Thankful for sharing happy

This year has been a huge growth year for my home business QCGifts, as well as for myself personally, which I am extremely thankful for. Humor me as I reflect on this monumental year over this Thanksgiving break.

QCGifts opened its virtual doors in December 2021. With less than a year under our belt, the service and products have been an evolution as we navigate the market. It has been an informative year, to say the least.

Personally, my family is made up of two ferocious young girls ages 6 and 9, my hubby Gus and my loyal "prince" Vedder, the family dog. Thankfully Gus loves his job, he feels challenged and his work gives him a sense of purpose. My family is the most precious thing in my life that I feel extreme gratitude for.

For a time, having both Gus and I working full-time office jobs was manageable.  But then it wasn’t- and it was not fun. So, life has a way of pushing you in the direction you are meant to be in. Having to simplify our life, we sold our passion project - a 1929 home, we renovated top to bottom, in the heart of Lakeview. Being free of this financial responsibility, started my wheels turning. Fast forward to last fall, I found myself without a job and a gut feeling that now was the time to jump into self-employment.

So looking back at this year, there has been so much more to be thankful for, more than I could ever imagine. I am so thankful that my hubby- has supported this vision and helped every step of the way. Listening to me as I non-stop talk about ideas and all the details popping into my mind. He might have the nickname "Saint Gus," - my girls and I are really lucky.

A community of support has huddled around this vision. I am incredibly grateful to all the local merchants, artists, and artisans that took a chance on letting QCGifts represent them. Here is a list of all the small businesses in our community that helped us this year- forgive me if I forgot anyone! It's incredible all the local talent we have here!

• Val Moker - local artist
• Gord Moker - TEC Canada
• CJ Katz of Momentum Coffee
• Dale Lowe - wood carver extraordinaire
• Jay Wednesday - artist
• Lauren at Lovey + Sweets 
• Carin at the Ukrainian Coop
• Stephanie at Simpson Snacks
• Laura Steadman - artist
• Rebellion Breweries 
• Jerky Boyz
• Kait from The Fat Plant Farm 
• Melanie at SkinWishes
• Macarons by Mallory
• Diane Germann- cross-stitching guru
• Jules of Cuppa T
• Eric 33 1/3 Coffee Roasters
• Aimee of Aware House Books 
• Kyle at Sticks and Doodles
• Amber of Oxygen Yoga South Regina
• Candyce Bakke - The Style Academy and My Life Planner 
• Local artist Rhea Leibel 
• Kirk at Kitchen Gear
• Crystal of Olive's Branch Art Studio
• Elita Paterson- Awakening Practitioner
• Rod Nernberg - Wood Craftsman
• Judd of Paperback Beverage Company
• Kyla Clincke of Reloved Jewellery with a Past

We will be forever grateful for the support and collaboration over this first year. Without your incredible talent and passions, QCGifts is nothing.

Our mission is to create happiness in a box while supporting our local community. I am extremely thankful for the support we have received - it is what is keeping us going. We give huge thanks to those who have come out to events, purchased gift boxes, told friends and colleagues, shared posts, and so much more.

With QCGifts, when you buy a gift box, you are making each local merchant, artist, and artisan happy. The lucky person who receives this gift box will be super happy, and as the gift giver, I bet you will feel pretty happy too. Which then in turn makes me happy, which makes Gus happy.  And so on. I am pretty happy and thankful for that!  

Esther Hicks says it best - “The greatest gift you can ever give another person is your own happiness.”

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