Happy Week - RAKS & Surprises!

I love surprises in the mail and I also love surprising my friends and family with handmade gifts. Creativity is such a wonderful gift we can share with others!

Last month I was collecting funds from our team members that are participating in a local craft fair in September. I received a check from Kelly Graves of WhimsyBeading. Included in the envelope with her check and business cards, was this lovely beaded wish bag. I about fell over from excitement! I was familiar with the wish bags from their etsy site but I had not seen one in person and certainly not one with a fleur de lis in my theme colors! I have shown this off to everyone as it's so unique.


I recently participated in a Pay it Forward type project on Facebook. We simply posted that we would make something during the year for the first five people that signed up. They in turn, would agree to do the same for others, to pay it forward. After doing this, Elayne with ChezChani surprised me with this lovely resin pendant of my logo! How cool is that?? I have it on a purple ribbon and wear it with pride. Elayne's logo is a sunflower and she created one for herself to wear at shows. What a great way to promote your brand!


Our etsy team leader, Libby Goldsmith of Maylees Garden knows I am a big lover of floral scents, especially lilac. She was able to get some lilac oil for me and turn it into a roll-on perfume oil. It's wonderful! Not only because I love the scent, but because she surprised me with it.


So use your creative talent to create a special something for a special someone. Or make little mini art items and leave them at public places for people to find. Stick them in library books, leave them at a bus stop, a nursing home, or in a hospital waiting room. You never know how your creative spirit might lift some one's mood and change their day!

Spread the word about Happy Week and keep the happy spirit alive! For other musings about Happy Week, visit CuriousGirl-Lisa. Her blog has a listing of everyone participating this week!

Lovin the Lilacs - Courtesy of Concord Soap Co.

The smell of lilacs is one of my favorite parts of spring, second would be peonies. When I was single, I had a house with a large lilac tree in the backyard. It was wonderful as I could cut as many branches as I wanted to make the house smell good. I could replace them in my vase each day and take them to work, and never run out. Since I moved, we planted a small lilac bush in our new backyard. It's not very tall, the flowers are small and I hate to cut anything from it since it's so tiny. On my route to and from work, I can tell you everyone that has a lilac blooming in their yard. I have been scoping them out and am tempted to put some snippers in my car. Surely they wouldn't mind! Actually I am guilty of doing that in a business park area where there were lilacs a few years ago. Unfortunately, the city decided to repave the road and the lilacs were in the way of progress. One day I drove by and the whole green island in the middle of the two lanes was dug up. My lilacs were dug up and in a heap of dirt and debris. It was a sad day.

Since it will be years before my small lilac does much of anything, I have resorted to other means. I have found a great etsy shop that is able to provide me with my lilac fix. Check out Concord Soap Company located in Concord, Ohio. Melissa makes some great products. I purchased the lilac soap, the lilac sachet and the lilac lotion stick. If you have not tried lotion bars or sticks, you really need to. They are great to rub on your elbows, knuckles, feet, knees, etc. And the scent is just wonderful. I found Melissa on twitter and signed up for her mailing list for specials. She sent me a sample of an almond amaretto body butter and I can't wait to try it too. Check out her etsy shop!