Christmas frenzy

The nativities are out and the ornaments hung, making it official.  The holiday season has begun!  I look around the shop and can’t help but feel festive.  What’s new for me this year is the discovery of how to speed up the decorating process.  I typically have around 200 ornaments to hang each year.  The past three years, I’ve priced them all as they came in, but then stored them in a plastic bin until decoration day.  The process of hooking and hanging each ornament took hours.  This year, I had a brainstorm in September when the first ornaments arrived.  I brought in wire clothing hangers from home to hang in the storage closet.  Each ornament was priced, hook attached, and hung on the hangers.  Over the weeks, my one or two hangers became a dozen as the orders kept coming in.  I was in shock when I finished decorating the trees at how fun  it was this year.  I would grab a hanger, hang the ornaments, and move on to the next hanger.  There were no hook jumbles to untangle, no mounds of little plastic bags from unwrapping, no ornaments hitting each other as they were stacked side by side on my fingers, and no panic as someone walked in on what to do with the twenty ornaments lined up on my fingers.  It was a simple grab and hang until all the ornaments were up.  Whew!  And the cool thing is at the end of this season, the ornaments can be simply taken off the trees and hung back up on the hangers for next year.   Such a simple little idea, but the impact on my day was enormous.  This year, there wasn’t the frenzied pressure to be hanging ornaments as quick as possible,  but enjoyment as I appreciated the workmanship and creativity on each and every ornament.  My favorites this year are the buri sugar palm animals from Philippines and the little dolls from Russia.  Or at least those are my favorites today.   Tomorrow is a new day, and will probably come with new favorites.

Whoops

The winter hats, scarves and mittens are finally here. I have to place my orders in June for the bulk of what I want because the ladies of Nepal hand knit everything. That becomes a little tricky for me since the last thing on my mind in June is winter hats. So on Friday, my mom came in to help me by unpacking and pricing all the beautiful wool winter goods. Literally, two huge boxes of nothing but wool. I ran out of the earflap hats early last year, so I ordered an armful this year. The cooperative has also added a couple new lines that are just beautiful. I personally like a winter hat that’s a little different, not a knit hat that you can get at a discount store, so I stocked up on the pretty hats as well. Then yesterday afternoon, I had a gentleman in his 50’s come up to the register with a pair of the lined mittens and ask, “Don’t you have any hats for guys?” It hit me…I had ordered the earflap hats, the cone hats, the pretty hats, some of the matching scarves and mittens, but I didn’t order any plain hats for older men. Seriously? How could I forget an entire segment of the population? Whoops. So now the search begins for some cooperative somewhere that made extra hats for guys. Wish me luck.

Adios to the anime.

I just love the anime purses, wallets, and totes from Cambodia.  They are incredibly fun to carry, and the organization is remarkable.  They are employing the mothers of street children.  The mothers sew the purses and such, while their children are offered an education.  The program has been incredibly successful, so I feel warm and fuzzy every time I place an order.  Unfortunately, this last order came in with an additional $150  in freight charges, bank fees, and customs fees in addition to what I paid on the last order.  This makes the total for freight and fees $325.  On a $400 order, that’s huge.  It makes the program cost prohibitive, which in turn makes me sad.  I want to support them, but I can’t sell products at a loss in order to do so.  If I were a large store, I could order several thousand dollars at a time, making the fees more affordable.  But I am not a large store, I am a cozy little shop that needs to spend wisely across several dozen different suppliers.   In order to make the product more affordable for my customers, I’m splitting the difference on this shipment…not marking the prices where they should be, but not losing money either.  And when this shipment is gone, the anime will be no more.  I think  of the children that are at risk and I worry about their welfare, but at the end of the day, I need to make smart decisions for my business.  I help thousands of people every year feed their children.  I need to focus on the people I’m helping, not those I cannot, and hope the Cambodian program will find bigger retailers to sell their product.

World watch

I don’t tend to discuss my political and religious views much.  To be honest, I simply don’t believe they are relevant in my daily interactions.  I was raised in a home that taught acceptance of others.  Regardless of race, religion, or politics, at the base of it all we’re human beings and should be treated as such.  I form my close friendships based on the inner heart and outer personality, not on issues.  I’ve been quietly watching over the past year as Americans have begun oozing hostility towards each other because of political views  and, quite frankly, I find it all very confusing.  How can you hate someone that you were friends with just last year purely because they’re a liberal or a conservative?  I don’t understand it.  I can’t stay silent any longer.  We live in one of the best countries in the world.  While  I may not always agree with everything being done by the party in power, I celebrate that I have one thing so many other people around the world don’t.  I have freedom.  I can vote.  I can attend rallies and protests.  I can stand on my front porch and speak out for human rights.  Regardless of who our president is and what party holds the majority, I love my country.  I keep seeing people protesting at how horrible this country is, that it’s socialist, communist, Nazi, led by Satan, whatever.  So I’ve decided to start sharing some of the stories from other regions of the world that give me pause.  They will all come under the title of World watch.  Most of them I find as I’m reading The Economist.  They are the stories of common people just like me, living in another country that doesn’t embrace true freedom.  They are stories that prove to me how lucky I am to be an American, wonderful melting pot that it is.

Chechnya, Russia:

July 7, 2009 – “A local man and his son were kidnapped.  Twelve hours later, the man was dragged from a car in his underwear and executed before a few villagers.”  His crime?  He was related to an alleged rebel.

July 15, 2009 – Natalia Estemirova was kidnapped as she left her home.  She was found bound and shot to death in a neighboring village just a few hours later.   Her crime?  She was a human rights activist speaking out against the torture and murders that had become all too familiar in Chechnya.  Her efforts gained her awards and recognition in Europe…in her home country, she was given a bullet in the head and the chest for those same efforts .   (July events courtesy The Economist July 18th, 2009)

August 10, 2009 – Zarema Sadulayeva was taken from her office, along with her husband, by a group of armed men, some of whom were wearing military fatigues.  Their bodies, riddled with bullets, were found a few hours later in the trunk of their car.  Her crime?  She ran an independent charity called Save the Generation.  Her mission was to help children who had lost limbs and parents during the Chechen wars. (August event courtesy The Economist August 15th, 2009)

I have participated in one rally in my lifetime.  I was an employee of the federal government at the time, a job which required my signature that I would not participate in ANY rallies or protests during my employment.  What the rally was for is not important.  What IS important is that during that march, from the Smithsonian around the front of the White House and back to the Mall, I never feared for my life.  I was definitely afraid of losing my job, but at no point did I fear being kidnapped, tortured, and killed for taking a stand.  So as you go out and voice your opinions, whether anarchist, conservative, or liberal, pro life or pro choice, voices against animal cruelty, or proponent of affirmative action, know that you are incredibly luck to live in a country that lets you do so with vigor.

One of those days

Yesterday was just one of those days.  It was gloomy out, it was cold, and I felt just a little “off”.  It was one of those days that I didn’t want to leave the house.  I am SO glad I did.  The day that started out so gloomy, turned out to be one of the most fun I’ve had.  I ended up with three traveling visitors.  Two different groups were from Alabama.  The third was a trio of sisters from Pittsburgh and Florida.  The sisters walked in at 4:00 and had me laughing by 4:02.  I’m not talking a polite laugh, or a little giggle.  These ladies had me laughing so hard it brought tears to my eyes.  That’s one thing I love about having a store.  You just never know who’s going to walk in that door.  Typically, it’s people interested in polite conversation or quiet shopping, but every so often I am introduced to someone who changes the course of my day.  Someone who loves life so much it’s infectious.  Yesterday that someone took my “off” day and turned it into something extraordinary…and for that I am grateful.

from Bangkok to New Wilmington

Oh, Oh, Oh!  My new order from Thailand has just arrived!  It’s filled with new rings, earrings, charms, and chains made out of sterling silver as well as a 99.9% pure silver.  What fun as I get to try things on for the very first time (um, let’s call it quality control).  The jewelry is made by the Karen Hills tribe in Northern Thailand, many or whom are refugees from violence in Myanmar.  They are desperate to earn an income and frequently turn to growing illicit crops as a way out.  In some families, the children are sent away to the big cities for “factory work”.  Often times the young girls arrive only to find out their new employer has no factory, but intends to use them in the prostitution industry.  Through this cooperative, the families can remain intact, earning an honest income.  They have also built both training facilities and schools for the villagers.  This is rapidly becoming one of my favorite cooperatives.  Partly because I believe in what they are doing, and partly because I just LOVE their stuff.  They have some incredibly unique “cultural” pieces that are awesome.  I would buy huge quantities of it all if I could.  But since this would fill the entire shop with nothing but jewelry, I must show restraint in my orders.  As I look at my new pieces of silver, I remember that retail marketing technique says you need to wear a piece of your product in order for it to sell better.  What a shame, I must pick something from my shipment to wear as a marketing tool.  tee hee hee

Day of the Dead figures have arrived!

I finally received my Day of the Dead figures this week.  I have to admit, I was rather apprehensive in ordering them.   I can’t choose which ones I get aside from general requests.  Every one is done by hand, like a little piece of art, and they have hundreds of them, so obviously every one can’t be pictured on the website.  When you look through the pictures of possible figurines there’s everything from musicians to a bum smoking a cigarette.  I knew I didn’t want the bum, but even within the musicians there were some I liked, and some I didn’t.  I ran the idea past my mom and she really didn’t like any of them.  She took one look, wrinkled her nose, and responded, “They’re skeletons…dressed like people…and they look a little creepy”.   Okay so she had a point, they did look a little creepy, but I just crave being surrounded by cultural stuff.  I feel like I sometimes water down the culture of the items I buy to fit into our very non-ethnic region.   I always try to have a couple things that are a little “out there”, because I appreciate foreign culture and want to share that appreciation with other people.  The items usually end up sitting for a while before selling.   I’m fine with that.  I get to enjoy them while they’re here.  And there’s that little piece of me that hopes they never do sell so I can buy them myself and take them home.  Anyway, I ended up ordering 3 musicians and a dog, keeping my fingers crossed that they weren’t too creepy.  Well, let me just say, pictures just don’t do these justice.   My dream is to someday fill my mantle with them…a village of dead people to enjoy.  The colors are amazing.  The workmanship is absolutely unbelievable. They actually make these figures from a potato starch plaster.  Potatoes?  Are you kidding me?  I can’t help but look at them with awe and respect for the retablo art form.   Not to mention, I just can’t stop giggling.  My dad wants the entire set for his desk.  As for my mom?  She wants the lady with the long black braids playing the maracas.

Day of the Dead retablo figurines

The race is on.

I love to shop.  Looking through catalogs when there are new product introductions always makes my heart skip a beat with the excitement.  Seriously, I LOVE to shop.  The time consuming part is the decision making since I have this tendency to want everything from everyone and that’s just not feasible.  Last week was a tremendous week for shopping.  I’m ordering those last few nativities and ornaments that I have found for this year’s collection, as well as new product that’s just too awesome to resist.  My suppliers are packing up my orders and shipping them out and it becomes a race against the clock for me.  Every item needs entered into my computer with part number, description, classification code, pricing information, as well as inventory level information.  Repeat items will already be in there, but the more new items I buy, the more information needs entered.  Needless to say, after last week’s buying spree, there’s a ton to put in.  As I was putting  the finishing touches to my last order this morning, package number one arrived.  Uh oh.  It’s times like these that I remember this one particular scene from  The Wizard of Oz. Miss Gulch (who turns into the Wicked Witch of the West) is feverishly bicycling down the road with Toto in her basket, the tornado is looming, and you hear this music in the background…dum ta dum ta da dum, dum ta dum ta da dum.   Oh yeah, you know what song I mean.  Well that song, is now playing in my head .  My tornado is a truck load of boxes of new product.  my bicycle is my fingers flying on the keyboard as I try to beat the boxes.  I just hope I fair better in my race than  she did.

The attack of the pink flamingo.

I have just unpacked my ornaments made out of Buri sugar palm brush.  I thought they might be cute, but you never really know with a new product line.  Sometimes they look even better in person and sometimes, well, let’s just say the camera can find an overly attractive angle.  These brush ornaments are just adorable.  There’s a marmalade cat, a bassett hound, a fox, and a pink flamingo.  Why a pink flamingo?  Well, there’s this little prank that my brother and I play on each other.  It started years ago planting lawn ornaments in each others yard.  I’m not talking about a “nice” art quality lawn ornament.  We would always buy the biggest, brightest,  most obnoxious lawn ornament we could find without blowing a ton of money.  It’s a silly prank, so it’s not worth any form of investment.  I truly don’t mind lawn ornaments…I’m just not much into the big, loud, and obnoxious ones.  So this one year, I found the mother load of lawn ornaments at some dollar store type place.  There stood a plastic pink flamingo with wings that actually spun.  WHOA!  Jackpot!  I found an obscure place in his lawn where it could be seen from the road, but not from the house and planted my gem of a find.  That’s when the lawn ornament prank took on a life of it’s own.  The following Christmas a glass flamingo somehow found it’s way onto my tree…putting the ball in my court.  I’m here to tell you, it’s not so easy to find a nice pink flamingo Christmas tree ornament.  It took a while, but I am now armed, giggling softly to myself with anticipation, and ready to attack.  Mwah ha ha ha.

Happy Birthday to me!

What an amazing day!   It’s been a stressful week trying to get everything ready for today’s birthday party.  My little gift boxes for the free charms didn’t arrive until early this week, so each little charm had to be put in a box.  I also needed to add a clasp to the charm bracelets for those who were interested in starting a bracelet. Several new shipments arrived this week that needed to be unpacked and put out on the shelves right away.   Add to that the baking of 200 mini cupcakes, the frosting of 200 mini cupcakes, and the general preparation it takes to pull off an event and I’ve been hopping all week.  To be honest, I’ve been too busy to even take a moment to let the birthday sink in.  What I thought would be a quiet little party, has turned into a two day event.  Starting yesterday, random people in my life have been stopping by with a single flower.  It turns out, a special someone here in town coordinated a mass flower giving event to help me celebrate turning 40.  What a touching thing to do.  And she didn’t even know that I LOVE flowers.  I now look at my multiple vases of stunning flowers and can’t help but smile  inside.  All day today, I’ve been receiving birthday greetings, and cards, and little gifts to the point I’m speechless.   All I can say is what an amazing day!   Today made me feel an overwhelming warmth of friendship and love…the best birthday gift ever.