First Days of Market

So, this picture pretty much sums up the way we all feel on the first day of Market. Dyane and I had just come back from taking a class using Angelina Fibers (very fun). Dyane was so excited to be in Portland with us - and totally overwhelmed by everything there as to see. So was Marilee (below doing duty as Jean's "Booth Babe"), but she had been to Festival in Chicago last year, so she had a bit of an idea what to expect at Market.

Touring the City (and shopping of course)

On our first full day in Portland, we took the free tram downtown and did some sightseeing and SHOPPING!!!! Our first stock was the Nordstrom Rack store, where we dropped just a little cash and bought between us lots of clothes, jewellery, pyjamas and eight pairs of boots and shoes!!! Afterwards we had lunch at the Macaroni Grill (yummy) and found some more shops.

Here is me and some otters I found hanging out in one of the fountains.

A sunset view of the Conference Center.

Mount Hood looms over Portland.

Rhododendrons and Ski Hills

Portland is a BEAUTIFUL city - it is clean and the people are friendly! I would definitely recommend it as a great place to visit! The city is also known for it's abundance of Rhodies (rhododendrons). Here are Nellie and Marilee in front of the Conference Center with some beautiful examples of these flowering bushes in the background.

On my first walk around on Friday morning I found Angie West in the QuiltSource booth. QuiltSource is one of our Canadian distributors and last year they had a replica of a dock complete with Adirondack chairs in their booth - this year they had a ski hill. So of course I couldn't miss this photo op!

Now that I am finally over my Jet-Lag...

So we got home from Portland last Monday night - I hit the pillow at 11:45 and immediately went to sleep. My children knew that I was coming home after they fell asleep, so they were up and jumping on the bed at 5:45!!!! After giving them their presents, making breakfast, lunches, getting showered, dressed etc. and driving them to school, I headed to the pharmacy for an 8 hour shift since my "holidays" were officially over. Even though it was exhausting, Portland was great. It's always fun to bring along "Market Virgins" when we go on these trips, because you remember how much fun, exhilarating, overwhelming, amazing and awe-inspiring your first trip to Market was. Not that our subsequent trips didn't fit the bill - it's just that it's never the same as the first time. Our friends Marilee and Dyane had a great time - we all went shopping our first day there and while we were working, they also got to do some sightseeing. Here is a picture of Nellie and I in our booth - more pictures will come with future posts!

Back in Business

Wednesday afternoon Dad installed my new fuser and the printer has been going non-stop ever since!! For Market I have 4 new Punchneedle Patterns each with 2 colour covers & six pages of instructions (I've printed 100 copies of each), "Home Sweet Home" has 1 colour cover and 4 pages of instructions (printed 120 of it), "Autumn Star" has 1 colour cover & 4 pages of instructions (120 copies) and "Country Garden Bouquet" has 1 colour cover & five pages of instructions (120 copies). PLUS Pattern Peddlers asked for 36 covers of all 7 patterns (252 colour copies). PLUS we needed to print 350 colour flyers (double sided) for our booth. So my poor printer has printed a grand total of 2112 colour copies and a whopping 4080 black & white copies!!!! No wonder it wanted to take a break! I even had to make a paper-run to Staples last night so I could print more today. But not only was my printer working hard - my Mom ended up folding most of those patterns - Thanks Mom!!!!

"Country Garden Bouquet" - finally finished!

Spring Colds - Yuck!

Only 6 more days till our trip and I have come down with a cold! On the up side, hopefully it will be gone before we fly next Tueday. On multiple other trips to Market I have had to fly with my sinuses plugged and it is no fun.
My fuser has arrived in Ogdensburg, so my wonderful father is going to drive over to get it so that I can get the printing press going. Then I'm sure I'll be able to convince my awesome Mom to spend some time folding and packaging patterns. They are my best employess!! And they never ask for a paycheck.

Eight days and counting

Only eight more days until we leave for Portland and wouldn't you know it my printer has decided that it needs a new fuser! Right in the middle of printing my new pattern "Home Sweet Home" it has given up the ghost. So now I am waiting (patiently) for a new fuser to be delivered so that I can finish printing that pattern as well as all of our flyers for our booth in Portland. It is supposed to arrive any day - let's hope so, because the clock is ticking!

Here is my newest pattern - "Home Sweet Home".

When I get back from Portland, "Autumn Star" will be ready to release.