Namaste Inc.

June 10-15th, we headed to Columbus, OH for our annual June TNNA show.  Here are some photos to help recap some of the events of the weekend.

Our new tradeshow booth was a breeze to assemble, thanks to the help of the Namaste team.  Here’s Mama Toni and I glad to be finished setting up the booth.  We’re ready for our first day at the show.

And here’s Joe

As the weekend went on, we asked some TNNA attendees if they would be so kind as to let us photograph them with their Namaste gear in action.  Here is our friend from The Yarn Patch, we spotted her walking around the tradeshow floor with her Hollywood Pink Zuma.  She wears it well, thanks for stopping by and saying hi!

Then we spotted a Lime Wallet and a Lime Monroe flitting by and we grabbed them!  Well, they came willingly

And here’s Vicky from Loopy Yarns in Chicago, she’s sporting her brand her Hip Holster in black that she got when they were sold exclusively at the Sample-It event at TNNA.  We sold 100 pieces of the black Hip Holsters at the sale on Friday night and we’ll have these in stock in August.  Glad to see you’re enjoying yours Vicky!

Steven Berg & crew from Yarn Garage & StevenBe are always so much fun to see:).  Steven and I had fun hamming it up with the popular Monroe bag, and showing off our new patterns for a small accessory pouch.  We call the print “Lola” because it’s got tiny little hedgehogs on it, which remind us of the face of our little dog Lola, and it comes in either the pink or the green color scheme.  Complete photography for the “Lola pouch” will be coming soon.  Thanks for delighting our senses with all of your fantastic sweaters Steven, keep up the amazing work.

And here are some new customers with their Peacock Hip Holster and Peacock Monroe.  Thanks for coming over and it was nice to meet!And we always LOVE to see our Ravelry family.  Mary Heather is sporting her charcoal Zuma and Jess has her Peacock Zuma.

And here’s our show display of the newest products to the Namaste line, the Urban Collection.  This is a unisex line including the Messenger bag and Hip Holster.  Both are made in a luggage grade material that is PVC free and animal friendly.  The Messenger bag is laptop tested and the Hip Holster has an optional belt attachment or shoulder strap.  We’d like to thank Franklin Habit for his input in the development and testing of the Hip Holster.  Thank you Franklin!!  These new Namaste products will be available in August and we’re accepting pre-orders for these now.

We’re all back at Namaste headquarters again and it’s been busy; “all hands on deck”, as we like to say.  We just got another shipment of Monroe bags, Oh Snap! pouches, and the new Lola pouches into stock.  The weather is getting warm here in Southern CA and we’re ready for summer .

Namaste..

Kelly

Thank you for your continued patience while awaiting the announcement for the charity drive raffle contest to support Soldier’s Angels.  Soldiers’ Angels is a volunteer-led 501(c)(3) non-profit with hundreds of thousands of volunteers providing aid and comfort to the men and women of the United States Army, Marines, Navy, Air Force, Coast Guard, veterans and their families.  They do this in a variety of ways, including sending handmade items to soldiers in the battlefield or in their hospital bed.  In addition, Soldier’s Angels currently donates to 93 Veteran’s Associations across the states. The following handmade (knit or crochet) items will be accepted in exchange for a raffle ticket to win one of our prizes:

• blankets/lapghans
• hats
• scarves
• prayer shawls
• trach bibs
• wheelchair/walker totes
• knitted/crocheted helmet liners

Yarn should be washable/dryable.  Variety of colors/patterns are appreciated.  For more information regarding patterns/suggestions for the above stated items, go to http://soldiersangels.org/crochet-craft.html

We at Namaste are accepting handmade donations in the form of any of the above mentioned items.  Each item submitted will earn the creator 1 raffle ticket, so the more items you send, the more chances you have to win in the prize drawing.  Each submission must include contact information of the sender, including email address, phone number, and address.

PRIZES:

3rd place: Hip Holster

2nd place: Messenger bag

1st place: Messenger bag & Hip Holster

Winners will be announced via blog post on September 10th 2010 and we will accept donations from now until then.

Please read below for more information reagarding Soldier’s Angels, the organization that will be the recipient of our charity drive.  As mentioned above, for specific pattern suggestions, please go to the Soldier’s Angels website:  http://soldiersangels.org/crochet-craft.html.  These patterns are intended as suggestions, but feel free to modify as you wish.

“May No Soldier Go Unloved,” encapsulates the motivation behind Soldiers’ Angels.   The volunteers of Soldiers’ Angels work tirelessly to demonstrate active care and concern for veterans, the wounded, deployed service members and their families.  To date, the Soldier’s Angels volunteers have sent hundreds of thousands of care packages and letters to deployed service members; they have supplied the wounded with their First Response Packs directly at the Combat Support Hospitals in Iraq and Afghanistan and the major military hospital in Germany, as well as provided care and comfort to those in stateside military and VA facilities and have provided emergency aid to military families in need.

www.soldiersangels.com

To be a part of these care packages that are sent to some of the many men and women in uniform, just send your donations to Namaste headquarters, attention Soldiers Angels donation:

Namaste Inc.

attn: Soldier’s Angels donation

9025 Eton Ave.  Suite A

Canoga Park, CA  91304

www.soldiersangels.org

We look forward to donating to this worthwhile cause with your help.

Namaste….

UPDATE:  We have received some donations for the Soldier’s Angels charity and wanted to share them with you:

Christine K. (ravelry name: SheThatKnits) sent in 6 beautiful hats and 1 prayer shawl.  This donation earns Christine 7 chances to win the prizes in tomorrow’s drawing!Mary R. from Virginia generously donated 7 crocheted scarves, 4 hats, and 2 blankets, earning her 13 chances to win in the raffle drawing tomorrow.  Thanks Mary!!Karen B. donated a neckwarmer, a hat, and a beautiful scarf, to the Soldier’s Angels charity.  This donation earns her 3 chances to win, thanks Karen!Joann D. has generously donated her handiwork of 6 crocheted blankets and 4 hats, earning her 10 chances to win in our raffle tomorrow.  Thank you Joann!Peggy B. handmade 3 walker totes, 1 blanket, 1 hat, and 1 ear warmer.  This earns her 6 raffle tickets for tomorrow’s drawing- thanks for participating Peggy!Here is our last donation received Friday from IndyDi.  Thanks so much for the beautiful hats!  

And the winners are…………….

3rd place and winner of the Hip Holster:  Joanne Deyo from VA

2nd place and winner of the Messenger bag:  Diana from IN (Ravelry name: IndyDi)

1st place and winner of the Messenger bag & Hip Holster:  Mary R. from VA

Congratulations!!!  Please contact us at info@namasteinc.com to claim your prize.  Thank you to all who participated, the donations are being mailed to the Soldier’s Angels headquarters this week, and I know the soldier’s will really appreciate your thoughtfulness.

Stay tuned for our next charity event.

Namaste….

After we shared the pictures from our photo shoot in Istanbul, Turkey we thought we should share some pictures of the Istanbul scenery.  My sister lives in Istanbul and I’ve been to visit her at least once a year over the past seven years and have always been inspired by the culture, the people, the architecture, the food, the animals, and the sense of community in such a big city.  Here are a few of my favorite pictures from my trip:

During the most recent trip, I got to try my hand at working from Istanbul, as I would be staying over a month and the plans for the future include spending more time there.  What I found was that with daily Skype calls, I could stay completely connected to the Namaste operations in LA.  Since my trip I’ve been awestruck when I reflect on the power of technology to connect humans and activities.  Even while staying in Istanbul, I was still able to take care of the day to day requirements as an owner of Namaste.  I couldn’t do it without the support of my unbelievably supportive and generous business partner Dawn, and the phenomenal employees that make up our Namaste family.  For that I am immeasurably grateful.  

–Kelly