A Joyful Heart

I was recently given the opportunity to submit a Make It article for Romantic Homes and the editors at the magazine approved it and gave me a byline!  I have been subscribing to RH since its inception so this was a real honor for me.

                                  Meryl, one of the editors of RH, and me showing off the February issue.

I visited the Romantic Homes offices for a photo shoot and to pick up a magazine!  What a wonderful way to spend the morning.

My Favorite Vintage Things....

I love linens, all kinds.  I have collections of linens, books on linens, cut out magazine pictures of linens.  I sell linens but there are just some I can't bear to let go.  The stack above were ready to be put in my vintage trunk and they looked so pretty I just had to take a snapshot.

 The other thing I love is embroidery and toile.  I combined the two by embroidering this old pattern and bordering it with red toile fabric.

                   I found this mirror at a flea market.  I'm still debating whether to paint it or not.

The Vintage Marketplace in December

The Vintage Marketplace in Rainbow is one of the best places to find something you love.  There are so many talented artists and beautiful booths the hardest part is deciding what treasure you will take home.

               Above is the pink area, the table is topped with a tree filled with vintage ornaments.

             Just a few of Jenelle Van de Mortel's beautiful handpainted vintage ornaments.

                                                                     Jenelle Van De Mortel

                       Beautiful  Jackie-0 a.k.a. Paris Cowgirl - Sylvia - in a wonderful yellow coat.

                                  Nicki Glade's booth across from us.  What a great view!

                                                                   I love these purses!

Lori Guttierez in her booth.  Behind her are those awesome purses.

Tea at The French Estate

I had the privilege of attending tea at The French Estate in Orange given by Lisa and Bonnie Ackerman of A&P Antiques & Collectibles in Old Towne Orange.  Lisa gave a lovely and very informative talk on China from the table and cupboard.  I learned a lot about china and porcelain including about a company I represent, Belleek!

Arriving at The French Estate on a beautiful day!

 A welcoming harvest porch.

 A fountain and surrounding lavendar.

 A very french toile tile patio set.

  An angel in a corner of the garden

 Apt words.

 Lisa Ackerman speaking on her favorite subject.

 Carolyn has been china painting since the '70's. She uses the vintage dentist box to store her paintbrushes.



You are a Marketing Company!

Here are a couple of ways to get the word out on your business.

Most of your customers, prospects and other contacts have e-mail, are on Facebook, LinkedIn, Google+ or Twitter.  They are using these to communicate, get their news, and learn so use these tools to give them something of value.

But don’t just send out a newsletter talking about what you are selling or promoting.  Instead write a friendly 300 -500 word e-mail that offers something they want.  Find some interesting information that would appeal to their tastes and share it.   For instance, if you have an apron line, share stories of why your customers wear aprons, give them information on the history of aprons, offer recipes or link them to videos you’ve found online.  If you sell home decor products give them tips on how to decorate their homes.  Share more than your own stories.

Post weekly informational articles on your blog or use a video blog to really get their attention (youtube.com, vimeo.com).

E-mail is still tops so work really hard to get people to sign up for your free e-mail newsletter.  You have a good chance to get people’s attention and turn them into loyal customers.  It takes little money but it does take lots of attention and care.

The Green Pear

I had the privilege of meeting with Cristie, owner of The Green Pear in Villa Park today.  The shop was all decked out for Halloween.  It's like being in France.   A relaxing place to shop with the beautiful things and the great french music.  Take a look at some of these great Halloween characters.  You will also be able to get Pansy Cottage & Garden and Tattered Goods at The Green Pear soon.

Vintage Susie's Spoonin' Jewelry

I'd love to introduce to you Susie Hibdon, owner & designer of 'SPOONIN', a wonderful new handmade jewelry line made from Vintage Silver Plated Flatware.
Susie is a child of the 50's & all that implies. She is nostalgic, sentimental & a keeper of the past. A Southern California native, Susie has a wonderful husband, a beautiful daughter & a grand-son who fills her with joy. She went to college for Interior Design & has put that knowledge to work in the many passions of her life. She previously owned Lambs & Ivy Boutique in Crestline, CA, has an on-line Graphic Design business, vintagesusie Custom Design, specializing in blog & web design, magazine ads & print work, this summer was honored to be published in Belle Armoire Jewelry & she writes a popular blog, vintagesusie & wings. Her tag-line for her blog is 'Let's Fly', wanting to inspire & be inspired by all her friends & followers to learn to be fearless, to learn how to live an authentic, creative life & to ultimately be brave enough to follow their passion & make all their dreams come true.

Susie's blog:    http://vintagesusieandwings.blogspot.com
'SPOONIN' site:    http://www.wix.com/vintagesusie/facebook-spoonin

Mosser Glass cake stands in black!

These Mosser Glass black cake stands are gorgeous.  This is a new color for them and I LOVE what they've created!  I can picture these in a black and white table display.

Los Angeles Gift Show, July 2011

I took these pictures with my cell phone so they are kind of small but here is our Jonathon doing a Raven's Nest tasting.  The Pumpkin Butter and Raspberry Jalapeno Jam were a hit!  Yum!  Unfortunately I couldn't stay away from the Pumpkin Butter.

 Hugh on the left is our favorite Irishman here to help show his line Ulster Weavers.  Win is our new salesman for Northern California.

 Larissa and Harry with Larissa Love Cosmetics.

 There's mom and daughter from one of my favorite stores, The Daisy Shoppe at the Brea Mall and Mission Viejo Mall.

 The lovely Nancy showing off a potential new line.

 Petal Pushings new design!

Watson Drugs from the Orange Circle loved this apron for their waitresses!

What do a brown paper bag and a hershey's bar have in common?

You will get both if you visit me at the LA Mart Gift Show, showroom #342 next week.

Los Angeles Gift Mart Show

LA GIFT SHOW STARTS TUESDAY, JULY 19 THROUGH MONDAY JULY 25.  COME BY J. JOHNSON & COMPANY SHOWROOM #342 AND SEE NEW WHOLESALE LINES, SHOW SPECIALS, SNACKS AND DRINKS PLUS A GIFT JUST FOR YOU.

One of Cory-O-Graphics delightfu cards

See what's new at the Los Angeles Gift Show

We'll have some new Cozys at the J. Johnson Showroom #342.  It's that time of year, the Los Angeles Gift Mart will be having their gift show next week, Tuesday, July 19-25.  Come by and visit us.

                                           This cozy above is called Patchwork Cafetierre.

                                                                
                                                         Cute birds on this Birdsong Tea Cozy

                                                              Cat shaped muff egg cozy

                                                                  Rose Muff Tea Cozy

My next creative home project

I bought this beautiful worn bench at a local swap meet at a great price. I'm thinking of using Annie Sloan's chalk paint but just need to figure out what color.  Kim, owner of Truly Tattered ww.trulytattered.blogspot.com is running a fun contest to win a can of chalk paint.  I want to choose a color that will really make this bench stand out in my backyard by the pool.

Meet Janet & Steve Pywell

Success to Significance

When I started my Arbonne business I was looking for a way out of corporate America. I had just sold my Sales & Marketing company in the Gift & Decorative Accessories Industry after working in that industry for over 20 years. I was newly married and it was my bridal consultant that invited me to a business meeting. I sat and listened politely to the presentation asked some very direct questions and then said “no thanks this isn’t for me”. She took my “no” as a “need to know” and proceeded to offer me a “gold bag” filled with the RE9 Anti Aging skin treatment system and asked me to try them for a few days, and insured me that I would fall in love them. I am the world’s biggest sceptic and had never taken very good care of my skin so actually putting something healthy on my skin was foreign to me...although I was smart enough to realize that I was at an age that my skin definitely needed some help. I had been using the RE9 products for 2 days when I ran into my mom at the market and she exclaimed “Janet WHAT have you been doing to your skin...it looks great!” I said “a friend gave me these Arbonne products to try for a few day.” She said “whatever it is I want some”.

That was it I was sold! My husband Steve and I set out on our Arbonne Journey. We grew very quickly and were very passionate about our business However, we were building on our own efforts trusting in ourselves and striving. In November 2006 we said good-bye to my best friend. My mom passed away unexpectedly just 5 months into our Arbonne business from cancer she didn’t even know she had. This made me very angry and sad. I have learned since that “The toxins and chemicals in mainstream America’s personal care products pose a HIGHER cancer risk then smoking.” (Cancer Prevention Coalition 2005)

My grief became fear and my Arbonne Business took a back seat as I continued to strive in the wrong direction which was away from my dreams. For the next 4 years I switched from one corporate sales position to the next looking for my place in corporate America. I worked in Sales and Management for many of the top 100 companies in America and worked to build other peoples dreams while mine was slipping away.

Last October I came to realize that nothing is worth giving up your dreams over and left my high profile sales management job with the most successful computer company in the world to step out in faith! God was working on me, He had given Steve and I a vision and we were ready to step out in faith at all costs. It was time to put aside our fear and go for it again but not in our own strength this time. Faith is the substance of things hoped for but if you can see it it’s not faith. Faith is not seeing yet believing and that is where we were.

So we stepped out and have not looked back. In Dec 2010 Arbonne put out a challenge to earn a trip to Atlantis in the Bahamas. Steve and I had just come back from a cruise to the Bahamas when we found out my mom was ill, so setting out to earn this trip took on new meaning for us. As we rebuild our business we are building on a much more solid foundation then before thanks to our upline NVP Hilary Corcoran. She encouraged us to turn our business over to God, do with excellence what is in our control and let God do the rest. We follow the building your road to freedom outreach method developed by ENVP Jan Kilic. I’m also very thankful for my blossoming friendship with NVP Donna McPheeters she encourages me to stay focused and work this wonderful business on purpose! And it works, in April of 2011 we earned our trip.

April was a bitter sweet month for us reminding us once again how precious life is. We had another scare when we got the news that my sister had suffered a massive heart attach and had only a 10% chance of surviving. The shock was different this time. Instead of asking Why God! We trusted him. You see this business is teaching us to “Trust” so that we can teach others to “trust”.

“Excellence is the result of caring more than others think is wise, risking more than others think is safe, dreaming more then others think is possible.” unknown

God Answered our prayers and my sister is recovering...she received her miracle and we received ours.

God still preforms miracles today. And we are learning to trust him more and more each day.

I love my new career because I get to help people every day to draw closer to Him...direct them to products that make them feel better and live longer, and that gives them an opportunity to not only live their life, but love their life.

This is our time for breakthrough it can be yours too. We want to partner with you. We know there are no coincidences. If you are reading this it is because you needed to hear our story. We believe in divine appointments don’t miss out on the blessings God has for you today! Take a step of faith you will never regret it!

For More information please feel free to contact us:

Steve & Janet Pywell
Arbonne Independent Consultants
714-402-4573inhimhealthandbeauty@me.com

I had such a wonderful time exhibiting at The Vintage Marketplace in Rainbow, CA. There were more talented and creative vendors all gathered together in one place then I've ever seen before. The last picture is my new friend Susie and her friend. I am now repping Susie's wonderful vintage spoon jewelry and I predict some wonderful things happening in the future!