COUPONS!!!

Over the past year I have become a coupon fanatic, thanks to my thrifty neighbor who has taught me! I cannot tell you how much money I have saved and how many items I actually get for free. for example, I shopped today at Harris Teeter and spent $12, but SAVED $16.00! I got 5 bottles of Kraft BBQ sauce (buy 2, get 3 free), used coupons and got each bottle for $0.35!! I got 5 bags of shredded cheese for $4.36 TOTAL...the list goes on and on. Harris Teeter and Lowe's Foods DOUBLE coupons up to and including $0.99 EVERYDAY! Shop using the coupons combined with their weekly specials and you will be amazed at what you save! You can also visit a website called THE GROCERY GAME or COUPON MOM to get a layout of where to shop, what coupons to use and how much you will actually spend. You can also print your coupons from these sites. With this economy and being a stay at home mom, what a blessing! Every time I check out the check out people are amazed. Why not use coupons? They are FREE money!

New Camera

Handwoven Water Hyacinth Bag














I finally got the new camera in and have been practicing taking pictures of my merchandise. Here are a few examples and any advice is surely welcome. P.S. HAPPY MOTHER'S DAY!!










Handmade Bamboo Bag

Display

I just bought a new Olympus camera, but have not received the memory card for it yet, so here are some pics (using my old camera) of my display from the Southern Women's Show last weekend. Let me know what you think..the lighting is not so great, but you can get the main idea, I think.

Southern Womens Show in Raleigh

This weekend I will be participating in the Southern Women's Show in Raleigh, NC. The show is HUGE with tons and tons of vendors there. I am very excited as this will be one of the biggest shows I have been a part of since starting the business. If you are in the area, come by and check out our booth # 837. Jim Brickman and Joey Fatone will be at the Saturn Runway part of the show on Friday. DONT MISS IT!!
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EARTH DAY

I remember celebrating Earth Day all the way back in Elementary School and I always thought it was so cool. What a great day we have to think and really concentrate on the conservation of the beautiful Earth God created for us. Over 75% of all the merchandise on Unique World Trends web site is GREEN and enviro friendly. The bags are woven from bamboo, water hyacinth plant, palm branches, or silk. All of the Thai scarves are 100% silk making all of the merchandise mentioned GREEN. So shop during EARTH DAY and GO GREEN!

Outside Events..Lesson Learned

Being new to the whole business adventure I am learning quite a bit. One major lesson learned recently is that OUTSIDE EVENTS are not always fun since we cannot control the weather. I first learned this the hard way the beginning of April when I did the Coastal Living Show in Wilmington and we had severe weather.What a blessing for me that a nice young man felt sorry for me and invited me in to his indoor booth. So I signed up for another show this past weekend on Castle Street in Wilmington and the wind was so strong all my merchandise fell over a few times. NOTE TO SELF: INDOOR EVENTS ARE BEST for me!

Idol Gives Back..Shout to the Lord

I do not know if you had the chance to watch it last night, but Idol Gives Back was a great show! The show is used to raise money to help AIDS victims, especially orphans in Africa whose parent have died from the disease. The money is also raised to help those in poverty in the USA. There were guest appearances by SEVERAL celebrities who shared their stories about traveling to Africa and places in America to experience firsthand the horrific situations of poverty and need for medical attention. Among the celebrities were Brad Pitt, Carrie Underwood, Robin Williams, and many more. The biggest shocker for me was when Ryan Seacrest announced at the very end that the Idol contestants would be singing "Shout to the Lord" which is one of my favorite praise songs about who Jesus Christ is. Even though they edited out the name of "Jesus" in the beginning of the song, it was powerful just the same. I love how God uses even American Idol to get the praise that He deserves! AMEN!! On that note, it was just 2 weeks ago that Dolly Parton was on the show and sang "Jesus and Gravity" also giving a great testimony to who Jesus Christ is. AWESOME STUFF!!
²⁷"Religion that God our Father accepts as pure and faultless is this: to look after orphans and widows in their distress and to keep oneself from being polluted by the world." James 1:27 NIV