We Made It!

wow.....our first real christmas on etsy......whew! let me be the first to tell you, it was crazy! leading into the holiday rush, we were fortunate enough to have several big features. this started the craziness the first couple of weeks of november....and it didn't let up until just this last monday! so, with our extra time on our hands this week, we have been resting, and spending quality time with the fur~babies. We also had our first home~cooked meal since before my trip to LA in October! We are so very thankful to all our holiday shoppers and customers who have made this last year wonderful! This downtime has lead us into thinking about what our goals are for the next year.....and of course, we want it to be even more fabulous than this last year! ......so, it's time to put some goals into place!

and these are in no specific order, just things i have on my mind going into the new year!

~get organized. the seasonal frenzy around the christmas holiday was only exacerbated by the fact that we moved into our new production studio and business office the very first week of november. we NEVER would have survived this holiday if we had not moved. but, with that timing came obstacles of having no time to get things exactly how we wanted them in the new space. so, we are going to be spending some time getting everything just right to be more productive in the new year. One of our biggest organizational projects is getting the labels back under control! i know that many people don't think about the time it takes and the organizational task our labels require, but, it's a monster that could easily be a full~time job for someone! we have thousands of labels to design, cut out, and organize on a regular basis, and i plan on utilizing some of the quieter times to tackle this big mess we call 'the labels' we have cabinets like the one shown here, but, as our product line grows with the addition of mineral make~up, we will likely be adding more. you can find this wonderful cabinet at UnexpectedParTie on etsy!

~mineral make~up expansion! ok, funny story. i've been playing around in mineral make~up for awhile. and, really, just hesitating about making the leap. not out of fear of it not being successful, but more out of not wanting to commit to it yet, when we were trying to also focus on getting existing orders fulfilled, managing the move to the studio, and trying to get our turnaround times looking better....which THAT is a whole other goal we will talk about later! recently, though, we went to the ONE and only holiday function i could commit myself to, in this crazy season, and because i didn't have my 'color' of foundation on hand, i grabbed a foundation from a local drugstore. fifteen minutes into the function, my partner says 'your face is green! why is your jaw green?!?!' well, most of you know that i'm on a million medications, and one of them can cause major jaw problems resulting in serious infections. so, within 20 minutes time, as my jaw is turning more green by the minute, a gathering of about 6 people have all determined that i simply MUST get to my doctor's office straight away. all of this stress caused perspiration, to which i dabbed at with a paper towel. my green face was now coming off on the towel. yep. my chemistry, which is so delicate to body care and make~up, was now reacting with the so~called all~natural mineral makeup from physicians formula that i picked up so conveniently at CVS. moral of this story, only use OUR tried and true stuff, then my face won't turn green! We've already started listing our new hand~blended minerals in the shop, with many more colors coming soon!

and finally, but certainly not the last goal for the new year, but probably our most important and urgent goal, is focusing on turn~around time. this last season, we were behind most of the time, and we are so thankful to all of you who patiently waited! we are going to focus on fine~tuning our processes so that we can deliver the same fabulous quality, in less time! {you can find this fabulous clock at LucyandEllen on etsy}


add to these goals, two additional 'little' tasks....phbbbblt {insert raspberry here}, i am promising to TRY to keep up the blog better, and updates via our mailing~list.....i know. this is always part of my new year's resolutions, and, since we all know resolutions are made to be broken, i'm NOT putting them on the resolution list this year. nope! instead, they are flat out added to the goals for the first quarter. remember, it takes 21 days to make a habit....or so Mr. Harris, my high school science teacher said, so, you may get sick of all the blogging, networking, and overall shameless promotion, but, if i don't get started, it can't become a habit!

so, here's to a fabulous beginning in 2011....both personally and professionally, and i look forward to creating many more wonderful treats for us all to be pampered with in the new year! blessings, love, and light, ophelia