I have a hard time ’shutting off’ at night. My head is always swirling with ideas and lists and doll related dreams. John actually dreds when my ‘11 o’clock energy surge’ comes – if I don’t get to bed before then, that’s it – I’m usually up until 1am and get very chatty. Anyhow, to transition to sleepy time I generally read every night .. it helps me relax and it’s one of my most favourite things in the world to do. I read a lot of business-y  books – these are my favourites. I love to read about how other businesses operate, how they ‘made it’, their philosophies – it’s fascinating to me. In the beginning of Bamboletta I also found these books extremely comforting as I found other business owners out there that shared the same philosophy as me – yay to customer service, team culture and exceptional products and nay to business plans, bottom lines and corporate hierarchy! So – here are a few of my fav’s .. books that inspired me and I think are a good read if you are interested in a different way of doing business …

1. ‘The Thank You Economy’ by Gary Vaynerchuck I’ve read this one a few times. Gary just ‘get’s it’ – understands how important (and FUN) great customer service is.

2. ReWork by Jason Fried and David Heinemeier Hanson A whole chapter dedicated to why you DON’T need a business plan! This book is short and to the point – perfect.

3. Delivering Happiness: A Path to Profits, Passion, and Purpose by Tony Hsieh A tad ‘cult like’ but a good easy read.

4. Anything – really – by Seth Godin! Seth is my favourite author for this sort of thing. He is a visionary.

5. Malcom Gladwell -  I really enjoyed ‘Outliers’ but ‘Blink’ and ‘The Tipping Point’ are fascinating reads as well.

6. Shop Class as Soulcraft: And Inquiry Into the Value of Work by Matthew Crawford Not a business book but a book on the value of working with your hands and the lessons gained by doing so.

So – those are a few of my favourites. I’ll do another blog post soon on my favourite fictional books – I tend to have a thing for Indian authors .. maybe because I’ve travelled there and really want to go back, I don’t know, but I swoon over a book based in India.

Have a great weekend everyone!
Christina

This is Felicity. She has blush skin, long hair made with mohair and wool yarns in a golden blonde color with blue eyes. She is wearing the pictured outfit, underpants and wool felt shoes.

These dolls measure approximately 15″ in height.  They are hand made with wool, cotton, and lots of love.  Skin tones and color of clothing may vary slightly because of circumstances beyond our control due to lighting and various computer monitor settings.  Made by team Bamboletta in Canada.

If you are interested in buying Felicity please leave a comment at the end of the blog. One comment per household. I will randomly draw a winner on Sunday night around 8pm PST. She costs $210 plus shipping.

This is Marlee. She has sunkissed skin, long hair made with mohair and wool yarns in an orange, red and purple color with orange and red dreadlocks and green eyes. She is wearing the pictured outfit, underpants and wool felt shoes.

These dolls measure approximately 15″ in height.  They are hand made with wool, cotton, and lots of love.  Skin tones and color of clothing may vary slightly because of circumstances beyond our control due to lighting and various computer monitor settings.  Made by team Bamboletta in Canada.

If you are interested in buying Marlee please leave a comment at the end of the blog. One comment per household. I will randomly draw a winner on Sunday night around 8pm PST. She costs $210 plus shipping.

Lillian is up for Serendipity this weekend – I just love her cute little face! For a chance to buy Lillian please leave a comment at the end of the blog post (not on the picture)

I will draw a winner on Sunday night at 8pm PST. She costs $210 plus shipping.

Thanks!
Christina

Two blondies are up this weekend for Serendipity! If you are interested in buying Maizie please leave a comment at the end of this blog post (not by commenting on the picture). She costs $215 plus shipping.

One comment per household please. I will contact the new families via email Sunday Jan 29th at 8pm PST.

To celebrate our 9,000 likes on Facebook I’ve put together a dollie dream pack! One lucky fan will win this whole package – yes- the WHOLE thing!

To enter for this package please leave your name at the end of this post. One comment per household please. I’ll draw a winner at 8pm PST on Friday Jan 27th!

And I hate to say this but if you are the lucky winner of this package I ask that you please do not resell any part of this package. It’s a gift Thanks!

Okay – one of my new year resolutions was to blog more and here I am on the 14th doing my first post of the year – man, I am lame! I sort of feel like my blog has been taken over with Serendipity’s and it anything I write just gets lost in all of it. We are moving the site onto a new system that will split the two up – a place for Serendipity’s and then a place for real blogging. I’m pretty excited (and nervous) about this new cart – dang I hope it can handle the upload traffic. They web people assure me it can so let’s hope! I’m happy with what I’ve got going on with Big Cartel but I need more organization on the ‘back end’ of things to do things like calculate taxes and accounting stuff. I hope to have it launched within the month .. now it’s a case of working on content and testing, testing, testing!

Don’t mind the messy paint – but here’s our new office/storage space! When it’s more done I’ll get another picture of it!

This time of the year always brings around introspection for me. I finally took the advice of my business guy ,Clemens, to incorporate Bamboletta. So, now Bamboletta is Bamboletta, Ltd. This felt like a very grown up move for the business as now I’m going between appointments with lawyers, accountants, bookeepers and the bank. Bamboletta is beyond being in my basement, beyond just being me  now – we employee over 25 people now – and doing the Ltd., is a way to have things run smoothly. I’m in the process now of selling Bamboletta as Christina to Bamboletta, the company which I admit is a bit weird.  I want Bamboletta to be around forever and be something I can pass along to my kids one day – I’m just in awe and gratitude that it’s gotten here to this point. I have to admit I’m a little freaked out – not in a scared freaked out kind of way (well, a little) but an exhilarated and excited way.

More LB’s on their way! Yay!

After a panic-y few months of no Little Buddy headcovers to be found ANYWHERE we finally sourced some out from Italy. They arrived this week and my mother , Antonia, stayed up through the night sewing the headcovers so that we can resume our Little Buddy dollmaking. What is a headcover you ask? It’s a piece of medical tubing that we stuff with wool ,shape into a head and then cover with the doll skin fabric. So – to make a long story short there will be more LB’s coming soon! We have 20 for next week and then not so many the following week but then back to a normal level after that. I miss those cutie pootie LB’s!!

And about the Pocket Dolls – Jennie , the gal who makes the pocket dolls, is making pocket doll making a regular gig. We can now expect pocket dolls on an ongoing basis and they’ll probably be a regular feature in uploads.

Happy New Year to you all. I know I go on and on about this all the time but I really am so fortunate to have such an amazing customer base. Thank you so much for all your support throughout the years!

One more thing, we will put up a 9,000 fan giveaway early next week .. Shauna is finishing up the special dollie this weekend! So stay tuned!

xo
Christina

And here is 12 seconds of prince from his concert I went to last month. Best. Concert. EVER!

Miss Angel is up for Serendipity this weekend. If you would like a chance to buy her please leave a comment at the end of this post. She costs $220 plus shipping. One comment per household please I will be drawing a name on Sunday evening around 8pm.

Thank you!
Christina

This is Tabitha. She has fair skin, long hair made with mohair and wool yarns in a light brown color with multi-colored fairy bits and teal eyes. She is wearing the pictured outfit, underpants and wool felt shoes.

This is a very special dollie package. Cost includes 15″ doll, extra clothing shown here and a little wee pocket doll.

For a chance to buy Tabitha and the clothing please comment at the end of this blog post. One entry per household please. She costs $300 plus shipping. I will chose a winner on Sunday night around 8pm PST.

Thanks!
Christina

This is Carmen. She has dark tan skin, mid-length hair made with mohair boucle in a copper color with almond shaped green eyes. She is wearing the pictured outfit, underpants and wool felt shoes.

This is a very special dollie package. Cost includes 15″ doll, extra clothing shown here and a little wee pocket doll.

For a chance to buy Carmen and the clothing please comment at the end of this blog post. One entry per household please. She costs $300 plus shipping. I will chose a winner on Sunday night around 8pm PST.

Thanks!
Christina