love 'em! Eileen & I cherish the time when we can sew together. Sometimes we even invite special guests, like my grandson Jacen.



Have a great week-end! Next week, more revealing facts about ourselves and our work. Don't miss it!

Karen & Eileen

2008 Home & Holiday Trends at the Atlanta Gift Market

We just returned from a week long buying trip at the Atlanta Gift Market. The Atlanta Market is huge…and so inspiring! We love going to see what the new trends in both Home and Holiday décor are for 2008. We thought we’d post a few pics for you to see.

The Estate Garden feel is back in a big way for spring. Garden pieces are moss covered or found with worn and chipping edges for that great vintage look. We loved this line from Midwest and will be listing it at soon at it arrives! Spring will also be very colorful with a pallet of yellow, lime and green apple paired with turquoise.

We were very excited to find some wonderful cottage products. We will also be offering this wonderful line of papered tin pieces, and these beautiful quilts just as soon as they are shipped. We also have new ideas for our handmade lines so watch for those to come this spring.

Inspirational product will be a big theme in both home and holiday décor. Warm and thought provoking messages where found on everything from plates, and frames to jewelry. We’ll be listing some jewelry pieces as soon as we can get pics taken!

Because we own a Christmas show, we spend a great deal of our time in that section of the market. The displays are incredibly beautiful and give us wonderful ideas for our fall and winter shows. The colors and themes for Christmas are broad, and there should be something for everyone to love. With the “green” movement, nature related themes where in virtually every showroom. It seems dressier and more sophisticated than in past years.

Pretty much everyone had some kind of stripped candy, gumdrop or cocoa/coffee line as well. Here is a cute example from Dpt. 56.

The market is too huge to share it all, but that’s some of the highlights. There’s just one last product I have to tell you about. This stuff comes in a little three inch bottle and when soaked in water forms little jelly like marbles. They come in different colors or you can dye them. Watch for them in the wedding and floral industry! I know I’m going to use them in my weddings! So cool! Thanks for stopping by!

To Market To Market Clear it out SALE!

Happy New Year to all of you! Thanks for visiting our blog! We hope you enjoyed our photo's of our Christmas show....but It's 2008 and it's time to get a move on! 2008 is going to be GREAT!

It's MARKET TIME!!! So it's time to clear off the shelves! We are headed to the Atlanta Market to load up on wonderful new products for you and your home. We are so excited to see what is new in 2008. We have a feeling it is going to be great!

To make room for all the new goodies, we are offering 15% off your total order. Just type in SALE when you check out. We'll be gone for a week, so shipping will be delayed until we get back January 17th!

We have just a couple more of our darling pink chocolate snowmen! Get them before they melt away and are gone for the season!
See you all soon!
Eileen & Karen

www.forgetmenotdreams.com

www.makeminepink.com

Holiday Sparkle....a Labor of Love!

Holiday Sparkle....a Labor of Love!

Christmas time is by far our favorite time of year. We just love the beautiful decorations, music and special events that make the season special. We think our show fit's just that description!

We own and produce a big holiday show and this year our theme was "Holiday Sparkle". In Oregon there are 2 styles of shows; booth or table shows, and boutique style shows. Ours is a boutique style show which means that we mix all the vendors product together and display it in themed areas. We have life size building front to help separate areas and give personality to the show. Our customers just love wondering leisurely through this magical setting. So many people have asked us about our show, so we thought it would be fun to share some photo's and our crazy journey of set up to tear down with you! It's a crazy process, but we love it! Happy Holiday's to all of you and may your day "Sparkle"!

This is how it starts...we unload the semi of props which take 6 men about 4 hours. (Don't you just love the "autographs" on our truck!). Then we build the walls and start draping tables to get ready for product delivery. The vendors unpack their product on empty tables in themes.

Then we set the bases on each table which included small furniture pieces, crates and shelves. The display process takes us four full days to complete.

This is our little Bakery or Sweet Shoppe. It always looks darling!

The Victorian area is always one of my favorites. It's so elegant!

We do a Heavenly area with wonderful angels and nativities.

There's something for everyone and every taste at our show. Here is one of our building fronts in the lodge area.

Vintage Kitchen is always popular!

The cottage area was beautiful this year with wonderful vintage china and the like.

This is our tea area. We hosted a tea every Saturday which sold out this year!

Yummy desserts! No wonder the tea sold out!

The last section our customers walk through before the check out area is the Gourmet Food section. They can taste a sample of pretty much everything...yum! We have the best vendors!

Tear down is a little faster...two days of pick up and packing and a day of loading the truck again! Whew...no wonder we are tired! Thanks for letting us share our show with you.

Take 10% off your order through Christmas at http://www.forgetmenotdreams.com/ just enter the word BLOG. Happy Holidays!

Eileen & Karen

Summer Wedding Bliss

Can you believe that August is here already? Summer always seems to go too quickly. If you’re like us, you jam pack it full of everything we can possibly squeeze in! Being a floral and wedding designer, it’s an especially busy, but joyful time for me. There's nothing like a wedding to bring out the best of summer! I love working with the brides and helping them make their dream wedding a reality! My favorite part is pulling all the bits and pieces together that make each of their weddings uniquely theirs, you know…personal. I also love working with colors and flowers. Brides are getting pretty creative these days with their color combinations and are not inhibited by the old rules regarding what colors go well together. It’s all in the eye of the beholder! My wedding last weekend used bright pink, bright orange, bright lime and red. I’ve done bright weddings before, but the red accent was a first for me with this color pallet. Take a look at how it came together.The red gave it that little something extra! It was a crazy three days! It took us all day working on 12ft ladders to get the ceiling up and two full days to process and design all the floral pieces, working till late at night on last minute changes and additions. But it turned out great and my client was so happy and that’s what it’s all about to me! On my way home that night I was reflecting on the past three days and the insanity of it all. I thought to myself, “If I can deal with all that, and walk away from this feeling such tremendous joy and satisfaction, then I must have found a shoe that fits!

Celebrating Life & Grand Openings!

Today I have been cleaning our house top to bottom in preparation for the mounds of family members arriving tomorrow in celebration of my sons high school graduation. What a blessing to have them share this special time with us! I have three children, and this is our last child. Yes, next fall when my son goes off to collage we will be....oh I can't hard say the awful word, "Empty Nester's"! While cleaning the day away, my thoughts wondered back through the years and all the memories. How can a such a squirmy little kid grow up to be such a remarkable young man....and just how did the time go so fast? How blessed we have been to share a lifetime of special events with family and friends. Last summer and the one before that everyone was here for my daughters weddings. Both weddings rank at the top of my list of "favorite days". Vacations, sporting events, dance competitions and musical performances are on that list of favorites too. It seemed there was hardly a day without a performance or competition of some sort to attend. But what a blessing it has been to be an active participant in my kids lives. I wouldn't change a minute of it for all the wealth in the world. And now that the kids are grown, turn about is fair play and I am enjoying having their help with our business and understanding all this computer technology. My oldest daughter designed the graphics for our website and taught me how to use Photoshop! Teaching this old dog new tricks is a challenge at best! The other two and my husband are my biggest supporters and encourage me on those frustrating days. So while it feels a bit melancholy to transition to a new stage in life, I also realize that each stage is worth celebrating. And the advise I offer is, "no matter where your at in the process, take time to embrace each day and all the special people in your day to day life.

Eileen

Help us celebrate our Grand Opening of our new website www.ForgetMeNotDreams.com! All our blogger friends will receive a free gift plus 10% off their total purchase by entering BLOGF in the coupon code at check out! Bookmark us and check back often because we still have tons of wonderful things yet to list! Thanks for stopping by!

As a Proud member of MakeMinePink.com, Forget Me Not Dreams is excited to participate in the "Pink Diamond Event".

Every year Make Mine Pink likes to do something special to honor our valued customers, clients and friends . This year we're making Make Mine Pink history with an exciting six month contest. Starting May 1st and ending October 31st! In all, $2500 worth of fabulous pink prizes will be awarded throughout the contest with a Grand Prize of a genuine pink diamond pendant.

There are three ways to win fabulous PINK PRIZES!

1.By just visiting the e-boutiques at Make Mine Pink and locating the six diamonds hidden among the participating Pink Boutiques. (each month the locations of the pink diamonds will change) Please feel free to enter each month!

2. Spot a Make Mine Pink member wearing her pink rhinestone MMP pin as she goes about her day to day activities and get a FREE ENTRY.

3. Make a donation to your favorite women's charity. Send us a copy of the receipt and get a FREE ENTRY.

A monthly prize will be awarded for May, June, July, August and September entries with a grand prize awarded for the month of October. It's that easy!

Join us in our excitement by visiting our boutique for monthly specials and our sister's boutiques. For complete contest details, please visit www.makeminepink.com

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Thank you for giving us the opportunity to make your life a little pinker!