Looong day

Oofda!  I've been soldering crowns since before lunch time today.  and I'm tired...and I have a lot more work to do before I can call it a day. 

And Josh just called.....Some guys from the Derby, UK office are in town right now, and a bunch of people are going out to dinner.  And since Josh will be working with these guys in just a few short months, he was invited along.  So I just got a call 'asking' if it'd be alright if he went along.  Of course it is!  Just eat a decadent dessert for me!!

Last time he went out to dinner on the company's dime, man oh man, was it a fancy dinner.  They had gone to a Brazilian steak-house...let's hope they don't go there again, since it's still Lent!!!  So I'm curious to hear about where they're going to go...he wasn't sure yet when he called.  and last time he did this, he didn't get home until almost 9pm.  So while he's off schoomizing and enjoying fine dining, I'm going to go polish some silver until I look like a chimney sweep, then I think i'll partake of a lovely frozen, veggie, organic meal.  mmmm.  tasty.

(it actually really is.  I just like to tease).

Oh, and then I need to bead 2 crown sets.   And get ready for my dad to visit.  He's coming to town tomorrow night to be able to offer some help around here on Friday.  I need help with the whole stocking up on 6 months of inventory.  I need boxes out the wazoo!!  So he'll be taping up all the shipping boxes, and doing all the misc. organizations jobs that need to be done so i can really rock-n-roll.  (you know, all that stuff that I could be doing now, rather than typing this...but it's more fun to make daddy do it).  I'll post pix :)

April 5th Deadline

Alright, so to inform those of you who aren't sure of what is going on..in about 10 weeks, my husband and I are 'moving' to England for 6 months. While I am away, YOU MAY STILL ORDER ANY CROWN YOU SEE POSTED ON THE SITE! The trick is, you will not be able to customize any of the crowns. I'm currently working on making up crown, candle, tray, and ornament/cake topper stock. My dad will be shipping things out for me as orders come in. But everything will still have been made and packaged up by me. And when you email with questions--it's still me you're emailing.

But because of this move, and the need to build up as much stock as possible (and get my household ready for the move), I have to close-off all customization requests at some point. and that date is April 5th. UP TO AND INCLUDING MONDAY APRIL 5TH you may still request to have your crowns and trays engraved, and you may specify your ribbon color/attachment style.

After that, you'll have to deal with the ribbon color/attachment style shown with the crowns on the site. (you always have the option of changing the ribbon color on your own). I do apologize for any inconvenience this may cause anyone!

You may be happy to hear, though, that while I will not be doing name engravings after the 5th, I will continue to make crown sets that feature engraved designs (such as the peacock and St. basil crowns). And many crowns can be engraved after the fact...so you can always mail your crowns back for engraving at a later date.

Price increase on some brass and copper crowns

well, the world is a small place.  The terrible Chilean earthquake that took place a few weeks ago is creating major waves in the precious metals market...specifically the copper market.  and since brass is an alloy of copper, both copper and brass have been dramatically affected.  My prices just increased by a full 50% for these materials.  this is not an increase that I can just absorb.  So out of necessity, I need to raise prices a bit to help the increased cost in materials.  one way to look at the price increase is that suddenly brass and copper are way more valuable/great investment.  as we have all seen with the recent spikes in gold and silver, too--price INCREASES are always quick and sharp, while precious metal price DECREASES are always very slow and steady.

New shipment from India...

I love it when I receive shipments from "my guys" in India!  It feels like Christmas morning when I get a new package full of goodies:  I can barely wait to open it up and see what's inside!!!

This time around:  Finally!  More "Helen" fabric...Navy blue, a sage green that is a litter limier than i was expecting.  and a lovely brown. 

Customization cut-off...but I do have new crowns....

Alright, So this past week was the last week to place your order for anything really-really custom.  I'm absolutely still doing engravings...designs, names, dates...that kind of thing.  But no new crown designs (i.e. anything that differs greatly from what I offer on a regular basis.  But as I prep to leave for England, you will see a variety of new crown styles being added to the online galleries. 

I have so many neat materials on hand...and I want to try and use everything up!  A lot of the designs will be metal...and I have a lot of really awesome engraving designs that I drew up over the last few weeks.  My engraver has been running non-stop today, and will continue to do so until we leave!  There will be a whole new variety of crowns from which to choose...all different sizes, too.  I'll be posting things as quickly as I can, so as to not keep you in suspense.  Additionally, I have a bunch of new tray styles arriving this week!!

sleepless night...

It's late Sunday night/entering the wee morning hours of Monday.  I have a big week coming up.  And I can't sleep.  I'm feeling pretty worked up about everything I need to get done in the next 11 weeks.  I know I can and I will get everything done that I need to and want to get done.  But still...I'm stressing out a little bit tonight.

part of the reason for my stress is my new line of Crown Cases that I've asked my Father-in-law to make.  He's done an amazing job with helping my vision become a reality.  And we are SO close to having the perfect product.  but I just thought of a detail "thing" tonight, that I CANNOT get out of my mind.  and I won't feel better until I talk with Alan about this detail.  So i need to wait until a reasonable hour to give him a call....and discuss...and then i'll be fine.  But until then, I just can't turn off my mind!