Before I do anything else, I want to correct an error that I made.  Fontwerks stamps are proudly made in the USA.  My apologies to Kah-Mei and to Fontwerks for that.  I also want to say a big thank you to Kah-Mei for driving from Vancouver, BC to our house in Corvallis to ensure that the Ali Travel Stamps got to us as quickly as possible so we could get those out to our customers who were waiting for them.  How’s that for tremendous customer service?!?!?   THANK YOU KAH-MEI!!!!!  I can’t wait to see the stamps she is creating just for us for the August kit!    

I’m back in NH at my inlaws after a great weekend with my college roommates.  We realized it had been 10 years since we were all together and that was at Brigid’s wedding so not exactly quality time.  The last time we really just got together to hang out was 3 years before that!  It’s so amazing to be around people with whom it’s as if no time has passed at all.  I just got a call though from Helene and she is STILL waiting to get out of Boston Logan airport.  We was supposed to be leaving at 2pm and she might be able to get on a 9:30 flight.  IF that works out she’ll fly to Philly, then to Cleaveland where she’ll rent a car and drive 3 hrs to Dayton.  She should be home by 4am.  I think I passed my bad travel karma to her!

My internet woes continued throughout the weekend.  I ended up booking us at a hotel that didn’t have wifi!  Who doesn’t have wifi in this day and age?!?!?  They had ethernet in the rooms.  Mine didn’t work.  I spent 45 minutes on the phone with tech support when they finally figured out my room’s cable didn’t work.  They sent up a new one.  That one didn’t work.  They brought another new one.  That one didn’t work and that was when they figured out that it was the “outlet” to the ethernet that didn’t work.  They pulled the ethernet cable out of the wall, connected it to my computer and that finally worked.  But in the meantime almost 2 hrs had passed and I wasted all the free time I had to work on Saturday.  I’m surprised there’s still hair on my head after that episode as I was ready to tear it all out! 

Today I figured at least I would be on the bus with wifi so I could use that hour and 20 minutes to catch up on email.  No wifi on the return bus.  Just MASH on the tv.  I think I would much rather have had wifi!

My wonderful hubby just found a way for me to get on my computer at his parents’ house without using wifi (hooked up to their cable and am sitting in their laundry room but at least I’m on my computer!) and he got my Outlook to stop shutting down every few minutes and leaving replies hanging in the outbox (a problem since CHA).  I am one happy camper now!  Just got the kids down and I can now spend as long as it takes to get caught up!  YAY!!!  I think my karma is on an upward trajectory!

If you’ve been reading my blog for a while or if you know me than you know that I don’t have the best of travel luck, to put it mildly.  Apparently though, if I travel with Ali, she seems able to counteract my bad travel mubo jumbo.  I wish she was with me now!

Both our families live on the East coast and one of my brothers is in the UK.  If we want to see everyone, we are the ones who travel.  When we made the reservations for our trip back in March, it seemed like a perfect time to travel.  The July kits would all be out in the mail, I could have everything set for August, etc. I could have a day on the ground after returning from CHA to leisurely get the kids packed and myself re-packed as we didn’t need to leave the house the next day until 10:30.  Perfect.

Then real life took over.  As I mentioned earlier, the stamps just arrived last Monday.  Ali and I got back to my house at 1:30 am on Monday night (so Tuesday morning).  I got 3 hrs of sleep and then got busy until 10 that night working with Trish and Melissa to get all the orders out that had been waiting on the second round of stamps.  Then I started working on getting us ready for the trip. 

After another night of 3 hrs, I checked and answered all of my emails and figured I could answer anything that came in throughout the day the following morning.  We got to the airport and the security lines were the worst I’d ever seen (the week before Ali and I had breezed through) so that we even though we had 2 hrs at the airport, we barely had time to get the kids fed.  We had a connection in Chicago.  Next time I book a flight with the kids can someone please remind me NOT to book through Chicago?!?!?  They didn’t announce our connecting flight on the plane.  The departures board didn’t have our connecting flight.  Upon finding a gate agent we discovered that was because our flight was cancelled!  After an hr in line we got booked on the earliest flight out we could get.  5:40 pm the next night.  Nice.

The fortunate side of being in Chicago was that my cousin lives there.  She came and got us and our kids had a blast playing with her little ones.  Now if only we had had extra clothese with us, etc… 

In the morning I sat down to get busy on my email but my cousin couldn’t find her password to her wi-fi system so I couldn’t sync up my computer.  And with my kids there  I couldn’t exactly take off and find a coffee show where I could work.  Ok I thought, at least I could sit down the follwing morning at my inlaws and I’d be able to sync up there.

Our 5:40 flight finally boarded at 7:50.  We sat on the runway for an hour and finally got in around midnight.  We got to my inlaws at 2am and we were so happy to crash and get out of our clothes!  I think I”m going to burn the skirt and the shirt I wore for those 2 days!

So, I get my computer out this morning, all set to get to work, and no dice.  They don’t know the password to their wi-fi either!!!!!  And, they are out in the boondocks so there was no possibility of heading to a coffeeshop.

But, the good news is that I’m on a bus heading to Boston’s Logan airport (again, at the time it had seemed like a good idea to get my 2 college roommates to meet up with me in Boston) and it has wi-fi that’s actually accessible!!!!  As it’s just an hr I thought I would sync up and write a post to make sure everyone was aware that I’m not ignoring them.  And now I’m going to get off the computer before I get car sick!!!

Thanks in advance for your patience and please know that I am so sorry for the delay.  I should be able to work through my very full inbox by tomorrow at some point. 

If you have any travel plans this summer I hope for your sake you aren’t booked on any flights we are!  If you are, you might want to eat the change fee and get on another flight!

WOW!  It’s been a busy month sorry to have been so MIA!!

I wanted to update you on where we stand with the Ali Travel Stamp Set.  I got a call from Kah-Mei with Fontwerks late on Monday night.  She received the stamps that day from China and was supposed to overnight them to us.  Unfortunately the stamps just were not up to par.  Instead of being clear they had a frosted appearance and Kah-Mei said they were not saleable.  She immediately contacted the factory and told them they needed to be redone.  They are manufacturing a new batch today and those will ship to Kah-Mei tomorrow.    We should have them in our anxious hands on Tuesday.  Our plan is to have everyone’s orders packaged up and postage done so that all that will remain is to add the stamps and seal the packages.  By doing so, we hope to have everything set to ship on Wednesday. 

I am terribly sorry for the delay and I wish there was something I could do to speed up the process.  We’ve worked with Fontwerks several times on custom stamps and have never had a problem in the past.  I know that Kah-Mei is very upset over this situation and understands that we have a very large number of customers waiting on this product.  Please let us know if you have any questions about this situation.  You can reach us at mailbox@cocoadaisy.com

Ali and I leave tomorrow for CHA.  I’m excited to see all the new products, friends, and to just experience the hussle and bussle that is CHA.  I’ll definitely do a post from Chicago on my favorites!  And CHA is just one reason more why I wish the stamps weren’t delayed –  I hate to leave with something incomplete!   While I’m out of town, if there is anything you need addressed, please feel free to contact Krista at krista@cocoadaisy.com and she will be able to help you.

Come Play Eugene! was great!  It was so nice to see so many new faces, meet long time subscribers and just to have the opportunity to spend time with so many interesting, diverse women all brought together by scrapbooking.  Ali’s projects were inspiring, Jill’s house was lovely as always and Emily did a phenomenal job of keeping us all organized.  (look for photos to come…)   I’m looking forward to doing it again in September when we’ll tie a trip to the Coburg Antique Fair in with the classes!

The only drawback to the weekend was I had access to the internet for about an hr and I am still playing catch-up with email.   The scores of emails that came in over the weekend are going to make that a tad bit more difficult.  I’m going to do my best to get through as many as I can this morning before driving to Portland to pick up the kids.  Fortunately it’s overcase and chilly so not much of a temptation to be outside playing…

And without further ado, here are photos of Ali’s Favorite Products and add-ons!!

***If you are a new subscriber and would like to add add-ons to your order please email your requests to mailbox@cocoadaisy.com .  Please have your requests in by June 30th but of course the sooner we hear from you, the higher the likelihood that we’ll have in stock your requests.

“Ali’s Favorite Products, 2008″  This kit will retail for $42.95 ($39.95 with a 6 month subscription and $40.95 with a 3 month subscription) and beginning with the August 2008, kits will be $32.95 (and $29.95 & $30.95 respectively).

Add-on #1 Ali’s Travel Album $16.50   This will include the 6.5 x 6.5″ Tinkering Ink Peekaboo Album as well as written instructions for Ali’s album.

*****Ali has now created a second album using the kit (we’ll have photos of that one soon.  We’ll have pictures soon.  Most of the students in the classes this weekend were purchasing a second album so that they could create both.  If you are a subscriber who has already sent in your request and you wish to add an additional album please email us prior to the July 1st.

Add-on #2 Ali’s Exclusive Travel Stamps  $11.95

Add-on #3 Share Your Story (Autographed Copy) $19.99  This is due to be released from the publisher on August 1st.  If you are a subscriber, this will ship on with your August kit.  If you purchase this in conjunction with Ali’s kit there will be a separate shipping charge.

Add-on #4  Three Things $21.95

• Maya Road Calendar Turn

• Marah Johnson Travel Swatchbook

• Narratives Cream and Black Paper Ribbons

Add-on #5 Compass $20.95

• 7 Gypsies Crystal Book Knob

• 7 Gypsies 6 Arrow Photo Turns - Red

• Scenic Route Tabbed Photo Mattes - Worn & White Grid

• Scenic Route Date Label Stickers - Red

• Narratives Cream Circle Label Stickers

• Chatterbox Fabulous Brads - Red

Add-on #6 $29.95

• 7 Gypsies Travel Stamp Set

• Heidi Swapp World Travel Mask

• Marah Johnson Travel Signs Epoxy Stickers

• My Mind’s Eye Peaceful Dream Clock Diecut

• Prima Clear Tape - Harmony Red

• Tim Holtz Game Spinners (12 of various sizes including coordinating brads)

• Cosmo Cricket Subway Alphabet Rub-ons
  

The world traveler mask is not pictured above:

Add-on #7 Map $15.25

• Heidi Swapp Clock Stamp Set

• Jenni Bowlin Tiny Trim Rub-ons

• Kaiser Paints:

  • Red

  • Pistachio

  • Mud Puddle

Add-on #8 Fly Away $12.95

• Chatterbox Lacquered Paper - Alabaster

• Collage Press Grayson Collage Cuts

• Graphics 45 Times Nouveau Hip to the Jive

• Heidi Swapp World Traveler Overlay

• KI Memories Lace Cardstock Journal Teal

• My Mind’s Eye 29th Street Self Genuine Scroll

• Narratives Cream Bluebell

• Prima Angelique Heavenlies

• Prima Paintables Clock

The Heidi Swapp World Traveler Overlay and the Collage Press Grayson Hall Diecut Tags are not pictured above:

Add-on #9  Patterned Paper from the Main Kit  We do not yet have a photo or price on this.

Add-on #10 Cardstock $5.50

• Bazzill Beatle Black

• Paper Accent Kraft

• Bazzill Kisses

• Bazzill Creampuff

If you have any questions, please let me know!

Hope you are having a happy Sunday…

I just discovered this through an email from a subscriber.  Disclaimer:  the blog is actually fictitious, but a clever way to advertise about a good cause.

It’s called the I’m initiative.  And here are the basics:

The i’m™ Initiative from Microsoft™ makes helping social causes easy. Every time you use Windows Live™ Messenger or Windows Live Hotmail®, our free webmail service, we’ll share a portion of our advertising revenue with some of the world’s most effective social cause organizations. Exactly how much will we share with our partner causes? Well, that’s up to you and the growing masses of registered i’m Initiative users. The more messages you send, the more we give.

Now the small things you do every day, like e-mailing and IMing, can make a big difference.

One of their organizations is the Red Cross.  I heard last night on the news that their disaster relief fund is empty and will all those poor Iowans flooded out of their houses, disater relief is definitely needed.  Another, that I had never heard of, is ninemillion.org; it sounds like a great organization!  Here’s their mission:

The UN refugee agency’s ninemillion.org campaign is committed to giving the most vulnerable refugee and IDP (Internally Displaced Person) children in the world the chance to learn and play. Many of these children have no access to any formal education and live in camps or urban settlements with no playgrounds or sports facilities. It’s easy to take for granted access to education, sport, and technology, but millions of kids miss out on these important elements of childhood.

Sport and education are a vital part of childhood. Children need to play and learn. Education provides children with tools to support themselves throughout their lives. Sport develops tolerance and cooperation, and is a great source of inspiration. It can help as part of the healing process for children who have been emotionally affected by conflict, and it motivates refugee children to attend camp schools, which is particularly important for girls, who are all too often left out.

Hmmm… maybe this was the push I needed to finally enter the world of instant messaging!