A Couple of more books, Easter eggs and a Lizard

Another warm and humid day greeted me yesterday, this meant big hair (don't care) and time to do some washing! I have mentioned before how exciting life is for a small business owner haven't I?! I also made another trip to the library (I had an appointment at the council which is just next door to the library) and returned a couple of books I'd finished (Maeve and Ellen's book - both books I did enjoy to a certain extent but probably wouldn't recommend them. Maeve's book mainly because it's short stories and I'm not a fan of short stories, they're like the beginning of what could be a wonderful novel but then the author just seems to give up. Ellen's book was just short chapters of nothingness really, it does have some funny anecdotes but for the most part it's filled with nothing. I thought it was going to be an actual story of her life, it's not.) The two new books I borrowed, I've still got a couple to read from the other day, are 'The Hurricane Sisters by Dorothea Benton Frank' and 'A Mother's Story by Rosie Batty'. I did hesitate getting this book as it's obviously going to be a sad and tragic read but I know how strong and resilient Rosie is so I am hoping I will get to know more about her and how she has coped with the loss of her son at his fathers hands. Gulp.

Yesterday afternoon as I was faffing away on the computer I heard a noise and my front door rattle. I go and have a look and there's a water dragon clinging to it, thankfully on the outside! If it was inside you would have heard me screamed! Just the other day a much smaller baby water dragon was on there, I'm thinking this maybe his older bother or sister! There are often lizards wandering around the garden and a couple of times I've encountered them in the car park at the local shopping centre - didn't I move fast!!

An unexpected visitor!

A few Easter orders came in over the weekend which is great but I do hope (fingers tightly crossed) that a few more come in. It's always so hard to gauge how many Easter Eggs to order, here's hoping we got it right this year! There's only really a couple of more weeks for Easter gift sending but I know from previous years people tend to leave ordering to the last minute so am anticipating a very busy Easter week. 

Just Chocs with added Easter Eggs! - $33 delivered.

Time to pop the kettle on, make sure the flycreen door's securely closed and then head out to a couple of meetings I have in town.

Jacqui ~ Rainbow Designs boss(y) lady who's not a fan of unexpected visitors (especially if they don't have any chocolate)

Working towards goals

I've set many a goal in my time and to be honest most of the time I never reach the goal - oops. This year I have one main goal (getting Rainbow Designs back on track) which leads to having reasons why I MUST achieve this goal. Not the least of which is, quite obviously, eating and paying bills BUT I also have other reasons why I want Rainbow Designs to get back on track. These are things I am focusing on to give me the MOTIVATION I really, truly need to get things happening.

All You Can Eat - an amazing variety of the products that go in our hampers!

When I start thinking 'this is too hard' or 'what's the point' I look to the things I want to be able to do to push me on. To make me get up every morning and get on with things. It's never been a walk in the park and I can't imagine it ever will be but it has been getting harder and harder to keep going. I woke this morning with the intention of letting go of the negative thoughts and to try, try, try and focus on what I need to do for my business (and my sanity!). I know I'll have down days (I'm just wired like that) BUT I am going to try so very hard to limit them and limit how much they affect me and my attitude to Rainbow Designs (and life in general really).

Sydney - Smooth Festival of Chocolate!

My biggest motivation is my family and being able to spend time with them doing 'fun activities'. I think they all start to get a bit nervous when I mention a 'fun activity' now as the last few haven't been 'fun'. Well, they have but not necessarily for everyone or when it was actually happening - great memories though. The last 'fun activity' I planned was with my mum climbing a bridge - mum is terrified of heights so lets just say not much 'fun' was had by her that day. (sorry mum) We can laugh about it now and even though during the climb mum wasn't having any fun at all the time we got to spend together is irreplaceable. We've even got some photos so if mum tries to block it from her memory I can whip out the photo album and remind her all over again :-) ha ha

The dreaded bridge! It's not that high mum.

I've been lucky to have had many fabulous holidays and weekends away but am now paying for it or more accurately still paying for them - gaaaaaa. I've always tried to justify using credit saying that I'll be able to pay it off in no time as the business is trucking along ok but in reality this hasn't been the case. Boo. So for now 'fun activities' are to be in the 'dreaming and planning' book to hopefully transfer over to the 'things we're doing' book.

Over the past few weeks we've added our Easter range plus a few new 'all purpose' hampers plus in the coming months we'll be adding some more fabulous hampers - which I am very much looking forward to. In the mean time I am focusing hard on being more regular with my blogging as well as Facebook - my main trouble is working out what to talk about and what to share both on the block and Facebook. I know I need to promote Rainbow Designs and her gifts but I also want to add other 'stuff' in the mix so it's not just a sales pitch day on day out. Nobody's got time for that! A balancing act which I am still learning even after 13 years running Rainbow Designs.

If you have any suggestions or ideas for our blog or Facebook or have any questions you think I might be able to help with please let me know - I'll try my best :-)

Jacqui ~ Rainbow Designs boss(y) lady and fun activities officer!

Easter Crafts

We know that Easter isn't too far away as all of our Easter goodies have already arrived in-store ready for you to place your orders.  Check them out - they look scrumptious.  From filled chocolate Easter eggs to a gingerbread Easter egg and everything in between, my mouth is definitely watering.

Easter is definitely one of my favourite celebrations.  While admittedly it is just as commercial as Christmas from a non-religious perspective (albeit without the huge price tag), it is centred around one of my favourite subjects - chocolate.  What would life be like without chocolate around - dull, right? 

Easter is also a fun time to make some fun crafts with the kids and celebrate the beauty that the holiday has to offer.  And I do have a few favourites to share with you.

Try these Easter Glass Stained Windows for a start.  These faux stained-glass decorations look great on the window and give the kids an opportunity to show off their awesome creativity.

Or how about a cute cottontail bunny rabbit made from - what else - cotton wool?  A little delicate for a daily playmate, however he/she would look great as a centrepiece in an Easter basket or Easter display.

Decorating eggs of course has become tradition these days, so here are a couple of fun examples with a pretty floral theme.  The first involves colourful decoupage flowers and the second, courtesy of Martha Stewart, involves decoupage of beautiful botanical images although any image of course can be used. 

Let your imagination fly as you sit down and do your Easter crafts this year.

Don't forget that Good Friday is April 18 so all Easter orders should be placed by Tuesday 15 April to guarantee an early delivery.

We Have Been Busy

You may not realise it, but in between the taste testing and the product ordering, we actually do some real work around here.  In fact we have been as busy as a bunny in preparation for the Easter Bunny’s arrival next month.  If we left it to the Easter Bunny to do the work for us, we might be in a spot of bother so we take it upon ourselves to restock the shelves with suitable gifts in which the ‘big bunny’ himself would approve.

I have a special sweet spot for those delicately filled Easter Eggs (especially those Turkish Delight eggs) and I particularly love the range of Easter gifts we have this year.  We welcome back old favourites and have introduced a few new treats to see in the Easter celebrations.

Is it a busy time for you in your business?  We had our brief reprieve over the Christmas and New Year period but ever since we have returned to work in 2014, it has been foot on the throttle and go-go-go!  Not that I am complaining, mind you!  I enjoy being busy especially as we enter our 10th year in business – and what a year it has been so far.

We welcomed new customers and many old ones and have sought to give each one that extra special VIP customer care that we are known for.

“Excellent communication - I was kept up to date with the entire order and delivery progress the whole way. Super quick delivery. Faultless! Will definitely use again!” – Christina B

So browse our range, and have a look at the goodies we have available.  We like to keep you on your toes and always have something new up our sleeve to surprise you with.  You are thinking Easter and I have Mother’s Day in my head – it pays to keep one step ahead.