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HELLO AGAIN...

Hi there, thank you all for your warm wishes of wellness.  Contrary to popular belief I did not kick the bucket, I just felt like I should have.  It has been a grueling couple of weeks and the worse part of it all?  I didn't lose one freakin' pound!  How is  that humanely possible?  I couldn't eat for nearly 2 weeks, I thought I would come out of this whole ordeal the new Kate Moss, but noooo, I am just weak and flabby.  Obviously, Saltine crackers and Gatorade have more calories than one anticipated (this one).  Urgh, I am so livid!  I know I should be grateful for my health but since it is still nominal, I feel it's okay to be cranky and annoyed at my lot in life.  I am hoping that I will be able to continue writing my blog on a daily basis again soon as I know that there are a lot of people at work that need a diversion and I don't want to let you down...

SO SORRY...

I haven't forgotten about you and my blog, I just had a small case of death or something similar.  Perhaps Malaria or some other exotic painful disease whatever it has been it has been far worse than the flu and as bad as severe food posioning combined with migraine brainaches to round off the sickness cocktail.  I promise to be back soon, I am just able to sit up  now but it may not last long...

HAPPY B. DAY CARD....

I know my shop is barren of birthday cards and I get requests to add them all the time, but for right now I haven't felt very birthday creative.  I do know that Birthday's roll around and then I am scrambling for a card and then what?  This will be your emergency birthday card.  It will take a little work, you'll have to print, cut, embellish and add your own envelope but it will be worth it when the person who receives it is surprised and flattered that you remembered their birthday!

Emergency Birthday Card

 

PUBLIC SHOWER ANNOUNCEMENT...

What is this ugly looking device?  Well, it is practically one of the best inventions on earth!  This little ugly saved me from stringy hair and developing soap scum on my body.  Prior to this I had zero shower pressure, yes, nada, rien, zip.  I live in a very old building and with the beauty of arched doorways, hardwood floors and other lovely bits of character I had water pressure that made the idea of washing with the garden hose a real possibility.  My future mother in-law mentioned she got this showerhead at Sharper Image and now she takes showers that blow her across the room.  I couldn't believe this was possible for a mere $30 investment?  I thought maybe she didn't know what bad water pressure was, she didn't realize that I would have an easier time trying to rinse my hair when it was raining outside than using my so-called shower.  I decided to take the plunge and bought me an oxygen shower head.  Now I have showers that would make a firehose jealous.  I am not kidding, there's a little knob on the side that you can adjust the flow if the water is ***gasp*** too strong.  If you too are dealing with no water pressure, what are you waiting for?  Clean hair and skin await you here...   

SEPERATED AT BIRTH....

There used to be an article back when I was a kid in 'Mad' Magazine called 'Separated at Birth', (or something like that, I was a kid a very, very, looong time ago).  It would show one celebrity and then another completely un-related that bore a funny resemblance to each other.  I still play this game in my head and sometimes with my Fancy, if I see someone on TV I will say' Don't they look like...".  This of course annoys him to no end.  Since I spend so much time alone with my dogs, I often start to think that they look like people are things.  For instance in this shot:

I felt like Bella bore an uncanny resemblance to Sir Winston Churchill...

And this the Joker...

See the resemblance???

How Grinch is this mug???

 

But most of the time she looks like a baby panda to me...

Who do I think G.G. resembles?

I think she rather looks like this:

Sometimes though she reminds me of this:

This game is always good for hours of entertainment, you should try it some time...

FLY GIRL...

What is this magnificent notebook you may ask?  Well, it is a MODOFLY, laser-etched Moleskin!  Modofly is a collaboration of two fellow artist/designers that are using both the iconic Moleskin and laser technology as their medium.  They will be working with other artists to produce new editions and guess what?  Yup, they chose lil' ol Miss B. for the 2nd round of books!  I am thrilled, honored and flabbergasted!  How cool is this?  It feels like I won the Lotto, really it does!  My designs haven't been chosen yet but I am really hoping that the monkeys swinging from the chandelier make the cut as they make me smile whenever I see them.  I like the new butterfly faux specimen plates as well.  They are faux because they are not actual plates, I put them together in fact I think one of my 'butterflies' may be a moth but hey, it was pretty and looked good in the line-up...I am thinking of adding some faux Latin the next round something like: Butterfliest Maximus  or I dunno, I haven't gotten that far in my thought process....

I am open to suggestion though....If you would like to see more of the Modofly emporium you can stop by their shop here.

LOVE AT FIRST SIGHT...

I have been in love with this piece of furniture from French company Grange, since the day I first laid eyes on it.  It's so simple in it's appeal and such an easy d.i.y. project that I could do with all my furniture (If that's the route I was going to go...)

No not the intricate woodworking or the lacquered ebony but that flash of unexpected color.  It just thrills the color phobe in me.  It means I can have the best of both worlds a classic piece with color that can be put away when I am not feeling that racy.  My problem then was what color?  This hot pink was looking pretty good but that would be so out of left field for me and I don't know if that would work on a full-time basis.  I considered a sunshine yellow as yellow is always happy right?  How could I go wrong with a dash of yellow?  I went to the store and then got cold feet, I couldn't do yellow, but a very pretty blue-ish green is always something that I feel comfy with--yes, please move me inside the Tiffany box and I would be right at home...

So this is what my drawers look liked prior:

They looked so old, depressing cheap motel-esque.  I actually do open my drawers quite often as this piece is what houses my supplies in the studio.  So imagine my new little thrill when I open them now and see this:

Yes, it's the little things in life that make one happy, no?  I know it's lame and I know it's not the Grange piece, but it' s my little surprise and I am just thrilled with the end results.  I used Benjamin Moore's 'Scuba' in an enamel finish.  You don't need an enamel finish, I'm sure a semi-gloss would work just as well, I was trying for extra, extra shiny, but enamel is like painting with tar, near impossible.  I do think the color turned out a little more green than I imagined (probably because I didn't use a primer, hey I was excited to get started) but it's okay I still like the color and it feels clean and fresh to me...

SWEET....

This lovely piece is by artist (and might I add mastermind?) Tabitha Emma.  I asked her if we could get the 411 on her...

Tabitha Emma is a unique and innovative Australian label creating original, novelty bags and purses for the young at heart.

Designs are based heavily on childhood memories using cupcakes, ice creams and tea cups and other such evocative ideas for inspiration.

Tabitha herself comes from the outskirts of Sydney. After being trained at the internationally renowned Whitehouse Institute of Design in Fashion, she became unintentionally unemployed....

Tabitha then decided to embrace the exciting international marketplace of the internet. Now she combines her love for all things sweet and delicious with her awesome design and sewing skills; thus presenting Tabitha Emma.

Besides Tabitha's  sense of humor and obvious talent, I love the idea of making happy art.  It seems that there's an upswing of happy art out there and people don't feel it necessary to be tortured to find their creative muse.  I love that she is inspired by things she loves like cupcakes, ice cream and tea cups!  I also love the aged backgrounds and her colors are divine...

You can find her at her Etsy shop Tabitha Emma, where I suggest that you go before the rest of the world catches on...

KNOW WHO YOU ARE SELLING TO...

Happy Saturday to you!  I thought it's about time that I let you know a little more about me, not because I am full of myself, but I just don't want to be holding anything back from you and then you go, wha?  I have neglected (on purpose) to mention that I am a parfumeur.  I know it sounds like a really weird segue, I design paper goods, parfum and yes, for many, many moons I was a publicist, I suppose I only take professions that start with a 'P' so I hope I won't be adding prostitute to the 'ol curriculum vitae anytime soon... I am mentioning this because, I am so excited that we are doing a repackaging of the Monyette Paris brand, it thrills me to no end since I didn't have much of a say in the first round (except for the bird, that's all me..)  I felt the old packaging (above) didn't reflect the inside product and from a branding perspective that is a no-no.  Another reason I didn't mention it is that I got beat up a lot by critics and it hurt,  I felt like Nicole Richie!   I couldn't read a good review and be satisfied I had to read a bad review and want to put my head in the oven.  I should know better than this.  I have been a branding expert for longer than some of you have been alive, okay been able to read, and the idea here for any product is to appeal to your demographic.  The one thing that has always irked me and made me seasick is when a potential client would come to me for advice and I would ask the question, "So who is your demographic?" and they would say, "Everyone."  Not, even water is for everyone there are different types of water, I won't drink tap but then again I won't buy a $40 bottle of water from some remote lagoon, so I am of the demographic that wants fresh water that is clean but doesn't taste like "s" and doesn't cost more than $2.00. 

Believe me, with all the people in the world you should have a niche.  For Monyette and most of the fragrances I create, my niche is 'vacation in a bottle'. All, the scents I create navigate back to an island floral inspiration.  Monyette is Tahitian gardenia which to my nose smells a lot like jasmine.  My demographic would be women in-between the ages of 24-35 years, income of $50K+ annually, follows fashion, but not trendy, is confident and sexy.  Do other people outside of my demographic buy the fragrance?  Yes!  I had a lovely lady write me that she wore it on her 50th wedding anniversary and it drove her husband nuts!  I know a few men that wear it (hey, women are attracted to flowers) have I had people outside my demographic demolish me?  Why yes!  I had a woman comment on the perfume forums that it smelled like deodorant tampons!  The goal of this post is to help guide you on your own demographic if you are making items, selling them etc.  When you have honed in, focus with laser like attention on the group that gravitates toward your brand, store, etc.  It's those people that will appreciate what you do and will refer other business to you.  Don't try to fit a round peg in a square hole, why?  You don't need to, people will like you for you and you will always excel if you are doing something that you love....

If you have more specific questions, let me know and I will try to answer them in future posts of PR + Branding 101 because you never know who might be wanting to know the answer to your question.  Take advantage of this while I am offering as I plan to close my branding and PR doors for good some day real soon...

THIS IS A PRIORITY...

Many may not spend as much time at the Post as I do.  It has gotten to the point where people automatically assume I work there even though I am wearing skinny jeans, flats and a tank (not regulation uniform for a postal worker), I think I  have developed a postal air about me, sort of guru-esque level of knowledge about the inner workings that mere mortal people flock to me in droves to ask questions from the swami of the post (btw, no, I don't let anyone borrow my pens or tape, it seems people feel it's okay to stick my pens in their mouths while they are writing or "cut" the tape with with their teeth, ick!). 

So, I may know something that most don't and that's the fact that you don't have to be stuck with the Post Office Priority Mail stickers.  I mean they aren't horrendous but as my postmaster comments, "I know Miss B. they aren't pretty..."  Yes, I double and triple checked and you can use your own Priority Mail stickers. I have enclosed some happy Spring versions for your sticking pleasure.  Why would you want this?  Sometimes the package you are sending needs to look as good on the outside as it does on the inside and then you'll be wishing you bookmarked this page and downloaded these labels! So what are you waiting for get your Pretty Priority Mail Labels

{PRETTY PRIORITY MAIL LABELS}