Happy New Year

As we see 2011 come to a close we always like to examine the year and plan for the next!

2011 started out with strong sales that continued right up to August when Congress could not come to a consensus about the national budget. Everyone was on pins and needles. At the time all I could think was the only thing wrong with the economy is Congress and the media. That was followed by hurricane Irene which did no damage to our home or business but did a lot of damage in the surrounding area. Some people are still not back to normal from that.

But as we've seen in the past business gets back to normal after about 6 weeks so by the time we got into our Christmas season we were going great guns! We had an outstanding Christmas season and loved seeing all the families we watched grow up through our 20+ years in New Bern.

We sold hundreds (probably thousands) of fabulous pieces this year and met some great artists. Here are a few of the pieces we sold this year.

We met some great new artists and new customers. We are lucky to meet people from all over the world as they visit New Bern and come into Carolina Creations.

We meet many new artists that way too!

Our little town of New Bern is becoming quite the arts destination, just in our Downtown alone we have seven shops and galleries selling artwork.

Our plans for the coming year include, as always, looking for the next great artist! What is additionally important to us is to have a variety of interesting pieces in a wide range of prices. Yes you can purchase a $5000 piece of glass or a $3500 table at Carolina Creations but you can also find an artist created pair of earrings for $15 and hand crafted soap for $5. And there is everything in between.

Some of our in between best sellers this year are

So now on to 2012, it's always a big question mark - what will it bring? As far as business, we think it's going to be great. we're getting in new jewelry for Valentines Day, we've got 5 bridal registries, the artists and other galleries we've been talking to this past week all report that they are happy with the way the year turned out!

We'll be looking for new glass artists, garden art and the unusual. I'm sure we'll find it!!

Looking forward to what the new year brings.

Again Happy 2012!

Jan Francoeur