Thanks for a great year!

Thank you for a great year "online". We hope that 2008 will be even better.
2007 had it's ups and downs in business and personally. Tote and Brag went online in March. Our boutique has been fun because we meet so many wonderful people and we can have great classes. By having a presence on the world wide web we can reach many more people. Some we have the chance to speak with (or email). It's great that many more people have the opportunity to see various products and the opportunity to buy some even in remote parts of the world.
We were primarily carrying All My Memory products in the beginning. In May we learned that the company had been sold. All orders were cancelled. It was a nerve wracking time. We were in limbo not knowing if our orders would ever be filled. We really hated not being able to accomodate all of our customers. To everyone that patiently waited for their merchandise, we send our appreciation and thanks. The new owners, however, did not take all of the AMM lines. The stack 'ems were not purchased. We had the former President of AMM checking everywhere to try to fill our current orders. Unfortunately, it was not to be.
The Metro line was also discontinued. Whatever we purchased prior to the sale of AMM is all that there is of this line. It's a fun line. The Metro Handbag is just fabulous. I carry mine everywhere. Not only do I always have a picture of my little ones to brag about, but it really holds everything!
We had much illness as well as several deaths of family members within our company. This caused much sadness to our Tote and Brag family. However, one of the best ways to honor and remember wonderful people in our lives is to scrapbook. When the owner's father became ill, we quickly put together a 6 x 6 Metro album filled with pictures of the family on their last vacation. He kept it with him during his hospital stay. It helped give him the hope not to give up while he battled cancer.
Toward the end of the year, sales really picked up. The most sought after product was the pink camera clutch. All the camera bags are really popular. We have camera bags of various sizes perfect for small digital cameras or SLR cameras.
We haven't heard yet what new colors or products are coming out yet for AMM. However, we have been told that raspberry was 2007's color and will get phased out. The Tote-Ally Cool 2 totebags in raspberry polkadot and matching shoulder bag are really great.
We have added many more lines at ToteandBrag.com such as Cricut and Sizzix. Both lines have incredible machines that really help everyone get creative. Scrapbookers, crafters, sewers, and decorators alike can use these machines.
We hope to have our newsletter out soon with all the creative ideas we've compiled. We look forward to receiving ideas and pictures from our customers to post in the newsletter as well.
Happy New Year!
from the staff at Tote and Brag

Rub ons

CHRISTMAS IS JUST AROUND THE CORNER!
We have added some great rub-ons to our site. Haven't used rub-ons before? I hadn't until the CHA conference this past summer. They are just fabulous! Easy to use also.
Just cut out the picture or phrase, place it onto your item and rub it with a tool. Voila! The picture or phrase is transfered onto your item. What I like to do is add the rub-ons onto my album cover.
Giving an album, rub-ons, and a tote make one fabulous gift.
Or
Make an album and personalize it with the rub ons.
Either way it's a great way to personlize a gift.

Excitement!

I attended the CHA convention (Craft and Hobby) last weekend. I am so excited about crafting and I have so many fabulous ideas.
First, let me update everyone regarding AMM. I met the President of AMM and scolded him for selling the company. Once we were past that he updated me on the new owners and where AMM products are headed. The new owners have picked up the Vituri line and Tote-Ally Cool totes. However, they have not picked up Stack 'ems. We have a few orders still to fill of Stack 'ems. We are making every effort to obtain the Stack 'ems. This will probably be the end of the Stack 'ems products. At least for a while.
Almost all of the products have arrived at the new company. We have all been waiting for the pink camera clutches, red crossover bags and the raspberry polkadot totes. The raspberry polkadot totes are supposed to arrive this week. However, they are in limited quantity. Apparently, once they are all gone, they are gone forever. Too bad. They are really cute!
The raspberry Vituri line is limited also. This is a trendy color for this year. I do not know what color will be next. The new owners are still deciding this. So everyone better buy the raspberry while they can. I like everything in black...however, the raspberry is really fun and exciting. I use the raspberry rolling tote and shoulder bag all the time. It's great for travel and I'm always organized. Plus, I have to admit, I like the attention I get when I use the rolling bag and or shoulder bag.
There were so many exciting products at the convention. It was really hard not to order everything! But I stayed focused. I chose to add other lines of tote bags and storage items. Organization is just so important. Looking cool and fashionable is important too. I hope everyone likes the new additions to the site.

Merchandise is finally here!

YEAH! The merchandise has finally arrived! We have been waiting for months for our backorders. This has been such a frustrating time for us and for our customers. We truly have fabulous customers.
We are receiving packages and sorting through the merchandise. Shipments will go out next week. Two items still haven't come into our supplier. However, they have reassured us that the pink camera bags and raspberry polkadot tote bags will be in within the next two weeks.
We really want to thank everyone for their patience.
Oh my goodness; we were so stressed out when we learned that AMM sold their company and cancelled all of our orders. We opened new accounts with other vendors, but NO ONE had the merchandise. The sale of AMM really messed up a lot of people. We really wish they could have filled all of the orders prior to selling their business. However, we had to be patient too.
We will be refilling our shelves and marketing more.
As mentioned, we will be filling all previous orders all of next week. The AMM camera bags have been great sellers. The SLR bags have been especially popular. The Vituri Urban Shoulder Bag and Vituri Urban Roller bag are just gorgeous.
Later this month we will be attending the hobby trade show. We look forward to finding some great new merchandise. We will post our findings to share all the latest and greatest ideas with our friends here and at http://www.toteandbrag.com/.

FATHER'S DAY

Father's Day is this weekend. My father seems to have everything. It gets harder and harder every year to come up with a great idea for a gift. I started thinking, "what does he like to do"? Garden! I looked around his garage and saw that he has various tools for gardening. However, I also noticed that they are scattered around or stored in an old terracota pot. "AHA"! Dad could use a tote bag too! The black pinstripe tote-ally cool tote is masculine. I filled the tote-ally cool tote with seed packets, a couple of new tools, gloves, a baseball cap and a bottle of lemonade. It looked fabulous. I even considered gardening...for a moment. I added a disposable camera in one of the pockets. That's for the grandchildren to take pictures of grampa while he is gardening. Later we can scrapbook the pictures and seed packets and the grandchildren will have a wonderful memory book ready to give as a gift for grandparents day.
I still had to come up with an idea for my husband for my children's gift to their father. Preparing dinner in the kitchen one day I kept coming accross screws and bolts. "Why are these all over the place"? Then I had another "AHA" moment. The stack'em rack filled with various tins would solve the problem. My husband can fill the tins with the screws, nuts, bolts whatever, and I won't have to find them all over the kitchen! Brilliant!

Memorial Day

Memorial Day is a day to remember friends and loved ones. My family and I attend mass at the cemetary and visit graves of those who have passed. Afterwards we all get together at my aunt's home for lunch.
This year we did something else. Several of us got together to put together memory albums. I printed up pictures from a recent vacation and arranged them in the kiwi metro album. I used my sizzllits to make headings for each page and embellished with stickers. My daughters helped too. I put the memory album together for a loved one who is hospitalized.
We spent an enjoyable day reminiscing with friends and spending time with family. It was a great activity for all of us.

AMM sold!

The company All My Memories has been sold. We found out suddenly over the weekend. It was quite a shock to all the AMM employees as well as all of us retailers. All My Memories products are still being manufactured, however, there is a delay now in retailers receiving the merchandise. Some products have been on back order for several months. I originally placed my orders back in February. Those items never came in. Every week I checked with the rep who would tell me to be patient the merchandise is coming. I have tried to contact the customers who have been affected by this. At ToteandBrag we pride ourselves on good customer service. We are disappointed that this has happened with AMM but new accounts are being established with distributors that will be receiving the AMM merchandise.
The camera bags are especially hot...AMM states that they should be received in the warehouse the first or second week of June. I am hopeful that the delivery man will be arriving at our doorstep soon so that we can ship the merchandise to our wonderful customers. Thanks to everyone for their patience!

Customize your tote

My little girls have the medium sized tote bags. Yes they like them because there are lots of pockets and a drawer. They put their crayons and colored pencils inside. They carry their toy cellphones in the pocket. They put their hair accessories inside. Mommy hides lollipops in the drawer for the girls as a surprise. My girls feel special and important because they have tote bags like Mommy and her friends.
However, we decorated the tote bags. Now each tote bag is extra special. My oldest daughter loves pink, princesses and sparkles. We used the stencil set from the stack 'ems set and paint pens. My daughter was able to do the designs herself. All she had to do was color in the stencil. Afterwords, we used glitter glue and rhinestones to really add the "princess" touch. Now it's not just any pink totebag...It's an "amazing Princess tote bag".
My younger daughter decorated her totebag freestyle and with stamps. We used fabric paints and foam stamps to personalize her tote bag. Then for an extra touch we made shrinky dink charms. The girls threaded the charms with yarn and beads and I attached the home made charms to their respective tote bags. They really look adorable. I'll try to post a picture of the customized tote bags.
My oldest daughter asked if we could decorate tote bags for her next birthday party. It's actually a great idea. Instead of preparing goody bags of candy or trinkets, each guest (boy or girl) can decorate a mini tote or medium tote bag. They will have fun doing the project plus they will go home with a great gift from the birthday party that can be used forever.

Memory Album

Last week my uncle passed away suddenly. He has been battling diabetes for about twenty years. It had gotten so bad that he had lost one of his legs. He was about to lose the other one when he had a heart attack. We were all quite shocked by the events of last week. Comfort in family helped us get through the funeral. Getting together with family and reminiscing about good times and some not so good helped start the healing process. My uncle's granddaughter had the courage to speak during the mass about her grandfather and about how much he will be missed. She will be putting together a memory album about her grandfather, my uncle. I thought that the Metro album would be perfect for this. We chose a color that suited my uncle's personality. We are gathering pictures and other momentos that remind us about what a great man my uncle was. We may shed some tears while composing the album, but it will help all of us in the long run. Part of therapy is letting go of the hurt and anger about losing a loved one. Creating the memory album is a positive way of doing this. Plus having the memory album will remind us of what a great man he was and will always be.
A few years ago I put together a memory album for my mother. It was a gift for mother's day. Although the album was filled with pictures of her mother who had passed away, I knew that she would love the album. We cried a little when my mother opened the album and turned the pages. Whenever my mother is missing her mother she pulls out the album and looks through the pages to remind her of what an amazing woman my grandmother was and what a full life she lead. I included journalling throughout the album. The last page features the passage that was read at my grandmother's funeral mass. The passage spoke of the strength within a woman. She was always an angel on earth; I know she is an angel in heaven.
Give thanks to your mother on May 13th. Mother's are incredible people. Sure we may get angry with them, or disagree about things. But a Mother will always be there when it matters most. Show your mom just how much you love her.

Ideas for newsletter

ToteandBrag.com is a site created for anyone who loves purses; who travels; who is creative.
There are so many styles to choose from. My personal favorite is the Vituri Lifestyles handbag in Sage. I can fit everthing I need in it: my water bottle, my files and magazines, personal items, and I always have pictures of my little girls with me. I have actually been caught without pictures of my baby..."What kind of mother am I?" But not anymore.
My BFF is expecting a baby in October. I think I'll get her the MOCHA Vituri Lifestyles handbag. It'll be perfect to carry baby supplies (diapers, changing pad, bottles) without having to carry a dorky or cumbersome diaper bag. It's great because the handbag has interior pockets and pouches to hold her personal stuff (credit cards, change, lipgloss, etc.). Plus she'll have a great looking purse.
We are putting together a monthly newletter.
Although we have lots of ideas for uses of the totes, albums, bags, etc. we would love to share some of your ideas. Send us pictures or stories of crafts you have made or of any ideas you have.
At ToteandBrag.com we also sell camera bags. It would be fun to hear about your vacations, trips, or prom. Tell us about your dress and which bag will match. Then share your photos.