“Don’t Sweat the Small Stuff” Lesson #1

I was cleaning out my garage / office space and found a book “Don’t Sweat the Small Stuff” by Richard Carlson so I flipped through it to decide if it was to go in the “Keep” or “Donate” box.  I ended up sitting down and reading it :)  I thought it would be nice to share a lesson once a week with my readers.  So, here is the first lesson! 

Lower your tolerance to stress

It’s funny how we all, OK.. most of us, have it backwards.  We should be lowering our tolerance to stress rather than raising it! 

People always seem to say “I’ve been working very hard” or “I’m really stressed out!!!”

We seem to see a “very high tolerance to stress” as a good thing.  Stress management classes seem to focus on ways to raise our tolerance to stress. 

Our current level of stress = our tolerance to stress

Do you notice that the people who seem to say “Oh, I can handle a lot of stress!” are the ones who seem to always be under a great deal of it. 

If we all lowered the level, we would be more effective and allow us to enjoy life more (*and* to be more fun around!)

I had 4 orders I wanted to mail out the first thing in the morning so I was in a bit of a hurry (read: stressed).  My daughter Amelia, who is 2 years old, was “bugging” me by wanting me to play with her while we were outside.  I figured I could sit outside and do some work while watching her.  Every time she would try and pry me out of my seat, my heart grew heavy every time I said “Mommy needs to work.”  After a few attempts, I looked into her eyes and couldn’t help but smile and then laugh.  At that instant I felt better so I dropped everything and got out of the chair.  After half an hour I was much happier and this gave us a priceless bonding time.

And… I was more productive when I got back to work! 

Isn’t it funny how a carefree 2 year old made me realize I needed to stop and play.  It’s the kids that teach us more rather than the other way around. 

So... remember to not stress the small stuff and de-stress often!

Genevieve  xxx

Spoiling Myself!

I belong to a terrific and warm group of women, actually TWO of them, and I consider myself such a LUCKY DUCK!  Sassy Sisters In Sales *and* Unique Women In Business (both are ETSY Street Teams)

These teams have only 1 requirement to maintain your membership, make one purchase from any one of the shops per month.  What an ordeal!  There are too many talented women creating gorgeous pieces!  I had such a hard time choosing so I decided "What the heck!?"  so I spoiled myself and did a mini shopping spree!  Here's what I got:

I was *so* excited to receive my Whipped Body Frosting that I ripped the package open when it arrived and lathered my frosting on.  My goodness... how divine.  So thick and creamy... and the bonus is: a little goes a long way!  I usually take a while to get myself into the shower in the mornings but now I can't wait to shower so I can lather my whipped body frosting on after! 

Spoil yourself and Visit Sapeterapi's Shop

I got myself 2 sets of earrings from 2 different shops:  Momma Goddess and JMJ Creations

Trudy of Momma Goddess has incredible talent and makes fabulous Vine Earrings so I asked her to make me a pair with Jet Black Swarovski crystals.  They are such fun to wear!  It's out of the ordinary and goes with everything in my closet.  She crafts them in other colors as well... Visit her shop and browse her other gorgeous items! 

Karen created this darling Blossoms n Butterflies earring set and listed it that same day... and I bought it within minutes of her listing it.  I had to grab it before anyone else did!  The picture is gorgeous but it doesn't do this earring set any justice.  So fun to wear and so eye-catching with the sparking cherry blossoms and butterfly.  Stop by her shop and check out her other wonderful works of art.

Great items aren't they?  Go ahead and spoil yourself :)

Genevieve xxx

Your weekend?

I have created a Facebook Page for my business and would *love* it if you could become a "fan".  If you have a page, I would love to follow you as well :)  Leave me a comment with the link to your page and I will surely "fan" it!

http://www.facebook.com/pages/San-Marcos-CA/Duck-Pond-Paper-Company/94002046045?ref=ts

I hope everyone had a wonderful weekend!  I came back from my mini-scrapbook-retreat in Palm Springs at a time share place.  So relaxing and fun!  Friday I had a wonderful day at the Wild Animal Park with the Hubby and my 2 little girls (2 month old and 2 year old).  Tonight I had my dad and sister over for dinner.  I am not sure what the plans are for tomorrow... but some of the best days are the days without plans :)  I would love to hear what you have done this past few days... do share!

Genevieve :)  xxx

A realization

It may be obvious to most of you but this dawned on me just today.  I now wish I realized this years ago…

I was headed home and saw a local fruit and veggie stand on the side of the road and thought it would be nice to stop by and see their selections.  The sad thing is: I have been passing that stand for more than 10 years (!?!?!) and never once stopped.  I’m just so accustomed to buying my fruits and produce at the grocery store… the convenience of throwing it in the cart along with my TP.  No extra stops necessary. 

I greeted the guy and asked how much the fresh strawberries were and he threw a number.  I found myself calculating the price difference, comparing it to the grocery store.  Bam!  That’s when it dawned on me.  Me, a small business owner striving to get her business up and going, standing there calculating if it’s worth the money to buy from a small self supported stand or a supermarket.  What the heck! 

It didn’t matter to me how much I saved or lost (as long as it wasn’t too much, haha!) as long as I was supporting a local self-sustaining small business!  On the drive home, I glance over at the strawberries and Oh My!  They were the reddest and the plumpest strawberries I had seen. The food store ones are pitiful compared to these!  Not the point but… this fresh carton was even cheaper!

Point being:  this helped me realize the importance of us all supporting our local small businesses.  This is incredibly important to the foundation our communities, helping and supporting each other.  Amongst all the big names and convenience, we easily forget this. 

My daughter is only 22 months now but I will be instilling in her this valuable lesson… and yes, my other one too, who is due any day now! 

Next week I will be heading over to the Farmers Market to get wonderful fresh items from people who work hard for their own dreams.  Along with the other shoppers, I’ll be supporting their dreams by buying from their stands. 

To close this, I’m asking:  What can you do to help the small businesses in your community? 

Have a love-ly Valentine’s Day tomorrow!  

Genevieve

Hello Guys!

Well, well.. hello there!


I decided to jump on the Blogging bandwagon... so here I am!  Hope you guys will enjoy reading my blogs as much as I do yours  :)


Every once in a while I will be posting new items from my shop and giving updates on my current projects.  One thing about me that drives me NUTS is: I can *never* seem to work on just *one* thing at a time.  I have maybe a minimum of 10 work-in-progresses!  When I am happily surrounded by my big mess in my office, working away, my brain cooks up even more ideas.  I drop what I am doing at the moment and start on that new idea in fear I would forget about it all!


I think it's time to start a list... a long list... and jot down these lightbulbs instead of starting on them!  This way I can actually finish something and list it in my shop :)


These days I am designing and crafting an array of cards for the upcoming events/holidays.  Aside from that, my BIG project is coming along pretty quickly, quicker than I thought!  (Which is good since Baby #2 is on the way.  I'm at 36 weeks now!  Very exciting!)  I've found a such talented artist off Etsy to bring my storybook characters to life.  My original plan was to make a toddler's book but of course that wasn't enough for me!  Tsk tsk.  I decided to have the adorable characters be put on my line of baby cards and announcements.  That should be coming by the beginning of the summer... 


I'm off to the office now and cover myself in glue, paper snippets and glitter til my eyes are too tired to stay open ;)


Thanks for reading and hope your day was an excellent one!


Genevieve