Blinking Owl... no I'm not going British

Tell me this is not the coolest thing you've seen in a while... especially pertaining to Lilla Rose!?  Stare at the owl.  Make sure you stare!  heeheehee

Yet Another Wednesday at Home

Even though I've been 'grounded' this month (no going to the farmer's market to sell Lilla Rose), I've had a better month of sales than either of the last two months, which I'm quite happy about and very thankful for!  I enjoyed a rather large order from someone I do not know this month.  This is probably the 4th or 5th time in around 6 months, which is awesome.  Every sale is awesome, really.  I appreciate those who purchase Lilla Rose (or any of the other things I sell) through me.  I love my customers!

 The Who's Who Flexi combine with a french-twist-type-braid for classy elegance.

 

Sweet oblong bun with curled tails up held by a beautiful Princess Tiara flexi, perfect for home or out and about.

A new Lilla Rose Consultant will join my team the first Saturday in March.  I'm so excited!  She thinks she'll sign up with Fast Start, which, in my opinion, is THE only way to go.  Why?  Well, it provides SO many more options right off the start.  Also, purchasing Fast Start means the new Consultant is already Fast Start Qualified.  That's a big deal because when a Consultant signs on with only the Party Kit and then someone signs on in her team as a Fast Start, the "Lilla Rose Mama" is only eligible for the Fast Start bonus if she's sold $2,000 in products by then.  I don't think I've sold $2,000 yet. Because I signed on with Fast Start I have and will receive the bonus when anyone signs up as Fast Start in my team.

There are other benefits, too, of course.  If you have any interest in selling at a market or anything similar, Fast Start with the mixed set is the best way to go.  That's what I did and I'm still very happy about/with it!  I enjoy, very much, selling at the market and hope to get back before too much longer.  Baby girl is still sick some days, which means she's still sick, of course.  But, for instance, yesterday she seemed totally well.  ahwell

Currently I have one direct teammate and she has one direct, so that makes me a Lilla Rose grama!  heeheehee   How awesome is that!??  My direct teammate was one of my first hostesses and saw the awesome potential with this business.  My newest Consultant is signing up because, as she put it, "The flexi just sells itself!"  I totally agree and that is among the reasons I just love Lilla Rose!

I have one Facebook/Google Hangout party date available for March.  If you'd like to earn some lovely hair jewelry for free, let me know.  I'd love to work with you.

My other businesses are going slowly, but well.  I am working to build up a small VA business (virtual assistant) as one of my streams of income.  I've got one client and hope to have another soon.   I did a trial post for the new potential client and am just waiting to hear back from her now.  I've also been working on recipes in hopes of selling them (and photos?) to other bloggers (sort of a VA thing, but without anyone being a regular or consistent client).

I've had a couple really wonderful business/work-type gifts come to me recently.  The first was winning some ad space on another blog.  How cool is that!?  I'm pretty hopeful about that.  I also won a free featured post on another blog.  This is good for my blogging and for my Lilla Rose business.  I'm very pleased and very grateful!  I have been wanting/hoping and working to build a strong online Lilla Rose business, so these gifts are especially wonderful!

I haven't sold any of my crocheted items lately, but I've still been working.  I made some pretty squares for a group afghan and a very cool hat for my baby.  I'd love to hear what you think!

If you'd like to, I hope you'll sign up for my newsletter.  I rarely send anything out, at this point, but if I send something, it'll be special!  (The sign up is to the right.)

Have you heard of Lilla Rose before?  If not, I encourage you to follow my blog (to the right) and like my Facebook page.  I share photos of Lilla Rose hair jewelry and uplifting thoughts to brighten your day.  Let me know if you'd like to see something specific and I'll make that happen.

What the Heck Wednesday?



No, I'm not really planning to start another series... just thought that title was more appropriate than my normal one.

So, it's been a while since the "Strike of the pink-haired-woman" and I think I may be able to write about it reasonably now.  I sure hope so.

Have you ever met someone that thought the world was sour no matter how much sugar was actully in it?  I think this woman might be like that.  And I'm pretty sure I used to be a bit like that... so, given what we can learn from the Essene Mirrors, I needed to meet her so I could more completely see myself.

However, I believe, even at my worst, I have avoided speaking to children the way she spoke to my child.  Maybe I'm wrong.  The only way I can know that is if someone who has known me for a while tells me.  So, if there is such a person out there, please do let me know.  I ask that you be kind because I am tender-hearted, as much as folks seem to think otherwise.  I work hard to refrain from choosing to be offended, but I do feel hurt when folks are mean when they say things that are true.

So, it was two weeks ago that the pink-haired female passed our lil' shop at the Farmer's Market.  I'd seen her before, but I guess the girls had been engaged in greeting others.  We certainly didn't have an interaction before two weeks ago.

My eldest daughter greeted the pink-haired old woman just like she does most folks.  I think she actually said, "Hello, how are you today?" since the woman has super short died pink hair.  The woman turned and said, "Well what are you doing out of school?"  Ria said, "I homeschool!"  The woman with the pink hair said, "Well, that's what's wrong with you.  That's why you don't have social manners.  You need to go to school to get some social manners."

ummm.... REALLY?  That's a case of the pot calling the kettle black, dontcha think?  Not that I think she's correct about my child having no social manners.  In fact, the very fact that my daughter did not respond shows, at least to me, that she has a few manners more than that old woman.

I really did attempt to leave it be and let her pass by without saying anything.  The more I sat silently on, the more sick to my stomach I felt.  Especially when my girl looked at me like, "Why in the world would she say that me, Mom?"  She didn't speak the question, but it was heavy in her questioning looks my way.

As a result, I got up and went to the woman.  She was just about to walk away from another lady's shop, so I said, "If you actually stopped to talk with my child, you would find that she is very smart and sweet."  The woman turned and seemed a bit flustered.  She sorta asked what I meant.  I gestured to my child and said, "If you actually spoke with my child, you would find that she has social manners and then some."

The conversation was not good beyond that.  Basically, the old woman with the pink hair attempted to argue her point by changing her position numerous times.  I live with someone who argues that way... unfortunately for her.  As a result, I am very skilled at putting down new points while still sticking to the original.

Among her arguements, she told me that the world was a mean place and the children needed to go to school so they would learn how to deal with the mean world.  She told me that they had no social manners because they weren't exposed to society.  She told me that they couldn't be productive in society because they weren't gong to school.  She said that they were not learning how to socialize in the market, that they were only learning 'the hard sale'.

I did refute each point well, but she is entrenched in her fallacious position and so determined to protect her incorrect assumptions that she couldn't respond to my logic and, thus, presented increasingly nonsensical positions.

Why in the world would parents put children in school to be treated poorly?  I mean, really?  The world will be mean to them as it will... they don't need tons of experience with that to learn how to deal with it!  You just learn as you go no matter how old.  At least, if they are able to be protected and sheltered from the nastiness of the world they might end up with a more unshakeable hope!  Maybe not, but it's possible!

As my husband said, "Why in the world would you take a child out of society to learn how to be part of society??  They are IN society, learning how to interact with people of all ages.  She doesn't know what she's talking about."  I completely agree with him.

Regarding productivity in society... hmmm... so, teaching them how to work in sales, how to interact with people in a genuine manner while hoping they appreciate your product enough to buy it... teaching them how to understand unspoken (body) language and interact with people in a way that is mindful of their desires... all that is contributing to what?  A totally unproductive member of society, apparently.

Selling, if you are an entreprenuer, is part of socializing.  Business owners are who they are and they have something they hope others might appreciate/like/want.  It is what it is.  That doesn't mean that when we speak to someone who only care about whether they want to buy a Flexi or not.

In fact, I have come to believe that this business (Lilla Rose) is in my life to get me out into the world.  I'm a BIG home-person.  I would rather be at home than anywhere else MOST of the time.  However, as a Christian, I should be out and about sharing the Light of Christ with all I meet.  Well, going to the market, I'm in a position to do that.  I believe that's why Father led me to this business.

Each morning before we go into the market, the girls and I have a prayer that Father will bless our efforts and help us know what we need to do and say and if there is someone that needs us especially.  We ask Father to help us shine forth the Light of Christ.  Going to the market is first about doing what Heavenly Father would have us do.  We hope that while we are about our Father's work, we will sell some hair jewelry because we could really use the money... but that is not the first or primary focus.

I would like to add, a point I did convey the the little old woman with pink hair.  I'm relatively sure she didn't hear me.  If she did, she knew she didn't have an apporpriate logical arguement because she changed her aguement again after I said, "School is not a normal socializing environment.  It is not normal, anywhere in life, to socialize with those who are mostly and/or only within 10 months of your age.

The way my children interact with others is much more like real life, in that they socialize with people of all ages."  Homeschooling really does offer many more opportunities for normal socialization.  Sometimes, as the parent/teacher, we have to seek out additional opportunities to socialize, but when there are many children, it's amazing how much social-manners education goes on EVERY day.  And it's normal socialization (interacting with many ages!), not the weird concoction that is public school.

February's Special Flexi AND Hairsticks

What do you think?
Buy HERE.



Working Wednesday

Last Wednesday was a good working day.  Better than the week before.  Not as good as my best day at the market, but still good.  It was a great day as far as conversation and enjoyment.  It's coming to the point that working at the market is a bit of a break from my daily work.  And I get to spend more time paying attention to and playing with my babygirl for a lot of the time at market day.  I definitely like that!  I think she does, too.

 The children and I were so tired when we got back to the house that we all took a nap and ended up staying awake quiet late Wednesday night.  It was good, though.  Thankfully, everyone stayed mostly nice.  YEAY!

I forgot my camera again.  Sorry, no pictures from last week!

Grampa Bruce came by a couple of times with gifts for the children.  Another vendor gave the children gifts.  Yet another vendor let us borrow a blanket for the baby (it was quite warm the week before, but then very cold last week!).  Yet another vendor friend gave me a gift which made it easier for me to bring my birthday plans for my husband to fruition.  Praise the Lord!

Lilla Rose Sale: now through tomorrow

I hope you'll check it out.  If you'd like to communicate with me about it before you order, make sure to write to me at my Facebook page.  I'm in and out of there more often than here.

If you're willing to wait a couple days, I have a party open that will close right before the end of the month. Write to me in my Facebook page and I'll respond with a link to that party.

Also, I can still do a few parties before the end of February!  Still time to hostess and earn the opportunity for an entry into the $700 CASH drawing that all of my qualifying hostesses get!  Let me know if you're interested!

Working Wednesday

Last Wednesday was not a super sales day, but it was acceptable.  I'm thankful that I've been pretty steady with a low and high day, but mostly really steady.  Praise the Lord for it!  I forgot my camera, too.  sheesh... that's twice now!

Working Wednesday: Special Video of my Girls in Action

This video was a bit staged.  I mean, really... do you think it would even be possible for ME to be behind the camera and catch them in the act of attempting to get a passer-by interested.  How very cool it would be if I could get someone they didn't know to do a video of them in action!  THAT would be suh-WEET!

We had a good day at the Market last Wednesday.  I realized I was stolen from the last Market Day.  So very upsetting... especially because I'm pretty sure I know who it was.  :(  She seemed so kind.  Just another lesson for me on NOT to trust people as much as I would like.  *sigh*

This past Wednesday ended up about half as much as my best day.  I'm so grateful.  Especially now because I'm hoping to make a child's wish come true.  It's a worthy desire... and I miss my sister!  I'm hoping God will continue to bless and favor us and enable me to earn the funds we need to make this dream come true!!  God is so good... I'm just hoping He wants what we want!  :)

They don't normally demonstrate the item they did this time...

proved a little awkward.  Next time I'll make sure they do a Flexi

for you to see.  That is what they sell most consistently.

Working Wednesday

I'm so excited!  It's sorta overwhelming, but wonderfully so!  I'll tell you about my other-than-Lilla-Rose-work in just a minute.  I just have to tell you about my Lilla Rose news first!  :)

What is so exciting and overwhelming?!  I'm glad you asked!

A few Lilla Rose Consultants and I have joined together to create an AWESOME Hostess incentive.  So far, since I have been a Lilla Rose Consultant, I have had 4 Hostesses.  Most of my selling has been via the Farmer's Market.  Three out of the four had parties that were more than $200.  The other... well, not so good.  But it could've been with a little effort on my Hostess's part.  How does this tie in?  Well, all of my Hostesses who have $200 parties from now until the very last day of February, will be eligible for the Hostess incentive.  I've already booked 4 spots and I have only 6 more to fill.  I hope you will be one of my Hostesses!

The Grand Prize winner will receive $700 cash AND a $200 shopping spree with her Consultant, me if you win after Hostessing with me!  There is also a similar second prize and may even be a third prize!  How exciting is that!??  And that, my friend, is all ON TOP of what you'll earn by simply having a $200 Party!  It's a win-win situation.  There really are not many deals that truly are win-win, but this is!

This is the Flexi of the Month for January 2014.

The Flexi is the signature piece of hair jewelry and can be used for scarves as well as a few other things (not just hair).  We also have other pieces of hair jewelry, too.  Something for every lady with any hair and since flexis can be lovely ornaments for scarves... we even have something for ladies with no hair!  :)

I've got a couple giveaways live currently.  Available to all new Lilla Rose Customers.  I hope you'll check them out.  One with Outnumbered and the other with Growing.  Enter both!

I was able to go to market day today!  I'll tell you about it next week.

In other working news... I'm still striving to figure out the whole 'monetizing a blog' thing.  I've earned a little already, which is really encouraging!  I hope you will enjoy all that comes of this effort of mine to create a new stream of income for my family via this place I have nurtured for the last 8 years.  I still love writing here... just hoping to bring in some needed income via this passion of mine!

Crocheting is still on the stove of my mind... sitting in the warming spot, currently (meaning: I've not had any orders recently).  If you'd like me to make something for you, let me know!

I continue to love my Tower Garden.  I haven't spent as much time nurting it as I would like, but it continues to thrive and provide us lovely veggies!  It's also just really cool to look at!

Young Living essential oils are amazing!  I'm so grateful to be a distributor of them!  I've been using various brands of essential oils for more than 7 years now and I think essential oils are, basically, miracle workers.  Young Living has surprised me, even with my "long" experience with EOs!  I don't have a wide variety of the oils yet, but I have used Lavender extensively.  It is SO effective!  I was not expecting to be as impressed as I am.  I've used it on my baby's face when she's almost caught the cough/cold the older children have had and each time (three now), she has immediately recovered!  I've also used it to help me stave off the cold and it has helped my children relax and rest better through the night.  I've had LOTS of neck and back pain the last month and the Lavender EO from Young Living has helped woderfully!  The biggest difference?

Well, with other Lavender EOs I could sorta FEEL it upon application.  It wasn't super hot and it didn't really burn, but it was definitely warm and maybe a little tingly (depending on the brand).  I don't feel anything with YL Lavender... nothing like that, anyway.  I only feel relief that seems to just... appear!  It's been really wonderful!

Bit by bit, I'm working to change all my essential oils over to Young Living oils!!

That's all for now.  Til' next Wedneday when I share more of what I'm working on!  ^_^

This Month's Flexi of the Month is a Peacock

What do YOU think???  You can find it, as well as many other lovely Flexis at My Lilla Rose website.  Make sure you check back here on Wednesday to read about what I'm doing for work... there's something awesome you can participate in... I want you to have a chance at winning an AWESOME prize!!!

Working Wednesday

Another holiday on a Wednesday, so no Market Day today.  Don't you worry, though, I'm working!

I've submitted two pieces to two different blogs and I'll be published later this month.  I've got another piece I'm finalizing and that, too, will appear on yet another blog later this month.  Yes.  Yes, I have been busy!  Thank you for asking!  :)

Although I have been pretty busy, I'm feeling pretty good.  A little on edge at times, but better than I have in situations as potentially stressful in the past.  HEY!  Maybe I'm actually growing up!  That is a hopeful idea!

Crocheting has been going on around here a bit, too.  My girls are excited about learning and doing pretty well with it (the two eldest).  That's exciting for all involved, of course.

So, I'm keeping busy with various things pertaining to those and more.

Oh!  HEY!  If you want to hostess a Lilla Rose Party with me, right now is an AWESOME time to do it.  A few teammates and I have a special incentive going on...  If you hostess and your party qualifies (reaches $200 for this opportunity), then you are entered into an opportunity to win $500 OR MORE!  How awesome is that?!!?   By the way, three out of the four parties I've had so far have finished at more than $200 easily.  The other party... well my hostess really didn't do anything for the party, so it didn't qualify at all.  Let me know if you'd like to be a hostess with me!  You can comment here with your email address, write to my email, or contact me via Facebook.  They all work well to get in touch with me.  :)

Thankful Thursday

I am thankful for abundance.  I'm thankful for mercy and the BIG three (hope, faith and love).  I'm thankful for greater and greater Peace in my heart, mind, and world.  I'm thankful for this crazy thing we call life and the lessons that come with living it.  I'm thankful to be here!

Working Wednesday

The Farmer's Market I've been working is closed today and next week (of course), but I'm still working!

What do I DO?  How do I work?

Thank you for asking!  I'm glad you're interested.  *wink, wink*

I actually have way more work than I can handle. Not all of it falls under the umbrella of "work for money," of course.  I'll stick to that umbrella for now, though.

My efforts to market myself and thus market: my Lilla Rose business, and the other businesses I own are, in large part, spent online.  This blog, Pinterest, Facebook, twitter, my newsletter (you can sign up by entering your email address in the box under "TNJNT newsletter" to the right), picture/graphic alteration and creation, networking, and actual crocheting (which, of course, is not online) take up a huge amount of time.

But what do I DO?

Well, I spend a lot of time in my work space... at my computer.  That time is spent writing posts, which is a time consumer.  I love it.  I love to write.  None-the-less, it eats time.  Making pictures to work with my posts is also time consumptive.  Notice, I haven't had photos with every post for the majority of my blog's life!  I am hoping to go back and add photos to older posts.



My Facebook business page is a time eater.  I love the growing interaction there.  It's been a lot of fun to put out games and enjoy the responses.  I really love seeing what and how people think.  It's just cool.  Anytime you see a picture on that (or any of my pages), you can bet it's taken a while to create them.  I'm so grateful for picmonkey.com and Photobie.  I don't know how I would manipulate pictures if not for those two tools!  What you see on my Pinterest is most often NOT my picture creation. Twitter still befuddles me a bit.  I really don't know the etiquetter of that social media.  I don't post often and have a very poor following because I really don't know what I'm doing there.  That is one of my goals for the new year: to figure that out and increase my followers.

You may not realize it, but for a blogger to get in good with those who pay for what we do (write, review, do giveaways), I need to have good numbers here in my blog as well as the other social media I've mentioned.  It's a lot, I tell ya!

I use and love Pinterest as a photo bookmark more than an idea storage place.  I like the ideas, too, of course.  I just tend to use it to keep track of things I'd like to find again.  For ideas, I've used Pinterest most for recipes.  I like to see what the food is going to look like before I attempt a new recipe.  Is that weird?

Pretty sure I'm missing something, but my brain is mush right now.  I sure would love to hear from you!  Is there some form of social media (or other tool) that you think would help me get out there more?  I sure can use all the help I can get!

A New Giveaway Is Active Now!

Carrie,k at Growing Kid Reviews, says some interesting things.  I'm very pleased!  I hope you'll let me know what you think via a comment here!

Working Wednesday

I stopped these posts because I was just so frustrated about my tent remaining non-functional due to problems replacing a broken part.  The problem is mostly resolved, but not compltely.  It caused another problem, though.  I'm selling indoors for December because I could, at least, do that and I didn't want to miss ANOTHER market day because my tent company couldn't get me the correct part to repair my tent.  The new problem: it's more expensive to sell inside AND inside gets less traffic.

Dec. 4th

 

Dec. 11th

Dec. 11th trying to get baby to smile.

Ria holding baby and our setup on the 11th.

 

 

God has been very good to us and we've had a few sales each time.  Praying for more as we could really use the business and encouragement in business!  If you think to pray for us, I hope you will!  I KNOW prayer works wonders!!!

Gifts for Girls

I have four girls, so I know what mine love!  If you have any ideas, I'd love to hear what gifts YOU think girls would love.

As for mine: My eldest daughter asked for the complete set (books and movies) of Star Wars, a music box, and any series of mytery books.

My second daughter asked for a white dress, boots with fur (what girls doesn't love shoes??), a ballerina doll, a muff or mittens, and a toy pig.
 

My third daughter asked for: jewelry (she specifically wants Lilla Rose so she can set up for sales!  SO awesome!  At 5 she wants to be in business for herself!), yarn and a crochet hook, sewing machine, Chick-Fil-A toy, and a puzzle.

My youngest daughter is 6 months old.  She will get a gift and play with the box more, at least initially... so there's that funny thing about kids.  ^_^

My girls are pretty assured of getting some Flexis for Christmas, so they didn't specifically ask for that.  Flexis are awesome for every girl in your life... little ladies love them as much as older ones.  And they are lovely for anyone.

I'm a girl... but more accurately a woman and more specifically, I hope, a lady.  My wish list includes things that that are behavior more than tangible.  Probably also related to the fact that I'm a Mama!!  ^_^

Working Wednesday #4

I continue to work hard to market myself and my businesses, primarily Lilla Rose.  I am working to increase my efforts at marketing my crocheted items, too.  I've crocheted since I was around 10 years old and am pretty good at it.  I'm even an award winning crocheter, matter-of-fact.  I am very pleased about that bit of info.  ^_^

I didn't get to go to the Volusia County Fairgrounds Farmer's Market last Wednesday because the part for my tent that I received was wrong again.  We ordered a new one and it's STILL wrong.  I'm going to miss my Wednesday market day yet AGAIN.  I'm especially sad about it because the County Fair is going on and that means LOTS more traffic than normal.  Trying to look on the bright side... I was pretty sick on Sunday and Monday.  Maybe I need the break?  Working to resolve this newest problem.

If you like what I do here, I hope you'll check me out on Facebook by searching for TNJNT!  I would love to hear from you here AND there.  I would love to develop a community feeling with you.  As it stands, I don't really feel like I know my audience very well.  I know a few of the ladies who post and comment regularly.  I sure would like to know more of you!  One benefit to you of me knowing you... I can cater what I do to you and for you.  I sure would like to!

These cuties are examples of my work.

You can order these guys in purple (with pink,

as pictured, blue with green, green with blue, and more!)

$15 each plus shipping

drop me a line if you're interested



New Giveaway. Go Enter!

Tammy Trayer at Mountain Woman Journals is AWESOME.  I hope you will check out the review she did for me AND read up in her part of the internet.  She's a lovely person.  I'm blessed to know her and work with her!  Also, enter the giveaway!

Working Wednesday #3

So... remember how my tent sustained some damage last week?  Well, the part did not arrive in time for me to have my first Saturday Farmer's Market day.  It still had not arrived in time for me to return to my regular market day.  Very disappointing in some ways, but probably best.

My children have a little bit of a cold-thing.  Probably a result of too much sugar.  We had two birthdays in just over two weeks and I go against my standard "No" to sugar.  I regret it.  I've also been feeling icky.  Not much externally noticeable, but definitely feeling a depressed immune system.  I've missed my walk for 3 or 4 days because I wake up with a rockin' headache and I have tried walking with one and it was a rotten idea.

I really REALLY "love" sugary things... but I also really REALLY do NOT... especially the effects of them on my body and mind!

So... here's hoping I'll be back at the market next time (which is actually today).  I'd also REALLY like to be able to start my Saturday market!  I sure do hope to gain a customer base and, eventually, be able to run this business exclusively from home.  It's exhausting to worry about getting to market days each week.  I'd still love to do shows and things... just rather not have to do them EVERY week (or multiple times each week).

If you think Lilla Rose is nice, I sure would love it if you'd LIKE my Facebook business page, share stuff from there, and introduce your friends to Lilla Rose... if you'd like to get some Lilla Rose for free, let's have a party!  Even if you live totally far away.  We can do a Facebook party, google hangout party or some combination.  Just write to me through my Facebook business page.

November Flexi of the Month

(they are going fast)



Keep Calm

 

Meditation does wonders, too!