birthday promo affair!

as part of littleoddforest's 4th birthday celebrations, lof will be making its maiden foray into isetan scotts here in singapore ! weeee! only for 2 weeks!

isetan scotts
350 orchard road, shaw house, level 1, bags department
friday 29th august - thursday 11th september
opening hours are 10am to 9.30pm daily

our singapore friends! we have a date! tis time for you to shut down your computer, dress up pretty, get out of the house, and head on down to our little corner of lof goodness at the isetan scotts bags section!



so what can you expect? for starters, you don't pay shipping if you buy there, ha!
• brand new designs launch
• one-off pieces (they will be labeled OOAK = one-of-a-kind, so that you'll know!)
• our VIFF customers may use their exclusive online membership 10% discount there in person! (this is a 1st! most probably will not happen ever again!)
• more than 20% off selected designs from past collections (very limited pieces only!)

i may just be lurking around, so come say "hiya!" too! although it would be best to let me know beforehand in case i'm not there. or you can always chat up with our friendly sales gal!

we are super excited! i hope you are too! we try to "go out" at least once a year, and with this year lacking in quality bazaars, it was a "why not?" when the opportunity came knocking. and no, we haven't sold our souls to the mass commercial world of departmental stores... never say never, i say! i always relish fresh new experiences and challenges. wouldn't it be so awesome to try and spread the love of handmade, fair trade goodness to people who don't know/give two hoots about it?? yeah!!!

any questions you may have, feel free to get in touch. and if there are any designs in particular that you really wish to purchase there in person, feel free to drop me a note too! i can't promise anything, but i promise i'll try to see what i can do!

otherwise, we'll see you there, cute folks!!!

muacks! xoxoxo~

your littleoddforest mistress,
lynda

pssstt!!!
our dearest international customers, fret not! i have not forgotten about you!! we have something real special lined up for you for those entire 2 weeks!! more yummy details later!!

pssstt psssttt!!!
VIFF is littleoddforest's own take on VIP --> Very.Important.Forest.Friend.
this was started more than 2 years ago, and we are happy to announce that we now have over 250 members and counting! to better thank you all for being kick-ass awesome, i have recently revamped the privileges and how you may obtain your membership card. click below to find out more!
http://www.forestprints.com/helpmain.aspx#3

pssstt psssttt ppsssstt!!!
lof purchases made at isetan scotts will be eligible for your VIFF membership! just be sure to leave us your name, email and mobile number when making your purchase there!

the dream assistant...

yet another great article by jenny hart!
https://venuszine.com/articles/diy/resources/4020/Crafting_a_Business_with_Jenny_Hart
second article i'm sharing with you about hiring help.... it's all about that these few weeks i guess!

you won't believe how much time it takes to hire, train, hoping they get it right (if not, close), deciding they can't make it and have to let them go, or they decide it's too much shit for them to handle.... of course, it's so much harder with regards to hiring sewers, but still....
hiring is so much fun... *bitter laugh...*

i've been meeting so many cute peeps the past month, mostly nice ones, some strange ones, and some... ah-hem... yeah. very twilight zoney....


phone rings
picks up phone
before i can say hello...

"eh, you want part-time ah?"
"erm, yes, i'm hiring"
"but it's what ah?"
"err... are you applying for position of sales promoter or admin assistant?"
"so it's 2 lah, hah?"
"yah, but you can choose either or, don't need to apply for both positions...."
"so it's what ah?"
"err, what is what?"
"it's where ah?"
"for the sales promoter, it's in town..."
"so it's do what one hah?
"err.... oh, sorry, i'm afraid the positions have been filled...."
"oh, okay. bye."


i had to lie!!! i just had to!!! come on!!! this auntie clearly can't read the requirements i stated
- "must speak proper english!"

oh dear gawd.

but if help is needed, it's needed. it'll be for the better good in the long run.... it'd better be!!

just like how it's better to hire models/photographers! if you can't get it right yourself ;)

model: Bernadett Bondár
photographer: Balázs Bondár

weekly shoppe updates are in already!

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add-on
both sales promoter and administrative assistant positions are currently closed!
thank you all so very much for your job applications!

we are looking to hire at least 1 intern to help with daily runnings here @ littleoddforest, at our humble home-office this coming year-end, so please drop us an email with your detailed information - subject heading - I WANNA INTERN!!!
prerequisites are the same as before, except for the "selling" part. and very importantly, you must be able to find joy in mundane tasks like filing invoices!
xoxo!

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what will you do?

when you have many friends demanding your attention and time and space
and then when you spend time with one group, you risk incurring the wrath of the other
and then when you spend time with the other, you make another unhappy with you

can you please everyone? i'm trying, but it's so hard. i am not good at this at all.

then you attempt to make them all hang out together.
but to many, this is not an option.
they prefer being with people who already know them so well, because they just want to be comfortable, instead of being accommodating. they want to talk personal crap, but would rather not do it in front of someone they don't know at all. they want to be themselves, instead of being nice. they are contented with their friends and people they already know, and have no desire of expanding their social circle. they feel that their time is too precious to spend on people whom they do not know well, and are not bothered or concerned with.

so very not easy-going! wassup!!!??! is the hot weather getting to everyone's moods, temperament, likes and dislikes???

so, that pretty much sums up july and august so far. super tiring. and terribly lame. the silly social games i have to play.

i am not hanging out with anyone this entire week. not one soul. well, maybe one or two. but that's it. my mind needs peace and quiet for a while. i think i deserve at least that.

oh, before ending off.... thank you all so very much for all your sweet wishes! long emails! text messages! phone calls! look out for more sweet birthday news all the way til october! :D

happy 4th birthday, forestprints design! :D

forestprints design, the official business behind littleoddforest, turns 4 today! weeeee! :D
more later, cute peeps!!!! xoxoxo!

the GaMs...

*applause* finally. someone feels the same way as me, and what's more, it's the fashhag. what am i doing, still being a member for 3 years now???

very random

i don't necessarily agree with everything in this article, but i thought it was useful and i could share it with you!


The Myth Of Being Successfully Solo In Business
By Mark Silver (c) 2008 Heart Of Business

There's a breakneck pace that many new solo business owners assume. With an infinite number of things to do, and about a dozen hats to wear, it gets overwhelming, fast. And, that's nothing compared to what happens once the business actually has some momentum under it. That's why one of my clients with a brand-new business was asking me: "Mark, how do you get it all done? Your business has about 100 times more going on in it than mine does, and I'm overwhelmed just with what I'm trying to get done."

Here's my answer: "I don't get it all done."

Which strikes at the heart of the most dangerous myth in business: the bootstrap myth, known in this particular instance as the myth of the successful solopreneur.

Why This Myth is so Dangerous

The myth says that you can do it on your own, you can bootstrap your way to success, and that when you go solo, you don't need anyone else. That's the whole point of being self-employed, or running a personal-sized business, right?

This rugged homage to individualism isn't just in the U.S., as some have claimed. I have seen this myth in action across the globe: Canada, the UK, mainland Europe, Asia, Australia and Africa. It seems as if it's just hard to get it: we can't do it ourselves.

The Physical Reality

When you're an employee at a company, you get to do your job. And, unless you think upon it, you might not realize how much other people do just so you can do your job. Who prints and signs your check? Who makes sure the office building gets cleaned? Who stocks the office supplies closet, or goes out and sells to clients so there is revenue to pay you?

It's humbling, but when you become self-employed, all of those functions fall into your lap. And it is impossible, literally impossible, to do them all. If you're overwhelmed trying to make your business work yourself, there is good reason for it. Frustrating - but don't despair. It may help to understand why it is this way.

The Spiritual Reality

As my Sufi teacher tells me, "Be the earth for your brothers and sisters. If you don't carry them, who will?... When you look into another's eyes, see the reflection of God looking at you."

The depth of this teaching really struck home when I realized that he wasn't talking to me personally - this teaching was for everyone. We're all asked to carry each other. Which means that we also need to allow ourselves to be carried.

When someone offers help, do you say: "Yes!" or do you say: "Nah, I can get it." If the bootstrap myth is operating in your business, there may be a hundred subtle and not-so-subtle ways that you avoid or turn away from help." Lord knows I do.

And yet we are meant to both help and be helped by each other. This is one of the ways that we experience the Divine in our lives, through the actions, support and love of others.

Yes, I mean you. :-) You are supposed to receive the Divine through the actions, support and love of others. You can't do everything yourself. And that's as it was designed to be. Watch the wing-stretching and contortions you go through as you learn to receive more help. It will do much more than help your business, it will be a real experience of healing and growth for you as well.

Who can afford to hire an entire company of help? Of course, not all of the help you get will be free, and there's so much of it to get. And you can't hire it all, especially early in your business. So what do you do?

After going through some big transitions ourselves, having grown up in a small retail business, and having worked with hundreds of clients, let me share some insights into how to prioritize.

Keys to Being a Successful Pseudo-Solo

First, Invest in Information and Learning. I know, I know - it seems like a lot needs to get done, right now. Remember - millions of people have already done what you've tried to do. So, the best thing to do is to learn from some of them.

Get books from the library, or buy them. Take classes, free or otherwise. Find people you admire who have successfully navigated what you're trying to do and take them to tea or lunch and ask them questions. I've done about a dozen interviews with folks I admire and have them up in our online community for just that reason: The Business Oasis.

Make sure the information resonates with you. As just one example, marketing professionals out there are all saying more or less the same thing, so you can find one that your heart really resonates with and is speaking your language.

Second, Get Help With the Numbers. I'll say this once: if you're running a business, you shouldn't be doing your taxes yourself. There are too many deductions and pitfalls and details. You want to hire it out, even if you think you can't afford it.

Related to that, as soon as you can, hire a bookkeeper to keep your accounting clean from month to month. Not only will it help you at tax time (imagine filing your taxes in the beginning of February!), but it will also help you understand your business better, simply knowing how money flows in and out.

Third, Experiment With a Virtual Assistant. You may not be able or ready to hire out help. You also may have no idea how or where to start. I suggest finding a virtual assistant you like, who has strengths in areas that you get overwhelmed by easily, and hiring them for a very small project, maybe an hour or two. Then repeat in a month or so.

Over some months, as you both get to know each other, you'll get more comfortable with asking for help, and receiving it. Your business may need to develop before you hire a significant amount of help, but if you start small, it will be a much easier transition. And you'll get there much more quickly.

Getting help in your business is a huge topic. The trick is to face the simple truth that you can't do it all yourself, and that spiritually it's enormously beneficial to receive help.

Then, first get help by learning through books, classes, and other resources, second get help with the numbers with an accountant then a bookkeeper, and finally practice outsourcing to a virtual assistant in small, do-able, bites. And watch how much more successful you can be as a 'pseudo' solo business owner.

The best to you and your business.

About The Author
Mark Silver is the author of Unveiling the Heart of Your Business: How Money, Marketing and Sales can Deepen Your Heart, Heal the World, and Still Add to Your Bottom Line. He has helped hundreds of small business owners around the globe succeed in business without losing their hearts.



i started forestprints design 4 years ago (few more days! :D), so that i have a "valid" outlet to do what i wish to do, to make what i wish to make, and to sell what i love to make. i didn't set out with "making money business" as the very first thought. rather, my very first thought was "i love and want to make this", and then "i want you to love what i make", and it graduated to "i want this passion to be my livelihood", and finally "i have to make this happen, my way".

i used to look up to people who have very lofty ideals about doing what they truly love to do. i wanted to be just like them. do what i truly love doing, without any compromises. sure. i can be the only one who loves what i do, and no one else in this entire world loves it, or understands it, really "supports" it, (in my case, buy what i make), or even notices it at all. then, when i began thinking more in-depth about it, i concluded that these people either have super huge never-ending bank accounts (could be anyone else's really...), or are just not very smart, or simply very self-centered. at the end of the day, the one who claims to be passionate about doing her/his thing, but yet not really caring how to make it "work", nor caring for any results, and yet leeching off someone else's resources, to feed their own passion, this, i think, is too self-serving a venture.... such a crime...

or, of course, there are definitely other more positive scenarios, one of which is, a very simple person, living a very simple life, and doing what they love doing. but truly self-sufficient. an artist once said to me, "i don't really care if no one likes what i do, once in a while, someone who appreciates my work will miraculously pop up, buy a few paintings, and then, i have money to pay for my rent and more art supplies again." he has just enough money to get by with very simple meals, a really simple lifestyle, maybe treats from some friends, and, so on, you get the picture.

so, is a simple lifestyle for you? it most certainly isn't for me. i love what i do, and it is my lifelong passion. but i also love plenty of the other "better" things in life. so i make sure to work really hard at it to make it work for me. in the process, i don't give up playing hard either, because that just doesn't suit me. people like to question what i do, whenever they notice me going out and about, say, in the middle of the day, shopping. or hanging out with friends at places. or going abroad. hello, i don't do 9-6pm, one of the many reasons why i can't stand working for people under most circumstances, and i can choose not to, since i'm the boss. what's so great about tying a clock to myself?? but when i do work super late into the night, or wake up super early in the morning, people don't see that. people don't see me slogging away 24 hours, going to bed at 4am, or waking up at 7am. yes yes yes... i have 50 slaves slogging away non-stop for me everyday in my dungeon :p

one of my favorite things to do is to work full-force for 4 days in a stretch, and then do absolutely nothing but play for another 4 days in a row. it's thoroughly liberating, let me tell you that.

there's no one point to what i just said. it is not in respond to the article above either. just some random thoughts i have built up along the way whilst typing. more in relation to a very long conversation i had with a regular customer today, about how and why i do what i do. i really love what i am doing now, not only because of the obvious reasons, but also because i am helping to help others in the process, to help improve their lives, in any little ways that i can. so far on, all of my previous and current sewers in the philippines have seen improvements in their lives since working for me, a few have managed to save enough to go back to school, and the others have managed to rent and even buy their own homes, improved their living conditions, upgraded their knowledge, skills, and self-esteem (poverty most likely always beats up a person's self-worth.... they always think they aren't able do anything at all...), and are living way better lives than before. i am happy to report that currently, no one needs to live in the living space i have rented, it is now empty, most likely to become a storage place, that is, until i hire and train again, new sewers who are homeless. in fact, i was in hot soup recently because 2 of them decided very quietly that they have saved enough to go to college in manila. and without warning, they just expressed their intentions one day, and left the next. their very typical yet super irrational fear? they were afraid to let me know. what was i going to do, abduct them away to my cellar, and enslave them to the sewing machine??? a few of my large orders were thus very delayed, that was a super crazy and stressful period..... still is now, but i'm still handling it..... the rest of the sewers felt that it was so unfair for them to just up and go in such an ungrateful manner, but yeah, whatever... shit happens.... maybe i should start a blog to talk about all the gazillion dramatic difficulties in setting up and managing the workshop... maybe not... a 100-part drama serial would be more apt i think...

anyhow, to put it bluntly, all these actions require moolah. and so if my business improves, so will their lives. if i insist on being a stubborn creative idealist - "oh, i don't care about making money. i just insist on doing what i like to do, the way i like to do it" or something along these lines - or stop working my brains and fingers, then it's goodbye to all of these and all of them.

i guess, i just don't get these people who are ultimately building their dreams on other people's resources, and then saying that they don't really care whether they make it or not.... if i were to invest in someone else's dreams, in my bid to try to help them make their dreams work, and this is what i hear, i would be most heartbroken and disappointed. so please, don't automatically assume i am one of such people simply because i am doing what i love to do....

"here's $50,000 to help you build your invention. i wish you success."

"i will try my best to build it, and enjoy building it. but whether the invention will work or not, or is useful or not, that's not my priority. i don't really care about that. i just want to enjoy the process and have a chance to do this."

???? if this sucker is not your doting parent (not that i agree with this either), then this sucker is truly one hell of a sucker.

then again, this world works in strange ways, and connections and networks are usually all that matters.... i am not making sense at all. maybe because i need sleep... or maybe because i am getting so very tired of explaining again and again and again what i do, why i do what i do, and how i do it.... and why i am not like him or her or them or...... bahhh.....

signing off with yawns~