Day 29: The Long Game

Nearly four years ago I first began working on printed collage sheets. It took me nine months to research and test dozens of papers, ink, and packaging options, see which local printer had the best quality, and to design the overall look and feel of the first 50+ collage sheets in the line.

Three years ago the first piddix collage sheets went into a major bead store in the mid-west. Shortly thereafter I fell in love with a distributor for my collage sheets. I was referred to them by pretty much everyone I asked, I loved their website and their products. They were a great size. Everything about them seemed perfect for piddix. So I wrote an email, held my breath, and four days later received a very nice reply that they had enough of my type of product for the following year so they were not interested in my line at the time. A couple months later I saw the distributor's booth at CHA and was love-struck again. While there are plenty of other options for crafty distributors, over the years I could never bring myself to talk with anyone else. They were the ones, even if they didn't know it yet.

Fast forward to this week when I sent another email with my updated line (three times bigger), my new stores, and put a sample packet in the mail. This time they got back to me within an hour with a ..... maybe...and then a couple days later with an invitation for a possible in-person meeting. I feel like a high school student who's been love-struck for the last four years and finally got up the courage to ask the object of my affection to the Senior Prom. Whatever happens, I'm pretty happy with the ability to present the piddix line. I've always said I want piddix to find "the right fit" so it's successful for both piddix and whichever store or distributor I'm looking at. Maybe it will be a good fit; maybe not. But getting the chance to see if it is or not feels worth celebrating.