Well it’s 4.39pm on Friday afternoon and we are just about done with all our preparations for the Spring Fair. We set up tomorrow afternoon and the show starts Sunday. Europe’s largest home and gift fair at the NEC.
Everything I need for our stand is packed, I have but 8 peices of jewellery left to code, it’s been a lengthy process.

Chances are my blog will not be updated till much later next week as most of next week I will be on the stand at the NEC, back to normal by Friday 10th, when the children break up from school for a week, challenge no.1 down, challenge no. 2 starts!

See us in Hall 4, Part of the Carte Blanche Group of companies exhibiting together.

Not just me but most of us are packing up samples for the Spring Fair which starts this weekend and checking and re-packing all our jewellery stock, it’s a big job, thankfully I have extra help in today.

Card orders seem to be pretty busy which is surprising so close to the Spring Fair but nevertheless good news.
We continue to work on future projects for jewellery and cards, perhaps not physically, but we are always dicussing new ideas and what to do next. Forever bouncing idea’s around the office, most of the time we all agree.

Pictured below is me wearing our multi strand grey pearl glass bracelet called ‘Milly’ £10.99 with matching glass pearl brooch, ‘Milan’ £5.99.

New trade brochure in stock, so if you are a trade customer please give us a call on 0116 2601004 or pick up a copy from us at the Spring fair, Hall/Stand: 4G08-H09

I do have to think long and hard some weeks to come up with something new to write about on a Wednesday. While we race (calmly) to complete everything for the Spring Fair (aswell as other projects) at the NEC this weekend you find no matter how much time you allow yourself it’s just never enough and that’s with extra help on board!

Needless to say I will be there on Sunday for when the show opens at 9am with a smile on my face, proud of our new jewellery and card designs, showing no hint of this weeks work load!

My wise words today are about ‘Self Control’:
Everyone must choose one of two pains: The pain of discipline or the pain of regret. ~Jim Rohn

The cyclone derives its powers from a calm center. So does a person. ~Norman Vincent Peale

You must admit you have self-control before you can use it. ~Carrie Latet

It’s all right letting yourself go, as long as you can get yourself back. ~Mick Jagger

You have to decide what your highest priorities are and have the courage – pleasantly, smilingly, nonapologetically – to say ‘no’ to other things. And the way to do that is by having a bigger ‘yes’ burning inside. The enemy of the ‘best’ is often the ‘good.’ ~Stephen Covey

On with the day job, jewellery to tag, price and pack. Cards to label, price and box. Design work to finish for a big meeting tomorrow and thoughts on props to make our stand look ‘Lello-fied’ and pretty for the forthcoming fair.

Back tomorrow.

Today Fiona is modelling our lovely new ‘History’ necklace. Made from large antique metal finish beads with delicate metal laser cut cups and large metal heart. We love it! Now in stock!

What are we up to at Lello today?
Getting ready for the Spring Fair at the NEC which starts this Sunday 5th February. You will find our jewellery and cards on the Carte Blanche stand in Hall 4. We have some gorgeous new handmade cards and aswell as the current jewellery we will be showing our Summer collection too which is due to be in stock for May! Lots to do for the weekend.

Back tomorrow with some wise words and quotes for Wednesday. Karen

It’s going to be a busy week this week as we prepare for the Spring Fair Birmingham which starts on Sunday. The biggest home and gift ware   show of it’s kind in Europe, visited by traders from across the globe.

Our stand gets built on Friday, we set up Saturday and I will be on the stand on Sunday! with bacon sand which in hand!

Lello will be part of the Carte Blanche Stand in Hall 4 where we will be showing new and existing ranges of cards and jewellery.

Our new handmade cards are beautiful! I will endeavor to bring you some images of them on my blog later this week.

After a restful weekend, off we go again.
Log on tomorrow for ‘what are we wearing at Lello today’. Karen

Not that I am counting the hours.
Wow what a busy day we have had pulling together all the final pieces of information for various projects and particulary the sales of Lello jewellery and cards going forward.
The new brochures drop at our doorstep this afternoon and Hayley is just finishing off the last few changes to the summer collection of jewellery.

I have quickly snapped her this afternoon trying on some new designs, named Time, Minute and Second, shown here are the short necklace and bracelet in this design, there is also a much longer necklace. The necklace sits beautifully in the neck, quite a weighty statement piece. Made from a mix of gold coloured and metal chains with clock face, glass bead and charm detail.

Another very busy week planned for next week in the run up to the Spring Fair Birmingham, see us in Hall 4 on the Carte Blanche Stand.

Back on Monday, have a great weekend from us all.

Back in the office today so I will include some thought provoking words which I’d normaly have done yesterday. Instead I spent the day down at Carte Blanche Greetings HQ ( I rarely leave my desk) to discuss all our Lello jewellery, I met some lovely people (just in case they read this)!, it was a very long drive home but a very worthwhile trip.

The topic for this week is:
Humour

Humor is a reminder that no matter how high the throne one sits on, one sits on one’s bottom. ~Taki

Every survival kit should include a sense of humor. ~Author Unknown

Humor is emotional chaos remembered in tranquillity. ~James Thurber

After God created the world, He made man and woman. Then, to keep the whole thing from collapsing, He invented humor. ~Bill Kelly, “Mordillo”

If I had no sense of humor, I would long ago have committed suicide. ~Mahatma Gandhi

Lastly here is a sneaky peak at a new necklace we plan to launch for summer, it will also be accompanied by a matching bracelet made from antique finish metal beads, you can see how thrilled Hayley was to model it this morning! I will make sure she smiles next time. Back tomorrow with more Lello news.

Well I can’t deny I am wearing one of our much older designs today but I guess it shows how much I love it.
Our painted wooden bead Russian doll necklace from 2007.
No longer in stock but my love for it has inspired us to create a new Russian doll range for women and children for Summer this year. The latest designs are based around metal beads with colour buttons, maybe that will become my second favourite design from Lello! We are in code and spread sheet land today working out new and up and coming ranges.
Fiona is glued to her Mac working on several projects and Hayley our right hand girl! is making last minute alterations to some jewellery.
Lastly to end the day we have a short photo session a new updated photo of Fiona and I and some images of our lovely new Lello point of sale for jewellery.

My Wednesday’s Wise words will move to Thursday as I will be out of the office tomorrow.

I am a bit late with my blog update today. It’s only Monday and I am feeling just a tad confused! We had a massive Mother’s Day card order go out, I swung back in my seat for 2 minutes to catch my breath and we were off again. Lots of codes, lists, mulling over and discussion of cards and jewellery re: the up and coming Spring Fair at the NEC today.
Pressed the go button for the new jewellery brochure, at last! I hope to have them in my hand on Wednesday.

Plus a puncture, which was fixed in an instant, lucky I realised as I was passing a tyre garage!! all in a day’s work.
Log on for ‘what are we wearing at Lello tomorrow’.

Looking forward to a cuddle with my children very soon when I am finally done with all my emails and I can get on my way with my repaired wheel, K.

On a Wednesday I Like to find random quotes on the same subject which I publish on our blog. I hope they will either make our customers smile, or think…..

As I have just been to our local shops to buy some flowers for a neighbour I thought I’d base todays quotes on ‘flowers’.

Flowers are the sweetest things God ever made, and forgot to put a soul into. ~Henry Beecher, Life Thoughts, 1858

I will be the gladdest thing
Under the sun!
I will touch a hundred flowers
And not pick one.
~Edna St. Vincent Millay, “Afternoon on a Hill”

‘Tis my faith that every flower
Enjoys the air it breathes!
~William Wordsworth, “Lines Written in Early Spring,” Lyrical Ballads, 1798

Flowers don’t worry about how the’re going to bloom. They just open up and turn toward the light and that makes them beautiful. ~Jim Carrey

Meanwhile at Lello we are all hard at work on a large Mothers Day order aswell as designing a new card range. We have a jewellery order on it’s way which should see us completely stocked up in time for The Spring Fair Birmingham in February,it is a very busy week.

Back tomorrow with some more Lello news, Karen