week 57 through 67 - on-line shopping

we're back and we've been busy!!! for years now people have been asking ‘do you sell mesh on line?’ well, until today our answer has been ‘no.’ it would sound more convincing if we were trying to make some artistic statement or something by not being on line. but, the bigger reason is we hadn’t found something as simple as store envy! really effortless and free for mesh to use! perfect combination!

drum roll, please . . .

hope you enjoy our new store! we’ll be updating you with new products and updates via facebook. so, join our page if you aren’t already following us.

-mesh

on the table packaging for our first online order!!!

week 36 - mesh boutique...almost

for those of you who will be joining us this weekend in our newly developed living rooms/mesh boutiques, we can't wait for you to see all of the new and refreshed goods we have in store. as we have noted in many recent email blasts, blog entries, and facebook posts, we are getting geared up for a full weekend of mesh sales and holiday festivities. sherry and i are both hosting a mesh open house this weekend (check out our FB events for more details, if you haven't already). this monday's mesh production quickly turned into boutique merchandising in sherry's living room. sherry's husband tagging product, sherry coordinating displays, and me hanging t-shirts for the taking...rounded out of course by holiday tunes from bing crosby and the like! we are getting in to the holiday spirit over here at mesh. come visit with us in all of our glory on saturday and sunday from 10am to 2pm! looking forward to catching up over some peppermint coffee and mesh anniversary cookies (thanks to Cookie Cards in Palatine)!

on the table | every piece of current mesh inventory...including one furry medallion. yes, you heard me...one furry medallion...believe it when you see it in all of it's splendor this weekend!

week 32 - happy birthday mesh !

yes, you read it correctly last week when melissa just happened to mention that mesh is turning 5 years old this month!

well, tonight we made our 650th necklace! hard to believe this feat sometimes after an innocent brunch meeting together in 2005. little did we know a spontaneous scheming session about our un-named business venture which would later be known as mesh!

a lot has happened in 5 years! we moved from only designing one-of-a-kind necklaces to purses, then bangles…to selling pretty much everything a girl could ever need! personally we’ve both gotten married, traveled the globe, and become great friends. spending every monday night together for years does that! i also have learned that melissa’s husband makes a mean peanut butter & jelly sandwich every monday night for work the next day…and i might add is a real enthusiast about his nightly ironing! (shout out - i’m thankful he puts up with us at their home weekly!)

mesh marks its birthday by the annual show we participate in at the merchandise mart called IIDA bizarre bazaar. it’s where mesh began! In honor of our birthday month, we will be celebrating by marking ALL mesh products $5 off for the entire month of November!

don’t assume we will be taking this birthday lying down! we have big plans for 2011. the monday night scheming has continued. look for some big news from us in the spring. but in the meantime, we are thankful to our loyal supporters and blog readers!

on the table | dreams for 2011

-sherry

p.s. i googled 'five' tonight. despite the findings including the jackson five, five guys burgers, and hawaii 5-0...i thought i would stick to these more literal images.

week 31 - readers

this post is dedicated to kathy and kelly...and all of our weekly readers. we deeply apologize for the short post last week, and hope to make up for it today. really, i can't believe how many of you are out there and depending on our monday night post to make your tuesday morning a sensation...okay, that may be a bit of an exaggeration, although i am truly impressed that we have readers at all...so thanks!

sherry and i have been off of our weekly beading nights, due to busy travel schedules over the past month or so. we see each other at our shows as we haul our goods out of our cars and into our venue for the evening. we have been meshing for so long now that we don't really have to see each other to run this side business of ours as a team. we are already coming up on our 5 year anniversary show, IIDA bizarre bazaar at the mart (november 11th, 5:30-8:30pm). i can't believe it has been that long already...this was our first show in november of 2005! yowsa, how time flies.

we are doing everything we can to inspire ourselves and keep everyone surrounding us intrigued. we have a spectacular new year of products around the corner and can't wait for you all to share in the excitement.

as i was beading our six-hundredth (or so) one-of-a-kind necklace tonight, i can't help but think of where they all are. i hope they are not in your dresser drawers waiting for a special occasion, because tuesday is an occasion enough to make a mesh statement...even if it is faceted glitz, offset by multi colored felted wool balls...work it mid-week!

on the table | over-stated combos

-melissa

week 29 - shanghai

as you have read in the past few posts, i survived my first trip to shanghai. although it was a 14 hour flight there (12.5 hours back), it did not feel at all like I was half-way around the globe. in fact, the city itself was a bustling mecca of everyday people working their tails off to make a living...much like those in the u.s. of a. it actually reminded me a lot of nyc, as it was filled with lights everywhere i turned (other than in the slightly creepy dark alleys). there is led lighting on the river boats, the buildings, the cabs in some cases, etc... in fact, there is a code there that every new building must light up to some extensive degree from dusk until 1am...the place is truly ablaze. other than the fact that i could not read the signage...i would have thought i was in the middle of times square at midnight.

as i mentioned, the alleys were a bit less lit than the bulk of the city, although far too thrilling to avoid. we were guided through the 'secret' shops by our very own 'personal shopper'. he was dedicated to us, to say the least, and actually may have been the only reason we made it back to the hotel that night...slightly sketchy. it was quite fun to see all that these little hidden shops had to offer; whether it was silk scarves we were looking for, or discs of tea leaves, or jade and pearl necklaces...our guy knew exactly where to find it all. the people in these shops were more than friendly when they saw our faces walk in the door...little did they know that we knew how to barter with the best of them...even with a slight language barrier :)

i can't wait to visit the city again to discover all that the true markets have to offer...stay tuned, as i believe my next trip will already be in a few weeks.

-melissa

on the table | quilt square clutches prepped and ready to go to their new home at Salon Rhapsody in Frankfort, IL.