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

Success

I participated (was a vendor) at the Coastal Living Show in Wilmington, NC this past weekend. The show got off to a bad start as I had an outside booth and Saturday the weather was TERRIBLE. However, after trying to set up my merchandise and looking quite pitiful in the rain a nice man came and offered me space at his inside booth. The Lord was looking out for me on that one for sure! After a slow day on Saturday, Sunday was a hit! All the ladies LOVED my merchandise and I sold a ton of items. YEAH! I also got to spend the day with both of my sister in laws, who helped me man the booth. One is a talented artist and the other a talented photographer, so they also sold their items as well.
The end of this month I will be off to Charlotte, NC for the Charlotte Merchandise Show April 26th-April 28th. This will be a WHOLESALE TRADE SHOW, so we will see how it goes! Bye for now....

Photos of Merchandise

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Starting the Business

About a year ago I embarked on a new mission of starting a retail/wholesale business named Unique World Trends. I had no idea the work and time that goes into such an ordeal. While my husband and I were living in Japan as missionaries, we had the wonderful opportunity to travel to Thailand. If you have ever been to Thailand you know the beauty of the people, the land and the merchandise. I bought a few purses while there and have received compliments on them daily since back in the USA. After some urging on by my mother, I decided to start importing them to sell.
One thing has led to another and now I have a full fledged Internet retail shop selling handmade BAMBOO, SILK, COTTON, and WATER HYACINTH bags. Of course along the way I have added some famous Thai silk scarves and some other trendy things to my shop, but I focus primarily on the Thai products.
I like the Thai products because they have unique look and are very high quality merchandise. I have also come to find out that they are considered GREEN PRODUCTS and ENVIRO FRIENDLY. (Bamboo, Silk, cotton, and water hyacinth all reproduce rapidly.)
I have had the opportunity to be a part of several TRADE SHOWS and am still very much learning the ropes of running a business. I would love it if anyone had some helpful advise to pass along...I will keep you posted.
I will be hosting a table this weekend in Wilmington, NC at the annual Coastal Living Show.