The Importance of Family Traditions

December is here and the signs of Christmas fast approaching are everywhere. Hope you've got things under way!  Christmas time, for many is a coming together of families and friends and sharing in the fun of traditions that for many have been passed down through the years.

Traditions are important because they often tell stories and can give insights into cultures and backgrounds of a family. It is said that family traditions help build stronger bonds and connections with one another. I'm sure you can think of some of your family Christmas get together's and have fond memories of some of the interesting or funny things that each gathering brought.

Thinking back to my childhood I have many fabulous memories of Christmas dinners with my grandparents, aunts and uncles, cousins, my mom and dad and my siblings. One would be the shared excitement of waiting to open the gifts that were piled around the Christmas tree. I'm reminded of the unique ornaments that my Grandma had on the tree, ( I know, right... they were those red plastic Santa's) and of course standing beside Grandpa as he skillfully worked the electric carving knife and cut the turkey. I can almost smell it! He would always give me a little sliver to eat! I remember my Grandma always put out these plastic banana boat shaped dishes filled with different Christmas candies that I loved to indulge in, probably too much! lol! We would have a sing song of Christmas songs around the piano and everyone would join in, mmmm, what good memories. Anyways enough tripping down memory lane for me!

 Over the years my husband and I have developed our own family traditions that we enjoy sharing with our family. Taking in the Christmas Eve service is very important to us as we are reminded of the reason we celebrate Christmas. The gift of the Savior and the blessings we have because of him fill up our hearts as we share this time with our family. Our tradition of the Christmas breakfast quiche couldn't be left out and opening gifts and sharing laughs with our kids is a special part of our traditions too! Of course, the delicious turkey dinner is always a welcome time to share together as well! Whatever you're traditions are continue them knowing you are creating special memories for each one you share them with. To my readers I want to say a big thank you for following and reading my blog this past year! I wish you all a wonderful Christmas and a blessed New Year!

Don't Miss The Window of Opportunity

Networking and connecting throughout the year has probably had a profound effect on the growth of your business. Opportunities abound when you make the right connections. It's not to late to build networking connections even now, if you find the right site that connects you to others that are like minded and willing to share for you it can greatly help your business. Don’t miss the window, if you’re just rolling along and haven’t started getting your marketing strategy for the busy shopping season in motion yet you've got to get started quickly as the season is fast approaching. I’m sure you know that the businesses in the malls are busy putting out there Christmas stock and setting up holiday displays to attract customers. Many of the big box stores started in October with putting their Christmas and holiday products out, a bit too early I thought. As an online small business owner I understand that we have to get on board early and be preparing our stores for those early shoppers. People are starting their shopping earlier and earlier it seems. Research shows more and more people are shopping online and this is a trend that surely will only increase with the convenience of it all. So in short, the key is to have a plan and make it happen. Take a look at your inventory and assess what you need or want to add to your inventory. What are the trends and items that will attract customers to your store front. The competition for online store owners is fierce so we have to make our products and shops look the best that they can. It takes great marketing effort and consistency everyday to draw the customers in. Decide on what new items to add to your inventory and which ones to promote. Use all available social media platforms that you are active in. Just do it subtly, nobody wants to just see a big push of your items, add something of value when you can. When using Twitter to market your products remember to include appropriate hash tags, like #sales, #deals, #blackfriday and so forth. This will help when people are searching for products and deals. If you use Pinterest you'll want to highlight your holiday boards that feature your products. Create unique boards like Christmas Trims. Winter Wonderland, Christmas Gadgets Everyone Can Use, you get the idea. Also include prices, Pinterest lets you add this! Well I hope this pushes you to work on your holiday marketing. Don’t leave it too late or you seriously might miss your window of opportunity. The shopper’s will leave your shop and purchase somewhere else and we don’t want to miss out on any sales! To Your Holiday Season! New Home Address

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Beautiful Flowers 2016 Calendar

Flowers Calendar by seashell2

Revisiting Your Goals This Fall

With the beginning of the fall season, the daylight gets shorter and the night moves in earlier and earlier. The fall is often a time of new beginnings, perhaps returning to routines for many after a busy summer. For some it's the start of a new school year, perhaps a new job or the return to a gym or music class. I love the Fall season as it is the time the leaves begin to change to brilliant shades of orange, red and yellow and being out doors holds much appeal. God has given us such beautiful scenery to enjoy. On the weekends getting out for trail walks with my husband and a special coffee in hand is the perfect fall comfort for me! September can also be a time of revisiting your routines and a time to re set your goals. I hope as you read this it will inspire you to look at your goals whether for your business or for your daily life and see what you might want to change. If things seem stale and boring it might be time to rethink how you're doing things. Whatever you decide to do I hope you do something new and see great progress this month. I’ve been working diligently on my websites and my store as there is always so much to do with designing, marketing and finding new ways to get my designs and sites in front of the right eyes. Right now I'm also working on new Christmas designs for my shop, keeping things fresh! Stop by my store or visit one of my websites, you can find them in the side bar of my blog.

Beautiful B.C. and Fitness

Living in beautiful  B.C. with this amazing year round climate has got to be the best. I love that every single day I have the opportunity to be outdoors, breathing fresh air and staying fit and healthy.  Some days it might be a neighbourhood  walk and other days I love to hop on my bike and go for a 8 to 10 km bike ride. I love to cycle on biking trails with my husband too. It’s the perfect exercise and fun on a weekend.  Sometimes it’s longer bike rides that include a lunch and a ride through parks and various attractions.  This summer I have done tons of biking, hiking and trail walking plus a little kayaking. B. C. has so many outdoor options for staying active.

A few days ago my husband and one of my sons and I did a 10km hike up a local mountain, Cypress to be exact. Some  steeper rocky sections to get through as well as some nice trail paths. A good mix of cardio for sure. We came across a bear on one of the trails, thankfully he kept going the other way. Once we got to the top of Eagle Bluff we had a beautiful view of the ocean. Chipmunks joined us for our lunch, eating trail mix  from our hands. A couple of huge ravens perched on rocks and trees very close to us, they were very chill’ and didn’t even make a noise. Made for some great pictures too!

Exercise every day (even if it’s just a short burst) can not only benefit you physically but can keep you much more alert and creative mentally too! According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention less than one quarter of American adults get the recommended amount of aerobic & strength training exercise each week. Outdoor exercising particularly boosts energy and can help decrease feelings of depression and tension in your body. Going for a brisk walk, jog or bike ride daily can boost your mood and increase your overall energy, when you consider these things, it sure beats sitting on the couch.  So stretch yourself, walk a little more, get some fresh air and soak up some sun if it’s out, just because you can!

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Whimsical Floral Tree Canvas Print

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Using Airbnb the Pros and Cons

It’s been awhile since I’ve posted and just getting back from a holiday in the U.S.A. I thought it was time to share another post.

On this last trip my husband and I used Airbnb to book a couple of stays, the first place we stayed two nights and the second, one night. This was our first experience with this type of stay.  The first place was in San Francisco and was actually a great place, the host was very kind and went through the room with private bathroom and a private kitchen space with us, thoroughly. It was downstairs and they were upstairs. You could tell they were experienced at what to provide and had travelled lots themselves so had things set up perfectly. They provided fresh fruit and coffee and tea that could be accessed all day as well as fresh homemade bread and bagels for breakfast! They also had tons of brochures and maps available too!

My experience of the second place was not so good! Didn’t like the smells, they had a huge dog, (in the picture it looked much smaller) and it wasn’t modern or cozy. Oh well,we wouldn’t appreciate the good experiences if we didn’t have some bad ones! This particular host was pleasant but didn’t show us what we could use without us asking, it was kind of weird!  

Have you ever used Airbnb or would you consider this type of service in the future? Airbnb can be valuable to those that want to save money or if you choose to host to make some extra cash. Share your thoughts…

Here is a slideshare I created on the Pros and Cons of Airbnb

We have some great new products to design on at Zazzle, new shirt styles, boxers and boyshorts, sunglasses and some other fun items. Stop by Designs by Shell for a visit and see more…

Helicopter - Pilot Boxers

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Using Slideshare for Business

Recently I was introduced to a platform called Slideshare. Perhaps you’ve heard of it, if not I’ll explain what it is and why you should use it to market your business.

Slideshare is a free website that allows one to post content in presentation form. The presentations are viewed by the general public and gives one the opportunity to increase traffic to your website, splash pages or your blog.

Here are some pretty good reasons you may want to begin using this website.

1. Ranked the most popular document and presentation sharing site in the world.  It gets 60 million monthly visitors.

2. Content uploaded to this site is mobile compatible. Your content is automatically optimized for mobile users.

3. A feature of the homepage, Slideshare features the most popular content. if your presentation makes it to the homepage, it will go viral.

4. Google likes presentations and ranks them above articles, blogs and news stories.

5. Through using this site you can increase your business profile. Advertise your business and become seen as a reputable source of information.

6. Slideshare is easy enough for technically challenged people to use.

7. It allows you to add photos of people, images, text, graphs, and your brand logo to any of the pages that suit you.

Well those were enough reasons for me to begin using this site, perhaps you’ll want to sign up and begin using it for your business too!

Here is one of the first one’s I created!

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Exercise Your Way to Success in Business

Believe it or not exercise can help you be more successful at your business. If your like most people you have lots on your plate everyday, perhaps it’s work, children, keeping up your home, taking care of a loved one and the list goes on. Exercise may be the last thing on your mind most days but it’s true that if you make the time for exercise in whatever form works for your schedule you will be able to cope better with all of your tasks.

Those who are toned and fit have to make the time to get that way, it is a commitment and yes perhaps a sacrifice of something else but so worth it!  Science shows that physical activity for 45 – minutes to and hour a day can return great health benefits, strengthening your brain and increasing your overall productivity throughout your day. Working out releases chemicals in the brain called endorphins known as hormones that can boost your mood and make you feel good.  This helps you to be positive and be better able to balance work and family.

Have a goal, you can start small and increase it as you go! Maybe it’s as simple as losing 5 pounds or fitting in a smaller size pair of jeans. Perhaps it’s to help you breath lighter as you walk up the stairs in your home.

Working a business we know that not everything goes as smooth as peanut butter and stress can be challenge to keep at bay. Stress can have a profound negative impact on one’s health. Exercise increases the production of good hormones that will help you cope with stress and feel more relaxed throughout your day.

Running a business with all of it’s demands pulling at you constantly can be overwhelming for most people. A decent night’s sleep is crucial to be able to handle all of the in’s and out’s of business. Exercising regularly can help you get a good night’s sleep.

I hope this inspires you and encourages you to make time for exercise even if it’s just a short walk everyday! A few minutes is a great start and you know you will feel better. I did a 20 minute power walk this morning as well as  a 25 minute bike ride. I feel great and am ready to work! 

 

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Weight Lifting Birthday Card

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Affiliate Marketing is the Future

One of the easiest ways to earn an income is from Affiliate Marketing. Basically, affiliate marketing is earning a commission by promoting and selling products that are created by other people or another company.

How does it work? Well, you choose a product or a line of products that you would like to promote and from the sale of each item you then earn a profit . So why is this great, you ask? As an affiliate marketer you benefit from earning a commission, the company benefits from the sale of the product  and in turn the customer is pleased because they found the product. It’s a win, win!

One of the joys of affiliate marketing is that you don’t need to put a huge investment of your time to create a product to sell. As soon as you find a product or line that you’re interested in selling you can begin. All you need is a platform to sell it on.

You’ll want to find a reputable company or product that you know will be useful and wanted. Trying to promote a product that you don’t believe in will be seen as fake and people won’t feel that you are trustworthy to do business with. It is better to recommend products from a company that you’ve purchased yourself and allow you to speak from experience. Honesty is always the best policy!

To be successful at affiliate marketing you’ll need these essential elements to get started.

1) A Domain Name

2) A Landing Page

3) Targeted Traffic

4) Quality Products to Promote

Generating traffic is a big factor here as without targeted traffic coming to your landing page and clicking through you’ll be hard pressed to get any sales. There are fabulous websites, selling products on the internet but they are not getting the traffic to keep them alive. You’ll want a website that is easy to navigate, nothing complicated or cluttered as you’ll turn potential customers away. These steps should help you on your journey to become a successful affiliate marketer!

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Why You Should Use Instagram for Business

Millions of marketers are taking advantage of social media marketing by using Instagram. Perhaps you’re one of them or have noticed this but are unsure of how it works and why it would be good for your business. Instagram is the perfect opportunity for companies to share their brand and blast out quick, short messages to their audience. People in general have short attention spans and jump quickly from one site to another. Instagram is a way to share your pictures and short messages in quick fashion.

Instagram is a mobile app meaning you can only post from your Android or iPhone not from the web. When you sign up for an Instagram account you will choose a profile picture and a name that you like. This could be the name of your business or a website that you manage. You will write a short description of your page and add a website link, this gives your audience a place to go and check out your business.  Here is my Instagram page if you’d like to see what it looks like and feel free to follow me if you like! As you post your pictures you’ll get more likes and begin to gain follower’s! That means more potential eyes on your business.

I have just recently started using this platform so I still have much to learn about Instagram but I am slowly growing my followers and getting lots of likes on my pictures. As you’re posting your pictures try to think about you’re target audience and post things that will capture their attention. You may want to include pictures with a call to action that leads to your website. This is a great way to promote your products and or services.

Being an Instagram user helps to build trust in your company, a positive experience makes happy customers. It can also help you create a distinct personality for your business this is important too. Give it a try, you have nothing to lose and everything to gain if you want to grow your business.

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Lollipops and Candy Dots Bag Tag

Lollipops and Sweets Birthday Invitation

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Adapting to Marketing Changes

Are you feeling overwhelmed with the pace and change that marketing for your business has you facing. It seems that changes are happening so fast that it’s becoming a chase with no end.

With technology growing in leaps and bounds this means changes for all businesses. As I was reading some articles that talked about the effects of change on marketing I was quite frankly overwhelmed. I guess reading a few articles isn’t enough to keep you in the loop these days. For the average on-line business person there is so much to learn to stay on the cutting edge of marketing. The game has changed so to speak and one has to find new ways to promote, advertise and share your business. 

As the marketing tools change so quickly you have to take steps to adapt your thinking and change your business methods.

Sharing on popular platforms can have advantages for your business, like Pinterest. Are you aware of how this site can promote your brand and potentially be a great sales tool for you.

Many marketing methods are free but maybe you need to think about how much you need to spend on services that can promote your business. Do you have a marketing budget?

Just supplying a fabulous product doesn’t guarantee sales anymore, you have to be offering something that speaks to someone, supplying something that brings meaning to someone’s life. People have short attention spans and there are so many options out there that what you’re selling has to be valuable. I heard somewhere that whatever you own you should either love it or it should serve a purpose.

Whatever it is you’re selling you have to create a positive experience, stand out and create a ‘brand’ that makes your customers return for more.  It is challenging to connect with customers through all of the new devices and platforms. The ways of marketing have changed as people now constantly interact with mobile apps and new websites popping up daily. It is hard to understand people’s thinking and what motivates them to make a purchase. I believe it’s an ongoing process and one that will continue to keep business owner’s being creative and making good use of technology to attract customers.

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Baking Business Cards

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The Making of a Latte

In the cool months of winter nothing says warm and cozy to me like a latte. Once upon a time the latte was something I treated myself to from a coffee shop but recently has become my go to favourite hot, frothy drink that I indulge in at home, generally once a day!  Making a latte at home is actually pretty simple and can be done without an espresso machine.

When my husband and I were on a trip to Italy a couple of years ago I got hooked on the cappuccino’s there. They are similar to lattes, I’ll explain.

A latte is a hot coffee drink that is made with espresso, steamed milk and  milk foam.

A cappuccino is similar to a latte except that is uses a higher volume of foamed milk to steamed milk.

A Cafe au lait  is generally made with warm steamed milk added to regular coffee (some coffee shops will use espresso) and this drink has no foam.

Creamy Latte Coffee Poster

Coffee Mug T-shirts

Stacking Coffee Cups Postage Stamp

When we got home from our Italy trip I tried the cappuccino’s from some of the local coffee shops here but found them to be too strong for my liking. Then I tried the latte’s and found them much smoother and enjoyable. 

If you order an espresso at a coffee shop it will likely be much stronger because of the machine they use to produce it. The espresso machine takes water that is nearly boiling and then creates a lot of pressure in order to produce a strong beverage.  My at home version is not as strong but it comes out just the strength that I like.

I brew good quality ground espresso  that I grind using my coffee grinder.  While the espresso is brewing I plug in my Starbucks milk frother to which I add low fat milk to. Then it’s just hit the power button and you can watch the milk begin to froth.  I get my latte mug ready and pour the hot brewed espresso about 3/4 full. Then it’s time to pour in some of the milk from the frother and spoon the milk froth it’s created onto to the top to cover the surface. I love the mounds of frothy milk and the fact that it keeps the espresso warm too!  Sprinkle on a little cinnamon if you like, I do that sometimes but generally I like it plain.

Espresso has a lot less caffeine than a cup of regular coffee. Although there is some debate about it, many say it depends on your mug size, the brew time, type of grind, temperature and so on. Anyways I say, drink it if you like it just don’t go over board!  That’s it, a simple but cozy drink perfect for a cold day!

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