Welcome To The World Of Ox-Zy's

As The Ox-Zy’s Turn…A World Of Gag Gifts

Pat — Sat, 06 Feb 2010 22:10:07 +0000

So we have a few drawings, but now what? We decided to turn to the Nevada Small Business Development Center at the University of Nevada, Reno. The director is Rod Jorgensen, whom we’ve worked with on several projects and who loves gag gifts to give or receive. Unbeknown to us until a few years ago, the Small Business Administration funds these offices located in many cities. It’s a great resource. They will help start-ups all the way from writing a business plan to securing loans and financing. And in between, web design and marketing. We can’t say enough about Rod and his staff. Check it out in your area.

So we sit with Rod, show him our drawings and explain the Ox-Zy concept. Now the problem is how and where to manufacture these products. Remember, we are new to this business of gag gifts. And as mentioned, Rod wants to figure out a sales and marketing plan and create a website. But we also need a 3-D product.

Well, it’s the old story of not what you know, but who you know. So Rod remembers a guy who used to be in the wholesale import business in New York who is now retired and living in Reno. This gentleman has connections with manufacturers. And that’s how J.B. came in to our lives…but that’s the next story…as the Ox-Zy’s turn continue…

The Artist…She Knows Novelty Gag Gifts

Pat — Fri, 22 Jan 2010 21:40:23 +0000

So we have the basic concept of Ox-Zy’s in our minds, but now it’s time to put it on paper.

To find a person who is an artist is easier said than done. But finally we were blessed to find Celestia Ward, who is a caricaturist in Las Vegas. She’s perfect for us. She has a great style and brings a different point of view to our ideas. It works out great. Give her an oxymoron and she has a couple of concepts right off the bat. And she also does sculptures of the completed novelty gag gift drawings to aid with the manufacturing process.

So now we have the drawings for the oxymorons…but now what? Where do we go to have our drawings turned into a product that we can sell?

Next time…As The Ox-Zy’s Turn…The World Of Gag Gifts

But to jump ahead, we will be attending the ASD Las Vegas Trade Show from Feb. 28-March 3. This is THE place where wholesalers, manufacturers, distributors and buyers come together to wheel and deal! Contact us to meet you at the show!

Even Ox-Zy’s Have To Eat…

Pat — Tue, 05 Jan 2010 22:47:56 +0000

Time to eat. More about our artist, Celestia Ward, next time.

As the holidays come to an end and a new year begins, it’s time to reflect on all the food that we consumed during the last month. Since our former life was in the restaurant business and since Pat is obsessed, yup…it’s ALL ABOUT THE FOOD. So Christmas week brought us and a few friends together for German pancakes with a warm caramel sauce. Now you may not want this everyday, but it’s a great treat for special occasions. So here goes…

The pancake batter: Whip 12 large eggs. Blend in 2 quarts of whole milk. (Do all of this with a whisk…no machines needed.) Add 5 1/4 cups of sifted flour, 2 tsp. vanilla, 1 1/4 tsp. salt. Mix it all together and then strain it through a sieve to get the lumps out. The batter will seem watery compared to traditional pancake mix. Set aside.

The caramel sauce: In a large saucepan over medium heat, add 3 cups of sugar. Stir occasionally. The heat will caramelize the sugar by turning it brown. Be careful not to rush the process or you will burn the sugar and have to start over…just like I had to do…aargh. When the sugar has dissolved, add 1/4 cup of bourbon, 4 cups of heavy cream and 4 oz. of butter. Keep stirring and bring the mixture to a boil. Reduce to a simmer, making sure that everything dissolves and is smooth. Remove from heat and keep warm…by drinking more bourbon!! No, no, I mean keep the sauce warm.

On a buttered griddle, over medium-high heat, add 1/2 cup of the batter. Just like a pancake, it will heat up and bubbles will form. When this happens, turn it over and cook on the other side for 30 seconds…boom, it’s done. Remove from heat and top with the caramel sauce. It’s a sumptuous, thick crepe. Serves a small army…12′ish.

So there you have it, a great breakfast on a cold winter’s morning.

And now that the holidays are behind us, time to get back to the Ox-Zy stories. Talk to you all soon…

The Saga Continues…What Makes A Novelty Gag Gift Figurine…Novel?

Pat — Fri, 18 Dec 2009 23:15:48 +0000

After Pat uttered that infamous word, “oxymoron”, we were off and running…or so we thought. After a lot of discussion as to what we could do, we first had to clarify two things. What IS an oxymoron? And can you build a viable business around this odd sounding word?

Off we headed to Mr. Webster’s dictionary for the proper definition…”a figure of speech in which contradictory terms are brought together for emphasis”. Well that answers everything. Sure, this will be a piece of cake. Let’s Google. And out comes page after page of hundreds and hundreds of oxymorons. As we studied, we quickly realized that some phrases couldn’t be “brought to life” in 3D, novelty gag gift forms. Example: Much Less. How do you do that? Any image come to mind with that oxymoron? I don’t think so! But we scoured list upon list of our now, new abbreviated word of “Ox-Zy’s”. So, in one step, we got the company’s name and our potential products.

There are many that have possibilities and can be visualized right away. Like “Baby Grand”. But, it’s amazing how differently people picture the same phrase. Is it a small piano or a big baby?

Well now we have a novelty gag gift company name based on the idea and a list of products that can be created in our vision. BUT…you need to have drawings to present to the manufacturer. Great. Neither of us have THAT talent, so the next task was to find an artist.

After much searching, we finally found…

The Ox-Zy’s Story…How A Novelty Gag Gift Figurine Company Is Born

Pat — Tue, 01 Dec 2009 23:28:59 +0000

Pat says that I’m long-winded and that I talk too much… so this should put you to sleep.

In the beginning, the heavens and earth were created…blah, blah, blah. You know the story, so let’s just hit the high points. Adam & Eve. Noah built a big boat. Columbus had the Nina, the Pinta and the Santa Marie. Nixon. The Red Sox finally won the World Series. The Ox-Zy’s were created as great novelty gag gift figurines.

Okay, so I skipped a little, but you get the idea. It was a cold winter morning when Pat awoke and uttered these famous words…”I just thought about oxymorons. What do you think?” My first thought was of course, “did she just call me a moron?” But I responded with “uh, what are you talking about?”

And so our journey into the novelty gag gift figurine business began…a new venture, a new company, and a new industry that we knew very little about. Food and restaurants were our forte! Oh well, someone had to do it and being the entrepreneurs and risk-takers that we are…it was off to the races…with fingers crossed and lots of determination.

Sooooo, we’ll bring you through the trials and tribulations that we’ve endured from the conception of Ox-Zy’s…to finding the right artist, to manufacturing, to shipping, to the marketplace…and all the “challenges” in between each phase. It hasn’t been easy.

See, Pat was right. I babble endlessly. So the adventure begins. Gather the children around the laptop because this is a tale for young and old. Disney has nothing on us!

The Beginning

Pat — Fri, 08 May 2009 21:23:11 +0000

As my Mum always said…”You came for lunch (born at 1pm) and have been eating ever since!” Don’t worry, I won’t go back that far. But it’s a fair statement to my many years in the food industry…working for a wholesale grocer, bartending, and owning my own restaurant. So I’m used to long hours and a bad back. Time (the economy) finally presented itself to force a career change. But what to do now? And this is the honest-to-goodness truth…I woke up one morning, looked at my husband (no, didn’t refer to him as “butt-head” or Brad Pitt), and said that the word “oxymoron” had come to me that night! And here we are, months later, pursuing a dream…literally. Figurines. Mini statues. Three dimensional representations of oxymoron’s. That’s it! We’ll call ‘em Ox-Zy’s! Ox-Zy FIGURINES!

But how do we REALLY begin? Get the lists, grab a lounge chair and a cocktail in Vegas, put two heads together and start pouring over thousands of oxymorons. Of course, the inherent sarcastic humor in both of us didn’t hurt. And off we go on a new journey.

Word Play for Sure

Pat — Thu, 09 Apr 2009 21:47:28 +0000

Well, here we go…1 o’clock, March 31, 2009…my blog begins. According to my “IT guy” Ben, it would be easy. Then I logged in. Isn’t a “widget” what my mother called a what-cha-ma-call-it when she forgot THAT word? I played “tag” at recess, thought a “slug” was someone lazy or something gross that came out of a pond, and “URL” sounds like something to do with the body. Man oh man. My intentions were to start talking about my old age and my new career in the gift business. That will have to wait. Just a few more…”tag cloud”—is that when the ENTIRE playground is running after me? “Atom feed” sounds like an old rockstar. Isn’t “HTML” the abbreviation for “hot meal” (my previous life was the food business), and lastly, “suckerfish”…I won’t even go there!