Personalized Pewter Gifts Have Arrived

We are pleased to announce that we are now a Salisbury, Inc. retailer and have a beautiful selection of their reputable gifts in our store. Salisbury, Inc. is a family owned company of proud and dedicated artisans who recognize the importance of preserving our heritage while creating new and exciting products that are sure to become tomorrow’s treasured heirlooms. They have been producing fine, hand-crafted silver and pewter products since 1979. All of their items are made in the USA and their facilities are located on the Eastern Shore of Maryland with manufacturing facilities in Salisbury and Easton.

We recognize the value of giving heirloom gifts that the recipient will treasure for a lifetime. We are happy to show you the many personalized items that we have in the store such as baby gifts like dumbbell rattles, baby cups, bent baby spoons, porringers and other gifts such as Jefferson cups, Chippendale trays and much more. Monograms, dates, names or sentiments can be engraved on most items in a wide range of engraving styles. Each item comes ready for giving in their gorgeous signature keepsake blue gift box. Please remember to visit our store for your next heirloom gift purchase.

2010 ICON Honors Awards Results

During our recent trip to the Atlanta Gift Market last weekend I had the wonderful honor of being recognized at the first annual ICON Honors Awards event sponsored by AmericasMart, Home Furnishings News and the Gift & Home Trade Association. It was a very exciting night as you can see from the photos below. Read more about the results of the awards ceremony here.

I extend my deepest gratitude to the sponsors of the awards, to AmericasMart and to the judges. I would also like to thank my wonderful staff, customers, family and friends for their support of my business and congratulatory sentiments about our success and recognition.

Scenes from Our Latest Bridal Show

We recently attended our first bridal show of the summer season. We debuted a gorgeous new booth design that attracted lots of attention from brides and wedding industry vendors alike. We are very excited about working with the many brides we met at the show when they come in soon for their wedding invitation consultation appointments. We have many new custom invitation vendors work to showcase. Take a look at some scenes from our new bridal show booth below. Enjoy!

Wedology 101 - The Reality of Being a Bride

If you're a bride in the Central Virginia area, you don't want to miss this upcoming event which will be bringing Style, Sanity and Swag to brides. Read more about this one-of-a-kind bridal seminar below.

WHAT IS WEDOLOGY 101?

Wedology 101 is a no-holds-barred, honest look at the reality of being a bride. Presented in a seminar format by top wedding professionals Jennifer McBride and Meghan Ely, Wedology 101 tackles the issues at the top of every bride's to-do list, in a format that is engaging, inspirational and fun.

WHEN IS WEDOLOGY 101?
Wedology 101 will take place Sunday, August 15, 2010. Future 2011 dates will be announced at a later date.

WHERE IS WEDOLOGY 101?
The four diamond Wyndham Virginia Crossings will be home to Wedology 101 in 2010. The full service property offers premier event space in Glen Allen, Virginia. Visit www.wyndhamvirginiacrossings.com for more information.

The Cordial Cricket is the exclusive wedding invitation and stationery sponsor for Wedology 101. Owner, Elizabeth Howard, is also the featured wedding invitation and stationery expert presenter for the event and looks forward to sharing her knowledge and tips to help brides make the most of their experience when shopping for their wedding invitations and stationery. We look forward to meeting many wonderful brides at this one-of-a-kind event!

Find out more about attending Wedology 101 and purchase your tickets here or read about the event and some of its featured "Been There, Done That" brides on the Wedology 101 Blog here. Leave us a comment here to tell us why you're a "Been There, Done That Bride" and your advice to other brides, or why you're a bride who would like to attend Wedology 101 to bring some sanity to your wedding planning. We look forward to reading all that you have to share!

Book Review and Giveaway!

One of my dear friends Mindy Lockard of Manner of the Month was cordial enough to give our new children's book The Cordial Cricket a review on her blog today. She even had her two young daughters chime in and share their thoughts. We are very appreciative to Mindy and her girls for their cordial words about our book! They are also giving away a copy to one lucky reader who comments on the book review post. Check it out here. You can purchase a copy of our book here in our online store.

We donate $2 from the sale of each book to the Richmond SPCA, a charity that my son year old son Will chose as animals are very close to his heart. To date we have donated $222 to the Richmond SPCA. We also received a very generous matching donation, bringing our total donation to $444!

Best of luck with Mindy's blog giveaway of our book!

What Beckons You?

My family has been vacationing for the last few days in the wonderful, quaint beach town of Cape Charles on the Eastern Shore of Virginia. We rented a beautiful home, whose owner has worked hard to create an atmosphere that's just like home. Because both my husband and I are entrepreneurs, we lead really busy and demanding lives. So we really need to get away now and then in order to disconnect and enjoy some quiet family time. Upon entering our vacation home we found there was a very cozy game room, stocked with lots of family games to enjoy. On one table in the game room was the beginning of the puzzle above. Evidently the guests before us, or maybe the guests before them, or even before them started the puzzle and left it for the next vacationers to work on. I must say, as much as my family and I enjoy working on puzzles, especially since my son is 7 years old now and really getting the hang of it, we just don't do it enough.

This puzzle has quietly and unassumingly beckoned each of us to the table to work on it, both individually and together, at least twice a day while we've been here. It has been peaceful and relaxing to work on it. When we depart tomorrow, I will miss it a little and wonder how many more families that come behind us it will take to complete it.

I think our sunroom at home is calling for a permanent puzzle table...maybe it will beckon us to take a minute everyday to think about nothing more.

To Market, To Market...

Many of you have probably heard of or even attended the "market" as it's referred to by store owners. It's the largest gift trade show on the east coast and takes place in Atlanta, every January and July. Amazingly, in my five years as a boutique owner, I have yet to attend this particular market. Between attending the New York Gift Show and the National Stationery Show each year, being a mom and owning a retail business, 4 bridal shows a year, throw in a few speaking engagements and seminar related travel and there just hasn't been anywhere to fit the "market" into my schedule. This year will be different though!

I am very fortunate that our store has been nominated in four categories of the inaugural AmericasMart ICON Honors Awards this year. The award winners will be revealed at a gala event during the July gift market in Atlanta. Just being nominated for an award of this type in our industry is certainly enough recognition for me to make room in my schedule to go to "market". I look forward to finding lots of great new merchandise for our store, meeting new friends in my industry and re-connecting with those I haven't seen in a while.

Will you be going to "market" this year? If so, leave me a comment so that we can possibly connect while there. For all of my friends who won't be able to join me at the awards gala in Atlanta, I will be sure to share the results as soon as I know, if the suspense doesn't kill me first. Thank you to everyone for your undying support of my business!

Interested in finding out more about the ICON Honors Awards, click here to learn more.