shoprsd.com Blog

I know, you probably didn’t want to hear that from me, but really it is! Only like 3 more months and then we are swamped!  I had two ladies place orders this week, each over 4 bags to gift at Christmas, which got me thinking I better start thinking that way too!

So here’s the deal– order Christmas gifts now, so you have them and cross them off your t0-do list, and I will gift you!—-  For any orders over 2 bags, I will gift one FREE polly-the super handy coin purse we just can’t keep up with! Think about it– you give a gift and I gift you, everybody wins!  The offer ends Oct 15th though.  So order now!

That really describes this week for me. We had a huge serge of custom orders last week from customers and brides and gift-givers, and it was just awesome to lay them out and see just how many people are loving my things.  So—that got me brainstorming …again!

I was cutting out bags for next week at like 11pm and I started brainstorming and dreaming big about where I want to go with this.  I read this book about “Finding your Strengths” and discovered I have five main ones. I have blogged about this before, but I want to share what I discovered this time around.  My vision board is in my kitchen where I cut out the bags on the island table.  I saw the 5 strengths listed in bold:  Positivity, motivator, activator, futuristic and maximizer.  I really reflected on what each one means to me. I feel like they all speak so clearly about what God has gifted me in.  I know I am doing what He intended and I just started thinking what else can I do with the skill set? Well to me it was saying, keep dreaming big, (Maximize), think bigger sales, (positivity) , starting designing own fabric line (futuristic), encourage others in their dreams whether customers or friends (motivator) and get started on all these products I have been sketching up (activator.)  There you have it– a long list but believe me, they are now on my vision board.  I want to do these things and they should be no brainers because I have the skill set to start them.  So I introducing new and improved bags styles, boy baby booties (Gus stompers), sketching some fabric ideas and getting ahold of some big wig people on just how to go about having your own fabric printed, and then how to motivate my new sales teams to get out there and dream big themselves.  Mark my words (and now my vision board)  these things are going to get rolling, I just know it.

So I didn’t sleep well that night because I was too busy brainstorming about the new ideas and dreaming bigger.  I would love to be a household name someday, (yah, I know a little cliche’ but I really think like that!)  Rebekah Scott napkins? Rebekah Scott baby line? Rebekah Scott table linens? Rebekah Scott Art?  Oh yeah, you name it, I have probably thought about it  

So we are completing 40 more bags for Yankton River Boat Days this next weekend, August 20th-22nd, which will be lot of fun.  Mention this blog entry and receive 10% off!  I also just sewed about 30 Barbies for the event too, she is Miss. Popularity these days.

We are camping this weekend with my family as our vacation for the summer. I can’t wait to just check-out for awhile from deadlines and due dates, this should be fun!

Thanks for a great summer, and keep on me about what’s new and exciting, even a “motivator” needs pick-me-ups!

What an awesome summer! I simply love summertime and love my life in summer.  I can’t believe school is starting so soon! 

We have Okoboji this Saturday, and we are really excited. I have about 40 more pairs of Ivy Toes to bring and they are so cute, I am just glad I got them done in time for it!  We also have plenty of pollies, cosmetics and Barbies to go around also.  It seems this summer our accessories lines are just flying off the hook, and it’s tough to stay on top of things and get them all done and out there.  The show is 10-5 and we have a corner booth again- #14, hope to see you there!

What a week I have had with ND!  I am so pleased we did the Fargo Street Fair, we have had a lot of follow up orders this week and there is nothing better!  I love giving customers even more of what they like and when they advertise to their friends and family our customer base grows and grows, thank you! 

I have been shopping some new fall fabrics, and I just simply can’t wait to get them in!  They are so fun, and this time really textural, I just love it. Great color, great texture and great fun!  Stay tuned for the ones I get made up!

It was perfect weather this morning for a run. I got up early because Iversyn slept through the night and I couldn’t believe how well rested I felt and I knew I better use all the energy!  So I ran and then reflected with my bible and journal and then my brain started brainstorming like crazy about business and fabrics and designs, it’s going to be a great fall full of new styles and new inspirations!  Thanks again for a great summer so far, and here’s to a great August!

Goodness we are almost there! I have only 15 more to be ready for Brookings Summer Arts this weekend and Fargo Downtown Street Fair next week, July 15-th-17th.   It has been the a whirlwind this last couple of weeks but we survived.

I want to thank you- all my fans- again because you are what keep us going.  I think of how much people enjoy our products and look forward to seeing what’s new and I know that’s all of you who continually drive us to be better and bigger. 

I took a much needed break this evening and made spaghetti and then went for a walk on our farm.  Boy do I love my life.  We have the prettiest farm that my husband’s family runs and the weather this evening was just so beautiful, God really delivered a masterpiece.  So Gus , Ivy and I made it to the swing set and played for almost an hour. I was really conscious about staying present with the two of them while we played. I didn’t think about work or getting things done once they were down for the night, I just watched and soaked in all of them and the night air. I smelled and kissed Ivy’s head right below me in the snuggly, I listened to Gus’ giggles as he pretended to be a super hero flying on the swing and I touched the grass beneath my bare toes. All the while thinking, my God, my God you are amazing, THANK YOU.   This is my life, this moment- this precious moment, be here right now I reminded myself– it was amazing. 

So here we go, Brookings  Arts is going to be fun and exciting.  I can’t wait to see how the grand debut of the Ivy Toes goes and the new styles and fabric are bought up.  Hope to see you all soon!  Now back to finishing up

I thought I would blog about what Sarah and I consider show “must-haves.”

We always get groceries to have in the booth because we can no longer smell the fair food without getting a little nauseous after all this time.  I can’t eat another corn dog or Indian taco.   But maybe someday the aroma will allure me!  So for groceries we get bagels, grape jelly, peanut butter, grapes, apples, water, some form of chocolate and Sarah’s latest trail mix concoction.  (She likes to do it, makes her feel domestic or something . 

We always pack her laptop for blogging, a people magazine for a hot bubble bath after the show and usually a hair dye kit for Sarah, (we like to experiment!) We also have a camera, the breast pump, the I-pod, and the infamous tally sheet for fanny packs. That’s right, we tally fanny packs and mullets, if there is a certain number too many, we rethink the show, seriously , the fanny pack was the worst invention ever, who wants to add weight to any part of that region, and the mullet died in the 80’s, let it go, not let is grow! 

Sarah’s usually has her lesson plans for her full time job as a pre-school teacher and I have my design pad to sketch anything I see that I think would be fun to add to my line. 

So there you have it, the must-haves, now back to tallying mullets and fanny packs—-

First Adventure:  My twin sister and I do all the shows together, and she is the best adventure partner ever!  We are always running into some kind of trouble with cars, trailers or load in or load out.  Well this trip delivered a lot of fun. It’s five hours to Grand Forks so a long trip considering.  About 14 miles outside of Watertown we realized we were out of gas, not just like 10 more miles and you will be empty, but the fuel economy on our van just had stars, not even a zero for us.  So we didn’t panic but we certainly laughed and coasted for like 14 miles.  When we could roll into a gas station, by the grace of God, we filled up 16.8 gallons, the tank holds 16 gallons…..oh my. 

Second Adventure:  We get to the hotel at 11pm after we set up and go to check in under Rebekah Scott.  The attendant looks at us funny and says, a Rebekah Scott just checked in,   So yes, two Rebekah Scotts were signed up, which meant she gave our room to the other really cool Rebekah Scott (at least I assume that because of her name 11pm, and no room, and the town is booked solid because of the arts fest and a soccer tournament.  The attendant says I have one room open; it is a smoking suite with a Jacuzzi tub.  Well we need to smell it first and then decide, and then she says “It will be free.”  Sold!  We stayed in it and showered to make sure the smoke didn’t soak in…crazy us. 

Third Adventure:  We are traveling home and singing at the top of our lungs to Sarah’s ipod music and then I break down into  tears like I always do, praising God for this lifestyle I live and allowing me to thrive when Sarah hands me Kleenex to dry up.  I always have that moment, and I know it is God reminding me of my blessings.  I reflect often in my life because I just can’t take for granted what He has given me.  So that’s my third adventure, this life!

Well I made a very scary but good decision this week.  I have been filling inventory for all the art shows and the trunk shows and still running short on them.  If I am doing my figuring right for how many I need to support all the shows, I am 90 short.  That’s right, 90 short.  I have never been this busy, I have been busy but I have never been this busy.  It’s just crazy, and I love it but I had to sit back and evaluate some things.  So because I need to fill about 90 bags in about 3 weeks, I have been working and working without a lot of sleep or sanity.  I work at home with my children right next to me. We take lots of breaks and I meet their needs like any mother would, but I was letting things slip and it started to get to me.  I have always been very “domestic,” meaning I like to have dinner every night at the table with my little family unit and do the dishes together and pray together and catch up our days with each other.  We don’t do this every night, but at least 4 nights a week we do eat together.  I was getting so busy; I was staying up till like midnight and then back up again at 5 to sew.  Well it’s a good thing I love what I am doing so I don’t get tired of it but I do get stressed by it at times.  So when things starting slipping with my family and my little ones needs weren’t being met, I knew I had to make a decision. 

I was busy sewing and my son Gus needed something and he was saying, “mommy mommy mommy” over and over again, (like we all know so well!) and I just snapped, I yelled and I will never forget the look on his face.  It is permanently impressed on my brain.  I realized things had to change.  So I bent down to his level told him I was sorry and promised him I would play some ball right then and there.  He hugged me back and was busy getting his ball and bat, while I reflected on what just happened.  I stood back up and read the sign I have printed above my ironing board, it says, “wife, then mother, then designer”.  It reminds me of my priorities and the order of importance.   I got it from a really good book called, “A Woman After God’s Own Heart.”  The book changed things in my life drastically.  It explained to me how to serve my family joyfully and how to use my gifts from God.  So that being said I asked myself how I can fix what just happened? 

So I decided after prayer and talking with my husband, not to do Aberdeen Arts Festival.  I HATE even thinking about canceling the show but I have to think about it like this: It may not be the best decision for my business, but without a doubt the BEST decision for my family.  Iversyn, my daughter is only a baby once, the art festivals are every summer, but she is only a baby for a very short time.  This way my quality and purses remain at top notch.

So there I said it.  Yikes, still makes me nervous, but we will survive. 

I would like to still offer our 10% off show special for anyone within 50 miles of Aberdeen. I know I had some customers coming and I feel terrible, but you can still redeem your 10% off coupon through email and our shopping cart online.  I am sorry,  but my family and I thank you. 

Here’s to a busy summer and being a mom— the best job I have.