Inspiration

Where does inspiration come from? Everywhere and in everyday events. Sometimes inspiration comes via a third party who says "hey, I got one for you!" Throughout this blog I have given credit to others if I use one of their sayings in my work. I am always happy to give credit where credit is due. When we receive and idea, we google the phrase to see if anything pops up ie; is it already out there. If not, we use it! While Google is not always reliable, it is our best option to find catch phrases. I have never claimed to have come up with 100% of the text used in my work. Hey, I can't be funny ALL the time, ya know! I think the same goes for all writers and there are certain common phrases that we tweak to make our own.

So what happens when we use a phrase someone has given us and it does indeed have an origin? That is the question of the week and one for our lawyer to find out! (not an angry mob to decide)

Fabric Mirrors and Buttons

I heart fabric! I can't walk into a fabric store without browsing the aisles and touching all the fabric. My brother is a furniture designer and works with fun retro fabrics so I guess it runs in the family!

We have been working on new ideas using fabric and have created wonderul fabric covered pinback buttons and 3" mirrors.

I love the texture and rich look that fabric brings to each item. Some fabrics we use are vintage, others are recycled shirts and scarves.

Pinback buttons retail for $2.50 each and Mirrors at $6.00 each.

Wooden Note Tag Display

We found it! The perfect display to offer with our NOTE TaGS!

The display works great with the vintage retro feel of the NOTE TAGS and comes in two different sizes. The smaller version, which is shown to the right, holds 9 card designs and the larger version holds 12 different card designs. Each have a clear plexiglass front panel so the entire card image and text can be seen.

Contact us for more details or you can view all the details on our web site.

2010...a New Beginning

The month of January is always a busy one in our offices. We have a new and improved 2010 product catalog which gets mailed to all of our stores and to our wonderful sales reps. We have introduced the Note Tags in our catalog which were only in limited production last year.

We also have five gift shows to prepare for in January/February and the showrooms need all the new products we created for 2010 to display and sell along with stacks of catalogs to hand out to clients. This keeps us busy from the end of December until the end of January.

And, as always, we are contantly thinking of new products to introduce throughout the year. This week we are working on fabric covered mirrors using vintage recycled scarves! They are beautiful and we are having fun creating them.

Our New Years Resolution is to update our blog more often and fill you in on all the is new and exciting in the world of Minds Eye Design!

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It's beginning to look a lot like CHRISTMAS!

What started out as an attempt to design some Valentine Cards, turned into the creation of eight Holiday designs instead! Due in part to the lack of valentine images I have in stock and the thought that I myself would need to send out some holidays cards soon.

I ordered olive green and red recycled envelopes for the holidays designs, which should arrive early next week, and I will spend the Thanksgiving "break" writing out my holiday cards to my friends.

It's beginning to look, and feel, a lot like CHRISTMAS!

Updates

How does the time go by so quickly? It is mid November and the year is winding down. I am setting my business goals for 2010 and realized that the economy will still play an immense part of sales and confidence.

I just completed the 2010 catalog which will go to print this week. I now need to post it on the web site.

We made many changes to the collection for the coming year. I have been so stubborn regarding the square format of my cards, which I prefer. But customers and reps have repeatedly asked for 5X7 format so I chose 12 of the best selling designs and reformatted them into the rectangle format. It will be interesting to see the reaction in the coming months.

We also included the "NOTE TaGS" into the collection and I am very excited about this addition. I like the vintage meets retro appeal and pre-sales have been very good.

My licensing deal for Cocktail Napkins with Boston International fell through last month but I will be licensing a collection of Washington State images from a Seattle artist in 2010. The artist, Glen Smith of "Rainbow Connections" painted beautiful scenes of the area he knew and loved and has had a line of greeting cards with his images for many years. Since passing, his collection is now in the hands of his daughter, Susan Wolfe, who is my Washington State sales rep. She has graciously asked me to produce a line of magnets using these amazing images. I am looking forward to a long and profitable union with her.

I guess the theme for the upcoming year is best described by my pal, David Bowie, Chhhhhhhanges.

Jane Note Tag ensemble

Jane Note Tag in Library Pocket