We had a fast-paced, butt-kicking day yesterday with renowned speaker Jeffrey Gitomer. Got my Little Red Book of Sales signed, and even had a chance to chat with Mr. Gitomer and get a photo taken. Here I am, along with Marketing Manager Petra McGowan:

We connected with friends and business colleagues that we haven't seen in a while - Michelle & Adriana from Tiber River Naturals, John Heppenstall from Hep Communications and Dean,Wade & Carmen from Pinnacle Staffing.

Here's the Botanical team that went - Toni, Petra, me (Heidi) and Laurie.
Have a great day!

Yesterday, I ploughed through 145 blog posts; yes, I was a little behind. But here's a post worth checking out - designer Kal Barteski details a step-by-step explanation of how she created the extraordinary plantable Yummy Cards. I quite enjoy Kal's blog, and this posting is a unique chance to have a peek into her creative depths.

[click image for entire post]

I've added Twitter to my blog - see the top left side of the page for the latest tweet from me. If you're on Twitter, be sure to join me by clicking on the link.

Today....this is so exciting....I'm spending the day in a seminar with Jeffrey Gitomer. It's not often that we get speakers of this calibre in our home town of Winnipeg, so it's a treat to not have to get on a airplane and travel a bazillion hours to get to a stinky conference center. I'm bringing my copy of the Little Red Book of Selling to get autographed, and will even try to get a photo with him. We'll see. Hope you have a great day!

Did you have a good day yesterday? We rested and took the day off because of Remembrance Day here in Canada. In the morning, John and I enjoyed breakfast at the Sherbrook venue of Stella's Bakery & Cafe with friends Andrew, Cheryl and Carl. Then in the afternoon, we did a combo of emails/house fix-ups/playing with kids/pizza baking and more.

There are some great draws going on over at Kal's blog Love Life, so check that out. Rumor has it that tomorrow is a Botanical PaperWorks day.....

We're making some changes to the website these days, so please email me at heidire@botanicalpaperworks.com if you find anything wonky. Also today, we're interviewing for a new Customer Care Associate. Welcome to all of the candidates - we're excited to meet you!

Here's an updated image of the popular Bucket of Love plantable wedding favor. The bucket with handles is for the 100-piece orders and the other bucket is for the 50-piece orders. Love it!

Yesterday at Botanical PaperWorks, we celebrated National Vanilla Cupcake Day. Here are some photos from lunch when we enjoyed the fresh-baked cupcakes.
Above photos: Toni, Mediatrice, Phoebe, Lyndsay, Bernie, Christopher

On Facebook, we've been having fun checking our birthdays with the corresponding national food day. Mine is National Coffee Ice Cream Day! Check it out here.

School fundraisers are an important way for schools to raise money for programs and equipment. And I was very pleased when we started working with two green fundraising companies, one in the US and one in Canada, who are bringing unique, green products to the fundraising marketplace. Good-bye chocolate covered almonds, hello plantable calendars, Kleen Kanteen drinking bottles and more.

This week, client Green Students Fundraising was featured on the Canadian Living eco blog called Green Living. They even mention Botanical PaperWorks (thanks Daniela!). Here's a clip:

Another client, Raising the Lights, just issued their holiday catalog. Here are links to both of their catalogs, and a link to their Holiday Boutique.

Download order_form_holiday.pdf

Download order_form_traditional.pdf

Here's me yesterday taping the segment for the Manitoba Chamber of Commerce. The piece airs tonight on 92.9 KICK FM at 6 pm (do I have that right Dan?). I'll be uploading a link to a PodCast when available.

Now, I'm off to my book club and then to my weekly lunch with Granny. In the afternoon, a call with Toni, Customer Care Manager and some work on the website. A nice, well-rounded day!

This was the scene in the Customer Care zone at Botanical PaperWorks on Friday.

And get ready for the change of month by downloading a November desktop wallpaper calendar here. I just can't decide which one!

A while back, we donated Share and Blossom plantable favors to the IBEX Clean Your Green campaign. The Osborne Street Underpass has been a notoriously ugly part of Winnipeg. I should know - I drove that stretch of Osborne every day for the 10 years that I lived in Riverview. So it was exciting to support the people who did a MAJOR improvement to the area. Check out their website for before and after pics.

Here's a shot of the contents of the gift bag (thanks Dawna for sending it!). I see our friends from Tiber River Naturals also made a donation to the cause, along with a number of other Winnipeg businesses.

Wow - I've been MIA for that last seven days, battling a yucky cold that sucked up any spare energy that I had left after running my business and caring for my family. But after lots of pampering this weekend, including a fabulous Friday night at Indochine and the Royal Winnipeg Ballet with friend Lavonne, I'm feeling great!

Here's the delicious Vietnamese dish from Indochine:

Lavonne and I talked about our desire to eat healthily and later that night, she emailed me a link to Pattycake.ca, one of her favorite food websites.

I hope you are feeling well and staving off any colds and flues flying around where you live. Sunday is Daylight Savings Time in Canada and the US, so for all of our northern friends, enjoy these last days of daylight and get ready to hunker down for the cozy winter!