Boxer Scrapbooks Weblog

Happy Halloween!

Received this photo in an email joke.  Thought it was great! 

Hope you and your family get all treats and no tricks!
~~Angie & the rest of the Boxer Crew

Ontario, CA Wrap Up...

Our flight was scheduled for Tuesday afternoon, which has totally now screwed up our clocks for the week.  We never fly home on Tuesdays, always on Sunday, so it's very weird to be home two days later than normal.

But--we found a FANTASTIC QUILT SHOP on Tuesday morning, and it was less than 10 minutes from our hotel!!!!  It's called The Fabric Patch, and it was wonderful!  Mom and I both got to the business of shopping as soon as we walked in the door, and we left with tons of projects, fabrics, and a renewed sense of what a quilt shop should be!  Next time you're in the Ontario, California area, you NEED to check out this shop if you're a quilter, ever want to be a quilter, enjoy looking at fabric, or just want to check out a cool store!  (Chrys--you would LOVE this store).

We actually hit another one a town or two over, but I really just wanted to go back to The Fabric Patch!

The flight home was long, as we got in early to Oakland, which made our layover longer.  We did finally get home to Portland.

One thing about traveling on a Tuesday, and especially in the afternoon, there is hardly any traffic at the airport.  Security line literally had two, yes 2, people in front of us.  So that part was quick and painless...

All in all, very glad to be home.  George and Cabo both missed me very much.  Cabo wouldn't leave me alone for the first few hours, and even now, is glued to my side if she can be.  Such a cutie!

Have a great week!
~~Angie

Shop Hopping around Ontario, CA

Whenever we're in another city for a day or two extra, we always try to find a few quilt shops.  Mom loves kits (have I mentioned that before?  LOL!) and we always look for ones that are kind of geared toward the area.  Here is how our day went:
1.  The Tattered Rabbit:  Store was supposed to open at 1pm, by 1:10pm we were calling, since we'd been waiting since 12:45.  By 1:20, we left.  Bummed, looked like a good store.
2.  Can't remember the name:  Mom forgot to check and see if they were open on Mondays.  They weren't.  Bummed again.
3.  Bluebird Quilt & Gallery:  Pulled up, and first impression is that it's tiny.  Walk in, and you fall in love!  Great little shop, with tons of unique quilts on the walls, kits available, and great fabric selection.  Walked out of there with some great project pieces.  Mom bought a kit (SHOCKING), but also had a recommendation for another store...
4. Calico Horse: Recommended by an employee at Bluebird.  Good store, great selection, but the staff was rude.  Didn't care to help us at all, was more interested in something they were working on, and could have cared less.  They had a few great quilts that we would have bought patterns for or even had them order, but when asked about the patterns, they just said they were out of stock.  No offer to order it and mail it to us, or call us when it comes in, etc.  Awful customer service.  Wouldn't bother going here again.
5.  Georgia's Quilt Obsession:  Cute store, with lots of patterns, and probably the largest selection of Alexander Henry fabrics I've ever seen.  Basically 4 shelves of them.  Love those, as they're kitschy!  They were out of the pattern of a pumpkin I wanted, but offered to get it an mail it to me.  Got their card, and told them I'd call if I couldn't find it elsewhere.  Very nice ladies.  Shop was packed, as there was a class going on at the same time, and seems like she was the only one working there.

All in all, we loved one, liked one, and were disappointed with the other three.  We've already scoped out the two more shops we're going to try to hit tomorrow before we go back to the airport, and they both look very promising!

Have a great night..
~~Angie

Ontario, CA!

We're at the next to last show of the year.  I can't believe this year has flown by.  November is only a week away....that's amazing.

The Ontario show is fun.  Lots of people on the show floor, and many stopped by our booth for our free make & take today.  Today we had our sales rep Lorene from this area helping us with that, and she's fantastic!  Just a wonderful personality.  We made the Halloween Library Card that Laura is going to post on the Design Team Blog on Monday (check it out then)!

My classes went great too.  It's weird to think that I'm now only teaching the "In the Doghouse II" class 3 more times, and the "Perpetual Calendar" class 2 more times.  I will miss both classes, but look forward to what we're developing for next year!  Lots of great things up our sleeves for 2009!

Great thing about having a laptop on the road, is that it feeds my addiction to Facebook.  A few friends of mine totally got me addicted to it a few months ago, and recently, a bunch of high school classmates have joined.  I'm spending a lot of time catching up with old friends, and really enjoying it.  There are so many people that I've lost touch with, and really love hearing from.  I'm also working on creating a "Boxer" facebook page, and creating some "Boxer Flair".  In due time, of course.  Mostly, over the winter!

That's about it from here.  I do have to say that's it's wonderful to be in the warm sunshine, when I know it's cold and windy at home...

~~Angie

Looking Back at Kansas City...

Mom and I arrived on Tuesday (Oct 7th) at Kansas City Airport.  We picked up our rental car, and headed west toward Abeline.  Abeline is where the family farm is, where my Great Uncle Jack still lives alone at 75 years old.  It's all of a 2 hour drive there, and you see on the way out what Kansas is all about.  Its plains, with rolling hills, native grasses, wheat (which is cut for the year), oak trees, and for the most part it's pretty flat, so you can see forever.

Our first stop was in Chapman, KS.  Chapman is a town of only 1400 people, and was hit in June by a large tornado that demolished 60% of the towns buildings.  One woman was killed, and there were several injuries.  This is the town where my dad went to school, and the high school was hit pretty bad.  When we got into town, it's just amazing to see the damage.  There are full blocks in the residential neighborhood where the only thing left is driveways.  There aren't any structures at all.  Just driveways.  It was stunning to see it in person.  Here are photos:

   

We also saw some friends in town, the Londeen's.  They own the hardware store, the funeral home and have their own home in Chapman.  The hardware store was damaged at the back part of the store, and their home and funeral home were completely destroyed.  But cleanup began the day after the storm and rebuilding has begun.  The community has come together, and has been wonderful help to their neighbors.

Out to the Russell Stover Factory store and candy shop was our next stop!  Loaded up on good American chocolate.  Then we went out to the farm, leaving a box-o-chocolates with Jack, and getting caught up with him.  We also saw the area where there was a small brush fire by the house, and got more details on the event!

Back to our room in Abeline we went, cause mom needed a nap.  I did wake her up to go get dinner at DQ, and then watch tv for the night.

Wednesday morning, we drove out to the care facility where my grandmother resides, and saw her.  Once again she had no idea who we were.  Physically, she looks much better than she did last year, but mentally, she's farther gone than ever.  We stayed just until they started serving lunch, and left her to eat.

Back to Kansas City we went, checked into the hotel, then went and picked up Laura at the airport.  Took her to Hobby Lobby for the first time, and then hit Abuello's at Zona Rosa for dinner.  If you ever eat there, for an appetizer, get the 3 dip combo.  Awesome Guacamole, Bean Dip and a kickin Queso!

As for the rest of the show, it went about the same as others.  Setup went faster with the three of us, and then Friday and Saturday we had fun classes, people loved our FREE make and take, and enjoyed seeing our product line.  It still amazes me that some people charge up to $10 for a make and take.  That's not a make and take, it's a mini-class.  But--whatever.  Teardown took about the same amount of time, even though there were three of us.  LOL!  Funny how that works.

Sunday our flight wasn't until later in the afternoon, so we took Laura to Archivers for her first time.  She now knows why Kathy Jo loves that store (Hi KJ!).  It's really got a wonderful layout.

That's about it for KC, or rather, what I can remember...LOL!

We're off to Scrapbook Expo Ontario, CA tomorrow.  If you'll be there, stop by and say hi!

Have a wonderful day..

~~Angie

Winner, Winner, Chicken Dinner!

At conventions, we have a drawing in the Boxer Booth for a $100.00 online shopping spree!  We have two winners boxes shipping today, and I thought I'd share with you what they are getting!

Congrats to Linda H in Pennsylvania!  Here is what Linda's box looked like before going out the door:

And congrats to Kristy M in Virginia!  Here is Kristy's box:

Both have some wonderful Boxer Goodies coming to them, and all they did was drop an entry form off at our booth!  Congratulations to you both!  We hope you enjoy all the fun stuff your boxes contain!

~~Angie

Fall is in the air...

Our one week off from shows in October is now gone, and I'm sad to see it go.  I didn't really get to enjoy it, as Tuesday night I came down with the killer cold.  Was worried it would turn into a sinus infection, but I'm out of the woods now for that.

So I've been spending a long time on the couch, curled up under my favorite flannel quilt.  I even skipped a poker game on Saturday Night, which would never happen had I been feeling good!  I like my poker friends, so no need to punish them with my virus.

So off to the poker game George went.  I had a bit of Cabin Fever, so I went to Costco and Fred Meyers to get some household stuff we needed (laundry detergent mostly), and at Freddies I was looking for pre-lit pumpkins.  I've decided to not carve pumpkins every year.  Just too messy, and frankly, I don't have time.  I ended up at Michaels, and found some hollow foam pumpkins you can carve, and put a strobe light in.  PERFECT!  And, they were 60% off!  My other deal of the day was some fall bushes of flowers for 60% off.  All my potted plants are dead, and look like crap, so I bought $15 worth of flowers (quite a few in those bushes), and then waited until just before sundown to put them out.  Faking my neighbors out that I'm actually gardening!  LOL!  I used wire cutters to cut them up, and then arranged them in the dirt of my pots.  Turned out nice, and when George came home, he mentioned them.  When I told him they were fake, he laughed, and then laughed harder when I told him I put them out just at dark, and that I didn't think any of my gardening-crazy neighbors saw me. 

I did take a picture last night:

This is the tree in our front yard.  It was the first one planted on the street, so it's the first one to show off it's color.  I love it.  And the light was hitting it from the right just so pretty last night.  I have some funny memories of my dad and this tree.  If we ever move, I may have to call a tree surgeon and have them transplant the tree for me.

Also--notice the Ohio State Banner hanging there on the right edge of the photo!  Buckeyes won this week!

Off to eat dinner...Have a great week!

~Angie

White & Nerdy...

We've been back in the office since Monday.  Two back to back shows is rough on us.  Mom's hurting this week, and I've caught a lovely cold.  But, we're powering through.  Have more to post on our trip, but for now I leave you with this...found it via a link from another blog, and it made me laugh.  And that's hard to do thru the haze of cold medication...
Enjoy!
~Angie

White & Nerdy from waymoby on Vimeo.

Greetings from Hartford, CT!

Vicki and I are in Hartford this weekend, for the Hartford CKC event.  Show was good.  It was fun to meet a lot of people who are excited about scrapbooking.

We're actually in town until Tuesday morning, and we got some great recommendations of quilt stores to visit from a customer Friday night at the crop!  We hit them both today, and picked up some very cute fabrics.  Mom also got two books that look really good.  We also found a pastry shop that was just fantastic, and had my first cannoli.  YUMMY!  Told mom I could have ate about 6 of them, but I held back!  :o)

So, while we're out of town, the design team is busy creating!  We've made some changes to the members and structure of our design team lately.  This is good news for you!  We'll be posting new projects every single day on the Design Team Blog (link to it is on the left hand nav bar).  So, check back often to see what the girls are coming up with!

On Tuesday, we head to Kansas City.  Mom and I will be driving out to see grandma at her care facility, and hopefully this year she knows who we are.  Last year's visit was so hard on mom, and I hope it's easier this year. 

Wednesday, we'll be back to pick Laura up at the airport, and check into our KC hotel for the show (Kansas City Creating Keepsakes Convention).  Should be a fun show.  The great thing about KC is I know where to go for the good food, good quilt stores, good shopping, and great scenic stuff.  I don't think Laura's been there before, so we have to do a quick tour during down times.

Going to hit a scrapbook store or two tomorrow, just to drop in and say Hi to some customers.

Will try to share some photos from the road this trip...we'll see how it goes!
Take care,
~Angie