Holdin' Down the Fort

Today is one of those quiet days without the boss. She started her weekend a little early to go vist family in the desert. I was actually thinking of going up north to Morro Bay to see my grandparents too but I don't think it's going to work out that way. The Lord has opened the door to visit a few stores to show my merchandise today and tomorrow, which is still awesome! Hmmm maybe another time I suppose. I'd really like to make a trip up there again though, it's nice and cool and near the coast, which is a plus. I spent last night printing my hang tags and fixing them on my shirts and also sticking tags on my stickers and just getting them ready to present, so now they look a little more professional. I'll find out tonight more about the guidelines they have for putting them in stores. It's both a little scary and exciting too going forward with this and gaining this kind of experience! I've had a little help though thank God from a friend of mine who owns a store up in Rancho. He's actually someone that a classmate introduced me to who also wants to start a few brands of his own. He owns a children's clothing store called O-2-B-Me. I got a chance to visit him last Monday and got some great info from him as well as feedback and just good conversation. He even agreed to put a few stickers in his store on consignment to see how they'll do. So there you have it: the first official store to carry my stickers! Well, we'll see how they do up there.

It's so nice to have two 3-day weekends in a row. Too bad it only comes once a year. lol They should have at least one 3-day weekend once a month. They should make it a state-mandated holiday for all businesses. Cause seriously we need to relax a little more and stop pushing the envelope and live stressed out. We live 8 hours of our day at work. Who wants to live those 8 hours stressed and overworked and rushing every minute without any peace?? You know, we do it to ourselves and we're gonna make the market crash all because we need to push for one more cent off the price we pay vendors for our material, or push to lower it a few cents for our customers before the competition does. And who's gaining all the profit here? There seems like there's no honor for the 'little guy' anymore. It's all about being your own boss, working for yourself and being financially independent that's honorable. It's only like that because companies treat their employees like numbers and not like people. The fact is, corporations like Microsoft and other large businesses NEED those workers. If is wasn't for all the workers who work under Microsoft I highly doubt it would be a multimillion dollar company anymore. Bill Gates is not a billionaire cause he owns a home-based business by himself. He is what he is cause of other people. Other people are valuable and they should be recognized for their value, not treated like some part-time slave. And that goes doubly for Christians, cause I've heard too many stories of 'christians' running their businesses the same unhonorable way. The only problem with that is, those who are christians have a Master they will answer to about how they treat their employees. The bible is clear on that.

Anyhow, that's my little speil on that (is that spelled right?). Time to finish this huge sign and get another going and hopefully done also. Happy New Year! =)

More Open Doors

Well the Lord is continually opening doors for my business and it's pretty amazing just watching this all happen before me! First, my boss signed us all up to go to a screenprinting convention in Long Beach I believe the weekend of Jan. 20. I'm really looking forward to that as there will be many vendors and lots of knowledge to gain there to help me with my own business as well as my job. Then a guy is supposed to come in this week and show us a few tips on improving our silkscreening and getting better results. Then a customer of ours that I sat down with and went over some business card/vehicle decal designs lets me know that the aforementioned convention was a great place for me to ask questions and find the answers I'm looking for concerning my tees and all. I just praise God for His guidance and all the open doors He has provided, as well as the direction He's given me in using His gift. It's all for His glory!

As a side note, this month has been the busiest month for us yet! I can't believe how busy we got..sheesh...I thought this would be on of the slowest months. Boy was I wrong. Well, I'd rather be pretty busy then sitting there bored finding things to do, that's for sure. =)

Getting Very Close

I've been very busy with my business lately finalizing all my designs and choosing which one's will go to print. I have a ton of designs but only a handful will make the final list for the tees and stickers I'm making very soon here. Of couse I'd love to put out most of them but it can get costly, but I think these one's will do for now, especially in the times we're living in. I may go ahead and post them soon before they actually come out. I'm trying to get them done before my last class on the 15th so I can get them into the hands of my classmates. A few of them are hoping I get these finished soon so I'm aiming for that date! Hopefully hopefully...But the Lord is totally opening the doors for this. When I went to eat lunch at a Christian-owned pizza place last weekend called GPC a few guys saw the designs and gave me a few stores they said where I could actually sell them, so I was all jazzed about that! And the owner quoted me some prices for the stickers that were too good cause she knows I'm just starting out, so I thank God for that. Okay I better stop or I'll keep writing and I gotta work lol...More later. =)

Happy HolYdays

So since I've heard that many a corporation are diregarding the phrase 'Merry Christmas' for obvious reasons and replacing it with 'Happy Holidays' I thought I'd counter that with my own rendition by using a lower case 'i' with a lower case accent above to form a 'Y', hence 'Happy HolYdays'. Hmmm just not sure if this could be a bumper sticker or tee or what yet. If we cant change others, we can change ourselves and learn to counter things creatively. I'm learning that if we think deep enough and use the brain the Lord gave us, we can come up with some pretty interesting solutions. The Lord tells us to be 'as harmless as doves and as wise as serpents.' We might not be able to make a change by using a full-out direct approach...it might take being a little indirect and creative, going in the back door for that surprise attack. That's what I try to do with my designs anyways.

I thought it was pretty awesome the other day when I heard that the girls who came in to our shop looking for some signs were born-again Christians who used to be involved in porn! In what way, I dont know and I wont ask, but the fact that they are now missionaries for the Lord and looking to share their salvation with others caught up in porn in awesome! And you bet that I'll make their logo and design THE sweetest I can. And we just got an order for a large banner that will say 'Jesus is the reason for the season'...exciting stuff I tell you. =)