Maya Road and Me

hello world

hello from my baby girl. we can't believe how big she is getting and how long she has been with us! she is taking up much of my time and starting to get into things now. she is rolling back and forth a bit and soon she will be all over the house. we need to lock and button everything down as she is an explorer. she and her big brother fill our days with lots of joy and laughter (mixed in with a pinch of tears once in a while).

i am finally adjusting back to dallas time after a wonderful short trip to australia for work. i would share photos with you but i ended up only take 2 photos - of the airport - on my way home. ironic isn't it? i travel 7000 miles to teach people about creating art and memories using their photos, etc and i only take 2 photos to actually show where i went.

related to all of this, spring has become a whirlwind of activity here. we are working frantically finishing up items for the summer tradeshow; thankfully all of that will be done really soon. we are about 70% there so we just need to wrap up a couple more things.

and the other big news we have is the launch of olivia place - coming june 2010! olivia place is named for sweet olivia herself. this is a new business deb and i are starting up that we will have along with maya road. one of my good friends, melissa, is handling the work at olivia place. olivia place will not be related to being a scrapbooking manufacturer like Maya Road but will be a place to get some sweet deals at 40-80% retail. right now the target is moms, babies, toddlers. we will probably expand it. we have already gotten a ton (literally) of things together. we will need to wrap up some things there but we expect to be online in june! ms olivia herself has tried out some of the deals and LOVES THEM (hence the smile in the photo). if you want to keep up with what is happening with OP, you can check out the fan page on facebook.

The Artistic Journey

So my blog has been a wee bit neglectful lately. It is a result of many different things but 2 of which I want to announce one on here today! These are projects that I have been working on for months (along with many others) and they are FINALLY to the point where I can talk about them; I will tell you more about the second one tomorrow.

So for years, people have asked if we would ever consider having a Maya Road Event where people could join us for a weekend of inspiration. This is something I have thought about for many many many months but couldn't figure out the logistics. I had toyed with the idea of our warehouse but there isn't much good classroom space and air condition would be a must have - unfortunately much of our storage part of the warehouse is not air conditioned so that would be an uncomfortable place to be inspired - perspire yet but inspire no.

So with all that said, we planned an event with one a LSS here in the Dallas Metroplex - The Crafty Scrapper. I have personally known the owner Carolyn (and she is a wonderful friend) for a couple of years and her store has one of the largest selections of Maya Road products I have seen. We have been working together the last 4 months to figure out the logistics of an event and we finally have something wonderful planned.

We wanted to put something together which was both inspiring yet also at a price where we could offer the best value for your money (which has always been the thinking at Maya Road) and thus the Artistic Journey was born. For $235 you will get three  - 3 hour classes with 3 Maya Road designers (Lisa Pace, Katie Watson and Aubrey Rives), a special make and take, goody bag and lunch and snacks during the event. We want this event to be small and personal so we have limited it to the first 75 people. Registration started at 10 am on Wednesday and you can find all the details here.

If you can join us, I would love to meet you. I won't be teaching but will be behind the scenes making sure everything goes well.

The "E" Word

It is 2:30 am as I type this. My kiddos are in bed, my hubby is finishing up some house work. All is quiet in our house right now. It has been a while since I have updated my blog more than 1x a week.

There is a lot going on here in our world that have taken priority. Finding the balance to do it all - mommy, wife, partner at MR has been challenging. The lines between my home life and work life blur - I can't switch off MR at 5 pm at home. But I wouldn't have it any other way. I am blessed that on some late afternoons, I can take a nap with my babies if I wanted to. I can choose to have a Friday morning where I have special Noah and mommy breakfasts or I can sit Olivia down in my home office as I work during the day. The things I have given up are worth this.

I look at this photo and smile at the gifts that MR has afforded me - even though Maya Road takes up more time than I ever imagined, it has given me the gift of time with my family especially Noah and Olivia. I am able to be with my babies through the first year of their life before I have to think about day care for them. I would not have had this opportunity in the corporate world.

We have some exciting events coming up - one which I will share with you in less than 2 weeks! I can't wait.

Have a great Friday.

Happy Easter

Olivia did allow me to snap a couple of photos of her in her sweetest little chick costume:

She isn't big enough to fit it fully yet (As you can see by the lack of feet coming out the bottom) and all she wants to do is gnaw the fur off her hand but I couldn't resist.

I see a mini album in the near future soon with this sweet photo.