sale, sale, sale ...

Two things:

1. We're havin' a sale!  You can check it out online, or in the store.  But if you happen to be in Milwaukee, your best bet is stoppin' by the store, as we haven't been able to update the website yet with all sale items.

2. In the process of selling the store, I've had a retail consultant come in and evaluate what I've been doing {I sure wish I'd done this a couple years ago!}.  Anyway, one of the things she recommended was 'branding' our store better.

We used to be pretty good about that, but over the years we've really steered away from our bwp look, and incorporated a lot of 'pretty' designs {with our signage, ecards, mailers, etc.}.  Soooo, our graphic designer {the lovely Nellie} worked on putting together a couple different looks and this is the one we decided on.

I love the mix of the fonts and the bubble graphic.  We've moved it into our instore signage already and I really like how it's come together.

I think it's funny how you don't notice little things, little baby steps each day.  And then one day you look back {or have consultants take photos of your store and show you} and you realize how far you stepped away from what you believed in, in the first place.

Gosh, that suddenly sounds deep!  I promise I'm just talking about our signs here!  :)

weekend greeting giveaway {winner}

Last week's weekend greeting winner is ... ShellyW!  I had a hard time deciding, as all the comments were deserving ... but adoption has a special place in my heart.  My one and only godchild was adopted from Guatemala.  She just celebrated her very first 'Forever Family' day, and I feel so blessed to be a part of her life.

Shelly, please email me your mailing address and I'll get the cards out to you {after the new year, as I'll be traveling 'til then}.

And since I love posting a photo when I can ... I thought I'd leave y'all with a peek from my new office.  Check out the wallpaper {I love, love, love it!!}.  I first saw it here and knew I had to have it.  Do you love it?  It's from Graham & Brown and you can buy it here.

real simple {list pads}

Oh my goodness!  I was not quite prepared for the apparent overwhelming need for list pads!

Thank you, thank you Real Simple for contacting us and featuring two of the list pads we carry.  One from LobotoME {who so awesomely shipped us a truckload on Monday!}, and the other from Knock Knock.

If you're shopping the site for one of these, both are out of stock right now.  {sorry!}

LobotoME's 'list me' pad should be in today or Thursday.  But Knock Knock can't guarantee we'll have theirs in by Christmas.  If you're not in a hurry, please put them in your cart and we'll ship out as soon as they arrive.

Thanks everyone!

good morning america?

If you watched it, you realize you missed it.  If you didn't watch it ... you didn't miss much!  And so it goes with the press.

Good Morning America has a feature called, "Just One Thing," which suggests different ways to 'green' your life.

This particular segment, that we were to be mentioned, talked about 'greening your holiday.'  GMA contacted the Green Paper Company, who in turn contacted a few great designers ... Snow & Graham being one of them.  And Snow & Graham were kind enough to say they were going to mention Broadway Paper as the featured retailer of their products.

Anyway ... take a look.  You have to laugh at how everything comes out in the end.

parting is such sweet sorrow ...

What else does one title the biggest blog post of her life?  I've got big news, bittersweet news ... and I'll just come out and say it ...

I've decided sell Broadway Paper.

There.  I've said it.  Whew?  I'm not sure.

I've struggled with this for so long, but the truth is ... the time has come.  It's bittersweet ... the store is my baby.  I've taken it from a 1,200 square foot outlet with $400,000 in annual sales, to a 3,200 square foot boutique with over a million dollars in sales.  I'm not a boastful or proud woman, but I do feel quite honored by that accomplishment.

We get national press.  Our little paper store in Milwaukee, Wisconsin is listed in national magazines ... I guess that causes me to 'puff my feathers' a bit!  :)

We have web clients from all over the United States ... amazing to me!  Some are celebrities even.

That's hard to let go of ... but unfortunately, I must.  I have four children at home.  My oldest is in 8th grade, and very recently having a really hard time with bullying at school.  Middle school ... yuck!

As much as I would've liked to be home with them when they were babies, I'm realizing that it's almost more important to be home with them as they're older.  When they walk in after a bad day at school, I don't want to be so distracted that I 'miss' what their faces are saying, even if their words don't.

I used to be a woman who wanted to do it all.  But I just can't anymore.  I'm not superwoman, and I don't want to try to be anymore.  Sweet Jenny {of LobotoME}, has ever so kindly thanked me for not being a superhuman!  :)

{The baby just woke up crying, and yeah okay, so she's not exactly a baby ... but still.  So she was just screaming for me, and as I'm holding her, smelling her sweet baby smell (yeah, she still has that smell), thinking of this post that I'm in the middle of ... I know I'm doing the right thing.}

It has taken a lot of thought, consideration and tears to come to this conclusion.  But I knew that, one day, if this was the conclusion I came to ... it would be the right one.  No regrets.  And that's where I stand now.

The thing is, I'm blessed enough to be able to stay home.  I feel God has been leading me in this direction and I need to take advantage of it.

I'm in the process of listing with a broker.  I've also had some discussion with Paper Source.  I'll keep y'all updated as I begin this journey ... and hey, if you know someone that is looking for a paper store of their very own ... give me a holler!

I'll continue to post, as I'm still completely inspired and drawn to beautiful designs.  You may have noticed though, that posting is light.  I'm really trying to keep my focus on my family right now.  Not to mention I'm feeling the stress of Christmas {really? 10 days away??}.

I thank you all ... deeply thank you, for your continued support and love of all things paper ...

more calendars

There are so many great calendars this year, that it's hard to choose a favorite.  So why have just one?  This is a wall in my new office and I'm dedicating it to awesomely designed calendars.

I've got SusyJack*, Linda & Harriett, and emilee rose.  This is just a start to my collection though ... I still need to pick up this beautiful calendar from Orange Beautiful.

And here are some more shots of the Linda & Harriett calendar.  I love the cover page, which seems to be a gently letterpressed journal entry.  I could only read bits of it, but those few words reeked of inspiration!

weekend greeting giveaway {eighteen}

We had a great run ... but sadly, this will be the last weekend greeting giveaway.  Thank you so much to everyone that's participated over the last few months!

This weekend greeting is from the lovely Tiselle line.  Please leave a comment saying who you would send these cards to and why.  I'll pick my favorite and send all the cards out to you.  You can find more rules here.

Tiselle also has a promotion right now and you can check it out here.

Have a great weekend everyone!

lucky magazine

Well folks, here we are! You can find the product featured in January's Lucky magazine here and here.

This experience has been troublesome to me, as I mentioned here and here ... but the worst of it came last Friday night when I received an email from my contact at Lucky. They tried to enter the promo code on our site, but it wouldn't work. What's up?

Do you know that deep moment of panic ... the kind that reaches into your core and your chest feels like it's going to cave in? {or is that just me?}

I. never. set. a promo code! I'm desperately looking through my paperwork and contracts {thank God I carry my stuff home with me} ... and there I see it ... a code ... right in my contract.

Another panic attack creeps in as I realize the {already in print} code is 4 characters longer than my system will allow. Full-on freak out mode!

After much sobbing {am I sharing too much?} and a call to my former manager extraordinaire, we settle for a message on our website that explains the new code. And fortunately, my system is web-based so I'm able to make changes from home.

Once I settle down, I send an email to Lucky and tell them my situation, and what I did to fix it. They seemed okay with the fix ... and I'm sure knowledge of my break-down helped a bit too. :)

weekend greeting giveaway {seventeen}

Oh where, oh where have I been?  Sorry it's been a couple of weeks and thank you for your patience!

We are now back on track and I'm pleased to announce this weekend greeting is from Egg Press.  They've got a great variety of Holiday cards, but I'm digging the little birdie on this one best!

Who would you send this card to?  Leave me a comment saying who you would send it to and why {by next Friday}. I'll pick my favorite comment and you'll get the card. You can find more rules here.

Last week's winner is Terri!  Terri, my heart goes out to Kim and the girl she's 'blessing.'  Please send me your mailing address and I'll get the card out to next week.  Congrats and thanks everyone for playing!

good morning america update

The Good Morning America segment won't run this morning.  Right now it's scheduled for next Thursday, December 11.  Stay tuned ...

a little bookbag for me

A little gift from Anthropologie ... isn't it lovely?

This ...

Turns into this ...
And here's how ...
{i'm super excited to say these photos were taken in my new office!!} I hope to have photos of our completed construction project soon.

Personal note: After a great vaca with my girl friends {to Exuma in the Bahamas}, I left the next day for Mexico with my family and some friends for a 40th birthday celebration. My husband had planned the hugest surprise party of a lifetime down there. I'm still reeling from it. Thus, the slow posting ... thanks for hanging in there with me! :)