Halloween, Frightfully Crazy Custom Favors & more

Interplanetary Couture

Emily Caswell is the Expert on Concocting Lip Balms- Margarita favors, Mojito, Cosmopolitan, Sangria, Irish Creme Lip balms!! She invents her drink flavors using wax, butter, and oil all in the name of Lip Balm Couture. And what you get are "Balm buzzes".  Website

This fine lady, who shares my love of creepy crawlies, vampires & grisly things, runs a One-stop Shop for Personalized Thank-yous. Baby Showers, wedding Showers, Bachelorette, Birthday even Divorce Showers!

Take a look at some of her Just-fright-for-Halloween Customizations

So herrrre’s...  Emily!

So, really, who Are you?
I was recently introduced by an old friend as "fun, interesting, well-read, cultured, crass, potty-mouthed...(with a) crippling addiction to chocolate and proper grammar." I'm not sure about the interesting or cultured part, but I do know that he forgot to add "aliens" to my addictions list. Crass and potty-mouthed are pretty true, but I try to keep it fun and appropriate in public. 

You are custom-friendly – not just lipbalms & lotions- also cards, tulle,- Bath gel favors! And I utterly love your labels.

What made your head spin into all of this?

My degree is in biology and my first (and only) "real" job was in a biotech lab, where I manufactured vaccine. I left to pursue an interest in design, starting a graphic and web design business that I could grow from home. Eight years (and two kids) later, I started creating designs for my own products instead of other businesses'. I set up a home "lab" and started with lip balms personalized for weddings, since several of my previous clients had been in the wedding industry. Things have just grown from there. I think having my own wedding canceled at the last minute (speaking of scary, grisly stories!) has motivated me to help make other events perfect.

Other customizables include Moisturisers, Sugar Scrubs, Mini Pedicure Sets and lots of other goodies.

Falling Leaves, Bridal Shower

What’s cooking for Halloween?

How did you know I've been busy with my cauldron?!

This fall I've brought back some of our popular Limited Edition lip balm flavors from last year, including Caramel Corn and Ginger Pear, as well as old favorites like Jack-o-lantern and Candy Corn.

Our Pumpkin Pie moisturizers are also back, and a new Ginger Pear fragrance that's to DIE for (just what you need on Halloween!).

Crazy customization, did you say?

What would be one crazy customization?

I get some really fun requests for customization, but this was one of my all-time favorites.

People don't believe it, but yes, this was for a real baby shower! (Just might need to go watch "The Omen" again now.)

What is Pink lady?

Pink Lady is our line of products with a cause.

We introduced them several years ago and they're available year-round, but definitely most popular during Breast Cancer Awareness Month in October.
For every Pink Lady balm, favor, or moisturizer sold, we donate $1 to Susan G. Komen for the Cure.
We also create a Limited Edition Pink Ribbon balm every year that's only available in October.
This year's flavor is Pink Kisses, a cherry-vanilla balm that also benefits Susan G. Komen.

What is your motto in life?

When I was a kid, my grandmother had a little plaque on her wall that said, "It's nice to be important, but it's more important to be nice." I'm inspired by lots of other mantras and mottos, but I think this one made the biggest impression on me. There's a lot of emphasis on being important, but I find that the people I remember and appreciate the most are just plain nice. Whatever else I am, I want to be that, too.

Share an anecdote about your products?

Some of my favorite stories are customer comments.
Recently someone told me I was her "new best friend."
Last spring a mom-of-the-groom said she'd "love me forever" if I would email a proof to her (something I do for everyone, but I let her feel special!).
My favorite, though, would have to be the planner who ordered some favor samples for a bride she was working with. The bride explained that she did NOT want "throwaway" wedding favors. The planner called me afterward to say they were a hit: the bride tried the balm and said, "No one throws THESE favors!"

So, for your next small (or big) event, hop over to Emily's and get personalized, unique favors that you'd hate to throw away!

Lip Balm Couture is available at  http://www.gcdspa.com/
Blog address http://www.gcdspa.blogspot.com/
FB page http://www.facebook.com/GCDSpa
Twitter http://www.twitter.com/GCDSpa

More Halloween customizations

Blood Orange Custom Lip Balm 1

Blood Orange custom Lippie 2

Review: Adventures of Solomon Spider: Children's Book, by Aliyah Khan, the Poetess

My friend and Poetess, the lovely Aliyah Khan waxes lyrical on Facebook- reading her is like listening to a bell:

"hello happiness, hello today
Goodbye grief, goodbye yesterday.
hey clouds, hold up, I need a ride
I'm on my way, I'm done with the tide.
You're just a blur on my canvas of Life,
... Which I'll paint over with my palate knife.
My sunny days are about to begin
I'm soaring up, I'm taking wing."

This Children's Book she wrote is absolutely enthralling for a child to read by herself or a great read-aloud with an adult. It also has potential for lots of follow-up activities to get those wheels spinning in your little tot's head.

Scroll down to see a preview which she has kindly offered to share.

Buy this book- Support our Poetess!

US Store:

http://www.authorhouse.co.uk/Bookstore/BookDetail.aspx?BookId=SKU-000273315

UK Store:

http://www.authorhouse.co.uk/Bookstore/BookDetail.aspx?BookId=SKU-000273315

Links to purchase:

US Store:

http://www.authorhouse.co.uk/Bookstore/BookDetail.aspx?BookId=SKU-000273315

UK Store:

http://www.authorhouse.co.uk/Bookstore/BookDetail.aspx?BookId=SKU-000273315

making Great Navigation in Blogger -dont let your posts go unread

Being a User Interface Designer a few years of my life, and spending umpteen hours figuring out how to prettify this blog, I have enough info to qualify for a new category of posts,viz., Bells & Whistles :Design

Lets start with good navigation - blogger doesnt support categories, so this isnt as easy as it sounds.

My leftbar navigation highlights: 1.Navigability 2. Readability & 3. User friendliness

All (main) posts are categorized, have informative post titles (mostly), it gives direction (start here) so readers can find where to go for  info of their interest in about 30 seconds - after which really, who has the time...

My design, per se, inclines towards cleaner pages & clear cut navigation, rather than fantastic design- which is an awesome user experience on its own.

First thing I found was that blogger doesnt support category based navigation unlike others out there- say type-pad & wordpress.

Now I probably should have been looking for this before the 50-odd posts, but I was taking my time getting my feet wet in this whole new social networking thingamajig here - so now, after making valid and substantial contributions to the blogosphere, I have time to design.

If you are just starting out a blog, this is a great post for you, and if you already have been blogging, theres no time like now to get organized. If you have 500-odd posts, you should go away from here real fast, else look at this in a way to highlight pages of interest.

When I have my 500-odd posts, I will create new navigation methods, and you can come back here- if you dont have 5000 by then..

Pros

Having good navigability means that useful info doesnt get unread, as it gets deeper into the blog - & all that time and effort you put in it doesnt feel like it is going down the drain.

cons

Time consuming, labor consuming, manual brick-laying work. Consider switching your mouse buttons if your index finger gets tired & wobbly- if you have 50 posts.

Ok, to make a left bar navigation like mine

1. divide your blog into categories by the kind of info you like to post about - writing on paper is probably more labor-efficient, unlike the way I do - so put it on paper.

2. Go to the Layouts>page elements

3 Open a new tab, tab2, or new window, on Posting>Edit Posts . Preferably set number to view all your posts.

That way you can see the titles of your existing posts & their url

4 Tab 1, click on add a gadget, select List

Add items to reflect your categories. This is going to be your menu -you can name it as you like it. But let naming happen at the end of it all, I'll tell you why.

5. Repeat Step 4 for all your categories

6. Populate your category lists. open each list, apart from menu, and add item by copying titles of your posts into the text box (from Tab 2) - its a bit tricky till you get the hang of it, it could just be better to type sometimes. Dont click "add item" yet

7. Click on the link at the right of add item textbox, copy shortcut(rightclick) on view post in tab 2

This makes the whole post a link.

8.Edit the item .Select some part of text to make as link and make sure that stays within the tags "a href" "/a" tags - see my categories. This is great for readability.

Part of making a (or an) usable interface is its capacity to be readable

9. Separate the list items visually. Save and see. Items are center aligned & kinda clumped together.

Add a symbol before the "a href" tag. This will make it left aligned & create organised & visual separation.

I've used "|" - you could try ::, :,*,~, or even number them

10. Edit order by clicking up & down arrows next to list items. Set items of more interest or more visitors to top & others lower down.

11. You can add ideas for upcoming posts as items without links. They are easier to remember that way, than saving titles as drafts that I've never gotten to writing about.

12. Think up a one-liner, even if it aint too smart, it'll be original - preferably in line with your blog's theme- mine is on Health & Wholeness in general - so Happy Blogs navigate & Healthy blogs navigate , blogs do it with navigation , etc popped out of my mind..

Do your stuff in photoshop or an online photo editing software without the ads & signups like pixlr
And voila, you have some eye-candy as well

Tips

Remember, each new post you write, must also be added into atleast 1 category

 Feel free to skip posts that are a bit iffy. Or make a note to rewrite them & republish later- and then include them into your navigation.

Have a misc category if you have to- but dont dump more than 10 posts into it.

And of course, if all this is too much work for you, I could do it for you, or a part - considering I already know the trouble to go through ;) - but only you know your posts, and the value you put on them- so really, you need to be doing it.

Good luck & post your comments here - and if you've used these tips, please send a link so I can see & suggest more things.

How a Small Business Owner motivates & challenges herself - Interview: Allison Kontur, BathBodySupply

How to Be the kind of woman that when your feet hit the floor each morning - the Devil says! "Oh Crap, She's Up"

This is one of Allison Kontur's favorite quotes- and she is just that, a bundle of energy, moving things around, whipping up recipes for soups and soaps, 50 messages a day on facebook, twittering away, reading about the Mayans (yes!) and..
still taking the time to have a personal word to say, and not just one day -like moi- but on a regular day-to-day basis.

Allison runs Smell No Evil, Ltd. , a Wholesale Supplier of Cosmetic-Grade Raw Materials and Bulk Base Products. She is a bundle of energy, wit and je ne sais quoi..

I am in awe of her skills - she calls herself a "multi-tasking fiend" - she sure hit on her own personal success formulae - or just maybe she made up her own "Elixir of Time" and has 36 hours a day....

Today she has been running in the "windy, rainy, cold, grey...." day & she is also kicking off our new blog category " What makes her Tick & What makes her Click" dedicated to Small Business Owners who have made it big

I ask her:

1.) What motivates you to keep pushing yourself, to do something new?
Being your own "boss" has a lot of perks! The greatest perk for me is personal freedom. For me, personal freedom is the ability to set my own schedule, to travel, spending time with my family without having to clear it with my "boss", etc. It is all about "choice". Having the freedom to make choices that are not influenced by a "boss" or by my "job" is very liberating.

In the same token, too much freedom can be a bad thing if you don't have good time-management skills. I challenge myself daily by setting goals and working to meet them. When I've consistently accomplished my goals over a period of time (say every 4-6 weeks or so) I like to reward myself with dinner out or a great piece of jewelry or a trip to the spa as incentive.


2.) Many of us, small biz owners, get stuck in the daily rut & find little time for themselves to pursue areas of interest- what would you say to us?

Challenge yourself to learn something new every single day. I used to keep a "Word of the Day" calendar on my desk to enhance my vocabulary. I love to research, so I spend at least 30 minutes each day researching something of interest. It might be a new skincare ingredient or maybe a formulation question for a client or something as simple as a new recipe for dinner or a new wine I'm itching to try! I read as much as possible, blogs, magazines, news articles, industry websites and so on. 30 minutes is a small amount of time, look at it as the time you would waste watching a meaningless sitcom.

Exercise your body as well as your mind! I run nearly every day and for a long time ran the same trail. It got so boring and monotonous that I almost quit running! Instead, I started changing up the trails I was running and the distance I would run each day and now it's more of an adventure that I get to have every morning. I like to apply that mentality to my work as well to keep things interesting.

3.) You being a chemist may prompt you to find new combinations- but you must really love what you are doing to whip up awesome new recipes for lotions, soaps, and that amazing-sounding lip buff!
Any anecdote to share how this interest sparked off ?

At an early age, my mom taught me to cook and that was the beginning of my chemistry background.
In grade school, my science fair project was a lesson in natural vs. synthetic colorants. It went all the way to the state science fair and won the highest rating they offered.

I guess you could say my fascination with formulating began early! I formally studied nutrition which involved a lot of science classes. Chemistry classes were the most intriguing (and confusing) classes I ever took, but I loved putting things together and marveling at the outcome.

I absolutely love what I do because formulating skincare products is both fascinating and intriguing. It's not "work" to me, because it feels like playing! Some of the brightest minds in business have made this same statement and I'll repeat it because it is valuable, "Find something you love to do and learn how to make money doing it".

4, As a supplier, how early do you need to start a project plan?
For instance, Thanksgiving and Christmas are coming up, so when would you start planning for them- & what kind of work would it entail so that biz like us can be ready ourselves.

As a general rule, our project plan for purchasing is 6 months out. That gives us time to work with samples of any raw materials we are bringing in, testing is performed, pricing/availability is determined and warehouse space prepared.

Some things may be planned a year or longer in advance depending on a number of factors including cashflow, available warehouse space, or what I like to refer to as "epiphanies" which is just a fancy term for "I thought up this cool thing and need to put it on paper to figure out how to fit it into the long-range plan".

5. What do you think is going to be hot for fall/winter this year, or spring/summer in 2010- does anything particular come to mind - so we can all be ready for it.

I think the basics are going to be popular this fall.
The cosmetics industry provides affordable splurges for consumers who are feeling a little beaten-up by the economy.

The "lipstick indicator" comes to mind, in that a woman may not spend $100 to have her hair done, but she will spend $30-$40 on a great perfume, lipstick or foundation because the price is right and the emotional outcome is almost equal. We like to smell, feel and look good. When I don't have a lot of cash in my pocket and I'm looking to treat myself, I'm headed either to the cosmetics counter or a candy store! What lasts longer, a new lipstick or a chocolate truffle?

6 Last, but most important, do you feel the economy is taking a turn for the better ?

Depressed economic times have a tendency to make people cut back and pay via cash rather than credit. I read an article this morning that indicated this type of spending is preceded by a lot of forethought. Consumers will be researching more, shopping price and looking for incentives. I am noticing minor adjustments that indicate some sectors are stabilizing.

Ultimately, I feel that we are in the right business at the right place at the right time. As long as people continue to want to feel good, there will be a place for the cosmetics industry!


Allison B. Kontur
Smell No Evil, Ltd.
www.BathBodySupply.com
http://www.smellnoevil.net/

Follow Allison on Twitter Blog FaceBook Fan Page


Thank you for sharing with us, Allison, you are really motivational.

Please comment and add any more questions for Allison here ;)

Must READ! Ebay Sellers! How to get Paypal to successfully return money refunded to fraudulent buyers!

This story I got in my mail was sufficiently unusual and pleasant about-
I've heard too many, and a couple of personal experiences with slimy buyers getting back their money from paypal and refusing to send back goods..

It is from www.qualityshippingsupplies.com and you'll probably find it there somewhere

Extract

. Our labels work perfect in 99.9% of our customers' applications, but occasionally we run across someone who they will not work for. Almost always it is an equipment problem, not a label problem, but we always offer a full money back guarantee...after all, the customer is always right, even when they are not!

Recently we had someone buy 1500 of our labels and contact us saying they were not working, that the ink was not drying on them. I'll add that the customer was pretty rude and crude when he was telling me what I could do with my crappy labels!

Now normally when someone contacts me with a problem and has a friendly congenial tone we go out of our way to help them. When someone sends me a nasty email instead of taking a civil tone my reaction will depend on my mood that day...sometimes I'll give as good as I get, other times I will be nice...luckily for this guy, today I was in a good mood.

My reply email, in a nutshell, was that we were sorry he was having a problem and was wondering if he could check a few things for me. I explained to him that on the rare occasions we have heard of similar things happening it was usually linked to ink cartridge problems. Could he perform a print head cleaning and see if that was the problem? Of course that was way too much to ask of him and he demanded a refund. I told him no problem, send the labels back and he will get a full refund.
I didn't hear anything back for 3 or 4 days until all of a sudden a PayPal dispute popped up and he was demanding a full refund and didn't want to return the product. Realizing this was a losing situation I elevated the dispute to a claim checking the section that said he would get a full refund upon returning the product. Since that is PayPal's policy they told him that was what he had to do.

PayPal notified me the next day that the buyer had shipped the item back to me and to look for it. Now, here is where it gets fun....we got the item back 10 days later via media mail and surprise, surprise:

1. Only 500 of the 1500 labels were returned, even thought he told PayPal he was returning all 1500.

2. He shipped it Media Mail which is a big No No with the post office, blank labels definitely do not qualify.

3. Low and behold, it was one of our labels he used to print the postage...and it looked perfect...apparantly there was no ink drying problem on that one!

.. I immediately called PayPal and told them the situation, hoping to avoid their immediate refund policy that they seem so fond of.
Unfortunately, PayPal had already refunded the buyer's money so I had to file an appeal over the phone. When I got back in the office the next day I had my email from PayPal telling me I had to get a police incident report stating that what was returned was not what the customer said they returned.

My local police were ever so unhelpful and told me they don't get involved in those kind of civil disputes. Ever undaunted I went to my local post office and got my postmaster to write a letter explaining that she examined the package and only 500 labels were present...also that my normal packages weight 16lbs and his own postage label showed this one sent back at under 6lbs. Figuring I had all the information PayPal needed I happily faxed off my appeal.

Two days later I received an email from PayPal that my appeal had been denied because I did not get a police report!

In my ever calm mood I called PayPal up to explain once again that the police would not make a report. The super intelligent customer service person I talked to explained to me that "of course the police would file a report...that was their job and they do it all the time". I then explained to the customer service person that if she thought she knew the officers job and duties better than he did I would provide her with his phone number so she could call him and tell him he was derelict in his duty! Obviously that was not to her liking but she put me on hold to see if there was anything else that could be done.

After listening to elevator music for almost 15 minutes a new voice came on the phone informing me that she was a supervisor and that indeed the information the first customer service person gave me was accurate...I would need a police report. I then informed the supervisor that would be no problem...I now knew how to get a police report. I asked the supervisor for her full name, address, phone number and any other information she could provide. She asked me what I needed that for and I explained I was going to need it when I contacted the police to file a report of mail fraud on the buyer and name her as an accessory after the fact! There were a few seconds of stunned silence and then she asked if she could put me on hold again....of course you can I said.

Wonder of all wonders she was back within 30 seconds...and she had a solution for me...they would email me an affidavit. All I needed to do was fill it out, get it verified by a notary public and fax it it....I did that Friday and low and behold, today I got my money back!

Moral of the story...if you are right, don't give up!