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Well, here I am with 15 minutes before I leave for the Las Vegas show, and I need to get this out. Of course, I still need to pack, but what am I doing. Experimenting with the hologram film, making it into a new strip. I'm spacing small rectangles so that they look like thread. St. John knits was doing that on their winter collection. Everybody, go and see St. John at Nordstroms, Magnin, or Saks. They are using some of the new crystal colors that we've gotten in recently. They will be up on the website soon to buy.

Back a bit. The cruise was too long and boring. We had a total of 5 days at sea, and I guess I'm not much of a joiner. I didn't go see the kid who ate the most ice cream, or the hairy man chest contest. I liked it when we got off the ship, then there was something to do. Our first stop was in Aruba. If you like sunbathing or a small casino, then go there.  Beautiful little place, but not much to do. They have a natural bridge
made out of coral there. That was a pretty spot. Our next stop was
Panama Canal. We were supposed to stop in Columbia, but we lost an engine, and didn't make good time. That did not sit well with the Columbian group. They staged a mini protest. Going through the canal was neat. Just like what you see on the history channel. The locks filling up with water, and then the ship moves. We took a tour of Gutan lake, and saw some monkeys. Then we went through the locks and heard the history, watched our ship come back through the locks. Then we went through Colon.
No offense, but it looked like a ghetto. Lots of trash, and burned out bldgs. Very poor area. Our guide for the lake lived in Panama City, and she said it was much nicer. Had to be! Then we went to Costa Rica, and took the bus tour into San Jose. We went through the rain forest. Just like our forests, except different kinds of trees. We went to the national theater. Considering that it was more than 100 years old, it was very impressive. For such a small country and poor to have such a magnificent bldg. But there are one of the most advanced and self-sufficient countries in that area. Hats off to their government.  They of course were hearing all the news about our election at the time. 

Then we cruised into Key West. I could have kissed the ground when we landed. You have to go and come back to appreciate the USA. Clean, nice shops, touristy, but at least I know where to go to get different stuff.

We shopped in Key West!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Then, back to Ft. Lauderdale and the hotel. We had to stay a couple of extra days, because we couldn't get flights back right away. My mom caught a terrible cold those 2 days, so we sent her back to MN. sick. At least she missed a lot of the cold weather. Their coldest Dec. in years. 

Gained 6 pounds!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I had brought stretch waistbands for the end of the trip. Good thing, that's all that fit. They do feed you really well and the service was excellent. Just have 1 or 2 pounds left to lose. Starting working right away when I got home, so that takes a lot off.

Well, that's it for now. Take care, and we'll see you down the road. We have Las Vegas this weekend, then Denver. Oh, Barry and his friend Rodney will be in Denver. Give them all the grief that you can. Rodney loves to sell crystal, and he'll be happy to show you the new colors. He even came up with a Bronco design. Really beautiful. So be good to the "boys". I'll be in Tampa at the RV Supershow with Martha. And then we come back to do Phoenix, and then we go back to Brooksville, Fl. After that, I'll be dead. 

OH, OH, I forgot to say. We got a 10 x 20 space in Puyallup in the Modern Living Bldg. (the classroom bldg.) Yeah!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Best show all year! We will need help in the booth up there. If we have any customer that could help or knows someone, let us know. I won't be able to get back to you for awhile, I'll be out of town. So send an e-mail, and we'll keep track of you. You'll have to work: 9am - 5pm, thurs. - sat. Stand on your feet all day, be good at the cash register, take few breaks, and get paid a piddling amount. No, it's a little better than that. We'll pay $8.00/hour or trade for mdse. But you will be on your feet, and need to be adept at a register. Let us know of any people. thanks! and take care.

Hi! y'all,

If I don't get this written tonight, it will be another 2 weeks, and you won't care what I've been doing the last 2 months. I've been WORKING!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Just look at my schedule! I always, always think I'm going to have more time, and it just slips away. I go to work in the morning, and before I know it, it's 5:00. Where does it go? Of course, I'm really very lucky, because for many people the workday can drag by. Mine is just the opposite.

Since we've started the year, we've done many shows. Here are the highlights:

If you've been reading my newsletter at all, you all know, that my husband Barry, who you see at the shows running the cash register, is a minor gambler. Since he usually wins, there isn't too much of a problem, and he only gets to do this about 2 or 3 times a year. This year in Vegas, he stayed up until 6:45 am on a Sat. morning, winning that $400. Was he going to be any good that day at the show?
NO!!!!!!!!!!!! I set the alarm, so that he would wake up just before he had to check out of the hotel. He got to the show at 12 noon. Did I need his help that morning?
Yes, I could have used it, but he needed sleep more. Was I the good wife? Yes, but he was upset that I let him sleep.  He could have handled it. Yeah, right!!!!!!!!

Then, my friend Martha and I went to a RV Supershow in Tampa, Fl. and the boys (Barry and his friend Rodney) went to Denver. Well, Martha and I had a very slow show, so we turned it into a shopping vacation, hit the malls, and ate at Sonny's bar-b-que every night. Rodney and Barry had too much!!!!!!!!!!!! fun in Denver. I heard from everyone that they had a very noisy booth, and that the ladies had a great time. My booth in Denver is now known as "Barry's Sparklers". Thanks ladies for all your support. The guys had a great time, and they think they did it all on their own.

Then Barry and I did Phoenix, moved our booth to the end of the first row, near the bathroom and the food. What a great spot! The ladies had drunk all that coffee waiting for the show to open, and they found us right away. We had a great show and a great time. Ate at a restaurant named "Madelines" kind of a French cafeteria style. Great tomato cheese soup! Nice place.

Next we were on to Brooksville, Fl. to a RV rally. Such nice ladies there. We did a talk, demo on set-up day, and ladies come just to listen. We stayed away from politics, and kept it clean. Funny thing though, as I gave my demo, the men kept coming in and changing the tables on me. They were never satisfied, unless they were right in the way.  Men are the same all over, I guess.

Then, we came home and had an actual week off from travel.
Of course, the store is really busy this time of year, so we weren't resting too much. And we were gearing up for San Mateo, Puyallup, and Pomona, 3 really big shows. San Mateo of course was fabulous, it always blows us out of the water, and we've been up there so much, that everyone seems like a personal friend. Thank you ladies for your caring and the sales. It's nice to share this addiction with so many nice people.

After the show, we drove north for a while, up to Redding and stayed overnight. Got up in the morning, and drove by beautiful Lake Shasta. It is so pretty up there and the whole drive through Oregon, and Washington. Got in to Puyallup Mon. night (outside of Seattle) and settled down for the night, because we were power shopping the next day.
We went to Christine Alexanders on Tues. morning, she moved her outlet in to a store off of the 320th St. exit. Bought some things for my ladies, and then went on to downtown Seattle. I love it there!! All that shopping, the bay, the cool, crisp day. No rain! If fact, LA has had more rain than Seattle or Portland this year. Quite a change for both. We end up at Sharps (near the airport) for supper.  Great ribs!

Wednesday, Feb. 28th. A day that will go down in many people's memory, were set up day. It was around 11am that the earth moved. Only, Barry was in one bldg. and I was in another, so, no, that wasn't the reason. I had to be in Seattle to feel the strongest earthquake that I had ever felt. They were so lucky that it was 30 miles down. It was strong! No damage to the fairgrounds, and we think it actually helped the show, because it shut down the offices downtown, and they all came to the show early. Bad news for some of the vendors. There were some who actually landed at the Seattle airport and had to lift off again because of the earthquake. Had to fly down to Portland, try to get a rental car or a ride up to the show. Many didn't get there until 9:00 that night, and then open up the show, 9:00 the next morning. We had gotten a larger
space, and moved to a different bldg. The show was fabulous as always, but this time we could breathe and move around. What we are used to in other shows, but for the ladies up there it was different. Thank you all the ladies that we saw up there, and the reason for my laryngitis. By the last day, that is what happens. That show is so tiring, that at the end of the day, when we usually go out to eat with our friends, we went to the grocery, got takeout, and collapsed at the motel. On Sun. friends gave me a lift to the airport, and Barry prepared to drive home.  I needed to get home to prepare for Pomona the next weekend, and he had to drive home with the stuff.

Pomona was great!!!!!!!!! Thanks to all our new and old customers in that area. We love to do that show because it's close and after San Mateo, and Puyallup, my buckets are too mixed up to fly to a show. We kind of throw it all up on the walls in Pomona and see what sticks. Believe me, we're tired. Went to eat at the Guesti (sp) winery in Ontario, great, reasonably priced food. Finished up the show on Sat. and got to go home and sleep in my own bed.

Another so-called week off. At least we didn't have to fly anywhere. Today, we are on our way to Dallas, for a quilt show. It's a new one for us, but we do great at Houston, so we thought we'd give it a try.

Rodney has been working on our garage conversion all these months also. He has a real job, so this has been on the weekends. Just this last week, the shower went in, and 3 of the exterior doors. 2 of the doors were great. They are oak, with beveled glass in the center. Then they put in the 8' slider in the bedroom opening. It slid the wrong way. They have to do it all over, but that means it puts the finish of the bedroom back another 6 weeks. We can't carpet and move in, until that door is down. Needless to say, I was upset. Mid April is when we stop shows for awhile, and I was looking forward to moving in to the bedroom. Now we don't know when. The joys of construction
- did I mention the sawdust and dirt
everywhere????????????? Anyone who has been through it, you know. I'll survive!

Thank you all for the last couple of months. We so look forward to the shows, and seeing everyone. It's a lot of work, but with a lot of rewards and a big part of that is you guys. We have new things coming in to the store and on the website in the next couple of weeks. When I have time, in April, we'll get a lot more up on the web for you all to look at.

Hi! Everybody, did you all think I was dead? I've been taking it easy! My last show was in Del Mar, in mid May.  Didn't even have to travel! It's been wonderful. The ladies at work have had some time off, and I've covered the store.  I've been designing and some of the designs will show up on the website in the next week, and then when I get back from Australia, there will be more designs.

Yes, we're going to Australia today, June 21st. Everybody keeps asking me if we're excited, but I keep thinking about the 17 hour plane ride. Not exciting! But, our product is shipped, we have our passports, we're almost packed, so I guess I'll start getting excited. The show is 4 days, and we have about 4 days before and after the show to have fun.  My hairdresser already told me that the best place to buy opals, is at a large indoor swap meet (don't know if Aussies call them that). They sell everything, so for a girl who likes to shop, it should be the ideal place to go.  So, I'll try to get some pictures of koala bears and kangaroos, and post them when I get back.

Yeah!! A short newsletter. I'm sure some of you will enjoy that, and then some of you won't. For some reason, a lot of you like to hear about us. Oh, we have finished the remodeling of the garage into the master bed/bath. Finally!  We are now putting down flagstone and planting grass in the backyard. The front yard has to wait until we make some more money. Good and bad about the summer - we have time to enjoy it, but the money flow isn't nearly as good.

Take care everyone, wish us well in Australia, break even, or make a few bucks.

Hi! Everyone,

We made it back from Australia and what a wonderful city Sydney is!!!!!!!! Beautiful, easy to get around in, fun shopping, and wonderful food courts. You could not turn around without seeing a take-out (they say "take away") place, a dessert place, they love big, fat muffins, and cheesecake everywhere! You would not go hungry there! Our show was fun, they get lots of people and they're very friendly. We went to the zoo, which has a great view of the harbor and the bridge. We took pictures with the koalas, but heaven knows where those pictures are, so I'll put them in the Web site later.

It was an amazing experience, but the plane trip was killer! Going out (14 1/2 hours), it was late at night, so you felt tired enough to sleep a little, but coming home (13 1/2 hours) in the middle of the afternoon, you couldn't sleep, your eyes get all scratchy, you can't read, and you're tired of the movies. "Finding Forester" was a great movie, and "The Mexican" was horrible.

Well, I'm going to make this short, as Barry is heading to Denver, today - Wednesday, and I'm headed to Tulsa on Thursday, and we're still trying to get ready. So - here is Christmas in July. We're having a treasure hunt! We have clearanced out a bunch more designs, but you have to look for them.

It starts on pg. 1 and goes through to the end. You have to click on each picture and see if anything is clearanced. It's mostly gold and silver in a LOT of designs. We have to make room for more new stuff. So, have fun looking, you guys are the first to know about this clearance. Others will stumble upon it, but you are heads-up in knowing it is on almost every page of the catalog. Have fun looking and enjoy the great prices! We will post this on the Web site in approx. a month. 

Take care everyone, and hopefully we'll see you down the road somewhere!

Hi! Everyone, this is a big thank you for our last shows. We were kind of worried after the Sept. 11th attack, what the shows would turn out like. Call me selfish, but this is how I make a living, and I really want to keep making a living. Well, the ladies of Novi, put my mind at ease. They all had a positive attitude, and they were going to make the economy keep running single-handedly if they had to. THANK-YOU!!!. Also to the ladies in San Mateo, and Pomona. We had our best shows ever! Of course, half of those shows were in Americana designs, but does it matter? I hope that our patriotism keeps on going, it is a wonderful thing to see, and makes your heart quite full. I don't want it to be just a fashion statement. Of course, the more I see of it in metals and crystals, warms my heart more.

I made a mistake (is it possible?), on the Portland postcards. We are at the Oregon Convention Center, not the Rose Center, of which there is no such name. Don't ask me where I get this stuff, but it is correct on my schedule, and the hours are posted there also. Thanks to the ladies who e-mailed me questioningly. Barry is alone at the Sweet Adelines convention in Portland, because he knew he could handle it, and I needed to be in the store. So be nice to him, and tell him how good he is doing. He is a wonderful husband to go and do it himself, but I do miss him already. We aren't apart very much. 

Now, I'd like to add a couple of words about different kinds of fabrics that people have run in to problems with. I haven't tried every fabric with this product, so I'd like to pass along info. when I can. A lady in Novi had trouble with it on Trigger, which is a tightly woven sports cloth. Keep in mind, the glue needs to absorb, as in denim and other wovens, it is harder for the glue to penetrate. There may also be a finish on fabrics to repel stains, etc. Most of her designs adhered great, except for a couple of pieces. Always check very securely with your fingernails, and check designs after you launder hem for any loose pieces. Slinky: You can iron on to this material fine, but here are a couple of precautions. Place a wooden cutting board inside the garment, you don't want to glue the front to the back, (makes it harder to wear. Ha!) Make sure that your iron does not go over the edge of the cutting board. You may shine your fabric in that area. Keep your iron fully on the cutting board. Place your pressing cloth on the design, and then place your iron. Do not add any pressure. Just get the design glued in to place. Then, turn the garment inside out, place your cutting board inside, heat it again with your pressing cloth, and then add small amounts of pressure after the glue is warmed. Your glue will be right next to the iron and you will be able to adhere the pieces better without shining the material. Whenever you are working with delicate fabrics, take extra precautions. There is no way I can predict every fabric, because they, like you, are all different.

Thanks for all your support, and hope to see you in the future.

Hi! Everybody, how are all of you?

We are just jammin'. Tis the season I guess. Just wanted to drop a little note to everyone in the Cleveland, OH. area, that we'll be there this weekend at the I-X center for the Christmas Connection show. Hope we'll see everyone who cares to see us. We haven't done this show before, and the hours are horrendous: 10-10 on Fri. and Sat. Thurs. is 10-8, and Sun. is 10-6. Guess Barry will get in a lot of practice on his own. Let's hope sales warrant those long hours. Or, I guess I'll make up more samples.

This year has been great for us. Thanks to all of you, we appreciate it. Of course, it helps that this product is so visible on ready to wear! They all just woke up, huh? Isn't it nice to know, we all were ahead of the curve?! Oh well, when it goes out of fashion again, we'll still be doing it. Sparkly, just out of fashion.

We are having a special December sale, starting on Friday, 11/30/01. All clearance will be an extra 20% off, and shipping will be free on one order (per customer) in December. Please write in the special instruction box "Free shipping and extra 20% off". This offer is only for you newsletter people. You have to get something for reading this all year!!!!!!! Please note that the extra 20% off is ONLY valid on Clearance items, and it will not show up in the shopping cart on the Web site, but we will do the math before charging your card and packaging your order.  (Mention of "Sale" refers to December 2001 only.) 

The Houston Quilt Festival was again wonderful. We did miss the Japanese ladies, they didn't fly this year, and we noticed they weren't there. The quilts were again, out of this world. Ladies, if you love quilting and shopping, this is the best!!!!!!!!!!! show. So beautiful, and so much to look at. What a great "get-away weekend". Thank you Mpls. for a great show! My classes went really well, and you guys, along with the ladies in Chicago, really came away with an appreciation for making your own designs. And thank you for the lovely weather. My friend Martha, who has never seen snow, thanks you also. I secretly hoped that this would be the time, but you were good to us. 

Barry did fine in Phoenix, so thank you ladies. We love that area, and hope to see all of you in Jan. at our regular show. 

Oh, we did cook Thanksgiving dinner, and it all turned out, hot, on time, and everything! I think that was my Christmas miracle. I hadn't cooked for so long, but we dusted off all the dishes, put the turkey breasts in the cooking bags, heated the ham, mashed the potatoes, heated up the gravy, made the instant stuffing, and heated up my Mom's special corn and presto -- it was all done! The weather even cooperated. Our house is so small, there is no dining area, so we had to eat outside. Thank heavens, it was nice, a few days before the big rainstorm, and the fire pit made the evening nice also. 

Yes, ladies, we will be in Torrance on Dec. 9th at Wilson Park. We had to miss in Sept. so we wouldn't dream of missing the Dec. show. We'll see you all there, and if you want us to bring any special orders, any designs, just let us know ahead of time. 

Have to get up at 4:00 am to go to the airport in the morning, so I'll say good-bye, Merry Christmas, and Happy New Year, in case we don't chat again before that.