New Moon in Sagittarius - expanding horizons (also if you read my blog and are a Sagittarius, you must post a comment because I am convinced I don't know any)

sagittarius polarity locket - aiming for the stars

We have a new moon tonight in Sagittarius!

Sagittarius is a fun-loving sign that rules travel, freedom, adventure, legal stuff, higher education, good luck, faith, religion, prayer, optimism, problem solving, truth seekers - it also rules things like carelessness, taking shortcuts, making assumptions, throwing pink paint on problems and hoping they will go away and physically our hips, liver, sciatica and upper legs/thighs.

It's a perfect time to be working with the energy of the positive stuff that Sagittarius rules and working to release the negative stuff.

So, for example, this is a great time to plan our vacation or set affirmations to travel on a regular basis next year.

Affirmations set now (especially stuff that will conclude by the Sagittarius full moon in June) for any of Sagittarius's "stuff" will have universal support. We are literally creating the affirmation within the energy that is needed to manifest it.

Coincidentally, I would like to say I planned it, but it just worked out this way - we'll just call it divine planning, my patent application for my new aromatherapy line was filed today (legal stuff is within Sagittarius's realm).

Some affirmations I am writing tonight are:

1. I easily take action on what my intuitive knowing tells me is the right path for me
2. I have more positive adventures in my life. I easily view life as a positive adventure (oops my pencil tip just broke on that one)
3. My patent application filed today is approved
4. I find the solution to ____ in a clear and straightforward way. I take right action on this.
5. I take action that leads to successfully detoxing my liver and maintaining excellent liver health

As always, write yours down - I used to use strips on paper and bowls of rice, so I could jiggle them around now and then - but this month I am feeling the urge to burn them and just know they are done. You don't have to make stuff happen with this, you just have to see what comes up and then take the action that feels right on that.

Trust the process. We have cast our spell.

People always say that affirmations "only work if you take action". And this is true, but not in the way most people think.

The affirmation is action.

It sets the energy in motion. Words are not just words. If done properly, in the right frame of mind, it lines us up energetically with the thing we are seeking. The new moon is a time of darkness but there is lots of hidden action in the dark.

(yes, even that kind, all creation starts in the dark after all)

Look at what kind of experiences have been coming your way lately. How have you called them into your life?

There is often a wave of resistance that arrives when we begin stepping into our power. This resistance can manifest as physical health problems, relationships that mirror our shadows, self-sabotaging "mistakes" or when it seems like “fate” intervenes and creates road blocks or sends us  back to “feeling and playing small” - back to square one.

This "upper limit" thing, set by familial programming and energy patterns (although I believe we came on to this planet vibrating at exactly the frequency that drew us to our family) that is so common when we are in the process of shifting our self-definitions and expanding our influence and responsibility. Something gets in the way, often something that appears to be outside our control - this is all illusion of course, but how do we work through this? How do we move outside our energy patterns?

A thing we can do right now and it sounds like a small thing but there are no small things - is to set a few affirmations within the energy of this new moon - it will just take you a few minutes. Do it tonight or tomorrow ... the more specific you can get the more specific results will show up. xo all

SALE - Black Friday thru Cyber Monday!

 POLARITY LOCKET SALE HERE

CORK JEWELRY SALE HERE

We don't have many sales here at Olive Bites (usually just this weekend and Earth Day) so if there is something in our Etsy shops you have your eye on for the holidays jump on this one -
ends Monday at midnight!

10% OFF ALL ORDERS

WITH COUPON CODE GREENFRIDAY

 
15% OFF ORDERS OF $50 OR MORE

WITH COUPON CODE GREEN50

 
20% OFF ORDERS OVER $100

WITH COUPON CODE GREEN100

 ~Have a Happy Hanukkah and Happy Thanksgiving Weekend everyone - SHOP HANDMADE!~

greening turkey day plus we've got a green comet, folks

I read last summer that Americans throw away 20% of their weekly groceries.

That's a lot of food (and resources) being wasted.

We could change the world just by fixing this one thing.

Thanksgiving is our big 'stuff our faces' holiday and the 'stuff our faces' season is upon us so planning for those leftovers and planning our meals for ways that cut down on food wastage (is this a word - spellcheck is ok with it, but it just looks wrong) is a priority.

Some tips would be:

1. If we are cooking this year - give people food to take home. It's nice to have all those leftovers, but we know we will be totally sick of eating this same meal by Saturday, so maybe just let it go. I know it will be hard to wrap up those pie slices and mashed potatoes, but unless we know for sure it will be eaten by our family, be generous with this.

2. Puree leftover veggies and freeze in ice cube trays for juicing/blending later. I bought an expensive juicer last Christmas, but cannot bear to toss out all the leftover ground veggies - how can this be healthy when I am losing most of the vegetable/fruit in my juicer blades? I have gone back to my old blender which worked just fine in the first place when slushed down with ice cubes and now we are drinking everything again. 

3. Google recipes for whatever you have left when preparing the meal - we can bake chips with the brussel sprout outer leaves by baking with olive oil and sea salt and save the lemons and limes to grate later, etc.

4. There are some good holiday tips on Jules Clancy's blog here

5. Well, that's all I've got - remember waste less doesn't mean eat more - we just need to plan ahead and think about everything we are tossing out, "is there another way I can use this?".

OK- now on to the green lady comet.

It is kismet to me that on Thanksgiving we have a comet named Ison (discovered in September 2012) having a close encounter with the sun - check out the NASA info here. We have the Moon conjunct Ceres which is the Empress (earth mother) archetype and this wonderful comet Ison (Isis?) dropping magic dust (some astrologers believe comets emit brand new energy into our world when they pass by) to spread like fertilizer and wake us up to what we are eating maybe? It feels like everything is all about food and nurturing issues now - being mindful of what we are consuming (appropriate for the holiday shopping season, too).

As we create a more mindful world with less consumption and less waste, our bodies cannot survive in this new paradigm with our old habits and are literally demanding we become more mindful eaters - that we consume higher energy food (and probably less food than we used to), clean water, etc - truly I think everyone who isn't currently dealing with this stuff soon will be.

Every meal is an opportunity to nurture ourselves or self medicate. It's our choice.

This Thanksgiving we can stuff our bodies and emotions (yes, family stuff can be stressful, but only if that is what we focus on) or we can choose to eat mindfully and respectfully with grace and gratitude.

I am cooking for a very small group (my family is teeny tiny) and we have the beautiful baby Sully now, so much to be thankful for, but whatever your personal circumstances find the space to be thankful for what you do have - the energy of millions of people expressing gratitude is a very powerful thing to connect with. xo all

another favorite note from the universe ...

You see, Cat , even prayers that lack conviction, confidence and end in question marks like, "can I? may I? will I?" are answered with a happy face and a, "Sure! You bet! No question!"

However if you want action instead of answers .... prayers of declaration and exclamation especially those that end in "So be it! Hallelujah! And so it is!" conjure up the magic ....

It's just the way the system was set-up.

(hope everyone is having a nice week and is conjuring up some full moon magic, finishing up the last of my wholesale orders here and getting ready for a trunk show this weekend at a friend's shop in Phillie, but should be back on here soon with my year end countdown xo all)

Full Moon in Taurus on Sunday - a time to be all in

raceytay full moon polarity locket

Sunday's full moon in Taurus brings us full circle from the new moon in Taurus we had the end of last April.

Taurus is about comfort - material goods, finances, physical pleasures, beauty.

Taurus is a fixed Earth sign that does the work - step by step with patience and persistence (their reputation for stubbornness grows from this) - yes, at the end of the day they want to pamper themselves with the good stuff,

but they are willing to work for it and they are great practical manifesters (when they control their tempers - don't get a Taurus mad - they are the bulls with the horns after all).

Taurus also rules the throat so anyone with any muscular neck issues might be wise to wear a scarf now to keep the chill from causing tightness - I usually wear a light scarf even when working in my studio. I love the scarves Noelle makes here.

Sooo, we have this moon that launched last April reaching its fullness in a sign that relates to our values and security. We also have 3 planets that were retrograde until last week now moving direct. And we are currently in Taurus's mirror polarity energy of Scorpio (death- what we have to release to create the space for something new).

How does this all fit together? Well, different astrologers interpret this in different ways and we each have individual charts (a picture of the universe at the moment we were born and the very moment in time we are literally created from) that are triggered in different places. For example this full moon is 25 degrees Taurus so if our birth chart has any hard aspects to that, this moon will be more challenging.

For most this full moon will be about finances, values, commitments, time, contracts - what we are willing to be/do/spend/risk - how fully are we aligned with our core values? what are we committed to? what are we passionate about? how much beauty are we living with, how much do we need? how fully are we participating in this game called Life on Planet Earth? are we all in?

When I was a banker and closed on a business loan I would sometimes say to the business owner -''we are going to spend a lot of money and we are going to make a lot of money.”

This is a time to not hold back.

16 Last Minute Moves to Sell More and Stress Less on Etsy This Year (warning - if you are already tired have some caffeine before reading this, don't hate me)

My post today on the EcoEtsy blog - getting your groove on this holiday season:

1. Check your supplies. Get organized. YOU CAN'T SELL WHAT YOU DON'T HAVE. But, you don't want to overstock and make no money. This is tricky stuff even if we are working with historical data for our shop's sales. Maybe get yourself a magic 8 ball (I find this to be pretty effective).

Put yourself in your customer's shoes (this will give us a great excuse to buy those kick-ass boots we've had our eyes on) - and think GIFT.

Look at your makings, put on your new boots and think - "If I were buying this as a gift what would I need to know, how would I want this to look, how would I want this transaction to happen?"

2. Now hop over to Blugrin (Betsi) where there is a great tool to do QUICK EDITS.

3. Do you have variables set for your listings so customers can provide their CHOICES AT TIME OF PURCHASE?

We want to eliminate back and forth emails as much as possible plus I think people hesitate to purchase late in the season if they have to write in information - sometimes this can't be helped but if you can add a variable - get it in there. Remove all barriers to a customer's purchase.

Example - I sell a lot of bracelets, but not on Etsy and not as gifts, because sizing is tricky. I am  adding this chart into my bracelet listings

(although I will still offer the advice on how to measure)

as well as guarantee free shipping back and forth after the holidays for bracelets that do not fit.

It's a gamble and won't work for everyone, but after putting myself in my customer's boots, I think this will make them much more likely to order. How are your listings hurting your gift sale orders? Is there some kind of quick fix you can do to increase sales over the next few weeks?

4. GIFT CERTIFICATES - now that Etsy has instant downloads this is a no-brainer for everyone. If you are outside the country where most of your sales happen you need to do this.

HERE are some templates.

5. COUPON CODES FOR REPEAT BUSINESS - Etsy will email a thank you with a coupon code after you have a sale. If you are not using this - get this set up. Better yet, do this yourself and get them added to your mailing list at the same time. Sign up for a free account at Mailchimp.

6. SHIPPING - Etsy has added shipping profiles so get your listings linked & you can adjust quickly to priority shipping as we get closer to Christmas.

Let people know in your listings you can gift box, include a holiday message and ship directly to their friends and family - they just need to enter the shipping address of the recipient when they make their payment and provide their holiday message in the comments area of their order. I have people ask me to ship to someone else often and even if the address is not entered with their payment (giving me shipping protection) I usually go ahead and do it - use your own judgement with this.

The USPS shipping deadlines for 2013 are HERE

7. The word GIFT in listing titles and tags - I have heard Etsy isn't a fan of this since everything is a gift and it seems like a pointless tag, but I still think people search with it - just use it in a specific sense, not as a stand alone tag. If a customer searches 'teacher gift' and we have only tagged teacher we will not show up in the search so adding the specific tag and words in our title "teacher gift" could be a good idea (assuming of course, our item is actually a teacher gift).

8. SALES - If you like to shop sales, you can safely assume your customers do, too.

Black Friday through Cyber Monday is probably the best time to give your best offer.

Later on, customers will be more desperate and not so geared toward pricing. I don't mean this 'more desperate' in a bad way and some people are always looking for sales, but if customers are thinking your best offers are coming later they are less likely to shop early. Later on they will probably be less price conscious and you can always have a NICK OF TIME sale at the last minute to move out ready made stock.

Have a countdown to the sale. Make sure everyone knows the sale is coming - use your teams, blog, Facebook, Twitter, Mailchimp, tell 2 friends, etc- create a sense of urgency - let people know this is your best sale of the year. Use coupon codes and tag with ON SALE or Cyber Monday Sale or whatever you think customers might be searching. People love FREE SHIPPING.

Update your banner AND avatar with this - customers looking at your item will have your avatar clearly visible this year!

9. READY TO SHIP - this makes a great category or tag to let people know it will be on its way FAST. Then actually ship it fast. Don't assume people need their holiday gift for Christmas - they might need it for the Christmas party 10 days before. Your ready to ship orders should go out the same day or the next day or don't bother labeling them ready to ship.

10. BEST SELLERS - get your best sellers into your featured items, but remember to show some variety here.

11. LIMITED OFFERS - do some limited offers on Facebook and Twitter - run a lunchtime sale with a free gift, etc. Have fun with this, go on Twitter and offer 50% off to the first person who tells you Frosty's last name (except use a question that actually has an answer) - don't worry that no one will answer you. You are sending your good energy out into the universe with this stuff - you are proclaiming, "Send me customers, I am ready for them!"

12. GUARANTEE - offer the best guarantee you are comfortable with then allow yourself to get a little uncomfortable and offer an even better one.

13. GO MOBILE - answer your emails immediately (you don't really need to sleep).

14. ORDER MOO CARDS FOR CUSTOMERS TO USE AS GIFT CARDS (or print your own) - don't assume the end user is getting your business card - they aren't. But if you make a mini TO and FROM card

and print your website on there discreetly - it will end up in the recipient's hands (include your regular business card for the buyer, too).

Moo cards are on sale until the 17th - and arrive fast so get on this. My card without my info (you can print your info on the back) is HERE.

CHECK OUT THE REST OF MY TIPS ON THE ECOETSY BLOG HERE INCLUDING MY HOT ETSY TIP OF THE MONTH