Wishing you much love and happiness – where ever it comes from – this Valentine’s Day!

– Tara Reed

I am quite honored to have been asked to participate in the newest online course (I hate to call it that because I really believe it is going to be so much more than that!) by Kelly Rae Roberts and Beth Nicholls. When I look at the other people involved I pretty much pinch myself and say “Really? Little ol’ me gets to do this?” It is so exciting to be a part of something that says “Yes! You can have your art and your cake too! No need to starve! No need to sell your soul! Find your passion and find your way…”

I fully expect to be blown away, inspired, and left speechless at the end – I can assure you I’ll be there at every one of these soul sessions!  I thought it might be of interest to some of my blog readers as well.

That is me paraphrasing… here is how they describe the Hello Soul – Hello Business

The Business Soul Sessions is brought to you by internationally-renowned mixed media artist and author Kelly Rae Roberts, and award-winning entrepreneur Beth Nicholls, founder of Do What You Love. This collaboration was born out of a shared vision to revolutionise the way entrepreneurs approach business. We want to inspire a new generation of business owners who build businesses with soul, infuse them with beauty, and have a positive impact in the world. And we want those business owners to flourish, embrace abundance, and make more money than they thought possible doing what they love.

This revolutionary online course consists of nine powerful Business Soul Sessions, delivered over nine weeks from January 16 2011. Brought to you by the entrepreneurial powerhouse of Kelly Rae Roberts and Beth Nicholls, this experience will be rich and deep, fulfilling and inspiring. Each Soul Session focuses on a particular aspect of building your business. Sessions consist of:

• Thought-provoking posts that will have you thinking about business in completely new, inspiring ways – ways that will get you excited to breathe more life and soul into your business model, so that more joy and profit results
• Juicy audio discussions between us – Kelly Rae Roberts and Beth Nicholls – where we spill the beans on exactly how we have grown our businesses (never-before-heard, in-depth sharing of best mistakes, worst mistakes, actual $ figures and more)
• LIVE webinars where you get to ask us anything you’d like – insightful advice and commentary will be shared as part of this conversation
• Real life case studies – where we dissect and offer growth strategies for the actual businesses of a handful of students from the class
• Interviews with highly influential business and thought leaders sharing invaluable insights and advice
• Prompts to spark lively discussions with other entrepreneurs in the class
• An abundance of mini-masterclasses to solve those burning practical questions (see below)
• Challenging and insightful exercises to help you dive deep, dream big and plan properly to enliven the soul of your business while making more money than you thought possible.

Together we will create a soul + profit roadmap for your business, resulting in more beauty, more profit, more joy and a real positive impact in the world.

All this PLUS a private community space to connect and share with others from all over the world

Class starts 1/16! To learn more, head to HelloSoulHelloBusiness.com.

Be sure to look at the amazing group of people Kelly Rae and Beth have assembled for this event here: http://hellosoulhellobusiness.com/whos-incontributors/

Enough of my babbling – check it out and decide if it feels like a fit for you.

Here’s to your creative success!

– Tara Reed

P.S. If you decide to sign up, I’d appreciate it if you say you heard about it from me at registration – there isn’t a formal affiliate program but I get some props for helping artists find their way to this very cool concept!

I was so excited the other day when I wandered through Office Depot hoping to find the coffee and fashion products… I was OVER-THE-MOON excited when I did!

Almost a year in the working, the coffee and fashion themed note cards, spiral bound notebooks, weekly list pads, magnets, sticky tabs are now available at an Office Depot near you – and for only $1 each! Great for the car, stocking stuffers, whatever – I said they were only a dollar right?

Here is a photo of my first products to be in Office Depot – if you find yourself in the store be sure to check them out!

Wishing you a very happy holiday season!

– Tara Reed

My fiancé and I are doing and getting lots of work done on our new-old house.  The other day we were having some cool Red Cedars trimmed and the dead wood removed so they don’t fall on our house in a windstorm.  I was surprised when I got a call from our fabulous tree guy – Joe – saying, “there are raccoons in one of the trees, I can’t do the work there.”

What?  Raccoons in  a tree?  My experience with raccoons has been limited to campground sitings, trash can sightings and yes, I’ll say it, road kill sightings.  I have never seen or heard of a raccoon in a tree.  So today, I learned something new.

Raccoons actually build nests in trees where they are protected from other animals and the elements.  Dare to go near them – especially a mama and two babies which is what we have in our tree – and you risk getting seriously injured.  This nest is about 20 ft off the ground and I swear that mama was giving me the stink eye for even looking at her nest.

The tree was left untouched – so the workers would be as well.  The next day they returned and the raccoons were gone.  Hopefully they decided we were bad neighbors because even though they might look cute here – they can be very aggressive and carry a wide variety of diseases.  Not my idea of a great “yard guest”.

Never a dull moment in a remodel!

– Tara Reed

Meet Marcus – my very-soon-to-be nephew.  At 9 years old he’s about as big an Oregon Duck fan as you will find in the state.  He loves all things yellow and green… don’t even TRY to talk to him about the Beavers… you’ll get a grade-A glare.  This is what happens to a child who grows up with two Duck parents – he becomes an early fan.

Go Ducks!

Saturday was the “Civil War” game in Oregon – when the University of Oregon (Ducks) play Oregon State (Beavers).  It’s quite a state-wide event.  Marcus went to the game with his dad, his Uncle Lenny and a few other Duck die hards and he was ready!  Green & Yellow wig? check! Face paint? check! Duck clothing? check! check!

How very exciting when he caught the eye of the Oregonian Photographer and not only made it online on Saturday but had a color picture in the Sports section of the Sunday Oregonian!  Even though I’m a Nittany Lion and prefer blue and white, I have to say, I was pretty darn excited for him and had to share it with the world!

Way to go Marcus!

A dedicated Dad applies face paint

(photos by Ray Whitehouse, The Oregonian )

May today be whatever your heart desires – frightening, sweet, fun or nothing at all!

– Tara Reed

I was SOOOOO excited when I saw my RedPlum.com ads in the mail last week. I usually flip through quickly before adding them to the recycle bin but this time, lo and behold, I saw my own checks! How very, very exciting!

So, if you like animal prints and fashion you might love the Concrete Jungle checks available at 4checks.com*.  (The are the third down on the far left – pinch me! This is exciting!)

Go order some!

– Tara Reed

Horray for having friends and family around the country to send out on reconnaissance missions!  My latest appetizer plate collection by Certified International is now available in Steinmart stores – and we have no Steinmart stores in Portland.

Thankfully they have some in Reno near my mom so I sent her out, armed with a picture of what she was looking for.  Not only did she find them but she made sure they were prominently displayed on the shelf and took lots of pictures for me to see and share! (Thanks Mom!)

If you are looking for fun holiday dishes or a great hostess gift – these sets of four 8″ round plates come in a great box – ready for your holiday giving!

Get ready – the holidays are right around the corner!

– Tara Reed

I’ve been a sucker for fun stationery for as long as I can remember… Maybe “sucker” isn’t the right word to use because it makes it seems like I’m being duped into something that is bad for me.  Perhaps I should say “I’ve had a weak spot” for pretty paper products from a very young age.

I remember pouring over Current Catalogs, admiring beautiful boxed cards in stores and loving to find just the right post-it note to fit the occasion.

Now I am over-the-moon excited to have hundreds of my designs available through a new online store – Orange Daisy Paper Press.

Here is what they have to say about themselves:

At Orange Daisy Paper Press, we want you to Send Your Style!  We hope you’ll find your style here whether it’s an invitation, stationery, thank you note, or even a cupcake pick.   Orange Daisy Paper Press is an online custom stationery and card company featuring superior quality and unique designs.  It is our goal to revive the art of written correspondence and the importance of a proper thank you, all while sending along a little style.

Each order is custom-made based on customer selections, and assembled by hand to ensure the highest attention to detail.  We only ship a finished product that we would be proud to send to our own friends and family.  We use what we believe to be superior materials individually selected to match the uniqueness of each product.  We use both professional high-resolution laser printing equipment as well as professional die-cutting equipment.

Orange Daisy Paper Press has also launched a Facebook Page and they are looking for people who like their products to “like” the page.  Once they hit 100 likes they will chose 5 people at random to win 10 free Thank You Notes.  So head over, click the “like” button and maybe you’ll be one of the lucky winners! https://www.facebook.com/orangedaisypaperpress

Here are a few of my designs – head to the website to see lots more!

I hope you take a look!

– Tara Reed

The weather is changing… it’s getting dark earlier… and I just got out my Halloween decorations.   I also noticed that a few people have purchased my Halloween themed Print-Your-Own Bunco Party kits.

If you didn’t know already, I have a website - www.PrintYourOwnBunco.com – that has more than 25 themed Bunco party kits.

They are ready for you to purchase, download and print at home.  There is no limit to how many score sheets or decorative images you can print – so host a Bunco party for 12 or a tournament for 120 – it’s up to you!  Sign up for the monthly eNewsletter and get the Bunco Queen Kit for free.  Other themes are just $9.95 each or buy 3 get the 4th free.

Here are samples of the two Halloween Kits – Midnight Monsters or Black Cat Halloween.

So if you already play or are looking for a fun, new activity for girl’s night out – head over to www.PrintYourOwnBunco.com and check it out.

– Tara Reed