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Virtual Tour of the 2007 CHA-Summer Maya Road Booth

Over the last week, I've had loads my sweet friends ask for photos of the latest releases from Maya Road. I thought it would be fun to take you on a virtual tour (of sorts) of the Maya Road booth - and share my 'spiel' that I gave to Retailers as they came through our booth introducing the new product lines. I'm warning you now - this is not going to be a short post. Maya Road released a LOT of really great and fantastic new products!

Many of these photos are not my own. I found them on various scrapping websites, and on other blogs (mostly Caroline and Deb's). So without any further adu.... I present... my spiel!

Welcome to the Maya Road Booth! My name is Heather. Have you received a copy of our catalog and an order form?

No? Well then let me get one for you!

Sure! I’d be happy to show you our latest releases! Let’s start over here at this end!

We noticed that many consumers prefer to not put traditional chipboard pieces onto their scrapbook pages because of the bulk it adds. With that in mind, we have our new line of Micro Chips and Micro Felts. Both come packaged in a new style of our traditional Maya Road tin – a 3.5” x3.5” square tin. Each tin of Micro Chips has anywhere from 80 to 125 (or more) pieces and comes in 6 different designs; arrows, scallops, motif buttons, hearts, stars, and foundation buttons. Each tin of Micro Felts has anywhere from 75 to 95+ pieces and is available in 3 different designs; Birds, Buttons, and Arrows and Stars. Both the chips and felts come in two color palettes, brights and neutrals. Because of their size and versatility, these items will also be popular with your card and mini album makers. With a suggested retail price between $ 2.75 and $3.00 it’s definitely a great value to your customer.

Over on this display we have another new item for Maya Road – our Sheer Books. As I’m sure you’ve seen or heard sheer and clear is very hot for this show. We’ve released seven new and exciting sheer albums. We have our 5-Ring Tab Book, Crown, Round Scallop, Snowflake, Star, Square Scallop, and Arrow albums. These albums are made with PVC-free high quality plastic and have 8 pages in each book. The retail prices on these albums are incredible; they range from $3.50 to $7.00.

Underneath our Sheer Books is another fun new and exciting item for this show – our Clearly Sheer Ribbons. These ribbons are new to the industry. They are totally clear, stretch, can be tied and to not wrinkle easily. For this show, we released six
different designs: Flowers, arrows, birds, stars, hearts, and snow flakes. Packaged on a spool of $25 yards, the retail price per yard is only about $0.75!

On the next side of this display we have our new additions to the Maya Road Sheers line; the LUXE Stoney Island Alphabet Sheers and Office Sheers.

We partnered with LUXE and created a line of sheers to match their Stoney Island die cut letters. There are a total of 80 pieces of alphabet and related punctuation packaged in our signature 4”x6” Maya Road metal tins. They are available in 3 colors, black, clear, and white and each package retails for $8.00.

The Maya Road Office Sheers come in three new collections; Steno, Memo, and Notes. These sheers are perfect for journaling spots! Write on them with permanent markers and attach them to your projects with staples, wet adhesives, eyelets, brads, your favorite dry Xyron adhesives, or put several together and create a mini sheer album! Each of our Office Sheers tins retail for $ $8.00.

Over on this side of the display we have 16 new Maya Road Chipboard Books! We’ve added a 6” round album, a crown album, a bird album, and three new banner albums to our coaster album family. Each of these albums has 8 pages. All of these albums have a suggested retail price of only $4.00!

We noticed that a lot of consumers were creating banners and other home décor projects, but wanted to create something more durable. One potential solution to fill their need, are our three new banner albums; triangular (pennant), rectangular, and square. Each of these albums were been designed with rectangle holes punched out to allow for ribbon that won’t bunch and twist while hung or displayed.

We also have two new accordion albums; a small square accordion and a scallop accordion. Both of these albums have 10 pages and come already punched with jump rings attached. The small square accordion album measures 3”x3”, fits into the Maya Road square tin and retails for less than $3.00. The scallop accordion album is 4”x5”, fits into the Maya Road lunch tin and retails at $3.50.

We also have three new styles of binder albums; our House Binder, Modern Purse, and Half Circle Binder Albums. Each of these albums have 8 pages, are pre-punched, and come packaged in the binder rings – ready for your customers to customize. The suggested retail prices on them range from $6.00 to $9.00.

We have one addition to our albums in boxes – the Skinny Box with Cards album. The box measures at 8”x5.25”x2.5” and has an album inside with 8 cards on a chain. The interior cards measure at 2.5”x7”. This album retails at $6.00. I agree – it’s an awesome deal for your customer!

Four new styles of chipboard albums round our new album additions; our 5-Ring Round Tab Book, our Flower Petal Tab Album, our 2-Ring Layer Book, and our Home Ring Album with punched windows. All of these albums are new shapes and sizes for Maya Road . As you can see in these samples, our designers have really showcased their versatility. The 5-Ring Round Tab and the Home Ring albums both have 8 pages. The Flower Petal and 2-Ring Layer books both have 6 pages. The retail prices on these albums range from $3.50 to $5.00.

Over on this next display are our new rub-ons. We listened to the information that our retailers shared and brought out new rub-ons, packaged by the sheet in hanging bags. We have 9 new designs; Border Trim, Flower Me, Border Scrolls, Scrolls, Jonathan (font), Noah (font), The Cubicle, Airmail, and Road Rage. Each sheet is 3.65”x10.875”. As you can see, each sheet is packed with images – our product design team (Deb and Caroline) worked hard to make sure they were priced competively for your customer and that they would receive a great value for their money. Our other rub-on lines continue to be available, packaged in our signature tins.

On the next side of the display are our new ribbons. We added 5 new rich colors to our Crushed Velvet line; Deep Red, Rich Pink, Pumpkin Orange, Camo Green, and Midnight Black. These ribbons are 3/8” wide, are sold in bulk rolls of 25 yards, with a retail cost of $1.20 per yard.
Above our crushed ribbons are our new Maya Road Signature Ribbon cards. Again, we listened to our retailers and packaged a few of our most popular selling ribbons together on cards, in 5 color families; Browns & Creams, Black & White, Pink, Red, & Blue. Each card has a beautiful mix of crushed velvet ribbon, velvet ric rac, stitched grosgrain, grosgrain ric rac and twill. Any of these sets would coordinate beautifully with any project. Each card retails for $6.00.

On the next side of our display is our new die cut Velvet Trims. You may be familiar with our first release of the Blossom Trim. They were so popular that we decided to
add two new designs to the line – Star and Hearts. The Star trim is available in Rich Red, Rich Green, Cocoa Brown, and Deep Blue. The Hearts trim is available in Rich Red, Plush Cream, Cocoa Brown, and Light Pink. My favorite adhesive to use on them is Xyron’s X. This gorgeous ribbon is 1” wide, and is sold in rolls of 10 yards with a retail price of $2.70 per yard.

Underneath the Velvet Trim is our new Scallop Ric Rac. This beautiful ribbon is made from a beautiful shimmery, fine woven grosgrain ribbon which has been stitched to create the scalloped ric rac. It is available in 8 lovely colors; creamy beige, light pink, royal red, burnt orange, pine green, sky blue, chocolate brown, and midnight black and is sold in rolls of 25 yards with a suggested retail price of $1.50 per yard.

On the last side of this display are our new unmounted, non-yellowing clear acrylic stamps. Maya Road released eight new 4”x6” sets, and four new 2.5”x2” sets. These are high quality, photopolymer stamps. Our new 4”x6” stamp designs are: Noah Alphabet, Journaling Notes, Scrolls, Stamp Seals, Defined, Calendar, Make a Date, and Travelogue. All of the Maya Road 4”x6” stamps come packaged in our signature tins which provide an easy and convenient storage solution for your customer. They retail for $15.00 per set.

Our new 2.5”x2” stamps have 3 stamps per package, and come ready to sell in hang tag bags. The designs available are: Message, Prescription, Name, and Postcard. The retail price for these beauties is approximately $5.

We’re nearing the end of the Maya Road booth, which means we’re almost done with our new product releases.

On this last display, we have the new additions to our Chipboard Line. We released 5 new designs, all of which come packaged in our signature lunch tin. Our new designs are: Birds (3 different birds with wings and two different branches), Crowns (6 different designs and sizes), Scalloped Frames (15 styles with inserts), Scroll Frames (18 styles, 48 frames and their centers), Arrows (18 styles in two different sizes), and Snowflakes (9 styles in two different sizes). I’m sure you’ll agree that your customer will love these – especially with a retail price of only $8.00!

Finally, the last new and exciting item we released for this show is our Chipboard Keychains. We have 5 themes; Travel, Birds, People, Fashionista, and Baby. Each keychain has 4 pieces of 2” to 3.5” shaped chipboard and an oval embossed logo piece. These themed chipboard keychains are sold in bulk packs of 50 – that’s 50 complete keychains with 4 pieces each. Because of their low price point, there are many ways that they can help you grow your business. Use them for make and takes, give-aways, or even at your register as an impulse purchase. These adorable keychains retail at less than $0.75 each – what a deal!

Well, we're at the end of the Maya Road booth. Our new products will begin shipping the end of September. We ship orders out in the order we receive them. This means, the first order to us, is the first order we ship. We value you as our customer, and feel that it’s the best way to support and be fair to you. We’ll be here until Sunday to answer any questions or to take your order.

Thanks for visiting with me and have a great day!

So, tell me - what's your favorite item in the latest Maya Road release? I know what I think is fantastic about it , but I'm interested in hearing what you think is fantastic. I have a fun little prize package with a variety of selected new Maya Road releases that I'll randomly give to someone who posts a comment (through Sunday) with their favorite new item. The winner will be posted sometime next week - so be sure your entries are in before ... oh say noon. Check out the Maya Road Summer Catalog for a complete listing of the new products.

Soon I'll share my creative thoughts and ideas for many of the new products. I think some of the new products coordinate PERFECTLY with other manufacturer products and I'll share that information too. Some of them will have photos, some of them won't. Many of the photos will likely be of the incredible projects my fellow Maya Road Design Team members created. Their projects were amazing and inspired me to bust a move home and play in my studio!
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A Fun Tag...

My friend, Cami, tagged me on her blog (I think it was me - it could be one of the bajillion Heather's out there - regardless I'm taking it). Fun thinking - and I agree it would make a great layout. Perhaps I'll accomplish that one!

Here goes:

1. WERE YOU NAMED AFTER ANYONE? (Oh this will answer my friend Heather's recent question which I didn't answer) In the beginning, my mother loved the name Heather Lynette. I don't believe there was anyone special who had the name, just that she liked it a lot. Interestingly, when Sheri and I were reunited, she shared that her mothers name is Linette and her middle name is Lyn. So, my technical answer is that in the beginning I wasn't named for anyone in particular, but in the end it became a family tie.

2. WHEN WAS THE LAST TIME YOU CRIED? Oh my. I'm sure it was yesterday - it hasn't occured yet today. Sometimes there's just hard challenges in life. You overcome and move on... eventually! :)

3. DO YOU LIKE YOUR HANDWRITING? Sometimes I do - sometimes I don't. It really just depends on the day and on the style.

4. WHAT IS YOUR FAVOURITE LUNCH MEAT? Thin sliced smoked turkey breast - or this salami that Steve-o has me hooked on (really, I'm starting to think it's a sickness).

5. DO YOU HAVE KIDS? Currently, I do not have any children. :( I do however, have young adult two in-laws who keep me on my toes. :)

6. IF YOU WERE ANOTHER PERSON WOULD YOU BE FRIENDS WITH YOU? Probably. Assuming of course, that I would not get offended with mass sarcasm and could tell the real me to chill out and relax.

7. DO YOU USE SARCASM A LOT? Amen, Cami - AMEN. Seriously this is a dumb question for anyone who knows me to ask. Seriously. If I could get arrested for being sarcastic I'd have a major rap sheet. No doubt about it.

8. DO YOU STILL HAVE YOUR TONSILS?Indeed.

9. WOULD YOU BUNGEE JUMP? Yes, and I have. At a singles conference in Germany many many moons ago. It was over the Rhine River too, oooh the silly things we do as young adults.

10. WHAT IS YOUR FAVOURITE CEREAL?Oooh I love cereal - but never ever eat it with milk. I LOVE vanilla almond granola.

11. DO YOU UNTIE YOUR SHOES WHEN YOU TAKE THEM OFF? If it's my sneakers yes - I think they're the only tie shoes I own. Well, I guess I could count my Doc Martens from many many moons ago. I still have them somewhere and they tie too.

12. DO YOU THINK YOU ARE STRONG? Sometimes. Sometimes I'm a super wuss.

13. WHAT IS YOUR FAVOURITE ICE CREAM? Generally ice cream makes me sick - but I eat it constantly anyway! I LOVE mint chocolate chip ice cream and I love Sonic Soft Serve Cones, ooh and I love chocolate dipped cones from Dairy Queen, and I even love the fat free low sugar ones from Wal-mart (they're the only ones I can guarantee will be available at home because Steve detests ANYTHING that is sugar free.)

14. WHAT IS THE FIRST THING YOU NOTICE ABOUT PEOPLE? ooooh smiles and then eyes.

15. RED OR PINK? Red! It used to be my signature color!

16. WHAT IS THE LEAST FAVOURITE THING ABOUT YOURSELF? Lack of self control.

17. WHO DO YOU MISS THE MOST? I miss my Mommy. I wished she and my Dad lived closer. Within the next few years they'll be hours closer, but not as close as I would love to have them. I wish I had caught onto the fact that she's amazing many years ago. It would have saved me a lot of wasted time.

18. WHAT COLOUR PANTS AND SHOES ARE YOU WEARING? Black white and pink yoga pants. If they weren't so dang low cut in the back I'd wear them into public. Dang fashion trends... they don't do so well with my glutius maximus.

19. WHAT WAS THE LAST THING YOU ATE? oooh this is bad. Diet Mountain Dew, chocolate tootsie roll and a chocolate chewie pecan cookie. Heathy eating is obviously a priority around here.

20. WHAT ARE YOU LISTENING TO RIGHT NOW? The sound of the air conditioner turngin on, and the dehumidifier running in the guest upstairs bathroom. I should just turn on my iTunes and let it run on party shuffle (great idea, Cami!)

21 IF YOU WHERE A CRAYON, WHAT COLOUR WOULD YOU BE? Periwinkle Blue - maybe. There are a whole lot of choices in those crayon boxes you know. Definitely more than when I was in school.

22. FAVOURITE SMELLS? Ooooh rain - fresh brand new, just started to fall rain. That, and clean house and clean linens. Oooh and of course Steve-o when he's fresh and clean from a shower. :)

23. WHO WAS THE LAST PERSON YOU TALKED TO ON THE PHONE? Christa, bailing out on our IKEA trip. Oh well, it'll just be me and Cara then. Her loss. ;P

24. DO YOU LIKE THE PERSON WHO SENT THIS TO YOU? Of course, would I do her tag if I didn't?

25. FAVOURITE SPORTS TO WATCH? I don't really watch any sports. I do however, love watching live sports - and dancing/cheerleading.

26. HAIR COLOUR? Light brown with lots of highlights. I think I'm going to go in and have some crazy fun highlights added too.

27. EYE COLOUR? Blue and Gold.

28. DO YOU WEAR CONTACTS? Nope. I do have a very slight stigmatism in my left eye so I do have a couple pairs for when I'm having headaches.

29. FAVOURITE FOOD? Cheese, broccoli, good steak, mom's fresh bread, anything mom cooks really..

30. SCARY MOVIES OR HAPPY ENDINGS? Seriously. There's more than enough scary in real life - I don't need to add any via movies. I'm ALL about the happy, romantic, or hilarious movies.

31. LAST MOVIE YOU WATCHED? License to Wed with Robin Williams. It was great!

32. WHAT COLOUR SHIRT ARE YOU WEARING? Black, pink and white. It matches the pants I'm wearing. Honestly, it's what I wore to bed. I haven't even gotten dressed for the day yet.

33. SUMMER OR WINTER? Gosh they're both awesome. Summers are crazy hot here and winters are more like a cold fall. Both really.

34. HUGS OR KISSES? Depends who is offering... KWIM?!

35. WHAT BOOK ARE YOU READING NOW? None. I finished Swapping Lives by Jane Green last night. I have a big stack of magazines and idea books to flip through and read before I start another book.

36. WHAT IS ON YOUR MOUSE PAD? Nada. I don't have one.

37. WHAT DID YOU WATCH ON T.V. LAST NIGHT? Nothing, We didn't get cable when we moved into this house, and I've just gotten used to it. I'd like to say I've gotten more productive but I definitely have not. I have however, cleared out my Blockbuster Online Queue many many times. Love that service!

38. FAVOURITE SOUND? My nieces and nephews belly laughs and Steve-o's sweet talks.

39. ROLLING STONES OR BEATLES?I like them both very much.

40. WHAT IS THE FARTHEST YOU HAVE BEEN FROM HOME? Wow... many thousands of miles when my family lived in Europe and I started life in the US. Wow... that was a long time ago!

41. WHERE WERE YOU BORN? Illinois.

42. WHAT SUPERPOWER WOULD YOU LIKE? Oh, to be able to read peoples minds would be awesome - but a curse at the same time.

Okay... so in true new Heather fashion, I'm not going to tag anyone but I'd love to read anyone answers who wants to share them!
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Hello Love's!

Hi guys! I'm alive and doing well. I got home from the Craft and Hobby Association show in Chicago yesterday and am busy getting unpacked and things situated. There are some rather big things on the horizon which need to be worked through (not crafty related) so I might not be updating much for a bit while I get them squared away. Things will work out though!

xoxo
~heather
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Home Again, Home Again Jiggity Jig

WOW.... CHA as always, was a complete BLAST! I love being at these trade shows, sharing my love for crafts, and seeing the excitement on the faces of the retailers as they see the latest and greatest from all of the exhitors (generally manufacturers). It's crazy, sometimes very HOT, sometimes exhausting, but almost always LOTS of fun!



A few of you asked if I would share my top "finds". Of course I will, and since you ask SO nicely how can I not? Okay, so in no particular order, here are the things that tickled me most at CHA



Scenic Route - It's no secret that I LOVE SR and their product line. Their lined and gridded background papers are fabulous as they make keeping everything lined up and straight a breeze. At this show, they released two new lines (Sumner and Ashville) and new journaling stickers and die cuts. I definitely see a chunk of my money going here!


Cosmo Cricket - Seriously, their blog is hilarious and makes me pee my pants on a regular occasion. I've often said that they are THE funniest manufacturers in Utah (if I go soley based on their blog). At this show, they released a few new additions to their other lines, two new paper lines (Be Good and Gretel), and one REALLY fabulous item - Biography 101. Seriously, I can go SO many directions with this awesome item. It's a suitcase, and when you open it, one side holds a beautiful scrapbook album, there other side is a SHADOW BOX! Seriously! It' will be BEYOND awesome for special momentos (my bridal bouquet for one) and I can see lots of Texas mothers putting their daughters Homecoming Mums into them in the fall (Don't get me started on that whole Homecoming Mums thing... for a 'Texas Transplant" it's hilarious! Why anyone would want to walk around with a massive flower attached to you which looks almost identical to a horse ribbon is BEYOND me!)


October Afternoon - CS and Stamps


Prism Papers - Prismatics


Kandi Kane - Bling


Maya Road -


Stewart Superior - New black glue ink pad


Spellbinders


Luxe


Technique Tuesday -


Art Girlz


Creativity Inc / Autumn Leaves / Foofala


Ranger

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Meet the {Hell} House

On the outside it really looks quite friendly and fun. Don't you agree?

The inside however, not so much.

Hell.

My very own Hell House.

Lovely.

You know those smart people who say you shouldn't judge a book by its cover?
They were right.

Dang gum smart people.

Seriously.

Lots of big changes and repairs on the horizon. Big changes. HUGE repairs.
This is what I came home to the other day.

It makes you want to come right over for dinner, doesn't it?

On the upswing, I'm glad we're finding things out now and that we don't have and children to keep out of the mess. If there was an opportune time to get things done, I suppose now is a good of a time as any. Granted, I wouldn't have picked it. But, I'll deal with it.
When we're done, this house is going to ROCK.

Someday.

Seriously!

Sometimes, it's a REALLY good thing that I can lock myself into my studio and ignore the rest of the house. Except for when I must go and relieve myself. Diet Coke and Isopure drinks have a way of doing that to you. Especially when you down Diet Cokes in 44oz Sonic cups.
Seriously.
Without Sonic tasty beverages, I would have lost my mind. Thank you Sonic!
Steve isn't so appreciative. He thinks I need a Sonic budget.
Bring it On!
Unlimited Sonic Diet Cokes?
Bring it.
Seriously!
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Oh the crazyness...

It's a miracle. Seriously. A miracle of amazing proportions.

It hasn't rained in almost two days!

I know. Really I do. You're thinking "good night, Heather.... it's just rain. AND it doesn't happen often in North Texas."

And you're right.

But for kriminey's sake... it's been raining for almost a solid month.

Every day.

EVERY ever-lovin' day.

Seriously.

I'm ready for some hot Texas sun. It would be great if we didn't have to deal with mosquitos, but I don't see that happening. Not by a LONG shot. But, I can get a Costco load of OFF. I don't mind spraying myself down - especially if it's sunny outside.

Lots of things happening on the house front. Not fun things. Not fun by a bazillion gazillion times. Seriously. But, let's not talk about such depressing and overwhelming things.

Instead let's talk about fun photos! My fab-o friend Heather came over and we took some fun photos to use for our "we've moved" cards. They were fun to do, and our neighbors think we're nuts. I guess it's good they figured it out now. It'll save us all time later.

I'm deep in the deeps of CHA prep. Maya Road has come out with some really fun and fantastic products to release at this show. Check out Caroline and Deb's blogs for some sneakie peekies. Seriously - some fun fun stuff! I can't wait to show you what I've been working on. One of the projects is a fun Princess album full of my friend Amy's Disney photos. She was a doll for letting me use them.

And in other happy news, Silver Bella is only a few months away. It's going to be SUCH fun. Seriously! I've had a load of fun getting to know the other attendee's on our Yahoo! Group message board. Really, they're oodles of fun - and full of support when you need a smile or a virtual hug. I really can't wait to reunite with the gals from last year and meet the fabulous new Bellas from this year.
Oooh and the next season of Grey's Anatomy is only a few months away from starting. Color me HAPPY! Seriously, I can't wait.
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