Yesterday's Prize Winners and Sisters Day

So here it is after ten on Friday, the boutique opens again in less than an hour, and I'm just now getting to this post. Therefore, I shall keep it short, sweet and complete.

Yesterday's Prize Winners:

Sarah McGinn: a dried floral arrangement by Valerie Rich

Diana Peck: a set of notecards done by Annette Emmer

Today we are doing Sister's Day at the show. You bring your sister(s) - you both get to enter the drawing! The prizes are some very cool things from Real Deals of Holladay - one of our favorite places for home decor (other than our own boutique, of course).

Advance warning:

Tomorrow is "Bring Your Guy" day at our boutique. You bring one of your favorite guys - Dad, husband, boyfriend, brother, friend, whatever - and you both get to enter the drawing! Prizes to be announced tomorrow, but it's likely the guy prizes, at least, will be some of our delectable goodies.

Come on over! It's really unbelievable the amount of talent contained throughout the show. And we'd love to meet you.

Best Friends Day Prize Drawing and Yesterday's Winners and a couple of Vendor Highlights

What a ride! We are having so much fun at the boutique. Yesterday we had Mother-Daughter Day where any Mother-Daughter combinations that came to the show got to enter a drawing for a couple of nice prizes. Here are the winners:

Nancy Green was the winner of the Purs'nal Pal purse organizer. My Purs'nal Pal has turned my purse from a bottomless pit to a fully functional helpmate. We know you are going to love it! Thanks to Wendy and Donna for providing such a great prize!

Julie Pos was the winner or her choice of four Silk Flower Clips. I wore one on my sweater yesterday and got all kinds of compliments. So we think you will enjoy picking some that you like. You can use them in so many ways - in you or your child's hair, on a sweater, jacket, belt, or scarf, even as a gift topper. Thanks to Staci and Ellie Metcalfe for the flowers. Ellie is our youngest crafter this year at a whopping six years old!

If you weren't one of the lucky winners, you can still get yourself some of these wonderful things at the boutique today.

And here is another chance to win some fun prizes: If you bring your best friend(s) to the show today, you both get to enter a fun prize drawing. The prizes today are a sweet dried floral arrangement from our amazing Valerie Rich, and a set of note cards (your choice) done by the incredibly talented Annette Emmer. You can see both of their work at the show.

Again, I apologize that I don't have any pictures for you today. But I wanted to let you know that Valerie Rich also does custom florals. My sweet 97-year-old Uncle Al gave us this awesome rosemalled (I'm pretty sure I spelled that wrong) antique milk can. The colors don't really go with my decor, but I asked Valerie what she could do with it and she was able to pick up some of the shades on the can and some from my house and the result is so great and her price was so reasonable. Even Uncle Al thought it was beautiful. She is definitely up to any challenge you can throw her way.

Annette Emmer has several pieces of her art work in our Artist's Corner. I've always admired her talent and know that you will enjoy seeing her artistry. She not only has orginal art there that you can purchase, but she has prints and notecards with many of her nicest pieces featured. Be sure to pick up a few packages so that all those holiday thank-you notes that you'll be writing will be especially nice. Annette is also one of the sweet people at the cash registers and we are so grateful for all the help she has freely given over the years.

Anyhoo . . . come to the show - you will not be disappointed!

Sneak Peek and Winner!!!

Wow! We just finished having a little sneak preview with our vendors tonight. I just have to say that we get to work with the greatest people ever.

We gave a few prizes for various reasons that have made it possible for us to keep doing this for 30 years.

Those vendors who have been with us for the entire ride:

Kathy Buhler
Diane Wiscombe
Linda Tabish
Annette Emmer
Cari Newbold

The vendor who came the farthest for this show:

Kathryn Rae (all the way from Missouri!)

The vendor who dropped off her things to us first last Friday:

Michele Sly

Our youngest crafter:

Ellie Metcalfe (6 years old - check out her flower clips)

We had a little drawing just for the crafters and we'll be calling those who won.

The show looks great - only need to finish a few little signs tonight (you know - "restroom" "please come right in" etc.) and then tomorrow we go full tilt. I'll mention a couple of things that were highlights for me today. Kevin Sybrowsky is the bomb! His metal yard art adds magic and makes the walk into the show like entering a fairyland. Wait until you see the firepit! Beyond beyond! Michelle Glauser brought a quilled paper creation that is so so so to-die-for. You simply must come and see it. Ashley Kennedy's vintage prints. Logan Kiefer's T-shirts and artwork. Valerie Rich's dried florals and Jennifer Sampson's greenery. Grace Rock's cook books. Meeting Donna Dewey! There is no way to list even a fraction of the awesomeness. Just come and enjoy for yourself.

And who is the winner of the $25.00 All Through The House gift certificate?

Holly! Congratulations! Come find me at the show and it will be all yours! I love doing this!

Remember that anyone who brings their moms or their daughters to the show tomorrow gets to enter another giveaway at the show. Nighty night - I'll be dreaming boutique and hoping to see you at the show!

Night night - I look forward to seeing you tomorrow

Vendor Highlights

Okay, first things first. Be sure to enter our latest giveaway now! (here) Charla and I are walking around glassy-eyed from trying to get set up - we've only got an itty bitty bit of time before the show starts! But, let me tell you, there is so much amazing, unique, one-of-a-kind (and on and on with the positive adjectives) stuff! Who wouldn't want to win a $25.00 gift certificate for our boutique?

I'm just going to let you in on a few of our wonderful vendors right now, but I'll share more tonight.

We are so excited to have Purs'nal Pal with us this time around. You can check out their website here. These two ladies, Wendy Kamahele and Donna Dewey, have designed some fabulous
purse organizers that are so great in so many ways.

If you are a gal with a dozen (give or take a few) purses or someone like me who uses the same one until it needs to be buried - you need one of these. You put all your necessities into one of these babies and then all you have to do when you want to change your purse is take this Purs'nal Pal, pop it into your choice of purse for the moment, and you are ready to run. For me - a carrier of the basic black, I-don't-want-to-spend-another-dime-on-another-purse - kind of girl, my Purs'nal Pal may not change homes very frequently, but I can find what I need so easily. I bought mine a couple of years ago and I love it! You would love one too. You will find them at the top of the stairs at the boutique. Just one more quick word, I've only met Wendy of Purs'nal Pal so far, but wow, what a nice, fun, sweet, generous person she is. I'm not only grateful to Purs'nal Pal for the tidier state of my purse, but because it allowed Charla and me to meet Wendy (and I'm looking forward to meeting Donna).

Right by the purse organizers, you will find some truly unique purses made by one of our all-time favorite crafters, Pam Newman. Pam is one of those people who can put things together - be it a home or an outfit or a craft - in a way no one else would think of and the end result is always gold. Also, for you Utah fans out there (I know, sorry about that last game!) Pam and her hubby, Scott, have written a poem that will please you to no end. It goes with some red Christmas stockings they've also put into the show. Just know - there are limited quantities.

If your family is anything like mine, we seem to get more than our fair share of cuts and scrapes. Just one problem -- several of us are allergic to the traditional over the counter anti-bacterial ointments. Lucky for us, my sister-in-law Becky Glauser, makes some fabulous stuff she calls Owie Be Gone. This is a truly good remedy. She also makes lip balms and another great fix-it, Chap Be Gone, for those dry winter hands that are a'coming. Grab yourself some at the boutique. Becky also does some nice grape-vine wreaths and fairy ornaments. And by the way, Becky is another winner in the great person category - fun, pleasant to spend time with, oh-so-kind, and a great cook, too!



Opening day (Wednesday) at the boutique will be the first of some fun 30-year-celebrations. It's Mother/Daughter day. If you bring your mothers or your daughters with you to the show, each of you will have the opportunity to enter a prize drawing to be done at 7 p.m. (you need not be present to win). Charla and I had some fun times this summer shopping around for prizes and we've also had Purs'nal Pal offer one of their purse organizers as a prize. Don't miss it!

I'll be posting again tonight - if I can keep my eyes open long enough. I'll be announcing the boutique gift certificate winner! Check back for Thursdays celebration.

It's all so exciting!

Crafter Highlights and a $25 Boutique Gift Certificate Giveaway

Several weeks ago I was at a great baby shower for my niece. Wow, I can't believe all the amazing things that are available now that were not when I was having babies. Anyway, one of the gifts she opened contained the cutest handcrafted items and I knew we just had to recruit the person who made them. I was introduced to Diana Alm. She's been married for three years and has a darling one-year-old daughter who keeps her busy. She decided after receiving some cute baby items at her own shower that she wanted to start making them on her own and sharing them with others. She loves crafting. I love the bright, bold combinations she uses to make her changing kits and car seat covers unique.



I found out that she is related to the nicest gentleman, George Alm, who did our spring show and is doing this one also. He is Diana's grandfather-in-law and makes those fun pop can airplanes. I wish I had a picture for you. If I had a little boy I would definitely buy a bunch of those planes to hang from a bedroom ceiling. Maybe someday when we can turn one of kid's room into a den for my hubby, I'll hang some in there. They are so cool.

Charla and I have been working hard today to get her house ready for this year. We are so excited to see all the great things that our vendors will be bringing starting tomorrow.

Okay, I promised a new giveaway today. We are giving away a $25.00 gift certificate for the boutique. To enter all you need to do is comment. If you've been at our show before, please comment about what you like about it. If you've not been before, comment on what you hope to find. We need at least 20 comments for this to be a go - so pass the word around.

Winner!

Time for another winner announcement. The lucky commenter who wins the Pear and Peonies $20 Gift Certificate to be used at our boutique is:

crafted and clothed

I'm anxious to meet you and give you your prize. Will you please email me at charlaandlauripresent(at)blogspot(dot)com and let me know your name so I can be sure to give it to the right person? Just find me (Lauri) at the boutique and I'll be happy to hand it over. Congratulations!

Watch for another giveaway to be posted tomorrow. These are so great - I wish I could enter!

Random Thoughts

Don't forget to comment on the Pear and Peonies giveaway post below - it's almost over!

Not so long ago, I saw a boutique that was advertised as "Not Your Mother's Boutique" and it made me wonder just what sets our show apart from others. Well, I think it comes down to a few things and these are in no particular order. You may find a lot of things that would appeal to your mother, but you will also find a lot of things that appeal to every member of your family and your friends. I kid you not. There are great things for babies, great things for toddlers, great things for preschoolers, great things for girls and boys of all ages. We have great clothing that will appeal to anyone with a fun sense of style. We have tasty things that everyone loves. We even have some "guy" kind of things (I'll be highlighting one of those later). We have crafty things and fine art. I guess you could say we are a boutique for everyone. Another plus is that we have a great combination of traditional things along with the latest hot new things. But one of the nicest things to me is that we really try hard to create a nice atmosphere. Not just at the boutique itself - although you will find that being at our show can really get you in a happy holiday mood with all the smells, music and fun - but we try hard to create good relationships with our crafters and customers. We try to be aware of our crafter's life events. We really do care about those that we work with and want them to do well at the show and all year long. We love seeing old friends and making new ones. A few years ago, I noticed that one of the addresses on our mailing list looked familiar. I jotted a quick note telling her that I grew up in that house and would she please introduce herself to me at the boutique. She did. And now I look forward to seeing her each year, finding out about her family and about my old beloved neighbors. These are the kinds of joys that make doing this worth all the work and headaches. We look forward to seeing you and hope that you enjoy this year's show!