Every ornament tells a story, and the story of Oliver is a heartwarming Christmas tale perfect for the entire family! Continue reading “Tell Your Story with Oliver the Ornament” »
Tide-Mark Hits The Mark With Amazing Puzzles, Photos, and More
The perfect art piece is waiting for you at Tide-Mark, publisher of hundreds of styles of calendars, note cards, books and puzzles!
Art isn’t just about paintings hanging on a wall. It can be in any format, and Tide-Mark proudly offers alternatives to appreciating an artist’s work. Flowers, animals, landscapes and even the art of dance are all featured in Tide-Mark’s products!
Coffee table books aren’t just to take up space; they are also meant to be viewed! Adorn the centerpiece of a living area with a book from Tide-Mark and enjoy and afternoon flipping through pages of beautiful photography and paintings.
Are you a lover of the coast? The Lighthouse Companion series is packed with full-color photographs of lighthouses throughout Connecticut, Maine and New York, complete with guides to each one. The photos by Paul Rezendes even include guides for lodging and local events near each lighthouse, making this book a great companion for planning a trip!
Or, for bright watercolors of flowers and landscapes, try Blueprints for Paradise. Around 250 paintings by Sara Steele fill this book, showcasing her work’s connection to the natural world and her love for ecological preservation.
Creating art can be just as fun as viewing somebody else’s. With Tide-Mark’s puzzles, it’s easy to enjoy the paintings of another artists while still being creative.
For a challenge, pick up the 1,000 piece puzzle Blood Brothers, featuring a pair of wolves. Colors of Courage, a portrait of a former marine with an American Flag, is perfect for any military member or military family. Created by Bruce Greene after the events of 9/11, the painting serves as a tribute to those who served in the past and those currently serving today.
Spring, by Sara Steele, is a bright and happy puzzle that, once completed and framed, would brighten up any room. The Sunflowers puzzle can do the same, with bright yellow flowers pasted against a gorgeous blue background.
If funky is the desired style, go for Jonathan Green’s Harvest Festival puzzle. The swirls and blocks of vivid colors will create a unique conversation piece after the puzzle is connected.
Think outside of the box when it comes to art. The variety of items at Tide-Mark promise something for everybody, and every style.
FGmarket’s Weekly Pick — The Northstar Puzzle
The Northstar Puzzle is more than just a toy; it’s a hands-on product that stimulates the imagination of children and adults alike and helps to build important problem-solving techniques.
Every Northstar Puzzle is constructed with care and is intended to be a low-cost, 3D, alternative learning tool.
There are three colors to choose from — red, yellow, and purple — and these toys can be combined with one another to create different shapes and brand new ways to play!
The Northstar Puzzle has also been found to be especially popular and helpful to the homeschooling industry, as they can provide endless ways for homeschooled students to practice cognitive puzzle solving skills.
Want to know how the Northstar Puzzle works? Here’s an explanation from their website: “Manual dexterity and hand-eye coordination are required to hold three pieces, at the juncture, in which all cross. Depending on the shape chosen, the player then weaves the remaining pieces across and behind the pieces being held, this creates pressure to hold the shape in a stand-alone configuration.”
The Northstar Puzzle is a fantastic learning tool for anyone 6 years old and older. Try this great product today and see how it can mesmerize your puzzle-solving customers!
The North Star Puzzle Teaches Kids While They’re Having Fun
This is the toy your parents didn’t tell you about…and we can’t imagine why not. Maybe mom and dad hadn’t heard of the North Star Puzzle yet? In any case, we’re here to tell you about this wonderful educational toy.
The North Star Puzzle is comprised of five sticks that you combine to create different shapes by weaving the pieces together. It’s both a learning tool and a 3D game that requires manual dexterity and hand-eye coordination and is deceptively difficult. Anyone over the age of 6 should be able to do this brain teaser that comes in three colors: yellow, red, and purple.
Once you’ve mastered the easy puzzle, there is a medium and a hard puzzle waiting. Once these puzzles are complete, you have a toy you can use to play catch. It comes apart easily for you or a friend to master again.
These games are made exclusively in New Mexico by Steven Machado, who has a degree in education. He said that it takes 400 times to repeat an action before it finds a place in our brain, noting that this is work. These puzzles take just 10-20 times of repetition before it’s remembered. Steven cites that the biggest difference is play. He says that the focus of education should be on children and how they learn.
This company started selling in 2015. They travel around showing their wares at trade shows where kids can see these hands-on games, fall in love with them, and want them for themselves. These puzzles make you work while having fun.
These games aren’t just for fun, either. Check out what one mom said about the puzzle: “By homeschooling my three children and using the North Star Puzzle in their curriculum, the skills learned will benefit them all their lives. Thank you, North Star Puzzle!!!!”
This learning tool is small, easily portable (drop it in your purse or the pocket in the back seat of your car), inexpensive, and can be used over and over again. It stimulates imagination and is very much “hands on.” This thing packs a lot of punch.
If you’re looking for a great interactive and educational toy, consider North Star Puzzle!
FGmarket’s Weekly Pick — The Northstar Puzzle
Educational toys are a fantastic way to not only entertain your customers but also teach them something in the process! And what better way to educate they youngest of customers than with a mind-bending puzzle from The Northstar Puzzle.
The Northstar Puzzle is a certified 100% made in New Mexico product created by inventor and entrepreneur Steven Machado. The puzzle was created by Steven after going through a number of hard trials in his life. Now, he dedicates his life to making educational learning toys for anyone over the age of six.
The Northstar Puzzles are awesome interactive 3D brain teasers that function as a learning tool, as well. It stimulates brains and can be great for teaching problem-solving skills to everyone from children to adults. Don’t believe me? Just try to solve one of Northstar’s puzzles quickly without messing up.
Here’s how Northstar describes their puzzles:
The technique of assembly pushes the player to accomplish many skills simultaneously. Manual dexterity and hand-eye coordination are required to hold three pieces, at the juncture, in which all cross. Depending on the shape chosen, the player then weaves the remaining pieces across and behind the pieces being held, this creates pressure to hold the shape in a stand-alone configuration.
The Northstar Puzzle is a fantastic educational tool that customers will be buying in bulk! Check out Northstar’s website for wholesale pricing, and get this amazing learning toy into the hands of paying customers!
What’s Trending: School’s Out!
June is a time of celebration for grade school students: it’s finally summer break! No more homework, tests and long days at school (well, at least until August rolls around).
If you have shoppers who are parents of school kids and want some great products to keep the kiddos entertained this summer, we’ve got what you need!
1. GeoCentral
GeoCentral isn’t just any toy company. Where others may make toys for the sake of fun only, GeoCentral makes toys that are both fun and educational! Check out their awesome geological learning toys, featuring mini archaeological excavation kits and gemstones!
2. Giantmicrobes, Inc.
Another educational toy company for kids, Giantmicrobes makes plush versions of the very tiny microbes that live inside our bodies. These microbes make learning about certain viruses and diseases less scary and easier for kids to comprehend. Take a look at their cute collection of plush germs!
3. Powerful Plants
Nothing is better than getting out in the garden on a balmy summer morning and working in the garden. And now kids can get in on the action as well, thanks to Powerful Plants! This company supplies 36 varieties of organic vegetable seeds and interactive, educational books that are perfect for teaching kids about growing their own plants!
4. Tucker Toys
Tucker Toys makes a lot of super unique outdoor toys for kids, but one of their coolest products is the ZB Freestyle Board. This product features a dual-sided skateboard with a durable high-bounce ball in the middle. This board lets kids do awesome skateboard tricks — like Ollies, 360 spins, and board flips — in a new and fun way!
5. PlayVisions
What’s the summer break without some backyard pool fun? PlayVisions has some fantastic products that make swimming or lounging in a swimming pool even more of a blast! Their Water Bouncers are designed specifically for pool play, and when thrown skip across the surface of the water just like a skipping stone!
6. Skullduggery
This great company makes model sets that are challenging, educational, and absolutely fun! They have many traditional-style model sets, but some of their more unique products are the Smithsonian 3D Motorized Puzzles. These models are three-dimensional toys that, once assembled, can move just like a live creature or vehicle!
FGMarket’s Weekly Pick — Puzzle Master, Inc.
Do your customers love stretching their mental muscles with a challenging puzzle or brain teaser? If so, they’re in luck, thanks to products made by Puzzle Master, Inc.
Located in Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, they make an assortment of fun puzzles, including disentanglement puzzles, brain teasers, jigsaws, puzzle rings, trick locks, boomerangs, chess sets, and more!
Owner Allan Stein started his business by making puzzles and selling them at craft shows. After seeing the demand for his products, he opened up a full time business, making and selling fun, unique puzzles.
Every kind of puzzle you can imagine is available from Puzzle Master, Inc., so check them out to find products that your customers will love to solve!
A Hint of Nostalgia, A Ton of Fun
There’s something about the excitement and sense of accomplishment that comes from finishing a puzzle that enthusiasts can’t find anywhere else. Even with modern technology trying to distract at every turn, they are drawn again and again to these flat, oddly shaped pieces of cardboard which, when combined, form something both beautiful and worthwhile.
These men and women are already shopping in your store. Do you have the entertainment they crave?
Meet all their, and your, puzzle needs with White Mountain Puzzles!
Puzzle Options Galore
White Mountain’s website has a number of sorting options so that you can buy exactly those types of puzzles your customers want. Are your customers looking for a serious challenge? Sort your puzzle selection by difficulty. Are they clamoring for complex puzzles with lots of pieces? You can sort by piece count. Are they looking for more puzzles featuring breathtaking landscapes? Sorting by theme is as easy as a mouse click.
You can even sort by artist if you or your customers are taken by a certain person’s work!
And you’d better believe that with this kind of selection, sorting is a necessity.
Plenty of Puzzle Accessories
But White Mountain has more for your puzzle-loving customers than the puzzles themselves. They also carry a wide selection of puzzle accessories that every enthusiast needs.
After all, when they buy a gorgeous winter scene puzzle, they will want to buy the materials necessary to glue it together, mount it and hang it on their wall. They even offer postcards of their puzzle prints for those beautiful landscapes that customers can’t get enough of.
Puzzle enthusiasts want quality, well-made puzzles, and they’ll go anywhere to get them. If you want to carry everything you need to be the puzzle outlet for your area, go to White Mountain Puzzles!
Rise to the Top with Tide-mark
Being a successful business owner is not only about the products you carry but also the services you provide. So it’s always a pleasure to find a company that offers both. It’s important for that company to be established, and have a solid reputation for quality. And that’s why you want Tide-mark, a company celebrating its 35th year and which excels in providing products and services your customers will love!
Full-Color Calendars
At it’s heart, Tide-mark is a publisher. They publish art prints, highly illustrated books, note cards, holiday cards, puzzles and more, but they are most known for their diverse line of full-color calendars. Titles range from nautical themes, like Cruising World, landscape titles such as America the Beautiful, train titles like Railroading! and region-specific titles like New England Seasons. Their vast selection ensures that any store owner will find something which will resonate with her clientele.
Custom Canvas Prints and More
Though you may visit their website for the calendars, you’ll find plenty of other things to offer your customers. How about custom printed photos on canvas? That’s right, your customer can submit a photo and have a canvas print made in 3 different styles and 4 different sizes. Each is stretched on a frame and finished with a protective UV coating.
How about Letterpress Greeting Cards? The illustrations and verses on these Vineyard Greeting cards are by Daniel Waters, an artist, poet, and printer, who lives on Martha’s Vineyard, Massachusetts. The original designs were created as hand-carved block prints. Mr. Waters has for many years contributed verses to Yankee magazine and the Vineyard Gazette, whose readers know him as “D.A.W.” The cards are printed by letterpress on Strathmore deckle-edge cover.
When you’re looking for a company that offers what your customers need at prices they can afford, you’re looking for Tide-mark!
Play Up Your Profits With Toys
In a few short months, you will need to prepare your shop for the holiday season. This means it is time to start buying toys and games. In this newsletter, I will touch upon some ideas and types of toys that are sure to be the top holiday toys for 2010.
Stimulating Toys For Babies
Look for toys that make noise. Babies are attracted to squeaky plush toys. As you prepare your orders think like a baby.
Purchase bright colors, soft cuddly items and toys that make babies listen and look. Popular items will be mobiles and music CDs that are made especially for babies between the ages of newborn and 12 months.
Developmental Toys For Toddlers
Interactive books will be big this year. Toddlers (1-3yrs. old) are in the stages of investigation, hand-eye coordination and creativity. Look for items Continue reading “Play Up Your Profits With Toys” »