My life...just not on the road I expected (but it's still dang good).

What tanked and what took off.

This Fall, it will be five years since my product line (Narratives) was introduced.  And in those five years, I've had some products that really took off and some that really tanked.

The first product idea I ever had (transparencies) took off better than anything I have designed since.  I think it was just the right product at the right time.   In fact, I don't think there were many local stores that didn't carry them.  They even hit QVC and a few major chains.

The funny thing is, I didn't have a clue what I was doing when I designed these.  My knowledge of Photoshop extremely limited; I only knew how to remove spit bubbles, plaque and unwanted facial hair from dental photos because of a project I had worked on. (I was a dental hygienist for 12 years.)

So while I was designing my first transparencies, I was literally knocking on people's doors, asking them if I could cut flowers and leaves out of their front yards to scan and use.  

I released twelve transparencies at that first show and out of twelve, three of them had typos on them (I didn't know that Photoshop had spell-check and somehow they slipped through the cracks at Creative Imaginations too). 

Even funnier; that musical transparency above has a whole bunch of inspirational quotes on it.  Once of them reads "None of us will ever accomplish anything excellent or commanding except when he listens to this whisper that is heard by him alone", but in the first run of these transparencies, part of that quote was deleted, so it simply read "None of us will ever accomplish anything excellent or commanding."

I cried when I read that.

After months of worry that I was going to be a one hit wonder, I came up with this little idea...

And to date, those negative strips were the second best selling product I've ever designed.

I designed plenty of stuff that tanked too though.

One of my favorite ideas ever was a linen album that had a 12x12 clear plastic sleeve sewn right into the cover so you could customize your albums by slipping your own layouts into the cover.  They even came with a removable transparency.  As cool as (I thought) they were, I just don't think anyone ever really 'got it', so they completely tanked.  Looks like Creative Imaginations still has a couple of pink and blue ones here.

I own lots of them though, so if nothing else, I got some cool albums for my own layouts out of the whole deal.

And then there were these little Fortune Cookie stickers that tanked too...

 

I guess they just didn't have enough shelf appeal and I doubt there's a store on the face of the planet that has any of these in stock (lucky me though, I've still got a couple of sheets that I'm hoarding).

I've learned that over the years that it doesn't matter how great a product is if it doesn't have any shelf appeal.  So when I had the idea for some quote stickers, everyone at Creative Imaginations said "We like the idea, but remember how poorly your Fortune Cookie stickers sold?"

So I gave them some shelf appeal (and because of that, these little Quote Stickers took off).  You can find one of the styles here.

So did these (the Journaler's Notebooks) one of which you can find here...

And so did all of the die-cut paper that I've designed so far, but particularly this one...

 

But this stuff (Paper Lace) tanked...

Man, I love that stuff though.  It's hard to find in stores (since hardly anyone bought it) but Creative Imaginations still has a couple of different colored packs available here and here.

I usually cut the Paper Lace in half (like I did on this layout) when I use it, just because I think it looks cool and because it gives me more mileage per roll.  Oh, and did you notice the Fortune Cookie sticker (that tanked) in the bottom right hand corner?

What's taking off now?...

These stamps that I designed for FontWerks that have been nearly impossible to find in stores because they keep selling out.  (If you enter the code FWKR08 - that's a zero, not an 'o', you can get 15% off your FontWerks order).

And these Easel Albums that are finally shipping.

They're a 5x7 decorative album with an easel attached to the back of them (I had the idea for this product after designing a class where we made albums really similar to these).  They're full of scalloped pages and transparent pages. 

I don't even own one yet, but you can find them here, here and here.  Also, I know a lot of you who were at my classes at the Scrapbook Clubhouse in Westbrook, CT were asking about them and Sharon's got them in stock too (so be sure to stop by the store).

And they aren't due to start shipping for a few months yet, but these acrylic stamps that released at the CHAS 2008 show seem to be doing pretty well too (which is cool, because they're my favorite).

If you are a online or local store who carries any of this stuff, feel free to post your store name, location and which products you're carrying in the comments section (and if you're looking for any of this stuff be sure to read through the comments to find a local store where you can find them).

As usual, my local store the Scrapbook Connection here in Grants Pass, OR always carries a huge selection of this stuff.

You never know just how long of a run you'll have in a career like this...but I'm praying that I've got at least another five or more years worth of ideas rattling around somewhere in this pea brain of mine (before I have to go back to cleaning plaque & tarter).

She's never wanted to be a big girl.

And I've never been able to entice her into doing anything by saying "Don't you want to be a big girl?" because her reply has always been the same; "No, I yar my mommy's tiny widdle baby!"

And heaven forbid anyone ever cross her by saying "Oh, you're such a big girl Annie!"

I've always found it odd, but at the same time I've always secretly loved it. 

This morning she was running all over the room while I was trying to get her dressed (as usual) and I said "Bring my tiny widdle baby over here!"

And she replied, "I yar not a tiny widdle baby, I yar a bid girl."

And my heart sunk just a little. 

And so I decided to double-check tonight, just to be on the safe side. 

She's still a bid girl.

Look...

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This is what consumed the last 7 months of my life.

440 pages, 45 lessons, 9 assignments, 560 minutes of audio and a website.

This is The Photographers' Workshop that I teach online.

The lessons (which the students print up at home) fill a 3 inch binder.

I ordered custom printed binders for everyone a few months back and they finally arrived yesterday.

They've got printed dividers too (one for each week of the class).  The additional numbered dividers are not included (I found those at Staples office supply store the other day and I love them because I can quickly flip to any of the 45 lessons now).

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Now I just have the problem of trying to figure out where in my 1300sq. ft. house these are going to be stored (since the garage is already full).

And all you gals in my classes who have been patiently waiting for these, my Mom and her best friend Dotty and I are going to be working like crazy to get them all assembled and mailed of by the end of next week.

And if you're taking The One Day Photographer's Workshop (the 8 hour workshop I teach in stores) you get a smaller version of this binder (it's a folder) but it's pretty, just like the binder.

Oh, and I have pretty matching pens for you too.

Concerts at the park.

There are concerts at the park here in Grants Pass every Tuesday night.

At the beginning of every summer, I swear to myself that we're going to go every single Tuesday night.  Seems like the summer rolls by though and we only mange to make it once or twice.

We went last Tuesday night though.

Me and my Yannie.

My sister-in-law Misti (aka: Genevieve) and her girls came with us. 

 

Even though I had packed my own sandwich, Genevieve brought me one too (and hers was waaaay better; ciabatta bread, pesto, roasted red peppers, zucchini and some other magic stuff).

She made sweet potato chips too (I could marry her).

I like your belly Tater.

 

Tater and her big sister, Dan.

Looks like Coley's telling a good story over there.

Annie and her 'budder svanwich'.   

The karate kid.

And you can kind of see the really bad mohawk that Coley's been growing out (courtesy of his Uncle Jamey).

It looks like a sweet moment...but you should have seen the eye-rolling that when on when we told her she had to share with her baby sister.

In line for the jump-house.

Playing ring-around-the-rosey while waiting for the jump house (just a lucky shot - I was swinging with one hand and shooting with the other without looking through the viewfinder).

Josh Downs and I spent part of the night cranky with eachother and so...he decided to tackle me (he's impossible to stay mad at).

Thanks for grabbing the camera Genevieve.

Someone asked if I'm doing something different with my pictures lately.  I've been using the Pross Crossessed #2 action from Totally Rad Actions on some of my shots (it creates a yellow cast that I tone down by decreasing the opacity to about 10%) and have been shooting with a new lens too (Canon 24-70mm).

Oh, and Annie's bikini is one I got on sale at Gymboree a long time ago.

Last night.

Just a few random shots from our house last night.

Those are my legs (and my favorite pajama pants from Old Navy).

And I don't usually notice it in pictures, but you can see here that Annie has different colored eyes (a dark brown one and a light brown one).

Coley's about to tickle Annie and her baby.  Courtney Lee is about to fall asleep (she can fall asleep anywhere).  Ross just got out of the shower and Josh is toodling around the house (as usual) because the man can't sit down and relax for a minute.

Josh spent the weekend running a relay race from Diamond Lake to Bend.  I think he ran 21 miles or something ridiculous.  He even enjoyed it.  I could run 21 miles...if I was being chased by a ferocious animal or something (actually, I'd probably make it for about a mile before deciding that I would rather be mauled by the ferocious animal).

Coley (now in his underoos) about to hit Courtney with his pillow (oblivious to what is about to happen).

Josh took the kids to the lake (I stayed home and worked) hence the bikini.

Hey, I don't think I ever mentioned that we got a new couch...

I'd have rather spend the money on a new lens but since Josh thought the couch smelled bad (it was 11 years old, of course it smelled bad) and since he has to sleep on it a lot (he snores), we finally broke down and got one.

I had looked at a couple of them and really wanted a gorgeous, expensive red floral sectional, but decided to go with the boring old brown, inexpensive sectional so that I wouldn't have to lose my mind every time a kid with grimy feet or a grimy face got on the couch.

And now we can all sit on the couch at the same time and watch a movie together. (The kids and I rented Penelope this weekend - it's really cute - but I have issues with movies intended for kids where it is the female character's entire objective in life to get married...even if it is to break a pig-nosed curse.)

Oh, and the couch smells really nice.

And there in the background is just a small part of the 14 million loads of laundry that I have underway.  And you can barely see it, but right behind Annie's ponytail is one of four enormous boxes that my Mom and her friend Dotty and I packed on Friday for my classes in Texas (200 scrapbooking kits and 75 folders for the One Day Photographers' Workshop).  I'll be at The Paper Garden in Amarillo on the 15th and 16th and at Scrapbook N Such on the 16th-18th.  I can't believe how huge some of the classes are getting - really excited about this trip.

I must admit that I am tired of my home looking like a warehouse though.  I just don't think that a 1300sq. ft. house was ever intended for a family of six, a place of business and the packing & storage facility for thousands of scrapbooking kits.

Oh, and Polka Dot potato is running a 50% off sale on all my digital brushes this week (cool).

And I'm going to blog every single day this week (just like the good ole' days).