Learning to Rest

As my followers can see I've made a few changes to the blog. Just background colour and font colours.
I find the taupe background a little easier on the eyes. I hope all who visit will like it too.

I've been laid up again. My back has put me out of working condition again.
It seems I went back to work too soon so now I am dealing with the consequences.
Why is it so hard for people just to rest? I suppose we are all conditioned to believe that if you are not quote "working" you are not contributing on any level. It is such a shame when I think about it, our self worth is is primarily based on our productivity. We live in an era and society that bases our personal value on our work ethics and productivity. Even our creative spirit can be squelched by such a negative belief system.
I do understand that taking time off from work is a matter of economics also. I cannot afford to take this time off. I will lose income. I am self employed. I provide a residential cleaning service as well as design
home decor, so I truly rely on this income. But I have had to gain some perspective. If I don't rest to heal my lower back I will not be able to clean anymore or maybe other forms of employment will not be available to me as a result of these health issues. Cleaning houses provides me with so many perks, flexibility of my time, choosing my clients (a big plus) no stress- my biggest concern is whether or not my clients house is clean when I leave and the answer is always "YES". Immediate gratification, I do the job well, I am proud of my work and every day my clients are happy and thanking me for a job well done!
It is also great physical activity  provided I learn how to do it correctly of course. I even have clients that allow me to bring my dog Major. I never got any of these perks working as a Department manager for Walmart.
So here I am, learning to rest to heal my back so I can go back to an occupation that is satisfying, stress free and chock full of perks that I am so grateful for. I truly have been blessed. In the meantime I can spend time designing, updating my website and blog. Tasks that don't require physical labour or my back!
Gaining a new perspective can be liberating. I am thankful that God has revealed this new perspective to me. In so doing He has freed me from the chains of a belief system that could've been detramental to my health.
I hope everyone has a great week, and take care!

New Category and Listings on our Website

We have just listed a few new items in the past two days under a new category.
This category is called   Kitchen Accessory Co-ordinates.

With this new category we will provide our customer several  items of the same fabric and details

for a complete kitchen ensemble.

At this time we are making just a few of each design to test our market. Depending on the demand more will be produced. There might be slight changes in detailing fabrics ( fabric used for binding and applique) but the colour schemes will remain similar.

This group we are introducing are made with a black and taupe check 100% cotton homespun fabric.

We will be introducing other colour schemes of navy and taupe and burgundy and taupe

We are producing these items for both retail and wholesale purchase. If you are a retailer interested in these items please visit our website at http://www.harvesthouseprimitives.com/ and follow the link on the left hand side panel to our Wholesale Information for more details.

For more information please contact me by email at

info@harvesthouseprimitives.com

Talk to you again soon Colleen Walker

Change in Our Shipping Policy

ACTUAL COST SHIPPING FEES ONLY

We will be charging ACTUAL SHIPPING COST FEES ONLY with a nominal $2.00 fee for shipping materials and other expenses .

We have decided that trying to determine the shipping fees by flat rate and other means is just too confusing and usually ends up costing the consumer more or us by lost revenue from shipping fees that are too low. This is what we have decided. When an order is placed, your invoice for the items will come to you first and payment at that time will be appreciated. We will then process the items ordered and prepare them to be shipped. We have a postal scale here at our studio and we will calculate the shipping fees based on volume and weight through the Canada Postal Service online tools. We will gather the the fee information for several options available for our customer to choose their preferrance.
That information will be emailed to you and you can notify us by email with the method you prefer. Then a PayPal invoice for the shipping fees will be sent to you. When shipping fee is paid item(s) will be shipped.

If you would like an estimate of your shipping fees before ordering we will be happy to do this. Please remember it is an estimate and slight fluctuations in fees may occur upon actual orderd shipment.

I understand that this may seem like a few more steps in the process but it seems like the only way to ensure that all parties involved are handled fairly and honestly.

I hope you find this helpful if you have any questions please feel free to contact me at
info@harvesthouseprimitives.com

Thanks so much and take care.

There has been a delay and other news....

I had great plans this weekend passed to begin design work on wood products and to continue to set up and merchandise the studio for our Easter weekend opening. Well not so much!:( I pulled muscles in my lower back and was, well how do I put it out of commission for the weekend and for the next two weeks at least according to my doctor. I can't lay down for long periods of time or I will seize up. I am to alternate between walking around at home, sitting, and standing. I am not able to lift anything heavy (please explain? how is that determined? I'll just have to wing it, I guess if it hurts to pick it up it's too heavy!) I'm also not supposed to do any housework either, no vacuming, no sweeping, no washing of floors etc., which would be a dream come true if I didn't supplement my design work by providing a cleaning service to several clients. This is truly my ERMA BOMBECK MOMMEMT!!!!
I'm taking muscle relaxants and those are a treat! Enough said...
Oh well suck it up Colleen and use this time as best you can. So this is what I can do while I'm somewhat indisposed. I am standing in my office with my laptop on a platform to a height that is comfortable for me to work on typing this blog while my desktop computer is downloading one of my favorite programs,(I'm a huge Ugly Betty  and The Good Wife Fan) I just LOVE TECHNOLOGY!!!! well and my husband because he is my techi guy and keeps me in good technical running order, what would I do without him? I shudder to think.
Now on to other news. We now have a link from our website to this blog, (finally figured that one out), and we have changed our shipping policy on the website. There is more information on our updated shipping policy on the next post arriving shortly! Will sign off now and move on to the shipping policy post, see you soon.

A Quick Update

I have been a way for a while. I have not spent anytime blogging, working on designs or my website.
I have been painting and reorganizing my studio. I am getting it ready to open it up again on the weekends starting Easter weekend. It has been alot of work but it is starting to shape up and I am really quite pleased with the outcome so far. I have a large industrial sewing machine that I am going to sell because I really don't use it and it takes up so much space. Once that is out of the studio it will make a big difference.
I have also been getting my income tax stuff together to send off to our bookkeeper. Every year I promise myself to keep things in better order, I'm really not too bad but there is always room for improvement.
Hopefully I will finish that off tomorrow and get it emailed to the bookkeeper.
Well that's about it for now. I hope I can get caught up on things soon so I can start designing again.
Talk to you later.!

New Designs for 2010

Hi everyone, I just wanted to show you what I have been working on this weekend.
I designed these kitchen accessories using my Husqvarna sewing machine that I purchased at the Salvation Army for $5.00.
Okay, Okay enough about the sewing machine, I promise.
I will be listing these items on my website shortly, in the meantime feel free to contact me at info@harvesthouseprimitives.com if you have any questions, and yes we do wholesale all our productline for any interested retailers.

Links to Learning Celebrates 10 years

Saturday January 23rd 2010 was a special day for a special learning program. This program assists children with their reading and grammar skills. From grade one and up.

My sister Joan started up this program in Belleville Ontario to assist those children in her community with their reading skills. It helps those children having difficulties with their reading and also helps other children to improve on their reading skills and grammar.

Several years ago Joan’s daughter Melanie started the “Reading Rocks” program. This program encourages children to read as many books as they can in a year. Each year a goal has been set and and each following year the goal number is increased. The goal for 2009 was 1000 books in one year!!!

To help with this celebration I was asked to make something that all the children could take home with them as an award for the “Reading Rocks” program and to celebrate “Links to Learning” first ten years.

My husband David suggested a small pillow that the children could use to rest their heads on as they read. Joan and Melanie really liked the idea so that is what we did.

David updated the logo to include the 10 year celebration and the Reading Rocks program.

Well we made 60 pillows in two days. With help from my husband and my girlfriend Dana the job was completed. We all had such fun doing it too.

Apparently the pillows were a hit, the children just loved them and the celebration on a whole was a huge success.

To find out more about the Links to Learning program go to their website

http://www.linkstolearning.ca/