Happy New Year

I do not believe I will be posting tomorrow, as I am at the store and then off to some kid-friendly New Year's Events. So here is our Happy New Year wish to all our Old Friends and College Chums. Keep reading into the New Year as we have lots of fun things planned and some exciting new changes. (None of which include closing the store.) Happy New Year - don't you love this time of year and all the possibilities that go along with it?

Holiday Sale

All holiday cards, invitations, gift wrap, tags, ribbon, etc. is now 50% off! So hurry in to the store for the best selection. This is a great time to stock up for next year. We are also offering 25% off everything non-holiday through Friday, January 2nd. We have some great new stuff for spring, calendars, etc. Don't miss it.

Last Minute Gift Ideas

Fun stuff for stockings, etc. We have lots of great last minute gift ideas.

Wrapping Up

I can now say our Christmas rush is over. All our custom order cards are finished, paid for and picked up! We will have the next few days to organize our remaining in stock cards and enjoy the last minute shoppers - usually so fun and chatty. I am hoping to get started on my Christmas cards, finish some last minute shopping and get some gift wrapping done (which by the way is my favorite part.) I am starting to get very excited for Christmas - can't wait.

If you haven't finished your cards - we still have some really cute boxed Christmas cards in stock. By the way, all in-stock Christmas cards, invitations, ribbon, wrapping, etc. is now 40% off! Stock up for next year if you need to.

Ho Ho Ho

Thursday night was the kick-off for the annual Holidays in Crestwood to benefit Children's Center for the Visually Impaired (CCVI). I believe all involved had a great time. Hopefully, for the benefit of CCVI, there were lots of holiday purchases made. And, while working, we were also able to get our list into Santa. The photo is of my mom and partner, Dorothy and my dad, Tim, with Santa. Anyway, there are still two more days to come out and do some shopping to help benefit CCVI - Bennett Schneider will donate 10% of all sales this weekend to help the kids over there. We have lots of great gifts and all Christmas cards, invitations, etc. are buy three get one free! What a deal.

Holiday Red Bird

Aren't these invites adorable. These just went out the the door and I love them. But then, there are very few Karen Adams invitations I don't love. By the way, we are the only shop in Kansas City to carry this line - you should come in and take a look. All your special events deserve invitations like these.

Linda & Harriett 2009

Okay - it is not 2009 yet, but I love this calendar so much it is already hanging in my kitchen! We have them in stock now and they are going fast. Letterpress calendar - the perfect size and some truly fabulous designs! I still can't decide which month is my favorite.

Photos courtesy of Linda & Harriett

Holiday Cookies

Have you every seen anything like these?! Exclusive to Bennett Schneider this Holiday Season. These hand-decorated iced sugar cookies are so whimsical, sweet and super yummy! They make great stocking stuffers, party favors or holiday party desserts. Your family, friends, co-workers, etc. will be amazed. Order them now through December 15th. Just give us a call (816-444-8484), tell us which designs you want and what you want them to say. You can pick them up just before Christmas or we can ship them anywhere!

Tokyo-Milk Cards

"He's all that and a bag of chips. Congratulations on your engagement."



"Trust me, totally hot"



"Special Delivery, Congratulations"



"You're still, irresistibly foxy - Happy Birthday"



"Congratulations on your new foray into coupledom"


We have finally received, after five long months of waiting, our cards from Tokyo-Milk. These cards are hand-glittered, watercolor images with the wittiest remarks! We are the only store in town to carry this amazing line of cards, and if you make a special trip to the shop to pick some up, you won't be disappointed. Don't you love them?

Santa Love

I really can't believe the amount of Christmas already out there. Our local radio stations started playing Christmas music on November 1st. I have been receiving Christmas catalogs for months. My neighbors all have their Christmas decorations up and on. Yikes! I was almost thinking I didn't like Christmas, until I received the Sundance Catalog. I have fallen in love with this amazing nostalgic light-up Santa and his team of reindeer. The whole set, including Rudolph, is $695. If I had that much extra money right now, I would have a set. My kids would love it - my neighbors would hate it. This is just what I needed to see to fall in love with Christmas again.

Natasha's Mulberry & Mott

Have you ever walked in to a store/restaurant/coffee shop and been overwhelmed by where you are? Recently, I visited Natasha Goellner's new location at 105th and Mission Road, and felt just like that. Her place is perfectly amazing. Perfect white walls, a vintage crystal chandelier, darling racks of ribbon and cakes and pastries galore! It is so full of whimsy and magic. So please, if you are in Kansas City and can take a moment, stop in and tell her hello. I know this has been a labor of love for them - and they should be so proud!

Thanks So Much

It is our opinion that Thanksgiving may be the most overlooked Holiday of all. In a rush to get to Christmas, everyone just wizzes right by it. We love it. We love the time with family and the fact that nothing is open. We love Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade and getting dressed up to stay home and eat! What a treat. And most importantly, we love that an entire day is devoted to being thankful for what we have and who we are. We are especially fortunate to be able to help people say Thank You all year long. So before you become consumed in the Holiday Rush - take some time to write a Thank You note - I am sure you can find someone to thank and a great piece of stationery to write it on!

Letterpressed Thank You card by elum

Fall Parties

Have you planned your fall and halloween party yet? If not, it's time! We have so many great invitations for your event - don't you think? And the really cool part is that all these invitations are 10% off until October 15th! We will even get them printed for you ... fast!

Wednesday

Day No. 265

Sunday, September 21, 2008 was the 265th day of 2008. It was a beautiful, midwestern Sunday afternoon and we snuck in some great family time. In the morning, we took in a fall festival at a local church within walking distance from our home. Kids loved the bouncy houses, free lemonade and even the pony rides, though that took a little persuasion.



After a quick nap, we went down to the Plaza Art Fair - always one of my favorite events in Kansas City. There are truly so many talented people in this country! Some of my favorites: amanda blake - oil paintings , heinrich toh, dylan strzynski, John Petrey, who makes these amazing dresses - my daughters loved them, as did I - what fun!

Anyway, it was a great way to end the weekend - and a great way to end the summer. We will miss the warm afternoons, swimming pools, barbeque outside, etc., but, as always, we are so looking forward to fall.

Photos - Eden and Clara Jane on their first pony ride, Davis showing the girls how it is done and Clara Jane at the Art Fair - yes, she is covering her ears - the Art Fair always has great outdoor concerts and lots of places to sit outside and eat - she does not like loud noises - makes it hard to eat a hamburger with your hands on your ears! They are cute, aren't they?

Carrie Bradshaw goes Fishing

Okay - so we are trying something new. We decided to take on the challenge of decorating a table for Kansas City's American Royal Tablescapes event. This is a small challenge being that we don't sell flowers, plates, glassware, etc.

Anyway, the event is a luncheon and it begins tomorrow (following a preview party held earlier this evening). Some items featured on our table...Jon Hart, Fontaine Maury, Heather Moore, Preppy Cards, MJK Knits, Meri-Meri, Anna Griffin, just to name a few. Hope all the folks at our table can appreciate our "Carrie Bradshaw goes Fishing" theme. We thought it was kitschy and cute! What do you think?

Work Hard & Be Nice To People

This, is our mission! This is what we are all about and what a business like ours needs to be about. We know we can never stop looking for exciting, new products, but we can not assume that by having new products we can turn our back on the level of customer service we provide - they go hand-in-hand. So if you need something in a hurry, or out of the ordinary or you just don't know what you want - ask us, we'll help! We don't know any other way.

VOTE - or at least celebrate the right to!

We did up this fun window for the store this week! Don't you love it? Everyone in our shop favors a different candidate, so we thought it was important to just encourage people to Vote - or at least celebrate the right to! So if you want to throw a party on November 4, 2008 - stop in for some great invites, napkins, favor ideas, etc. Go Democracy!

Want to register to vote - visit JustVote

Some interesting stats found in the October 2008 Women's Health ...

Percentage of women who say it's OK for celebs to endorse candidates: 61
Why: It's their right.

How the Average Woman keeps track of the candidates: TV news
What she's likely to watch:
Today, Good Morning America, or The Daily Show with John Stewart

Percentage of registered women voters who say they'd like to see a female commander-in-chief in their lifetime: 69

Political issue the Average Woman currently considers most important:
the economy
How she'd jump-start it: with lower gas prices

Presidential candidate who gets the Average Woman's "sexiest" vote:
John F. Kennedy

Title the Average Woman thinks would best fit a female president's husband: First Gentleman

Interesting, huh! For more facts, check out this month's Women's Health

Inspired Dining

Today I was searching for some ideas for the shop. I stopped in Anthropologie - a great source for inspiration, and came across this amazing tablescape. I love the black and white colors, the fine pencil lines and the great gold edge - also love the mug. It comes in green and all black and white. Don't you think the peacock feather pattern would make a great envelope lining?

Have a great weekend. All our prayers go out to the folks in Galveston and Houston as they wait out Ike.

Tie One On

We are getting all kinds of new holiday things everyday. However, I think our favorite packages to open are the ones that have wrapping paper and ribbon...inside! Ironic isn't it! We just received this great assortment of ribbon from Strano Designs! What happy holiday colors, stripes and dots. We have so much fun holiday wrapping and ribbon this year - shouldn't your perfect gift have the perfect holiday wrap!

The pencils - we think we will tie them into a bow on top of a package- just that perfect extra touch!

A Day Off

So we needed a day off today. We just felt the need to escape the stuff we (my twin daughters and myself) do everyday - run, check e-mail, grocery shop, color, eat lunch, nap, do laundry, etc. So, we went to Lawrence, Kansas, home of Kansas University and the 2008 National Champion Kansas Jayhawks. Secretly, well not so secretly anymore, I have always wanted to call Lawrence home - and today was picture perfect. It was a perfect 65 degrees under a cloudless blue sky and we spent four hours strolling the downtown area and hanging out at the park.

Lawrence has some truly unique locally owned shops and when I get a chance I love to see what other retail owners are doing. We stopped at Sunflower Outdoor and Bike Shop - I am in the market for a road bike as I would like to try my hand at a Half-Ironman next summer. We looked around and left with a great t-shirt for Davis, some new water bottles for Eden and Clara (now maybe they will leave mine alone) and these way cool sunglasses for kids - Julbo! Love them - and my girls look so cute!

After that we went in search of our Halloween costumes - my daughters want to be Kansas Jayhawk cheerleaders for Halloween. We found some really cute outfits at The Jock's Nitch (funny name - great store) along with Jayhawk hair bows and a quarterback jersey for Davis. After that, we stopped at The Blue Dandelion a great children's clothing store and picked up some of the Tea Collection - Daily Tea line. If you have kids and they have not worn this line - they should. It fits great, washes well and is so darn cute!

Of course, the trip would not have been complete without some homemade lemonade and gummi alphabet letters from Pennie Annie, a trip to The Toy Store (I think we overstayed our welcome), some lunch and an hour at the park.

We had a blast, Eden and Clara napped on the drive home, and we picked up Davis right on time - feeling a little less stressed than when we dropped him off. I highly recommend some good quality time away from the routine - if you can get it. Oh, one more thing - I noticed, or should I say, I failed to notice. Where is the paper shop? If you read this and are interested - give us a call!

A Million Dollars

What would I do with a million dollars? After I gave a big chunk of it away - I would move my tiny little stationery store out of its current location to a big, bright airy space - I might even consider my own building (that way I wouldn't have to deal with other crazy tenants) - right next to a Dean & Deluca somewhere! We would have fabulous wedding and design events all the time. This space would have refurbished hardwood floors and windows everywhere. We would have tons of room for all the products we love, but can't carry because we don't have room! In the meantime, I will keep purchasing lottery tickets, picking up lost pennies on the street and searching out design ideas for the space I will one day have! Trust me I do love my shop - we all have days!

Here is one of those ideas - since what we do is all about letters - I think I would paint (hire someone to paint) a great border all the way around the top of my new space - lots of letters, words, abbreviations, etc. Of course, this would be above all my really great windows!

So it begins...

...Labor Day weekend. Enjoy your long weekend - relax, spend time with family, shop, enjoy some great barbeque, work in the yard, sneak in an extra bike ride or long run (I am running 18 miles on Sunday), eat ice cream, get to the swimming pool before it closes for the summer, watch college football, sleep in, go to a baseball game, sell lemonade. We will see you on Tuesday.

Pica Press

We are so excited to be carrying this great line of stationery, invitations and announcements. We love the graphic type, bold colors, envelope choices and the fun accompanying labels and stickers. We even have their equally fabulous holiday line of photo cards and invitations. Because this line is new for us - we are going to be offering some really great deals only for those of you who read this blog. So, stop into the store and ask about Pica Press Papers and we will give you 10% off your entire order. The line has a really great price point and is available flat printed or letterpressed. We will be the only store in the Kansas City metro area carrying the line - so if you love it - come see us!

Snow & Graham 2009 Calendars

We sold out of these so quickly last year - you may want to get your Snow & Graham calendar early this year. We have all three styles in stock now. We have the wall calendar, desk and mini calendar. That mini one is so cute. We also have lots of other great Snow & Graham items in stock - including their so cute note cubes in all the great patterns for which they have become known. We also have some really cute wrapping papers which also make great envelope liners. Check out the new Snow & Graham website. Navigate to Odds & Ends, I Spy - there are some fun ways to use their wrapping papers. The website is great - you can really see all the great stuff - makes me want a new website - more on that later.

[photos courtesy of Snow & Graham]