Exposing garlic – orchid

Happy weekend everyone! Business as usual next Month, er, I mean Monday. And from then on lots of birthdays to celebrate till the end of the month.

Hacoa – tape dispenser, memo block and magnets

Some new woody novelties to love from Hacoa.

Can you tell that this tape dispenser is shaped like a snail? No metal blade on this one.

Othello magnets and woodgrain memo block.

All items from Mokko-ya (in Japanese).

Doorstop – loose leaf

I love a doorstop that’s unique and I like things leaf-shaped, so I think I’ve found this perfect match from Fred & Friends.

Sweet Tidings

I had the pleasure of meeting Christy not long ago through blogging of course. Christy authors the wonderful Sweet Tidings blog which constantly imparts crafty inspiration and goodness. She always hosts fabulous sponsor giveawaystoo! And you are welcome to join in! There’s one currently going on and you don’t want to miss the opportunity to receive pretty goodies from Holland Fabric House!

You will love the lovely handmade zakka that Christy has in her shop at Etsy. All made with tender loving care and are reasonably priced.

This sewing basket + pin cushions which must be sitting on tables of happy owners who got them from her other shop Petite Poppet at ArtFire.

I received my order recently and I luv it!

Sunshine bracelets

Thank you for your kind comments on our fund raising effort for the 2 families who lost their homes due to the floods in the Philippines.

Last week I was making as many bracelets as my supplies allow me. After completing some 10 over pieces, I found that I wasn’t pleased with the way they were knotted to hold the clasps, and that happened in the evening before I was to hand over 20 bracelets the next day. Thanks to me for picking on myself! So I had poor hub help me de-string, then re-string, while I took care of the ends and made more to fulfill the balance. It was surely troublesome + tedious but at least I don’t feel uneasy as I continue stringing a new batch this week.

These bracelets are called “Sunshine” with the hope that as we take steps to rebuild our lives, our homes after a disaster, the grey skies over us will clear and sunshine will come around again.

Money box – save/spend/share/etc

Coup de coeur

Here is just a small variety of irresistible zakka by Coup de coeur sprung off from a series of decor books by Japanese publisher Editions de Paris (a company not to be confused with Paumes).

See those door notebooks (bottom right)?

Johnny The Bagger

Barbara Glanz is a speaker and author. A few years ago, she spoke at a convention for a large grocery chain with over 3,000 people attending. Her talk was on creating memories for the customers so they would want to come back. At the end of her speech, she gave out her email address and phone number, and said, “If you have any great service stories, I’d like to hear them.” Well, about a month later, Barbara gets a call from a young man who introduces himself as Johnny.

He said, “Barbara, I heard what you had to say about service, and I like it! I’m just a bagger in the store and I have Downs syndrome, but I wanted to think of a way I could make a difference.

I decided that I like sayings, so each day I’m going to pick out one that I like, and my dad and I will print it out on the computer. I’ll cut out the quote in strips and sign my name on the back of each one. The next day when customers come through, I’ll just drop a strip right in their bags and say, ‘I hope you enjoy my quote of the day.’ What do you think, Barbara?”

Barbara said, “Johnny, I think that’s a wonderful idea!”

A few weeks later, Barbara gets another call…this time from the store manager. He says,

“Barbara, you won’t believe what’s happened at our store. I went out into the store and noticed that one line was three times longer than the others. I went to the back of the line and suggested that customers move to another checkout, and they wouldn’t budge—they wanted to see Johnny’s quote of the day!

In fact, one lady said, ‘I used to come here once a week, but now I come 2-3 times just to see the smile on Johnny’s face when he drops in his favorite quote.’

So the next day, I round up my team and tell them what Johnny has done to give our customers more than they expected. That afternoon, I see the lady in the floral department cutting off her broken flowers and pinning them on the elderly women in our store. Our guy in the meat department loves Snoopy, so he was putting his favorite Snoopy stickers on the packages, and talking to his customers.

In fact, everybody in our store is finding creative ways to put their mark on service. We’re having the time of our lives, and it seems like everyone in town is talking about us! And you know what, Barbara? It happened for one reason…Johnny decided to do something!”

When it comes to service, we all have our unique gifts to give; however we’ll never make the emotional connection with the customer unless it begins in our heart.

[An except from the book The Simple Truths of Service - Inspired by Johnny the Bagger by Ken Blanchard and Barbara Glanz.

Image courtesy of Barbara Glanz]