A Woodland Christmas Party

Here is a sampling of Christmas Open House pictures!
Will need to retake some as I'm having problems with blurriness.

Here is a few pictures from our open house last evening. I will be posting more later!
Kara & Darcy

Amazing what hands can do

1,2,3 let the countdown begin!

We're having visions of a sweet Christmas swirled with soft shades and a sprinkle of nutmeg in our store; displays of gifts to give. Yes, that's what Christmas is all about, giving. King of Kings, Lord of all! He gave us the ultimate gift, Jesus Christ. Celebrating Christmas in our "petite department store" style, Jesus didn't come in a big way, no commercialism, just a simple stable. I want our store to be a quiet reflection of this time of year, the real meaning! And, no Santa isn't invited, to this day, we have avoided this figure in our retail boutique. Frankly, there is no room for him in our inn! We want our store to be a place to get gifts for your special ones and to hear "God Bless you this Christmas Season".

Counting down the days of our Christmas open house, November 1st thru 3rd. Our party begins at dusk, Thursday evening as we un-veil our windows for our customers. Expect to hear strains of sheep baaing in an alpine village, a rainstorm and a medley of natures greatest hits. Did I hear a cuckoo clock? Your invited to a Woodland Christmas Party and want to celebrate with you the real meaning of Christmas. May God Bless each of you and despite the busy-ness of the season, remember to Crown Him, Crown Him, Lord of all this Christmas 2007....He is still the same yesterday, today & tommorow.
Love,
Kara & Darcy

European Fastners or Pliers (in English "a cute stapler")

They're back after a 1 1/4 year hiatus---we have found a distributor for the staplers. When we opened our "petite department store" we thought these were a perfect fit. They sold out &

alas our company was no longer selling them, but after searching and sending our customer Peg Mennings on a mission when she went to Europe to get another one for Kara. We have had requests regarding these staplers since we first opened.... so here they are, back in the store. We found the true distributor we are happy, they are happy!
Why the excitement over a stapler? This stapler has a never jam mechanism and has a dot that turns red when empty & they HAVE THE CUTEST STAPLES EVER! REALLY! It's a cute coppery gold staple & petite to boot. We use it for altering cards, projects, gift wrapping, etc. etc. and it's so European, literally. Well the stapler isn't bad looking either. Want one? Call the store as I predict McMaster & Storm will be the #uno seller of these cuties. We also sell the refills. So staple to your hearts content----we are!
Darcy & Kara

staplers come in assorted colors, {not all are shown} w/ a pack of "petite staplets" as we call them

check out the darling staple & the coppery- gold color

Country Living Fair 2007

Ribbon

Our vintage-y cabinet that we added our "bird" & novelties on the glass


Our booth, with some of our hand crafted prize ribbons, which is part of our Trophy Co. line

Country Living Fair 2007

We feel completely humbled by the response to our booth at the fair. We have received numerous phone calls and e-mails from excited customers who would like to venture to our store. THANK YOU! We wanted to bring a taste of our store to the fair complete with our colored tissue. I met customers in the hallway at our hotel, which was booked! Darcy & I went to our van at the hotel to get some things in the evening---every door we passed exuded women's laughter, I think the whole hotel was filled with Country Living fans. Today at the store a customer told us she & her husband was sent to Kentucky to find a hotel, which was booked with a wedding, so turned around and finally someone found them a bed & breakfast with only a twin bed. The couple took it after 2 hours of searching! They were so glad they came (yes, really). Country Living has received unhappy comments but we would like to add they didn't know 3 times the people would show up. We were floored also! Last but not least----to Abby of The Blissful and Rebecca of a la mode design, our friends through blogging, we got to meet for the first time there! I wish we would've spent more time with them, I think a trip must be planned to Canton, Ohio! So glad to meet both of you! (love your new website & blog Abby, it's perfect!)
AND, to the other vendors that we got to meet again after too long of a time:
Judith & Karla of Bloomsbury Loft in Powell, Ohio--where vintage meets modern
Lisa Norris of Made by One Girl in Chattanooga, Tennessee--who states "if it's perfect, I didn't make it!" (we love that)
AND, to the new vendor we met, Rebecca of Rebecca Ray Designs, who designs purses made by the Amish community and was picked by Country Living as one of the "pitch your product" winners held this past March. Watch your magazine as she will be featured in 2 weeks.
Enjoy your week!
Best, Kara & Darcy

Fall open house pics & you thought we disappeared!

We had a week that was a flurry of pricing, detail work, moving things around, cleaning, late nights and early*early mornings! This morning as I was driving Luke to my Mother's house, there is a small stretch of the road that is very pretty. Woods on both sides, it curves slightly, the leaves are changing, well it's peaceful. (these are rural country roads, you might pass a car and likely you won't) When I reached the bend in the road a thought popped into my head, we sometimes are driving along and things are going fine until we come to a bend in the road, and "things" seem to unravel. Lately "things" have been challenging, and I have questioned if the benefits outweigh the costs.

BUT, WHAT IF WE GIVE UP BEFORE THE BEND AND IF WE WOULD JUST KEEP GOING, EVERYTHING WILL BE FINE & STRAIGHTEN OUT! We are so capable of thinking of the here & now and if we would look ahead there is a lot of tremendous excitings things happening AFTER THE BEND IN ROAD!
Looking up & looking out: we'll keep you posted on the exciting things that will be coming to fruition "after our bend in the road"! Happy Fall, it's officially here today.

also a little song was sung to me this morning by Darcy's children
"Happy Birthday to you,
Happy Birthday to you,
Happy Birthday dear Kara
Happy Birthday to you
CHA, CHA, CHA!"
(yes, they did say the last three words!)
I'm 3 decades + 3 years old today!

Bonjour from France!

Cathy & her boys

Yesterday morning I received a great e-mail, after 13 years I tried to contact my French pen pal, (see July 2nd post) I sent a letter 2 months ago. I was doubtful it would find her, to my surprise I heard from her again. She has two beautiful boys. my mother found her letters in the attic, I thought they had been thrown away.
People are priceless! I'm so glad we can stay in touch via e-mail!

Best,
Kara