Bittersweet and the little soap company

Holi-DAYS...

 I took this picture last night of the little storage shed Lennis built for me several years ago. I was going to toss the shot seeing  how distorted and twisted and out of focus it was, then I thought about my day yesterday, and realized this shot reflects the kind of day I had yesterday. 

It started out like any other day, although I did have one of those weird inner sight feelings to stay home, but ignored those intuitive feelings and scurried out the door. So much to do you know with Christmas coming!

Dropped by my bank to make a deposit. The friendly bank clerk, Juanita, always smiling, always happy, she's a jewell. Proceeded up the hill to head to the Vintage Market, oh, this is slick I thought to myself as I skidded toward the stop light. Just sitting, thinking, waiting for the light to change and, BAM! Not again!  I think to myself. Step out, look at the guy that hit me,  look at my little car and his big JEEP and see my little bumper cracked from end to end. Thinking, I knew I should have stayed home today, I just knew it!

Then later that day, I am desperately looking for a T. Gift Card I purchased last week. No card, anywhere, money just tossed out the door! Depressed!!

Lennis was off and talked me into going Christmas shopping, thought it would cheer me up. Stopped by J.C.---- to pick up a comforter that Patrick had requested on his Christmas list. Write a check out of my business account and hand it to the nice girl, and hear her say, "sorry Mam, we don't take company checks"! "Oh really, I say in astonishment, because I'm thinking to myself, why on earth not?" Lennis came to my rescue on this one.

Feeling a little down, I told Lennis I just wanted to go home... I'm expecting a coffee order to arrive today, and should probably be there when it comes. Later that day, all day, into night, no coffee. Orders will have to wait!

After unwinding that late afternoon and reflecting on the day, I began to ponder some thoughts, you know how I am!

My first thought was, what if that guy knocked me harder, then I would have been bumped into the heavy traffic into the major highway, and probably would not be telling you about my day yesterday.

Second thought, I think I'll check out T's web site and see what kind of policy they have on their gift cards. Low and behold that red and white colored company honors lost and stolen cards, wow!

Third, I realized my bad day makes so many others bad days look like a vacation! I'm going to call my coffee customers and tell them the coffee will be in tomorrow!

Fourth, after taking that picture last night, I also took this one.

 
 This shot better sums up how I feel now!

Enjoy caring and sharing holi-DAYS.

Happily,

Jill 00 (Two hugs are better than one)
 

Holiday Happiness, and Thank You...

The Bittersweet Holiday Open House was wonderful!

I 'm sorry there aren't more pictures, but the studio was hopping and bopping with Holiday Cheer and I just didn't have any extra time.

I did mangage to get this shot of my first customers, Julie and her lovely daughter before it got crazy.

I believe this picture sums up the entire holiday event. Happy faces, warm hearts, tender greetings, and a joyous day among friends.

Thank you to all that attended. It truly means a great deal to me that you took time out of your busy day to stop by.

Merry Christmas to all, and to all a good night!

Enjoy caring and sharing holidays.

Happily,

Jill 00 (Two hugs are better than one)

HOLIDAY OPEN HOUSE

  Home baked cookies and Bittersweets fresh brewed coffee served

We hope to see you there!

Happily,

Jill 00

Enjoy caring and sharing holidays...

A Christmas Story...

I thought it to be an appropriate time to share with you a recent Christmas story.

Every year about this time I'm presented with a brief caring and sharing moment I believe is directed to me for a reason. A moment that could easily fall under the way side if I so chose, but  I've learned not to ignore these moments, but rather cherish them and  honor them and make these moments a part of my Christmas tradition.

I hope you enjoy this story...

The recent Vintage Market show brought more than the anticipated occurrences. Little did I know this Market  would stand out from  others in a most caring and sharing way. What I call a perfect beginning to holiday wishes.

Into my second day of arranging my little boutique at the VINTAGE MARKET and  I'ts mid morning.   I over hear a young man talking in front of the store. He says he's here to wash the  windows. " I usually  have a tall guy that comes, but he isn't here today." he says.

 I walk toward the front of the store and say to the young man, "Well, you are pretty tall, much taller than my son."  "How old is your son"? he asks.  As I  tell him he quickly proceeds to pull out his wallet and show me pictures of his baby boy. "He's eight months old,"  he says. You can see in his face as he continues to share other pictures of the little boy how proud and happy he is. I tell him  that he's  going to have a wonderful Christmas with his family.

The young man replies,"I don't know if it will be that great of a Christmas for my family as I can not afford to buy my wife or my baby a Christmas present!" I looked into his caring eyes and said without hesitation, "you will!"

I walked back into the store and continued to merchandise my space and as I did  pondered the words the young boy had just said. The thoughts of caring and sharing had not quite entered my mind,  and then I realized, this was my "Caring and Sharing" moment! I thought to myself how sad this kid  must feel to not be able to present his wife and baby with just one Christmas gift!

I grabbed a postcard with store hours and information and walked toward the door towards the boy. I knew exactly what I was going to say and do at that moment. I also knew that just as years past, this was my caring and sharing opportunity moment sent to me from GOD. I'm blessed with one every Christmas!

I hand the boy the card and tell him to come back during store hours and pick out items for his wife. Unfortunately I did not have baby gifts, but plenty of  items I think his wife would like. "Does your wife like to cook?" "How about coffee, does she like coffee?" "Oh and hand-made soap, everyone likes those, right?"

The next day around noon or so I notice the boy walks in. I greeted him and directed him towards my boutique. We filled his bag with Christmas goodies "Now you mustn't allow her to see this stuff before Christmas", I say. He says, oh no, I have a great hiding place!  

I quickly became busy and the "caring and sharing" moment faded away. I just recently pondered the account, and thought how wonderful it was.

I hope this story gets you more in the spirit of Christmas!

Happy Thanksgiving to you and yours.

Enjoy caring and sharing holidays.

Happily,

Jill 00 (Two hugs are better than one)

Sneak Peek...

 

Vintage Market, Company's Coming!

My little boutique is anxiously awaiting company!

Tomorrow night, 6-9 marks the preview night, and then all day Friday and Saturday, 10 - 9, long day, but looking forward to it. It rolls in a change and helps me get more excited about the holidays.

 
 
 

A sneak peak at Bittersweets little corner.

Hop on a plane and come and see me!

Enjoy caring and sharing holidays.

Happily,

Jill 00 (Two hugs are better than one)

A lighter approach

 
This holiday season Bittersweet will be taking on a lighter approach with their designs. I'll probably carry those less than more thoughts through to my personal seasonal decor too.

Those lighter feelings seem to be shared by others too. I have noticed more and more,  shops and little boutiques are merchandising with much less these days. I can't hide those feelings and thoughts that current days are challenging for a great number of people. Some have lost their homes, jobs and livelihoods. Men and woman continue to secure our great country, for us, only for us! 

I would be lying if I told you that I was not concerned about our current state of nation. As a small business owner that feeds my family from the fruits of my labor, I am always focused and concerned about the future at hand.  

Wait, I don't want you to get the wrong idea here!

My concern..

I want to continue to live in a country that is the home of both ,"the land of the free, and the home of the brave." Just as our founding fathers intended, without either, our country would not be any where that it is today! Just my personal thoughts friends...

My ideals center around those two words, and probably always have. Even when I didn't put much thought into the subject, those two words always stood tall in the back of my mind.  

Bittersweet continues to survive as a small business through  hard work.  That has never changed, regardless of what the economy is doing. Those old sayings like, "the early bird gets the worm", and "hard work pays off", aren't just made up phrases. They hold true in most  business ventures, and I'm sure were written by a small business owner! I work harder owning my own business than I ever did working for someone else! You small business owners know how it works!

There are so many things to be thankful for in our country. Our founding fathers knew what they were doing!

We mustn't forget those two important words in our national anthem. They mean a great deal and should not be taken lightly.

As the holiday season approaches, less is more will continue to be in my thoughts. We mustn't forget, the most important things in life aren't from holding something in your hand, and less of course it is a hand!

Enjoy caring and sharing days.

Happily,

Jill 00 (Two hugs are better than none)    

Brown Paper Wrappings

 
Remember when I mentioned the package wrappings? I have always been fond of the old-fashioned brown paper wrap. Quite possibly just because of the brown color and the simplicity, yeah, I believe that's probably it.

The picture above shows the brown wrappings embellished with dried hydrangeas from my garden. Then I've tied the present with brown velvet ribbon, love that! This package is a merchandise prop for the upcoming Market Show. There will be several, all wrapped in the natural kraft paper softly embellished with pine cones, hydrangeas, and pine stems sitting amongst the Bittersweet Holiday Collection.

This is a prototype and a picture of the continued natural look only with the new/recycled containers I picked up on my recent outing.

The boxy containers are perfect for housing a pound of aromatic bath crystals, wouldn't you agree?

Soap wrapping assembly line is getting underway and at a constant steady flow.

By the way, I finally stopped in the post office and got the shipping low down on overseas cookbook fees. I spoke with a live p.o. person and we calculated shipping. It appears $9 will cover most areas. I will send you a separate invoice after you place your order on the web site. Thanks again for the cookbook love. I know you will enjoy the recipes in this book.

Oh too.. I have not forgotten about those signed thank you cookbooks. It will be closer to the holidays before I get them to you. Kind of my little Christmas gift to you!

Enjoy caring and sharing Autumn days.

Happily,

Jill 00 (Two hugs are better than one)

Displays and some scanner fun

I began working on some in house Christmas displays at the studio yesterday. Mainly wanted to get some photo opts for the web site so that Bittersweet can offer their holiday soaps a little earlier this season. 

Really am digging the embroidered sign,  just because its easy to place/hang, here and there.
Lot's of things going on and some surprising twists to share with you later.

I really do want to show you my recent attraction now though, scanner fun.

The other day I was looking for a background to design a postcard for a client. Even though my library has thousands of backgrounds to choose from, I could not find the perfect one, you know fastidious, love that word! I decided to mess around with some vintage fabric and trims and scan the textiles to use as background. 

Although I have scanned fabric remnants before, I had never scanned vintage pieces. It was so much fun! I really like the way the scanner picks up the details, the tiny fibers and the imperfections.

 Isn't that fabric detail snazzy?

Another soap making day, rainy and cool , cold this morning, a good day to make soap!

Closing the Saturday Studio this Saturday and planning an all day Flea market rendezvous. This is one of my favorite shows and the one  I go to every Autumn. Looking for a few little things, always excited and anticipate going to this flea cause I always find great stuff. I'll be sharing, if I find some worthy goods.

Soap wrap assembly line coming soon!

Enjoy caring and sharing Automne days.

Happily,

Jill 00 (Two hugs are better than one)
  
 

Christmas Joy

The other day when I drove downtown I stopped by my friend Alan's flower shop to visit and wish him, Happy Holidays. 

The little elves in the back of the shop were busy plucking evergreen branches and holly branches and putting together beautiful holiday table arrangements. Alan always has the prettiest poinsettias!

There were red ones and coral colored poinsettias, pink ones, white ones, all so  pretty. He told me to pick one out and they would deliver it to my house. Oh my gosh, I like this one and that one, and oh look at this one!

I couldn't pick one, I liked them all!

Later that day after I went home there was a knock on the door. Wrapped safely inside plastic to protect it from the winter cold air was this beautiful PINK POINSETTIA. 

   

Thanks Alan, you're the best! MERRY CHRISTMAS!

Enjoy caring and sharing holidays.

Happily,

Jill 00 (Two hugs are better than one)

Red Velvet, Cake that is..

  

Doesn't' this cake look Christmas yummy?

My favorite day besides Christmas, Christmas Eve.My family comes to our house and we have a nice dinner, open gifts, and just sit and converse with one another. 

Yes, the simple things in life are the best, I believe!

Kind of like that picture of "Red Velvet" cake above. 

I thought this year I'd serve this traditional old-fashioned cake for desert. Did you know that there are 6 Tablespoons of red food coloring in this cake recipe? 

The Christmas Eve Menu, 2008, oops

Honey Glazed Pork Tenderloin

Stephenson's Green Rice, a family favorite

Twice Baked Potatoes 

Raisin Broccoli Salad

Crusty Beer Bread

My mouth is watering as I typed the last entry.

Lot's of in and out's, I know you will be busy preparing your Christmas home too.

Enjoy caring and sharing holidays.

Happily,

Jill 00 (Two hugs are better than one)