Handmade creating life long memories...

I often have customers that come back to Beadle and tell me that the item they purchased as a gift was well received. I can see the excitement in their faces as they tell me their stories. To me it's contagious and to be honest I can never get enough of it. It's what makes me tick, it makes me happy to know that Beadle's carefully chosen selection is appreciated or adored by those who receive them. It is what keeps me moving forward even when times are tough. However up until yesterday I had never had anyone tell me that an item/gift has "changed" someone's life and "is creating life long memories for their family" too. It was so heart warming I almost cried. Here is the story. Please remember I am by no means a writer but hopefully you will get the gist of it.

A woman from my neighbourhood came in to ask about a custom Fleurtje bag for herself. On impulse (her words not mine) she decided to pick out a custom bag. She had a look around and also decided to buy one of the too cute stroller/baby blankets. This gift was for her co-worker, who's wife just had their first child, a very healthy baby girl.

Let me tell you a bit about the blankets before I carry on with the story. Bare with me it does matter what the blanket looks like. The blanket is one of three that are wonderfully embellished with chopsticks and sushi roll. These appliques are hand cut out of wool felt and then hand stitched onto the blanket. They are lovingly created by artist Mary Speer. Who must have the patience of a saint to create these tiny wonders.

So this blanket has a sushi roll on it...are you following me still? Okay, now back to the story.

The Mother and Father of this new little bundle of joy have now started calling their baby "my little sushi-roll" or sushi for short. So if it wasn't for this gift she would have never ended up with such a cute nick-name or this sweet blanket to cherish for years to come. And the too cute little blanket has now created life long memories for an entire family (and beyond). Oh and I should mention that the co-worker/new Father called his co-worker (my customer) 3 times the day after getting the gift. Each time leaving a long message on how wonderful a gift it truly was.

This is a wonderful Beadle memory that I will cherish forever.

memory |ˈmem(ə)rē|noun ( pl. -ries)

• the power of the mind to remember things : the brain regions responsible for memory.• the mind regarded as a store of things remembered : something remembered from the past; a recollection : one of my earliest memories is of sitting on his knee |take a trip (or walk) down memory lane deliberately recall pleasant or sentimental memories.

ORIGIN Middle English : from Old French memorie, from Latin memoria, from memor ‘mindful, remembering.’

On the sunny side of the street

Beadle is on the sunny side of the street. Well that is when the sun is shinning. We've had loads of rain in Toronto and it of course effects business. The other be factor is that the TTC no longer has streetcars running along Dundas West between Lansdowne and Bathurst. They have buses running instead because of the water main construction...ugh! But most people don't like the buses and they fill up faster than streetcars so a load of people are just avoiding Dundas and going to Queen or College. But of course I am always attempting the think positive...

When all of the construction is completed next spring/summer the roads will be nicer, the streetcars will be back and business will boom. Right? Oh, I mean RIGHT!

For now I am focusing on ways to market Beadle on line to put the word out, building a local following. And find ways to market Beadle online to increase my online sales. All of which must be FREE of course. That is definitely keeping me on my toes. Trying to find creative ways to network and market Beadle for free isn't that hard it just takes time. There are loads of ways, Craigs list and Facebook Marketplace are the two I am focusing on in the coming days. To put a further sunny spin on it at least this keeps my creative brain challenged because for me being bored is almost like being dead. (creatively speaking of course)

Wish me luck.

sunny |ˈsənē|adjective

(of a person or their temperament) cheery and bright : he had a sunny disposition

suggestive of the warmth or brightness of the sun

a sunny disposition cheerful, cheery, happy, lighthearted, bright, merry, joyful, bubbly, blithe,

jolly, jovial, animated, buoyant, ebullient, upbeat, vivacious

look on the sunny side optimistic, rosy, bright, hopeful, auspicious, favorable

ORIGIN Old English sunne, of Germanic origin; related to Dutch zon and German Sonne, from an Indo-European root shared by Greek hēlios andLatin sol.

genuine

Even when I'm just going about my day, checking various forms of communications - Email, Twitter, Facebook - things, good things, can pop out at you. Restoring my positive outlook on my day even when sales are bleak.

Here is one example of what I am talking about.

I stumbled across this blog/website today called www.etsyitemoftheday.com This seemingly lovely woman (I say seemingly only because I don't actually know her) whom really enjoys things handmade, has taken it upon herself to promote an item/shop on www.Etsy.com each day that somehow catches her attention. I've also found her on Twitter. I read her blog and it seems that she just does this for fun. Imagine an individual who is genuinely interested in promoting things that are handmade without any financial benefit from it. I guess it's her hobby and what a feel good one it must be.

There are genuine people to be found in this world. How truly wonderful.

genuine |ˈjenyoōin|adjective

truly what something is said to be; authentic : each book is bound in genuine leather.• (of a person, emotion, or action) sincere : she had no doubts as to whether Tom was genuine | a genuine attempt to delegate authority.

ORIGIN late 16th cent.(in the sense [natural or proper] ): from Latingenuinus, from genu ‘knee’ (with reference to the Roman custom of a father acknowledging paternity of a newborn child by placing it on his knee); later associated with genus ‘birth, race, stock.’

The kindness of some new friends.

Things have been a little rough lately with the lack of streetcars, the city workers strike and the lack of tourists coming to the city. Luckily I have some great new friends in the "hood" as we seem to like to call the Brockton Triangle/DuWest/little Brazil. The kindness of people I am just getting to know and call "friend" is astounding. I'm really looking forward to walking Chip with Melanie and Dim Sum in the morning. I really need the exercise for various reason especially to help with the stress I'm feeling due to the lack of business. And it's probably a really good idea for me to leave the 4 city blocks that I now rarely ever venture out of, at least once in a while. We are going to walk over to Bickford Park on Harbourd at Christie. Thought it would be fun to try out a new dog park for a change...I love all the people and dogs at the regular ones but sometimes it's just nice to break routine.

I chilled out at Zoot's Cafe (Melanie's biz) last night for a weekly event called Quite Night. I was there earlier in the day when Martina dragged me there insisting to buy me a coffee (she's a sweet heart). I had a mini-melt down when Melanie asked how biz was. I felt so dumb because I pretty much burst into tears. Both Melanie and Martina where so nice to me. But I still felt stupid for crying. Anyway Melanie offered up one of her windows to display some Beadle jewellery in order to drum up some business for me. Words can't express just how much I appreciate her doing this for me. And Martina after buying me a latte then dragged me off to the bakery to get me all the fix'ns for a sandwich. She actually thanked me for allowing her to treat me to a latte and lunch. Now that is kindness.

So in the theme of being positive I'm going to do a word of the day. Or at least a positive word each day I blog.

Here goes...

My word of the day is KIND

kind

(adjective)

having or showing a friendly, generous, and considerate nature : she was a good, kind woman | he was very kind to me.• [ predic. ] used in a polite request : would you be kind enough to repeat what you said?• [ predic. ] ( kind to) (of a consumer product) gentle on (a part of the body) : look for rollers that are kind to hair.• archaic affectionate; loving.

ORIGIN Old English gecynde [natural, native] ; in Middle English the earliest sense is [well born or well bred,] whence [well disposed by nature, courteous, gentle, benevolent.]

First time...

Okay well here it goes. I've finally gone and done it and created a blog. I'm told it's good for venting, updating friends and family on your life and also a must have for small business. I'm not much of a writer but I thought I'd give it a try anyway. So wanna know more about me check out my website www.beadlestore.com or www.cheriebeadle.etsy.com

I look forward to comments and questions.

Thanks for reading!