I am so excited to announce that I was named a finalist for the Idea Cafe Small Business “Al Marks Inventive Mind Grant”. There were 762 applicants who were narrowed down to 128 (for the semi finals), which was further narrowed to a field of 40, and I’ve been named as one of the finalists!

Francie Ward, CEO of IdeaCafe.com, explained that the semi-finalists (and the finalists) for this grant, The Al Marks Inventive Mind Grant, “demonstrate an inventive approach which will inspire others who come to IdeaCafe.com seeking advice on starting and running a business, plus they have a plan to reach out and help others in some way.”

Now I need your help…
Idea Cafe is opening up the selection of the one winner to the vote of Idea Cafe’s entire audience (and the world, if they wish to show up and vote).

In addition to the votes I will get from Idea Cafe’s current audience, I am inviting my readers, friends, family, clients and customers to support my chance of winning the $1,000.00 small business grant. Simply go to the Al Marks’ inventive mind small business grant finalists page, click on the link to cast your vote, and vote for “Dee Phipps”.

Please note that voting on the grant winner is a privilege reserved for registered Idea Cafe Regulars. But if anyone who wants to vote is not already a Regular, you can quickly sign up at the “voting booth” so you can access it through Idea Cafe’s “Members’ Door”. There is no charge to sign up as an Idea Cafe regular and it just means you will get special privileges (such as being able to vote for me), plus receive Idea Cafe’s “Biz Tips” newsletter twice a month. You can get off the list at any time, but I am asking that you do not do so immediately so that your vote will be sure to count.

Idea Cafe is accepting votes from now until midnight Pacific Time, Saturday, August 11, 2007. Within the next days after that, they will tally the votes and announce the grant winner. The winner will be determined by the number of votes cast by Idea Cafe’s regulars (remember if you are not a regular, you can sign up to be a regular at no charge, and have the privilege of voting!) and announced online on August 15, 2007, Idea Cafe’s 12th anniversary online.

You can learn more about my business by visiting SavingGraceEnterprises.com.

Learn more about the Al Mark’s Inventive Mind Grant by visiting the small business grant center at Idea Cafe. And, please make sure to vote for me, Dee Phipps, before Saturday, August 11, 2007 at midnight, Pacific.

We went on vacation the last weekend of June. So, now that it’s been almost a month and everyone is “out of the mood”, I thought I would share some pictures. We spent the weekend in Omaha. It started out (and ended) very exciting since my almost-16 year old (Mike) drove the entire way there and most of the way home. Nothing like getting a ton of miles under his driving belt before he turns 16!

I took over 300 pictures on the 2 day vacation…I won’t share all of them here (at least this time!), because some were reference for me. You can bet that some of these will end up on leather once I’m able to work on some new framed pieces!

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This past weekend, I decided to finish a piece I had been working on for quite some time. Not that it was all active work, but, it was one of those pieces that I would work on a bit, then leave it for awhile, then work on it again…. I wanted to enter a competition this past weekend, which gave me the motivation to finish the piece (I didn’t make my deadline on it, however, I went ahead and finished it for later competitions).

The “worst part” of doing this particular piece was deciding how I was going to modify the technique I wanted to use in order to produce the effect I wanted.

Here’s the original piece, once it was carved & hand tooled on the leather:

Here is the same piece, finished & framed….

Make every moment count,

I just found out that I am the featured coach on Womens Media.com this week!

How awesome is that?!?

Nancy at Womens Media and I had discussed these mini coaching lessons late last year,  when they were planning to launch the mini-coaching lessons feature, and they have had some great mini coaching lessons so far!  It’s an incredible opportunity, and I was happy to offer a mini-coaching lesson to all the great women who visit Womens Media!  I’m honored to be selected as this week’s featured coach.

You can find the mini coaching lesson here.  Or, this week (while it’s featured), you can also find it from the Womens Media home page.

To add a little personal perspective, I found Nancy to be a wonderful & quite savvy woman, and Womens Media is a fabulous site with TONS of great information and resources for today’s working women…it was truly and honor and privilege to work with her and write this mini coaching lesson.  I have to admit I was thrilled when I received the email from her letting me know that I was the featured coach this week, and am looking forward to possibly having the opportunity to write another mini coaching lesson for Womens Media again in the future.

On another somewhat-related note, we’ve also finished the redesign and launched the gorgeous new design at My Holistic Health Coach - if you haven’t been there for a few weeks, you may want to pop by and take a look.

Just like the art of journaling, the art of health is another art that plays an important role in my life and the life of my company.

Recently, I happened upon a conversation regarding the worth of using essential oils to achieve holistic healing, rather than relying on pharmokopeia (mind you, we are talking therapeutic grade, properly distilled from organic sources, properly processed, and properly packaged - these comments do *not* apply to essential oils of lesser quality - to that end, I suggest that you know about the essential oils you use or plan to use and make sure you are getting the best available!). The comment was made that this person hadn’t experienced any “miraculous healings” from the use of particular essential oils. While I have seen many incredible results from using essential oils, I replied with the following:

(important disclaimer: The information in this article is not meant to diagnose, prescribe, or substitute for professional medical assistance - (remember, I am a holistic health coach, NOT an allopathic medical doctor). It is provided as information only for your better understanding of holistic health. In case of medical need, please consult the appropriate professional for your situation.)

Now, what I’m about to say may anger some people, but, I think it’s important for this to be said. The oils, while truly amazing, may not heal everything.

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One major aspect of my life and my companies is the importance we place on journaling. I find it deeply important to journal reguarly - whether you are a writer or not! I’ve had people ask me why I find journaling to be so important, and I thought it was worth writing about.

Now, I will admit that I have a bias about journalling. I’ve journalled as long as I can remember with only very short periods of hiatus. However, I know, without a doubt, that it has made my life richer and helped me see the meaning and path of my life.

There are many reasons that journalling should play an important role in your life. And, yes, it is an “art” - the art of journalling, however, requires no special tools or prior experience. The art of journaling can be “picked up” with a pencil and a scrap of paper (although I don’t recommend writing on scraps of paper - for good reason - more on that in a moment!)

The art of journalling - simplified:

Here are just a few examples of why the art of journalling is a good practice in your daily life:

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Welcome to Dee Phipps.com. Although I really don’t like talking or writing about myself, I felt moved to create this site so that you may learn a little more about the woman behind the art - whether it’s the art of health, faith, writing, or more “traditional” art such as leatherworking, metalworking, jewelry making, etc.

As you can already see, I have several ways in which I express myself, and several topics that I am deeply passionate about. So, on this site, I have given myself the license to essentially write about what moves me on a particular day, share stories, and just have a little bit of fun!

I do hope you will enjoy this site, and will take some time to explore. I’ve also included links (on the right hand side of this page) to websites that I frequently visit, absolutely can’t live without, or websites that showcase my work and passions. I will continue to add to this list as I’m able.

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