Missing in Blogging Action

Oh my gosh! How long has it been? A few weeks or a month since I have done a blog post? Well, let me tell you I was missing all of you! I wasn't missing in action because I was just being lazy. I was busy but good busy and more busy is yet to come but I'm looking forward to still blogging through it all.

So what have I been doing? Filling orders, taking care of administrative tasks, and getting ready for the holiday season. Can you believe it's August already?!

This week I am creating LOTS of mini cupcake soaps for a bat mitzvah on August 30th. In Judaism, a Bar Mitzvah is a Jewish boy, and a Bat Mitzvah a Jewish girl, who has come of age. People love ordering the mini cupcake soaps for all types of events which makes me really happy and honored to be a part of making their event special.

There's so much more I have to tell you but you'll just have to subscribe and/or come back to read the rest! :) I'm so glad to be back!

A Customer's Perspective

When I prepare for craft shows, I am always trying to think of ways to create an inviting and unique experience for patrons. Therefore, I change things to create a specific atmosphere for them. It's rare that at a craft show I am able to talk in detail with my customers to get feedback on their experience.

However, one of my customers, Reina, who visited my booth at Unique Los Angeles wrote a blog post from her perspective as a patron of craft shows and festivals. Her experience at Unique LA provided me with great insight into the things a customer expects of vendors and it also gave me confirmation that I have been doing right by my customers.

I'd like to share her blog post with other vendors in hopes that if you are interested in vending at craft shows, festivals, or other events, you will also gain invaluable knowledge from a customer's point of view that you can apply to your booth to make an unique experience for your customers.

I'd also like to share her experience with my current and future customers. This will give you a glimpse into the experience you will have when you visit Serah's at our upcoming events with a vendor who creates an atmosphere with you in mind.

Click HERE to read about Reina's experience.

A special thanks to Reina for sharing her opinion and allowing me to share it with others.

I've Been Plagiarized!

I remember my first experience with plagiarism. When I was in the 5th grade, our class had to write an essay for the D.A.R.E program and as I began writing my first essay, I felt like I couldn’t find the right words to say what I wanted to express. Therefore, I tore up that essay, threw it in the trash, and wrote another one. A week later, the D.A.R.E. coordinator announced the winner of the essay contest and everyone in the class expected to me to be the first place winner but I was actually 2nd place – beat out by one of my closest guy friends.

The D.A.R.E coordinator said that the essay was so good that he wanted my friend to read the essay to the class. My friend was very reluctant to get up in front of the class but eventually there he stood, knees buckling and hands shaking reading the essay in front of everyone. As he began, I felt a peculiar familiarity with his essay like I had heard the words before in my own head before they were on his paper.

A few hours later when my friend should have been extremely happy for winning the contest, he was actually crying uncontrollably. I went to him to comfort him and to ask him what was bothering him. Imagine my shock when he mumbled through all of the crying, “Lisa, I am so sorry! You should’ve won the contest. I went and took your first essay out of the trash can and rewrote it in my own hand writing. I’m so sorry! You can have my movie tickets.”

I was floored but very forgiving especially since my friend had learned his lesson and I was very impressed with his honesty.

Recently, I’ve run into another plagiarism experience. Someone by the name of Rick Amorey has ripped off one of my blog posts titled My First Craft Show http://blog.serahsonline.com/2009/02/my-first-craft-show.html and posted it to several article submission blogs and directories. By doing a Google search on “Rick Amorey cupcake soaps”, you’ll see the multiple sites where he/she has submitted my post as his/her own work.

As I do research to find ways to detect and combat plagiarism, I’ll share my research with you in a series of blog posts in hopes that it will help other bloggers as well.

I Love My SITStas

I don’t remember how I found my SITStas but I am so glad I did! By SITStas, I’m referring to all the women bloggers at The Secret is in the Sauce (SITS). SITS is a community of bloggers (men too) dedicated to supporting each other by leaving lots of comments.



The brain children behind SITS are Heather and Tiffany, two self-proclaimed comment junkies. This supportive community has helped me build relationships and enter the interesting lives of some incredible women and entrepreneurs.

Please visit my SITStas, show them some comment love and tell them Lisa @ Serahs sent ya!

• The Pink Teapot – A Guide to Etiquette
• I’m an Organizing Junkie
• Common Sense Shopping using the Pennies in my Pocket
• Simply Stork
• Cherry’s Jubliee

Although we’re not blood-related, we’re blog-related and I love them just the same because blogging is thicker than water!