Divaworks Distribution

already the end of the month?

2012-01-30T17:34:00.000-08:00

Wow, I cannot belive that its the end of Jan. already.
ALOT has been going on as usual. Today we have bunches of new products. Lots of really cool candy (my weakness) and some toys. I know alot of my customers will be happy that we are getting toys in.

I am currently working on my email newsletter. Hopefully I can get it out no later than tomorrow afternoon. I just got off the phone with our new glass blower, he will be sending me pics tomorrow of a few things that he will be making for us. I would like to get some glass in before Valentines Day-its just a goal.

OMG, wanna hear something funny? Chandria and I went to XXX stores on Saturday! She wanted to check out their sex toy displays (she orders those for her employer). I am always up for something fun. I drive by them all the time and I will admit that at first, I thought that they were going to be seedy shops but they werent. They were really nice, clean, smelled good, the employees were really nice and it was well lit. It actually was pretty cool. It just so happens that alot of our local XXX stores now sell smoking accessories. A year ago, they werent (I know this because I contacted them all). So it was actually a very productive day. And I am looking forward to calling these shops this week. Or maybe I will just pop in and drop off some samples.

It doesnt really bother me to be in those shops even tho I do not frequent them. I used to sell that stuff years ago when I used to work for a smoke shop....but some things have changed since then. I was looking for something weird and funny (not nasty) to put in the downstairs guest bathroom. The best that I came up with was a weird magazine from the 70's that is all about tickling feet. Its so stupid, that is why its perfect for that room. I call that bathroom the "library", coz I always try to keep weird and interesting reading material in there.

I have had enough of a break now......back to work

BUZZ BROWNIES ARE HOT!

2012-01-20T10:26:00.000-08:00

Iam so amazed by our new product called "Buzz Brownies". They are caffinated brownies that really get you moving. I kinda tested them out myself a little too hardcore. I had half of one with a cup of coffee! Unless you wanna feel like a tweaker, dont do it. Half a brownie is just fine.

As far as I know, I am the ONLY distributor that carries these for smoke shops, as well as the same brand of relaxation brownies. Which is sweet! Our customers are doing pretty well with them too and I love hearing that.

I am so happy that its friday. I am ready to enjoy the weekend. What I love about living in Austin is that the weather here is awesome. Today its 80 degrees and we are near the end of January. We really didnt have a winter, that means that we are going to have a wicked HOT summer. I'll take the heat over the cold anyday.

This weekend I have a few things that I really want to work on (for the business of course). Iam going to look into manufacturing some new products. Anything in particular that you would like to see us manufacture or create? Email me at: divaworks@live.com

I have LOTS of oils and soy wax that we need to start using. Ive had some ideas for candles and stuff but Ive been too busy to get to them. Since that is ALOT of money in supplies sitting there, I have to get off my butt and put them to work for us.

I bought some other NEW supplies yesterday. Its just so happens that my husband Tommy was out of town and he wasnt around to say "NO"..lol. Tommy is also our companies accountant, so he says 'no' to me alot when I get ideas for new products. And he is sometimes right...lol.

So, this is what I bought yesterday:
cocoa butter
shea butter
coconut oil
hemp oil
vitamin E

As you know we have 3 dogs, I am going to make them some sort of balm for the pads of their feet and their dry noses. But that really just a personal item for us...who knows, it could turn into a new product if I really like it. I have thought about making natural pet products many times before.

I am wanting to try to make a lotion bar! I bought one a few weeks ago and I love it, its almost completely used up too. Its best that I play with this over the weekend and decide if its just going to be a personal thing or not.

The other thing that I REALLY want to make is a 'tattoo balm or oil'. To be used after you get your tat and it will help it heal. I like that idea....we will see.

This is what I do on my time off from work, think of new products. My brain never stops.

sigh....poor Planet K

2012-01-16T20:41:00.000-08:00

You may read quite a few times on here that I LOVE MY JOB! I am a 'people person'. I enjoy calling my customers and talking to them about products. Lots of times, you actually get to know your customers and know things about them. OK I will just say it, you become 'friends'.

Alot of smoke shop distributors have NEVER worked in a smoke shop. They do not know what its like to sell these products on the retail end. I am one of the few that has worked in a smoke shop. So I understand my customers quite a bit and what they go thru.

I said all of that to say this....

I used to work in a shop many years ago here in Austin, TX. They are called Planet K. Now they have about 13 shops. When I worked for them, they had 2. And while I worked for them, they opened others in San Antonio. Now they have stores in Austin, San Antonio, San Marcos and now in Bee Caves.

The owner recently PURCHASED a building in a near by SMALL town called Bee Caves,TX. Its right on the highway and its a great location.

My friend Chandria came over tonight to pick up Planet K's order of Buzz Brownies and stick incense from me. We hung out for a while and she told me that the Bee Caves location got about $10,000 in fines today!!

Now, here is the WEIRD thing. I already told you the owner 'owns' the property. The city of Bee Caves had them take down this beautiful mural that he had commissioned to have painted for him. They also will not let him sell INSIDE the building right now The building that they own....not sure what that is about. So he set up the shop on the porch of the store! And shockingly, they are doing really well.

This new shop has been all over the local news and in the papers. Here are a few articles about what they are going thru:

Read about it here on Planet K's website

Planet K, Bee Cave head to court over mural

Click here to go to Planet K's Facebook page

There are many more things about this on the internet, just google it if you are interested.

When I heard about this tonight, it caught me by surprise. And as I thought about it, I got a fun little idea. I told Chandria that since Planet K (Mike) owns the property he should allow food trailers to set up in the parking lot. They have all the proper health permits, etc. Then, have people in costumes go to the street and wave at passing cars. Mike likes to help out people that are needing a little help now and then (homeless people, etc). Hire those guys to do that!

Maybe I went a little too far with the next idea, but I LOVE it. Get an artist to paint a LARGE painting...like 6 or 8 feet by 6 or 8 feet. Since they will not let you sell your merchandise inside your own building, attach it to the building itself. Keep it up for a 3 weeks or a month. At that time, they will probably start coming around to issue a fine on that. Then, auction off the painting on Ebay. Proceeds going to the artist or to a charity....ha ha. If I got $10,000 worth of fines, I would give them $10,000 worth of headaches...ha ha. Then have another painting done and do it again! Do it every month. I hope Chandria tells this all to Mike, I think he will like my twisted little ideas. Maybe he will sue them for harassment.

My heart goes out to shops that go thru stuff like this. Every week, I hear simular stories from stores all over the country. They get raided too often. All of their merchandise gets seized, they go to jail, they get fined, they lawyer up (which isnt cheap), go to court to have most of the charges dropped. They pay a fine and told that they CAN sell the merchandise after all and they NEVER get the merchandise back from the raid. The merchandise is always "lost' in room that the police keep it in. I have NEVER yet seen a store ever get their merchandise back.

One of my customers got raided a few weeks ago and they even took the owners and the employees cell phones! That was a first.

GLASS IS COOL!

2012-01-07T08:04:00.000-08:00

As I previously mentioned, we are getting ready to get some glass products MADE for us. Which is exciting for me, its the first time I have ever done this. But I feel really good about it. The glass blower that we are using is awesome. He knows what we are wanting to make and he has been blowing glass for a long time. I really like his work too. He sent me some prototype pics yesterday and I am SOOOO excited. But I am not going to share them with you quite yet---sorry. But, I will show them off to you as soon as I am able to.

Here is a pic of a prototype of a pendant that we are thinking about. Dont worry, we are looking into other things besides jewelry. I just cant disclose that at this time.

ITS A NEW YEAR!!

2012-01-05T06:40:00.000-08:00

I am so happy that its a NEW year! I this time of year, I always think about friends and family that are no longer with us (deceased). And then I remind myself that they would want me to be happy and prosperous.

I stopped making personal resolutions years ago. I do make them for the business, but not personally for myself. For me it was a wise decision, I NEVER keep my resolutions and then I get bummed out and feel like a loser. So by not having any, I feel better about myself not making some weird goal. My husband Tommy on the other hand, likes making resolutions that he cant keep-lol. This year his resolution is to: try to get to bed by midnight. He usually comes to bed at 2 or 3AM. He stays up and works at night. So far this year, he has NOT made it to bed ONCE by midnight. See what I mean?

As far as Divaworks goes, its been wonderfully busy here. A few things are going on.... We have a NEW product, Buzz Brownies. These are made by the Sippin' Syrup Relaxation Beverages and Brownie guys. They are awesome and great tasting too. They give you alot of energy. They are also flying outta here. They are selling SO fast that I only have 10 boxes left. Of course, I have more being shipped to me. I have decided this morning to have one with a cup of coffee for breakfast. I have tried the brownies and they do work. But, I have never had one with a cup of coffee before, this should have me FLYING thru my morning. I hope I enjoy it and get alot of work done-lol.

We also have some other products in the making. I do not want to say too much right now about it. But I will give you a hint: GLASS. I have been against carrying any kind of glass because I didnt want to deal with breakage. But I am getting over that and I now know how to ship and pack glass. I am working with a bad-ass glass blower (IN AMERICA--THANK YOU!).

Remember at Christmas time I said, 'If you are a vegetarian, do not come by my house'.Well, I'll be damned! My brother brought a girl by my house that is a 'vegetarian'--ugh. No offense to her, she is a nice girl but she couldnt eat alot of our stuff coz mostly everything has meat in it. I even put pork in the beans! Every year, my brother Miles drags some poor girl over to our house for Thanksgiving. He claims that they ALL really want to be here. I always wonder about that. Here is the funny thing, after we meet them on Thanksgiving, there is a 50/50 chance that I will never see them again-lol. Regardless, its like a little family joke that its another holiday that must mean that its time to meet another girlfriend. Dont get me wrong, they are all very nice ladies. But sometimes you never know whats going to show up-lol. Luckily, they have all been really sweet.
Gotta go for now, I need to make some coffee.....

AHHH-Christmas is OVER!!

2011-12-27T17:56:00.000-08:00

Usually, I have my act together. I usually have Christmas ready to go weeks in advance. But NOT this year. I was one of those people buying gifts on Xmas Eve. I have never done that before and it was CRAZY! Family mostly got gift certificates from me but I did get my brothers current girlfriend some perfume.

My brother Miles gave me this old pic of me and my late mother (taken in 1968). What is funny, is what she wrote on the back. She wrote:

Rochelle 10 1/2 months old.
She doesnt look like she belongs to me-she's so fair :(

*yeah, the frown face is on their too...lol. My mom is latina and my dad is a fair skinned white guy-ha. I have my mothers looks but my dads fair white skin. Which was always weird to me. I am the whitest person in my family. I am so white that I cant get any sun or I burn to a crisp and freckle! Its a horrible curse to have. My younger brother got the pretty skin color--yeah, I am jelous.

Being a white skinned latina has its ups and downs. The white people think you are mexican. The mexicans think you are white....you can never win. But in a way, it can be fun too. I like it when people do not know that I can understand them when they speak spanish and they start talking about me - right in front of me too and in spanish. I love the look on their faces when I butt in and start speaking spanish to them. Its priceless.

Work has been fun today. The brownie company that we distribute with, is releasing a new brownie this week. Its called 'Buzz Brownies'. They have caffiene in them! They are really tasty too. I cant wait to place my first order tomorrow. They look almost identical to the Sippin' Syrup Half Baked Brownies that we currently carry. I already know that all of the Gas Pipe stores will definately be carrying them. As soon as they send me a pic of the new brownies, I will post it here for you..

I had to take this photo--my dogs crack me up. The dogs go to the fence and look thru the knot holes a tthe neighbors dogs. Its their version of a peep show. Usually all 3 of them are looking thru the fence, but I only got the 2 in the picture.

oh no! its almost xmas!!

2011-12-17T18:52:00.000-08:00

Usually, I can get my act together. But this year I cant seem to catch up.
Im going to admit it, I do not have a clue what I am going to do for Christmas this year.

But I do have tamales in the freezer and that means its Christmas Time baby!

For those of you that do not know this, in the latino community its very very common to have tamales for Christmas. But now I think that its been adopted as a Texas tradition. It wouldnt be Christmas without them.

Are you looking for the BEST tamales ever? If so, I am gonna help you out.

They will even ship them to you!

Everytime I go to San Antonio, I try to make a special trip to Tellez Tamaleria on South Gen. McMullen.

Here is the actual address: 1737 S General McMullen Dr San Antonio, TX 78237
phone: (210) 433-1367

Tellez has got the traditional Tex-Mex version of the pork tamale down pat. But the jalepeno pork ones are to die for. They used to not take orders but now they do and I believe that they now ship tamales too.

If you are driving in from out of town, call ahead and have Mr. Tellez put on hold the types & amount of tamales you need. And yes, they are worth it! These tamales are so good that the first time I had them, I started crying. They tasted JUST like my grandmothers.

If you like barbacoa-this is the place to get it from too. They have a 'leaner' one that is so good. They also make their own tortillas (corn and flour). Ok Im just gonna give in, if you go call me and let me place an order with you-lol.

My typical christmas menu is:
tamales, rice, beans. tortillas, chili con carne for the tamales. champurado (mexican hot chocolate), pan dulces & bunuelos (mexican pastries) I can get that locally. My dad is a diabetic so I am going to have to find something just for him to enjoy. And if you are a vegetarian or on a diet, DONT come over to my house. You will be miserable!

OMG! I just saw that there is going to be a Napoleon Dynamite cartoon that permiers on Jan 15th.

Freakin Sweet!!

etsy etsy etsy ...... tisk tisk tisk

2011-12-15T10:00:00.000-08:00

Oh geez, I have had a crazy 24 hours!!

Etsy closed down my store yesterday because they accused me of not creating and manufacturing the items that I sell in my Etsy store myself. Supposedly all of this started because I made a post on their business community forum about "advertising". Someone "reported" me and stated that they think I have a manufacturing company with employees...yada yada yada.

I had to take photos of all of my materials and had to tell them how I manufactured my products in order to be reinstated today.

In a way, it feels like I won a small victory. But yes, they DID reinstate my store and for that I am grateful. But what a pain in the butt that was for that to happen. I really think that Etsy should call the customer and find out some info before just closing someones shop with no warning. Their customer service department needs some help to say the least.

Now that you know all I have gone thru to keep my Etsy store, get over there and buy something. Show me your support!

I think that I will call my friend Nicole for a Happy Hour today. I am such a light weight, I only consume one drink. But I think that I deserve it today.

*This is a pic of Cash & Ziggy at day-care (Austin Dogtown), they LOVE it there. Cant you tell by the smiles on their faces? Since we do not have children, we refer to this pic as a "School Picture"..lol

*All 3 boys patiently waiting for Tommy to come home.

And we cant leave out our Ozzy.

On a better note, My husband Tommy is working from home today (tele-commuting). The dogs LOVE it when he works from home.

There was this crazy quilt that I started for my husband 3 or 4 years ago and never finished. So yesterday, since I was in such a great mood (NOT) I broke out my sewing machine and finished it for him as a Christmas gift. And since I am horrible at keeping secrets, I gave it to him last night. He loved it (yipee).

All of that sewing got me thinking. It would be great if I had some time to sew. I want to make some new potholders for myself. If I made them and sold them on Etsy, I would have to photograph my sewing machine, thread and material. And I would STILL have to prove that I made them. I never knew that I would have to go thru so much crap to sell incense on Etsy.

I am giving myself a headache

2011-12-14T16:10:00.000-08:00

Ahhhh.....Tuesday. After work yesterday, I went on a brainstorming mission...

I am looking for new ways to promote our Etsy store. Think that I will start doing giveaways on other blogs (that are very active) to get people to start checking out our etsy shop and it will also get me some feedback on our product. IF you have any ideas, comment on this and let me know.

My brother Miles called last night. He is really into Nissans, he is even in a Nissan car club in San Antonio. Anyways, they have a charity event in April (during Fiesta in San Antonio) and I am thinking about getting a booth for it and selling our Sweet Leaf products to generate some buzz. I actually hate doing those things, but I can see how it would be helpful. Its still an idea. And its 4 months away so I have plenty of time. But I probably will do it.

Follow up: Chandria didnt show up on Sunday. She worked too late. But she will show up later in the week (on her day off). AWESOME

I love SUNDAYS!

2011-12-11T09:14:00.000-08:00

On Sundays, I try to get my act together for Monday. I try to use Sundays as a 'production day' since I know customers usually do not call me for orders on Sundays. Dont get me wrong, I will take the order if they did call tho.

So for this morning, I am busy bagging up incense (mango tango incense to be exact). Then bagging up more of the Christmas Coal and probably making more coal later on in the day. I also need to start working on my Christmas card list. I am hoping to do that by the end of next week.

I am hoping that I can get my friend Chandria to visit when she gets off work this evening at Planet K. She is such a huge inspiration to me. I call her my "Official Un-Employee". She doesnt work for me but I wish I could afford to hire her.

This is an OLD pic of Chandria & I from years ago.

Chandria has the pretty blue hair.

And I have the almost empty beer glass in my hand. Its a totally unflattering pic of me.

Chandria was a little overdressed to hang out in a bar during SXSW

but she was on her way to her brothers wedding in San Antonio.

Chandria usually comes over, we will have dinner and a beer. Ok, I am usually the beer drinker. But she gets on a 'Dr. Pepper high' (yea, that is what we are calling it) and we start talking about all kinds of funny stuff. And most of the time, I will come up with a kooky idea for a product. Sometimes it works out--other times it doesnt. Other times, we just hang out and have a good time. I do love her company. We have known each other since she was about 15 years old.

I am trying to bribe her and her boyfriend Phil with Turkey Wraps for dinner if they show up. We will see if it works or not. I will let you know.

Been NAUGHTY?

2011-12-09T10:05:00.000-08:00

Here is another fine example of how sometimes we are just not right in the head. Luckily, I am the boss and employee so if I go to far with an idea-I cant get in too much trouble for it. (hee hee)

I have created candle tarts in the shape of 'coal' (for the holiday season). Its a gift for our customers that we are including in their orders, etc...

I showed these to a friend who just burst into laughter. That is when we decided to make them available for the public to purchase on our etsy store. We will even ship them to someone for you ANONYMOUSLY! Is that cool or what?

HOWDY!!

2011-12-09T09:50:00.000-08:00

Welcome to our new blog. My name is Rochelle, I am the owner of Divaworks Distribution.

Here you will get some 'behind the scenes' look at my company. We are a bit different than most distribution companies. We are a VERY small woman owned company. I have 3 dogs that are always around. And I am constantly coming up with new products, and we never know what to expect next.

I hope to have some raffles or giveaways in the future thru this blog. Hang out with us for a while and have some fun!