It's time for Magpie Monday!

Maria has challenged me to start doing Magpie Monday posts and she is going to do them too. She even made me this gorgeous graphic! Maria, You're the best!!

So here are my Magpie finds from last week...

The books cost £1 total with another book I bought for mum from Morrisons Charity Book Sale for Cancer Research and the material behind is the back of a beautiful pillowcase that has a matching single duvet cover that I bought from Sue Ryder for £6 I don't know what price it would have been as I don't know where it came from but it was brand new and beautiful!! It probably doesn't count because it is new but I love it!! On the other side are larger flower clusters like these littler ones!

So why those books? Well with a registered Blind father who has considered having a Guide dog and we have a couple of 2 year old pups who still need some training it seemed too good to leave behind and My Left Foot I remember my parents telling me about many times during my childhood so I think I might actually try to read it (health issues make reading a bit tricky at times!)

So if you're the Thrifty type and have some great finds you'd love to share with other like-minded people then just remember to link up with your post with Miss Lizzies!

Essential Reward Promotions

When you have fallen so in love with Young Living oils that you are buying about £50 a month you want to get onto the Essential Rewards Program! Trust me you want to be doing this as soon as possible as the rewards are great!

Here are the reasons to get on Essential Rewards or ER as you will quickly come to call it!

• easy monthly shipments (you choose the date and products and can change both every month to suit you!)
• you get reduced Shipping rate
• Exclusive Reward Points: for months 1-3 you get 10 %, months 4-24 you go up to 20 %, and then from 25+ months you get 25 %!!
• Exclusive Bonuses for those who wish to take up the business opportunities. Check out the details here
• AND you get a free bonus oil every 3 months for the first year and every year after that!! And the anniversary oil is a new specially created oil every year!

So down to this months ER Promotion, in a nice easy to see graphic, courtesy of the lovely Maria Langford my Team Leader! Thank you, Maria!!

The total of all the gifts if you were to put in an order of 350PV is £186.60! Now that's a great offer!! Unfortunately for me at the mo, I will be looking at just getting Lavender+ this month but as Maria always says "You can never have too much Lavender" I agree even though you will frequently hear me say " I hate Lavender!!!" ;-) (Just a note on PV. 1PV is about 80p) 

Diffusing Essential Oils

Hi folks,

A brief update to start... "Teri, never say you are going to insert job here every week!" or whatever!! Something, somehow, always happens to stop me! Obviously, I have not blogged every week since my last post so I am now going to say I hope to blog here every week regularly!!

One of the ways you can easily get oils into your body is through diffusing. If you buy the Premium Starter Kit (otherwise known as the PSK) it includes a diffuser. There is a choice of 2 diffusers with your kit and, while the Aria Diffuser is beautiful and has some great additional features, most people plump for the Dewdrop Diffuser, generally based on cost! Aria PSK is £227.10 and the Dewdrop PSK is £139.80 (ooh just impressed myself in remembering the cost of the Dewdrop PSK! My memory is sadly impaired presently!)

The Young Living blog states the reason to use a diffuser is because "Our mind creates powerful connections between scent and our emotions, surroundings, and memories. Diffusing essential oils is a simple but effective way to access those connections. It can also help build new and positive memories and experiences. Because diffusion distributes essential oil molecules into the air so effectively, it is an excellent way to maximize the beneficial properties of essential oils."

 Other good reasons for using a diffuser are:

 To improve cognitive function: Try Peppermint, Lemon, Rosemary, Grapefruit, Lime, Lavender, Orange, Ylang Ylang or Stress Away and other Young Living blends like Brain Power, Clarity, En-R-Gee, Highest Potential and Motivation though there may be others as well!

 As I write this post I am diffusing Lemon Peppermint and Rosemary!

To elevate your mood: Young Living have some great blends that support your mood and also to increase feelings of confidence! These include Stress Away, Joy, Harmony, Peace and Calming (II), Rutavala, Sacred Mountain and Valor (II). In addition to these blends try Lavender, Bergamot, Cypress, Geranium, Clary Sage, Chamomile, Nutmeg and many others! One of my absolute favourites is Stress Away and I currently have Joy on my diffuser necklace!

To repel insects: Oh this is the time of year for repelling insects and how great is it to fill your diffuser and let it do all the work instead of doing your workout chasing flies with a newspaper!

My Diffuser recipe is:

2 drops of Clove

1 drop of Lavender

2 drops of Eucalyptus (Globulus mostly)

it is supposed to be 1 drop Clove and 2 of Lavender but my big confession is that I hate Lavender!! I'm sure I'm not the only one but we're in a rather small minority although I do very definitely use it as it is good for absolutely ev-ery-thing! Other great insect fighting oils are Lemongrass, Citronella,  Peppermint, Black Pepper, Spearmint, Oregano, Sage, Rosemary, Thyme, Tea Tree, Patchouli, Sandalwood and Cedarwood

To support a healthy immune system: Well there is no better place to start than with Young Living's fabulous Thieve's blend! The legend goes that there were 4 thieves in France who during the time of Plague were able to rob the dead and dying using a blend of herbs, spices, oils and vinegars and when caught gave up the recipe in order for a more lenient sentence!! It contains Clove, Cinnamon, Eucalyptus, Rosemary, Lemon and smells like Christmas!! Young Living also have several other blends good for fighting symptoms of coughs and colds. They include RC, Melrose, Raven and Immupower. Obviously, each of the above single oils are good for fighting bugs (no, not the crawly, flying kind we were just talking about! The cold, coughing kind) but you can also use Peppermint, Oregano, Orange, Chamomile, Cedarwood, Frankincense, Tea Tree, Thyme and Lavender.

Because I don't want this post to be too long and also to give you something to come back for I'm going to leave the following reasons for another post to come soon! Feel free to ask questions about any of these or other oily subjects and I will do my best to answer them!

 In my next post I will be talking about oils o aid healthy digestive system, to relieve  pain, to help you breathe easier, to help you relax and sleep better, as a safer alternative to candles and incense and finally to save you money!

So, just to end this post I have a photo of my little diffusing station with its lovely stand made by my friends Dad! You too can have a fabulous wooden stand if you click here. I have a little piece of slate on which I write the oils I'm using. This way friends, family and visitors can also see what I'm diffusing and opens any doors to sharing about these great products from the World Leader in Essential Oils - Young Living

Would you like to try some of these great oils? I would love to send you some samples! Just use the Contact Me box and tell me what areas of essential oils interest you and I will send you samples I'm sure you'll love!

Thanks For stopping by!

Now I'm Serious!

About 8 months ago, my dear friend, Maria made me this lovely website so I could incorporate all the things that matter to me and that I'm working on in one place! 

I had totally intended to start getting back to blogging before this but sadly family and personal events got in the way!

However, at the weekend something happened to kick me back into gear! Now I NEED to work on and build my business up! I am so blessed that I have the support of Maria and my friend Annette to cover both my Rainbow Drops, Young Living, oils business and the Rainbow Cottage craft side. Anything to start bringing in some money right?

So this is it! NOW I'M SERIOUS!! I am committed, I am going to use my oils to give me some energy and help me become the healthiest me that I can be,  so I can put my energies into my business! I'm also looking to my diet to see if there are changes I can make along the way to supplement the oils I'm using. 

So, on the business side, in addition to making things to sell and promote my facebook craft fair, I will be spreading out the jobs I have to do, in order to increase my social media business presence, throughout the week. Expect to see at least once weekly blog posts (maybe twice if you're lucky!), and photo's going up on Pinterest, Instagram, Facebook and Twitter.

Then on the health side, my first change is to cut out drinking coffee. The coffee I have is about half a teaspoon so not strong but I think it might be causing my excessive sweating (not a pretty sight!) But I am going to continue to allow myself to drink one cup of coffee first thing in the morning. This isn't to wake me up as coffee actually tends to make me sleepy! It's a comfort thing.

Down to Business!

This is my first photo that I have taken and prepared for social media. While I will be posting to several sites none of my team are focusing on Pinterest and that is where my greatest following is so that is where I will be putting most of my online oily focus. 

My photo is of 2 of my favourite Young Living blends, Joy and Stress Away and some of my sample bottles all ready to find a new home! 

(Now I wanted to add Lavender in to but it threw the photo off balance ;-) to be honest I hate Lavender! The smell is not one I find pleasant at all BUT its amazing! It is good for literally almost everything!! I grab it straightaway in any first aid situation and carry it in my handbag for the same reason!)

So, quick intro's to Joy and Stress Away!

Joy - I wear Joy on my diffuser necklace most days. It calms me and makes me feel a bit happier. (life can be really tough! Every little thing you can do to support your mood has to good right?!) Joy contains Bergamot, Lemon, Palmarosa, Ylang Ylang, Rose, Geranium, Jasmine, Roman Chamomile, Coriander and Tangerine. It can smell quite strong at first but worth keeping it going for a bit to allow your nose to adjust to the fragrance and to experience its full uplifting effects

Stress Away - I have loved Stress Away from the moment I unpacked the oils from my Premium Starter Kit! I absolutely love the scent and nothing I have bought from Young Living since has knocked it off top spot! Its the combination of Lime and Vanilla that I like most, I think, but that's the beauty of blends as Stress Away has Lavender in it and I don't even notice it and maybe it even contributes to the sweet smell! It also contains Copaiba, Cedarwood and Ocotea. Cedarwood and Lavender are good for relaxing you so are perfect in a blend to reduce your stress levels.

Thank you for sticking with me and reading my long post (I'll try to make future ones a bit shorter!). I would love to send you some FREE samples! Would you like to try Joy, Stress Away or Lavender? Or even one of their other amazing oils like Thieve's (Immunity Support), Di Gize (Digestive) or Panaway (Muscle aches and pains)? Just drop me a note to let me know in the contact form on the left sidebar under my Young Living details.

Bye for now,

Teri x