Copabananas

Well Stocked

The Accoutrements order is all unpacked and the store is really looking full. I had my massage chair out getting ready for tomorrow at Whole Foods Millburn from 11-2.

Adding Up

All the little things I've been doing will add up to bigger things eventually. The continuing education sports massage class in Princeton was good. Last night was the CPR class. They will both help me join the AMTA NJ sports massage team. I'm also working hard preparing for the Glen Ridge Arts Festival this Saturday. I've made a bunch of the big market bags from vintage fabrics and I love the way they are turning out. I need to set the whole booth up once this week to make sure I have enough tables and signs. But that won't happen this morning. I'm off to UMDNJ to tour the classrooms for the Institute for Therapeutic Massage Oncology Massage Certification Program. I went to the open house at the Pompton Lakes campus a couple of weeks ago and although I'm not prepared to enter another program, I'm curious to see what the hospital is all about so hopefully the tour will be a reality check.

Full Speed Ahead

Sunday at the March for Babies Walkathon was great! I'm really glad I could help out and it was an exceptional experience, a great way for me to get my feet wet at an event like that. I'm really looking forward to working more.
I'm also focusing on pulling my booth together for the Glen Ridge Arts Festival. Throw in a CPR class and sports massage continuing education class and May is looking like it's off to a great start.

Filling My Calendar

I've got a lot coming up and it's great to be so busy. Tomorrow I'm volunteering at the March for Babies Walkathon in Mahwah doing chair massage. I'll also be at the Montclair Run on June 1st. On May 16th I'll be doing chair massage from 11-2 at the Millburn Whole Foods. The major event for me is that I'll be exhibiting my handmade items at the Glen Ridge Arts Festival on May 10th. More on everything as the dates get closer.

Inside Montclair Spot

Store Hours Change

Now that school is over (YAY!) the store hours will change again:
Monday-Friday 12-6
Saturday 10-6
Sunday 12-4

Sisters On The Runway

Tonight is the Sisters on the Runway Benefit Fashion Show at the Montclair Art Museum. I donated a raffle basket again for their great cause, Shelter Our Sisters.

I'm Listening

You want more cards, I hear you! I'm attending Stationery Show in May and I'll seek out the edgiest, most unusual cards I can find. In the meantime I ordered Mother's Day cards from Nobleworks, a line I used to carry and always liked. More cards are in the future!

Favorite Doll Tea Basket

Here's the raffle basket I made for the Women's Club of Glen Ridge Favorite Doll Tea coming up at the end of the month. It was fun last year and I'm really looking forward to it again!

Benefit Concert Donation

Here's the basket I put together for the Parents Who Rock Benefit Concert in April.

I was aimlessly wandering the internet this morning while my coffee was brewing and I came across Rachel Weber's blog, Fog and Thistle, and she mentions her donation to the benefit, an amazing cut paper shadowbox. Other local artists on Etsy here.

Retro Candy Is Back!

We got our retro candy order in and the store smells like Violets which is good if you like Violets. I cut the box tops and put them in the window. I think this old fashioned candy is great for Easter baskets. We also got another retro relic yesterday, the Magic 8 Ball.

March and April Store Hours

I have classes Monday and Wednesday afternoons so the store hours for March and April will be:
Monday 10-3
Tuesday 12-6
Wednesday 10-3
Thursday 12-6
Friday 12-6
Saturday 10-6
Sunday 12-4

Indie Parade

I got a listing up on Indie Parade! Yay!

Toy Fair Fun

The Toy Fair was really great today! We spent most of our time downstairs because that's where the smaller companies are and we found some really great items! A sample of what we saw: Shainsware recycled bracelets with numbers, letters, and icons to snap on and create your own words and designs; Brain Noodles stopped us in our tracks when we saw their giant 18" pipe cleaners; a great addition to our historical non-action figure collection will be the products from Jailbreak Toys, located in Brooklyn; and I couldn't resist stopping and trying out the beautiful juggling clubs at the Higgins Brothers booth.

Toy Fair Coming Up

Toy Fair starts this weekend. I'm looking forward to going, it's always fun. Uglydolls always has a big booth and even though I saw the new dolls at Gift Fair I still love visiting them.

New Uglydolls for 2008

These are the first 2 new Uglydolls of 2008 to be shipping out- Cinko, and Suntan Target. Target's new story starts: "Suntan Target? That's right! Leave him out in the sun for a few months and watch his nice tan fade away! Target has been away on vacation for a while but he just had to come back to show you his nice tan. You would do the same, right?"  Cinko is now in a different color and his story starts: "Cinko is afraid of water. What if he gets thirsty? Aren't our bodies mostly water? What if he takes his family to the drive-thru window and everyone orders water? Can Ice-bat melt? Are tears water? Cinko needs help. Cinko needs you."

Pull Up A Chair

Today at the NY Gift Fair was great! We found great new items to make the shop even better. I pre-ordered the new Uglydolls for 2008 and ordered 2 each of the first series of Little Uglies which will soon be retired! I also ordered old-fashioned candy like I had at the other store. We'll have a few more political items coming in from Unemployed Philosopher's Guild including the Democratic Dream Mug, the U.S. map on the mug turns all blue when it's filled with hot liquids. My favorite items that we ordered today are the miniature chairs from Decor Craft Inc. that are pictured here. They're about 3" tall and really great!

Looking Great

Look at all the great items I listed on the eBay store today. It's looking great...and so is the shop, where everything is also available!

Networking

Besides spending a lot of time making monkeys and dolls I've been networking a lot. I'm really glad I started the Flickr site because not only does it organize my growing picture collection but it made me realize just how many gLove Story Dolls I've made in the past year!

Mixing It Up

Here's a few pics from the shop yesterday: Blue Q sent a couple backordered items, the Instant Rehab breath spray and the Know it All breath spray; Last Supper After Dinner Mints from Accoutrements; super cute punny valentines from Hoopla; the store decked out in repurposed encyclopedia page paper cranes; lots of billfolds.

Old Favorites

Yesterday we got a small backorder from Accoutrements that included the bacon wallet and the martian popping thing, 2 old favorites at the shop.

Winter Sale

Our winter sale started this week. Not only are a lot of great items 50% off but all the invites and thank yous from the old store are making an appearance for the sale and they're 50% off too!

Keeping Busy

I'm keeping busy making gLove Story Dolls, sock monkeys, and tissue paper flowers. Today I made 4 sock monkeys including the one from a toe sock, he's so cool. I made the flowers from old tissue paper patterns. I like the way they look. I need to name the new gLove dolls and give them their name tags. Most of the new ones are from the gloves I found on a walk around town last Monday.

Ephemera

Introducing...Copabananas Ephemera. Little  bags of kitsch and fun. Each bag is different and may or may not include Mrs. Grossman's stickers, Color-aid paper samples, rings, jewels, beads, office supplies, ribbon, bows, trading cards, and more. At $2 a bag these are created with kids in mind.  Great, quick, affordable party favors or something to keep kids occupied at a restaurant, I think kids will enjoy them as much as I love to make them.

Perfect Timing

Right before Christmas, Filomena Jack from Quilts and Such stopped in. She told me she's moving to Montclair! She's opening up on Walnut St. near Trumpets as she details on her blog. Since she won't be doing so much retail, mostly workshops and special orders, she returned my consignment items to me yesterday. And the timing was perfect!  I added the gLove Story Dolls to the collection on the Etsy store and replaced xmas decorations in the store with the wall hangings she brought back. It's great that she's in Montclair now!

Looking Ahead

Now that I'm starting to recover from a painful back ache this week, I'm looking ahead and thinking about what I need to do. It was hard to think about it when I could barely get out of bed and walk around but now that I'm feeling better I need to get organized. I registered for classes today, Medical Terminology and 2 massage classes. School will be done in April for good. I'm looking for an affordable massage chair so I can start doing chair massage in the shop. I have to move out of the studio this month. There's not much left over there but it's all packed and ready to go, thanks to my sister. Inventory is basically finished which is a benefit of having a smaller store! Normally it would take weeks to count all the back stock. I will slowly be reordering new merchandise, including kids' boxed valentines. In the meantime I've been finding lots of lost gloves for gLove Story dolls. Remember, we changed our hours but we're still open every day and there's plenty of parking around here so if you haven't stopped in yet to see our new digs, don't be a stranger.

New Year, New Hours

Starting January 2nd our new store hours will be Monday - Friday 12-6, Saturday 10-6, and Sunday 12-4.

Calm After The Storm

Back to "normal" now after Christmas. Looking forward to a new year, finishing school and building the store up.

Hangin' at the Store

Abby hangs with me at the store sometimes...

Time Flies

I can't believe it's December already. So much has happened this year. And so much still to do. Looking back at old pictures is the only way I can remember all the details, I'm always so wrapped up in what to do today.

Artisan Market Today

Today is the Artisan Market! Hope to see you there!

Finishing Touches

This week I'm finishing up a bunch of sock monkeys and putting price tags on everything in preparation for the Artisan Fair on Saturday. School's almost over for the semester. The schedule for next semester looks good. They're offering everything I need to finish up so I should be done with school in April! Back to pricing for now...

Artisan Gift Market 2007

I'll be participating in the Artisan Gift Market at the Glen Ridge Congregational Church on December 1st. I'll be selling sock monkeys, Christmas stockings, voodoo dolls, gLove Story Dolls and the purses. I'll also be promoting the re-opening of the store. It should be a great day, I'm looking forward to it.

Holiday Mood

There was a nice article in Montclair Magazine with a great picture of the front of the shop. It's feeling very festive with all the stockings hanging in the front window now. Makes me realize I should start thinking about what to get people!

Promotional Postcards

My glossy postcards arrived yesterday. All the new info is printed on the back. I've been using the jumping monkey more now instead of the 2 monkeys passing the banana. This monkey just seems so excited and excitement is contagious.

gLove Story Dolls

There was a nice little story in Suburban Essex Magazine about the gLove Story Dolls this month. At $10 each I can hardly keep up with the demand. I named and tagged the dolls that hadn't been identified yet. I'm getting more yarn from Sima tomorrow for hair so I can make more.

Stockings and Stuff

It's been heavy duty Montclair Made time this weekend. I worked on stockings all weekend. They're lined with red fabric and are looking great. I made a pattern for a cute smaller size and I'll start making those tomorrow. I'm taking donations of gloves and socks for gLove Story Dolls and sock monkeys if anyone has any singles or any they don't use anymore!

The Counter!

Got the counter today! Thanks Robert! I love it, it's awesome!!! No more card table, so great!

Turned A Corner

Yesterday I think we turned a corner. It was the best day we've had since we re-opened, but also, the vibe was great. There was a steady stream of people all day and they were really into it. It was the first day I felt like people accepted the reinvention of Copabananas without question and that makes me feel great because the store is exactly the way I want it. I didn't have to justify not having party supplies, gift wrap, and cards (which to me makes all the sense in the world). But everyone had their favorite thing they came to Copabananas for, and if it's on that "do not sell anymore" list, they're disappointed. I could never and can never have everything for everyone. But when people come in and find the perfect gift, or that thing they never knew they wanted so much, or just have a good laugh, then I feel truly satisfied that I'm doing everything right. I know every day won't measure up to that standard, but yesterday did and for that I'm grateful.


Here's a couple pics of the paper masks displayed along the picture molding.

Reminder: Print and Save!

Just a reminder that there's a couple of weeks left to use the coupon for 10% off any sale of $10 or more!

Store Hours

FYI- The store hours are:
Monday- Saturday 10-6
Sunday 12-4

Great Start

This week has been great! Lots of people stopping in to check out our new space. It's starting to shape up too. This week we got in the new Uglydolls we didn't have, including Sailor Babo, so cute! Yesterday we got in a brand new joke rack! This weekend will be the last chance to get discontinued items on sale. Next week all the invitations and paper products will be a thing of the past.

Fun From Fred

Today we got in my order from Fred, which is a great company with really fun stuff. Their best-selling item is the Monkeys and I'm sure they'll do well in the store.

Grand Re-Opening

I was up at 4:30, I was so excited, but that only left me burnt out most of the day. It was a great day, lots of customers new and old, all expressing their excitement over our re-opening. Happy to be back!