perk up your senses

I love candles!  I've started burning one in my office.  Floral and clean scents seem to perk me up and I feel more energised. 

Today...Yankee candle's "English Garden" 
Lovely!

weight or wait?

This is a personal post and one that I hope will motive and inspire.

I recently completed two new "how to - decorating" videos.  I love the way they turned out and had a great time creating and filing them with my Marketing Team! 

The first thing that hit me while reviewing the videos for the first time was..."wow, the camera does add 10 pounds!"  All kidding aside, I was not happy with the way I looked. 

I've struggled with my weight since I was a young girl.  I recall comments like "she has such a pretty face"...that's adult code for "she's a cute chubby girl"

As I was walking Tuesday morning this came to me...

"Don't let weight make you wait"

My weight doesn't define me, or make me a lesser person! 
My weight is nothing to be ashamed of, but it's not an excuse either.
 
My weight will wait no longer.  I have decided to eat a little better (and a little less), move deliberately each day, and make my health and fitness a priority!!

   

Dont give up when you're passionate about something!

Case in point:
Morgan shower curtain.

Last Market (September 2012), I presented the Morgan shower curtain as a fresh modern floral, in a bathroom friendly (color pallet). 

My customers didn't take much notice.  But with it's launch on-line (the new virtual department store) sales soared and my customers took notice!  

Today, it's been placed in retail and expanded to more locations that any of my new patterns last season.

Lesson...don't give up!  

If YOU are passionate about something...take it all the way and give it all you got!

take good care, 
Monika 
  

I'm back!

Howdy to all on this lovely Thursday!
Business, family and just plain old life have been keeping me pretty busy...not unlike all of you. 

I'm back and happy to be so!!!

Fun Fact Friday - The thought and work behind the style-out

As touched upon a few weeks back.  The style out is the next step in the section process.

The style-out is a universally used meeting structure where buyers review their entire assortment of shower curtains (or their product categories) and make determinations on pattern that need to be discontinued, best performers to be expanded to a larger number of stores, and the space they have remaining to add new patterns. 

Having been a former buyer at Bed Bath and Beyond, I will tell you this a serious process and takes weeks of very hard work to put together and analyze.,  There is a tremendous amount of thought that goes in to this meeting and its outcome. 

In the next few weeks m.style will be part of this process.  

Keep your fingers crossed for me!

trash to treasure

 Up at the cabin we don't have curbside trash collection.  You take your trash and garbage to the local dump.  A few weeks back I noticed, what looked like a small thrift store next to the recycling collection area.  I asked about it and learned that it was a "free store".  A place where folks can bring things they no longer need and others can take for free.  I like free, so I took a look inside.  Upon my first visit, nothing struck me...but I thought I'd give it a try from time to time.  

I am sure glad I did!

 
Found this shabby little number outside store.  I think the local stray cat was using it as a sun perch.  I asked if it was part of the "store" and the dump-man said yes.  With a big grin on my face, I loaded it in to the  Subaru and took it home.

First I removed the top and took it outside for a good cleaning.  I used a stiff brush and gave it a good sweeping in all direction.  then whacked it a few times like you would an old rug.  Lets just say there was some dreep down dust in this little thing.

 

Next I checked out the wooden frame.  It was in good shape, but had a lot of mold.  

So, I put on my gloves and dust mask...then sprayed it with a little bleach/water combo.  

I cleaned it with an old toothbrush (BTW, don't throw then out, they are very handy for cleaning and crafts) 

after scrubbing, I sprayed the area with clean water and wiped it all down with an old rag.  I left it to dry, and stopped for lunch and to watch Downton Abbey on the Ipad. 

after my "Abbey" fix, about 1 hour. I started to oil the wood.  I like Old English dark polish.  I just used a rag and did several light coats so the oil could really soak in.

Then I went to my fabric bin.  Found this cabin'esk fabric and went to laying it out.  

Got the proper fabric placement, flipped, and started using my new electric nail gun (its so much nicer than a manual gun!!).

I folded the ends like a gift and wallah!  

 ...and now I have a nifty place to rest my feet in the living room.

    

Misses tell us as much as hits!

 



This Market was my best Market yet.  That doesn't mean that all of my offerings were hits.  

This season, one of my color options/combinations was "berry".  "Think of a glass of wine. 

Well, I should have kept the wine in the glass! 






 


 







I learned that the melot inspired tones were better served up with spice tones.  Like those found in Ottoman Blossom spice. 

It was a good lesson.