Vote for Cap Trappers on IdeaBlob

Friends, family, Cap Trapper lovers, random people reading this blog, stalkers, whomever you may be...I need your vote for Cap Trappers this week on IdeaBlob. The week starts Sept 1st. We are trying to win $10,000. It is so easy. Just head over to the website and vote. Then tell everyone you know to vote too. Heck post your own idea and I will vote for you too. Thanks so much. Try to do it soon...this week is best...we can try again for the next three weeks...but tell everyone you can to help us succeed. Thanks!

Think Big

We are a house full of big thinkers this weekend. Birthdays, Doggy Appetizers, 23 mile mountain runs,Ideablob,and European distributors. Our family was dreaming big.

Let's start with little Pip. She turned 3 years old today. Although she, and the rest of the neighborhood gang, officially act like she is 6. Thankfully we now have a 2 year supply of lip gloss. Apparently, she told everyone she knows she wanted lip gloss for her birthday. Our entire house is now covered in a thin, some places thick, film of sparkly lip gloss. This includes Emmy's large bald head and the inside of his ears. My little Pippy is BIG on personality and smiles. She is convinced she is Shawn Johnson and Hannah Montana combined. All she knows about Hannah Montana is that she is a rock star...and Callista is certain she is a rock star too. I am trying so hard to keep her little and shield her from Hannah Montana....for heavens sake she is only 3!


On to Butter Bean. Little Emmy had his little heart set on a big prize today. It isn't totally clear from the picture but Emmett was intent on eating Brimmy. Those large ears just looked so luscious he couldn't resist. Poor Grandpa and had to keep him from sucking the little dogs ears. I think Brim emerged soaked in slobber but otherwise unscathed. Why settle for rice cereal when you could have a little schnozer?

Myself...I accomplished a feat I think anyone can feel proud of. I successfully ran the "Hope to Hobble" 23 mile run. The intensity and exhilaration of this 3:30 minute run were amazing. I actually felt great the entire run. Compared to this beastly 2000 ft, 12 mile climb, and rocky 11 mile, 3000 ft descent, the St George Marathon will be a piece of cake. Bring it on.

I will confess to some serious lactic acid build up in the legs today. But, besides that, I am none-the-worse for the wear.

Secondly, I have entered another contest. This time on ideablob. I need everyone's help on this one. It is basically a popularity contest for a week. Your idea garners the most votes and you become a finalist for the month. The last week of the month there is a show off between the top 8 ideas. To the winner...$10,000. Not bad. I would love your votes for me and all your friends votes as well. Here is the link. Vote for Cap Trappers. Don't worry I will keep reminding you, on email, blog, facebook... :)

Finally, I got an interesting email from an international distributor. He wants to introduce Cap Trappers to his side of the world. Chief strategist Brent was spurred into action and spent the weekend identifying major European distributors to contact. The first several years of his business, their growth outside of the US was far greater than inside. An interesting was to think big. Globally.

Happy Teachers Use Cap Trappers

Here is an email sent from a happy teacher in California using Cap Trappers for over 4 months in her classroom...

Thank you for sending the Cap Trappers. I have been using them with my kindergarten class... I am using mine at the dry erase board to organize my teaching colored dry erase markers. They are doing a wonderful job keeping the colors ready to use and in one place where they can be found. I'm using the little hole to string them up so that they hang down and don't get lost behind the books which are housed at the bottom of the dry erase board. Teachers are quite amazed that the trappers can be used for both wide and narrow markers alike. They work perfectly! Did I notice in your photo that they can be used for glitter glue also?

These are a great product...do what they profess to do, they are durable, and priced right. As you well know, teachers are always looking for easy methods to organize materials. The captrappers fit the bill.

Sincerely,
Judy

PInk and Blue Sold Out

Sorry we are all sold out of pink and blue Cap Trappers. They are back-ordered and should be available in several weeks. Thanks for all the orders!

Follow-Ups

My brilliant scheming to try and contact Kelly Ripa and Elizabeth Hasselbeck to bring them on board with Cap Trappers seems to have gone belly-up. No response. My husband is sure they went to the correct addresses...I don't know. I may try sending some product to the studios...Maybe I will try Oprah and Ellen...I cringe as I write this. Why do I cringe. I think all us mom business owners think we have the most brilliant original products out there, and just because someone else is a woman they will love it. I fall into the trap.

Just a clue at how bad I am...I have put off calling the mechanic to fix the W/D until Sept 8th. What is September 8th? The day they announce the winner of the Whirlpool Mother of Invention Grant. Boy do I want to win the new W/D!

On to more good news and bad news...thanks to the amazing influx of sales from the Deseret News article we have just about blown through all of our inventory! We had several stores contact us to carry Cap Trappers as well as lots of orders on Amazon. In fact I am disappointed I don't have any left to even give to Ellery's kindergarten teacher.

More good news...Cap Trappers will officially be part of the Alison Sweeney baby shower gift bags. Over at Hot Mom's Club (throwing the extravaganza) they loved the unique, fresh, and playful, and useful nature of Cap Trappers. The shower is not until November...again the excruciatingly long time line!!!! I seem to be always butting heads with the calendar.

Finally...I am entering the ideablob contest. It starts September 1st and runs for a month. The idea with the most votes wins $10,000. You have to register on the website to vote, but it is free and no strings attached. I will keep you posted on how to do it...hopefully you will all vote for me. I need more inventory!

There it is...lots of updates and follow-ups.

Why Cap Trappers Beat out Retractables and Flip-tops

It has been fun to see the comments and massive website traffic and orders from the Deseret News article. I thought I would just talk up why Cap Trappers beat out the new Retractable and Flip Tip markers.

In fact, when I dreamed up the idea, it was solely to solve the lost cap problem, which retractables and flip tops do as well (for the record..these weren't on the market when I first had the idea...I thought of both of these but passed on them because I had no intentions of trying to compete with marker companies).

(photo courtesy of Daily Herald)

What I discovered after using Cap Trappers and talking to our customers is there are a few huge unforeseen benefits that users love almost more than not losing the caps..

• Portable--Moving your writing instruments around without any thought, hassle or mess is priceless! This includes bags, purses, backpacks, drawers, pencil boxes...I could go on and on.

• Organized--Cap Trappers keep your writing instruments (or anything with a lid for that matter, glue fits too) visible and together. They are neatly accessible sitting on a table, hanging from a hook or held in your hand.

• Playful--The "squishiness of Cap Trappers is addictive...they are almost like a little stress ball, fun for adults and children to touch...and safe enough for little ones!
  

• Universal--Cap Trappers will also fit all the existing markers you can scrape up around your house, so no reason to buy new ones.
  

I hope that helps clarify some of the confusion about why Cap Trappers are far superior to mega giant Crayolas flip-top and retractable pens and markers!

Publicity Guru

If I have been successful at anything it is getting publicity! However, I do believe great products lend themselves to publicity. People love to talk about and use Cap Trappers. Deseret News ran a great article this morning in the paper about Savvy May Creations and Cap Trappers. I love the local news. They have been so supportive. As well as local Utahns, who continue to order up Cap Trappers for their homes and classrooms. Check out the article over on their website.

(pictures courtesy Deseret News)

You Lost Me at Haiku

Today I wax poetic.

Wet, smeared mascara,
Chubby fingers locked in locks,
Cherub lips smother me.


The only way I could think of to describe a moment with Emmett today.


...I ran this by Brent...I asked him if it evoked any emotion in him....

His response...

"You lost me at haiku"

I love you Brent!

A Proud Mother Humbled

Ellery. My firstborn. Oldest children are usually the smartest, hardest working...at least it seems I remember reading this. They are most likely to be the genius in something. So believe me, I am on the lookout for signs of genius :)

I try so hard to do everything just right. She is my first. Obviously I want to do everything the best for her. So I have been teaching her to read and write and memorize...I feel with some pretty darn good success. Well today I was humbled.


Today she had her kindergarten assessment. She was beyond excited. All morning long she begged me to prepare. She practiced writing her name, insisted on picking roses from the yard, finding the perfect vase, preparing a gift bag of stickers for her teacher (which consisted of a baggy full of 1"x 3" self adhesive labels and about 15 sticker rhinestones, as seen in the picture above, she was sure her teacher would think it would be a wonderful activity to decorate the labels and make beautiful sparkly stickers) and asked me about a hundred times if it was 2 pm yet.

As the assessment began, I quietly listened and my heart swelled with pride as she spouted off perfect answers to each of her teacher's queries. But she was spouting. I became a bit abashed by her extreme confidence. Admittedly bordering on haughtiness. This was a completely different Ellery than I anticipated. I was prepared for demure and shy. Things went from uncomfortable to astounded for me as her teacher started testing reading skills.

The exchange progressed as follows:

Mrs. S... pointing to the word "bat" ... "Ellery what does this say?"

Ellery...glancing for a fraction of a second resolutely responds..."Dog"

Mrs. S...."Are you sure...do you want to sound it out?"

Ellery..."No. That word is dog."

Mrs S...pointing to the word "play"..."What word is this Ellery?"

Ellery...glancing for possibly a second and announcing decidedly..."Doll"

Mrs. S...."Are you sure...do you want to sound it out?"

Ellery..."No. That word says doll."

I was dumbfounded. She was supremely confident and proud of herself. Obviously she felt it would be demeaning in some way to sound out the words...never imagining for a moment she possibly had said the incorrect word. I have no clue what was going through her head.

So much for those months of meticulously pointing to each letter and sounding the words out...

Ellery then proceeded to march around the room, as if she owned the place. Pretty much I was stunned...even a little embarrassed. This should be quite an interesting year. Brace yourself Mom.

The Taco Bed and 4 Wheeling Freedom

Brent and I ventured into the unknown yesterday. In more than one way. We were alone, wow, and in uncharted territory on a 4 wheeler.

This adventure starts with the "taco" bed. I have been working the last week to get Emmett onto a schedule. At 6 months old, both he and I were ready. I cherish the first six months. Snuggling at night. Just being able to look over at him sleeping. But our "taco" bed started to get the best of us both. The 25 year old California King, adorns our "master suite."


Which is by far the best decorated room in our home. Ha ha. We call it the taco as w all have a tendency, a very large tendency in fact, to roll into the middle. When I say "we all," I literally me all of us. Yes most nights by 3 am you can find all 5 of us in bed together. But as of late, Emmett started waking up a lot and grabbing for me virtually all night. I was like a 24 hour 7/11 for him. It was time. The clincher...Callista started crawling out of the crib. So we transitioned.

I mean look at him...he is sitting up now. What a big boy! I ache with every passing day though, knowing he is growing up...it is just going so fast. And he is soooo perfect. I don't want him to become a toddler :)

Back to the 4 wheeling...with Emmett now asleep for the night at 6pm, Brent and I have regained some freedom. Hallelujah! We try to spend a lot of time together, just the two of us. I don't want to be 55, kids out of the house and look over at Brent and realize we have nothing in common anymore. So my awesome little sister Monica came over to stay with the kids. It didn't hurt I had New Moon and Eclipse for her to read. She is gaga over Edward.

We look official huh? Brent has always been a gear junkie. Is it any surprise he owns a sports gear company? Not really. I remember the first time he took me snowboarding, he had me decked out in pads from head to toe!

We decided to explore the "Hope to Hobble" trail. This is a 20 miler I have scheduled for the 30th. It is sponsored by a local running club. Brent and I have mountain biked portions of it, but never the full stretch. We decided to venture into the unknown on motorized vehicles so I wasn't going in blind on foot!

Wow. The trail is gorgeous. And steep. And long. At least by my standards. I wouldn't describe it as rolling. I would describe it as treacherous. And rocky. Very rocky. I have no idea if I can actually handle it. But the two of us had a great time. Although we were frozen dust bunnies upon our post-sunset return!


It would have been perfect if only we had found a secluded make-out spot. Sigh... Maybe next time :)


It seems like I am always venturing into the unknown...gotta get these cap trappers on store shelves...

Want to Win some Cap Trappers?

If you want a chance to win some Cap Trappers head over to An Island Life. Another great review of Cap Trappers. As soon as these hit store shelves they are going to fly!

Full Circle Ranch Rodeo

I am convinced my children are the luckiest kids alive. They have the coolest grand parents.

One set lives in ultra cool California, has multiple cats to chase, a backyard pool, and endless shopping trips for little prizes.

The other set live only a couple hours North, on 10 acres, with 4 horses, 2 cows, a really cool dog (yes the one we borrow on occasion), and have a pantry and freezer full of refined sugar galore!

It was Grandma and Grandpa Miller this weekend who threw their annual "Full Circle Ranch Rodeo." This is something I only could have dreamed of as a kid. It was complete with...

Panning for Gold...(this actually kept Ellery occupied for almost 2 hours!) As my mom watched Ellery do this I think I heard her tell the story of "You know one of Rebecca's teachers once told me she works hard but she sure plays hard too..." at least 3 times to different random people.

She amassed quite the treasure!

Here we have a bunch of cow pokes vying for the "Best Belt Buckle" prize. I still don't understand why Ellery's sparkly princess belt didn't win!

And of course, the pony rides. Millie was Callista's favorite.


Note to self...be a really cool grandma when it comes time...