2 and a half months

Say what! I can't believe Rainbow Designs has been in Murwillumbah for 2 1/2 months already - to say time has flown is an understatement! It only feels like last week that I was unpacking all my boxes and living off M&M's (what's new there though!).

Touch wood - everything has been running smoothly. Toll are just as reliable as they are in Port Macq, the lady at the Post Office is lovely and I've made one trip down to Port Macquarie for a lolly restock (and to catch up with my parents). The only mishap I have had is with a delivery that went to my old address down in Port - thankfully I could organise for it to be collected and redelivered to my new Murbah address.

New tin design We've just got in!

I've recently ordered in a couple of new tin designs, yet to go up on the website, and I love them (hopefully you will too!). I've only got in a small amount to test the waters and if they look like they're going to be a winner I'll get some more in. The designs are a retro styled cassette player tin and a 'dice' tin. I can't wait to show you! I'm thinking I'll use the retro design for the 'Cravings' gift, it sort of fits the old favourites theme - in my mind anyway ;-)

I'm going to have to start looking at Christmas gifts and get them organised as, scarily, it's just around the corner and with the way time seems to be zooming by it'll be here before I know it!

My toaster decided to stop working the other day and I was really looking forward to a crumpet with vegemite! I really liked my toaster too (apart from the 'defrost button' incident a few weeks ago (cue the smoke alarm!). Now I have to use the grill and there's great potential for disaster and the fire brigade being called! Poor me. I haven't thrown the toaster out yet just in case it decides to come back to life.

Orders have been fairly constant but it would be nice to be busier. I thought I has this google organic search thing licked when I checked to see where Rainbow Designs came up in the rankings and we were at number 2 (for gift hampers) but it hasn't equated to any extra orders - disappointing to say the least!

My family and I spent many a Christmas here when we were growing up

So what have you fine folks been up to in the last few months? Anyone moved? Gone on a cruise? Finished your Christmas shopping??

Moving on up

We're moving on up, moving on up......up north. Not north to Alaska but north to Murwillumbah! Hands up who knows where Murwillumbah is? High five to you!

Murwillumbah is on the Far North Coast of NSW (about 20 mins south of the Queensland boarder) and is known for Mt Warning, the Banana Festival and the Austral Cafe! (mmmmmm cheesecake and vanilla milkshake or maybe chips and gravy).

Moving is not fun, do not let anyone tell you otherwise!! Anyone who says it's easy has never moved before or has employed others to do everything. Box everything, unbox everything. Empty the wardrobe, fill the wardrobe. Empty the bookcase, fill the bookcase - good grief, did I live in a library! On a side note: I just went to the local op shop (in search of a dining table) and bought 4 more books! I also found some fabulous chairs, $10 each people!! but someone beat me to them. booo. I digress (but I do love a good op shop outing!).

Ready for the fun to continue! Will it all fit?

Not only did I have to pack up my housey things I also had to pack up Rainbow Designs - lollies, chocolates and boxes galore! Do you know how torturous it is driving your car with a boot load of lollies and not thinking to put some in the front! I organised for a removalist to take the majority of my stuff but didn't trust them with my confectionery goodies (although I didn't really trust myself, I swear those M&M's were calling me on the drive up!) or my precious items, like my gorgeous nan's tea set or my vast array of jugs and salt & pepper shakers. I am a collector NOT a hoarder (do not ask my family to confirm this). ;-)

My house warming gift!

After a few delays I'm finally all bunkered down here in Murbah (it's what us 'locals' call Murwillumbah), Rainbow Designs is all up and running to full capacity and in a fabulous new work room/store room and, as a bonus, the Toll drop off point is just down the road!

I'm still getting use to my new little place and still in need of a dining table and decent bed but other than that I'm all set to conquer the world cook cheese on toast, make my lolly boxes and enjoy the next chapter of mine and Rainbow Designs life.

Head worker bee & chief taste testers desk!

Have you moved recently? Any mishaps? I packed my computer charger in a box the removalists took, yay for smart phone! (not so much 'smart' people)

I'm no chef

I'm not really a fan of cooking, I like food and I like eating just not the cooking. I cook the same things pretty much week in week out which is fine be me. I can eat the same thing 3-4 days in a row, it doesn't bother me, the other people in the household - not so much. They like a different meal every day, thank you very much.

My mum's speciality when cooking a roast (I don't do roasts!) - yorkshire puddings! YUM!

My skills of cooking are stirfrys, slow cookers, beef stroganoff, pasta bolognese, curries (cheating by using a ready made jar or paste!) and I've also discovered pizza - from scratch people, from scratch!

Greek yoghurt and self raising flour (or any flour really) - mix together to form a soft dough. Roll out to a pizza shape, one that fits your oven tray - makes it easier! Spread with tomato paste or bbq sauce or pesto or whatever the heck sauce you like, add you favourite toppings and cheese and whack it in the oven for 15-20 minutes (I usually have my oven set at 180 degress, for everything I cook!). Delicious, even if I do say so myself!

Another thing I managed to make from scratch were some savoury muffins, I know I am an Australian Nigella! I just mixed in a bowl some self raising flour, eggs, milk, cheese, bacon, left over chicken, a dollop of mustard some salt and pepper. Mix until it's a thick consistency so it just blobs off the spoon into your muffin pan - put in the oven (180 degs) for about 30-40 minutes or until lovely and brown on top. Serve with butter or marg or plain - whatever takes your fancy.

Something else that's super easy is a slice of bread pushed into a muffin pan, crack an egg into bread, sprinkle with some bacon and bung in the oven (180 degs) for about 10 mins, depending on how well done you want your egg. Great breakfast/brunch for the family or group of people - easy peasy. I like easy peasy!

Eggs in bread cooked in the oven - easy & delicious

Quiche is another easy dish to make, so another go to when I'm stuck for something easy to make for dinner or a picnic lunch. Add some salad and you're done.

Cheese on toast or toasted sandwiches are another winner - even the kids can make these, which they quite often do when they don't likes what's for dinner!

If all else fails - go the frozen pizza. We prefer Dr Oetker - Ristorante

I also like making meals that don't make too much mess or use to many pots and pans - less washing up!

I'm a wizz at Indian Curries!

So dear Rainbow Designers, what are your go to meals? Are you a Jamie Oliver or more a Pataks and Maggi kinda cook?

This was one of my nan's 'go to' meals!

Z is for...Zero

Zero motivation to keep my business going. Nada, none, zip. It's going nowhere fast. Zippitydooda zippityaye my oh my what a craptastic day.

This is how I feel sometimes, not all the time but sometimes. It can really get you down and make you feel like you can't get any lower but then, bing, out pops an order and another one and before you know it, the motivation is back baby!

I've started the week guns ablazin' and full steam ahead and just got on with things. Writing blog posts for one and scheduling some facebooks posts for another. I've ordered some more stock and tidied my little store room. (how does it get so messy??)

I've got M&M's on my desk and a huge bottle of water, the house is clean and the pantry is stocked. I've got meals in the freezer and wine in the fridge. There's a shelf full of books to read and plenty of Dr Who DVD's to keep me occupied when the orders are slow. My meager savings account is slowly but surely growing and I'll be on my next cruise before I know it!

Carnival Spirit

So when the going gets you down just stand up, stretch those arms of yours and sing 'it's all about the base, bout the base, no treble' at the top of your lungs, take a swig of your water (or wine if it's after 5pm) and breath! You are amazing and don't you forget it!

Now go and eat some chocolate, pronto!

Y is for...Yum

Yum - this is a word I hear and use a lot, goes with the territory I suppose! Our gifts are full of yummy lollies, yummy chocolate, yummy fudge, yummy wines and even some yummy beer (not so much for me but we've sold enough to know there are a LOT of beer lovers around!).

My most favourite chocolate is Fry's Turkish Delight, Nestle Crunch and Mars M&M's - I can't choose just one (please don't judge me!). In our Cravings - Pick and Mix gift we have well over 40 types of confectionery to choose from and without a doubt M&M's are one of THE most popular chooses. I am not surprised. They are yummy! (although there are a few 'Smartie' fans that would disagree!). Milk chocolate freckles, jellbabies and redskins are other very popular choices. To be honest there aren't too many that aren't popular.

Over the years I've had a few failures in the lolly selection area (sugar free & dairy free to name a couple) but all in all, if it's a lolly and it's yummy people will buy them. (and eat them)

Yum!

I've also tried a few other hamper style gifts using Cadbury and Nestle chocolate bars but for some reason, which still baffles me, they didn't prove to be too popular. Don't get me wrong we sold quite a few but not like I had hoped or expected so end in the end we had the yummy task of eating the leftover stock. Don't you feel bad for us ;-) This has to be one of the best perks of my business, eating the stock - I mean 'taste testing' and 'quality controlling' the stock - yum.

If you had to pick just one of our YUMMY gifts which one would it be??? Would you go for the all chocolate one or maybe the Tasmanian Fudge Hamper or possibly you're more a savoury person and would pick the Maggie Beer Hamper or you love a bit of everything and would go the whole hog with our absolutely magnificent All You Can Eat Hamper? Decisions, decisions but at least they're yummy decisions!

Fabulous Tasmanian Fudge Hamper

A week away - Mother's Day!

Sunday, a day of rest and relaxation (for most!) and NEXT Sunday (May 10) is a day of celebration for mother's across Australia because it's Mother's Day - hooray!

Breakfast in bed is a must! Tea and toast or maybe bacon and eggs, cereal more your mum's things? How about pancakes with lashings of butter, maple syrup and scrambled eggs and some freshly squeezed orange juice (or just from the bottle). Include a hand made card and then top it off with a (wait for it) 'perfect for your mum' gift hamper from Rainbow Designs!

We've got quite a few for you to choose from and we're confident you'll find just what your mum loves. Is it tea and cake for her well deserved morning sit down or maybe it's a box of all her favourite chocolates for when she's watching her favourite shows (Rex in Rome and White Collar!) or possibly her favourite tipple - wine, bubbly or maybe she's a rebel and loves her scotch! What ever you mum's favourite, just for her she deserves it, thing in the whole world is - we're here to help.

Place your order and include a heartfelt message for the gift tag, which we'll neatly hand write for you, and then sit back and wait for the 'oh my goodness, you are the best son/daughter a mother could ever have!'. You've only got a week left so you need to get your order in now.

Here are a few hamper ideas to help you:

This sweet gift hamper is just $50 and is made for the mum with a sweet tooth. It's filled only with sugary goodies, perfect to say 'you are super sweet mum'.

Little Sweetie Gift Hamper

or we have the Cravings - Pick Your Mix gift. So you get to pick your mum's favourite mix of lollies and/or chocolates. Now who's the favourite child?? This yummy gifts is just $40.

Cravings - Pick Your Mum's Mix

I'm tossing up between the Afternoon Tea Hamper and the Executive Gift Hamper for my mum. They both include some wine (or bubbly) and a raft of delectable goodies to satisfy any hardworking mum. Maybe I'll just have to get her both??

Executive Gift Hamper

What are you planning for your mum?

X is for...Xerox

Xerox - a copy, a duplicator

Glad I found a word starting with X that I could use, I was starting to think I'd have to share some of the families x-rays!

I've been copying and copied in business since I began. I didn't invent gift boxes or hampers and never professed to have what I did was get ideas from other businesses and went with it. I lent towards the sweeter side of gifts as I am a very unapologetic CHOCOHOLIC! I had seen on a website relating more to travel than gifts, selling a gift box of lolly bananas and snakes and that's where the spark of an idea started. I 'copied' their idea and turned it into Rainbow Designs :-)

For the first few years all of my gifts were made and sent by me and all were someway lolly or chocolate based. I did try a few alternate gifts which bombed. haha. So they didn't last long! Then after being in business for about 2-3 years I approached a couple of gift hamper business with the proposal of 'drop shipping' their hampers, or some of the hampers. I didn't want to copy their hampers I wanted to use their hampers as I knew they knew what they were doing and didn't think I could improve them anyway. After a few hiccups and misadventures I am now working with one (fantastic) gift hamper business who produce amazing hampers of which my customer have become to order regularly and love. They do differ from my sweet tooth theme I originally started out with but, for the most part, they all have some sort of relationship to confectionery, sweetness, chocolate or lollies.

Nuts About Sweets - $60 delivered

Copying outright with no regard or thought the the originator of an idea or product is just plain wrong and rude! It takes a LOT of time, money and guts to produce something only for it to been stolen and copied by someone else. It's also very heartbreaking when it happens and can be quite damaging to, not only your business but you confidence! If you like someone's business, idea, product, name etc DON'T steal it or copy it, contact them and see if there is maybe a way of working with them or incorporating it into your business. I have found it so rewarding and beneficial working with another hamper company than 'xeroxing' their ideas. For me it was a logical way to expand my products without having to outlay a truck load of money or need a huge storage space plus it stopped any temptations! (something of which my M&M's know only too well!)

The success I have had with working with my drop ship hamper business has been leading me down the path of just focusing on my Hampers and only having my 'sweet tooth' inspired gifts available during Christmas and Easter. This will leave me time to pursue other ideas and job opportunities without having to sell or close Rainbow Designs. Who knows? But it's definitely something worth thinking about.

Don't Xerox.
Collaborate, Innovate,  Inspire, Enjoy, Share.