30 CALENDARS LEFT! THE POSTAL DOOR FOR INTERNATIONAL ORDERS IS ABOUT TO CLOSE!

This Limited Edition Calendar really is a limited edition! Just like me and you haha ;)

2 days left to order for Australian and Canadian post :)

5 days left to order for USA post :)

30 Calendars left to order as a gift for yourself or as a gift for someone you love…. When they are gone, they really are gone folks! :) And it really is a true story…..And I’ll explain why :) *Apologies for any grammer mistakes or sentence structure mix up’s - I’m getting sleepy and it’s been one of those very long days….you know the ones…tomorrow will be a better day x

---

So just to give you a bit of an all round story about running a creative business in 2024 and just to share what the process is like, i’m going to delve a little bit in here…not my usual substack letters but an important one all the same…and of course life is for learning so sharing is caring so it’s a bit of everything in this one! Thank you so much for being here in my substack home always. I appreciate you so very much x

---

What it’s like to produce something like this?

The calendars have been very costly to produce because…well it’s 2024 and you can’t look sideways and it costs you a fortune in this world right??? Pure madness really but nothing we can do about it for now and Ireland really is a very expensive place….Also in the case of this specific project, I used really high class paper for the seven million photos that are inside them (book quality which is unusual for a calendar but not unusual for LOU ;)) and I really think they not only look class on the wall but they feel it too. They are a calendar of high integrity if I do say so myself and like I’ve always said, if I’m to do anything in this world, I will do it to my best ability. Also Granny Nancy was a classy lady, so I always want to follow in her footsteps if I can at all and I think and hope I’m a bit of a classy lady myself so there is a match there ;)…Even if it takes extra work, even if it is a trickier path than the easier path and especially if it makes the end result even more classier I will always choose the way that brings something to a high class level if I can at all :)

But for them to look and feel class, it has cost me a lot more than planned, but I don’t have any regrets because they really are a calendar and a half! On that basis though, the outlay expense was very high to make them look class and even if I wanted to reorder them, the cost would be too much if I was not to order a huge batch (and since they are a calendar they have their own very timeline of cut off sales entangled) and the printer lady really doesn’t know can she turn them around at this stage if I ordered them- to have for Christmas week so that is why between the international post closing this week in Ireland, and stock running low….I just wanted to make sure my inner circle - yourselves -that you have one in your hands if you wanted one!
So therefore whatever I have in stock, is what I really have left stock wise….and this is why I am writing this very specific letter to you! :)

www.livingandlaughingwithlou.com

As many of you know, my passion to spread light, love, hope and friendship is why I create and communicate but also it’s important I find my feet on the business end of things too. See, since I’m not a big company or I don’t have a store or a team, it’s just me, myself and I running this operation….and I’ll be honest it’s not easy. So many decisions. So many doubts. So many wobbles. So many moments of stress trying to sell…I’ll be really straight here - I enjoy marketing but I absolutely cringe when it comes to selling. I’d rather give the calendar away for free than actually take money but then I would be a total loser haha :) I’m saying that with a smile becuase no matter what happens in life, we must giggle to ourselves. It is a true story I am the worse salesperson. So therefore this letter is something I would prefer not to be writing but adult Lou knows the best way to chat to friends is to let them know where things sit and then all is well :)

And I guess you might be wondering why do you do it to yourself Lou?? Well I do it because I love what I found through my love of Granny - and what I found was the bravery to be myself and the courage to share me with you…..When me and Gran were together we had 15,000 followers and when Gran passed, I thought a lot if not all might leave….But you did not leave. Today there is over 31,000 people following the FB page and I am grateful for every one of YOU! and that is why I know I need and want to keep doing what I am doing! :) I really think I’m making a difference in this world…. and by leaning into my own unique being a number of years ago, like a jigsaw puzzle falling together, I had found something I’m really good at doing and it’s natural to me…Now that’s not saying I don’t work really hard at it, but at the heart of my being, my service so to speak is from deep within my being…It is Lou being Lou and through that outreach from my heart to yours, we have created a place that can only be believed to truly understand…..And when it came to this calendar, like everything I do, it’s vitally important to me that I do my best in whatever I do. But that can be really hard sometimes. I don’t have big marketing budgets, I don’t even have budgets, I don’t have a major plan because this year I’ve been called to take care of people I love when they found darkness move towards them and I feel that pain intensely myself so to be able to create anything, has been close to a miracle so it is in that vain that has made this calendar even more special…..I just have to try my best to get the word out in anyway I can so i can at least feel I’ve done a good job in every area.

There is so much I don’t know about business and lots of areas I don’t do well but the one area I know I am strong is creating love and light and that’s why I really want my favourite people, my friends, my supporters to have a calendar in their home. The calendar is something we willl share all year through and as I always say, we never know what the year will hold so to create something long lasting and really part of my own legacy is so important to me.

If you have bought one already, I’m so grateful to you. Everytime someone buys one, it gives my heart such a lift. You are my dearest and nearest and really since this is my full time gig, it means so much to me to have your support in everyway. You are indeed my reminder that I am doing this part right! :) And ultimately it is the reason I can continue doing it!

You are my inner circle of friends, and like creating something special - a bit like - but on a much tiniertinier scale - I guess what it might be like for a mother to celebrate her child’s birthday - this calendar is really really important to me - and I know it’s not the same but when you don’t have kids, often it can feel like I’m missing something - a topic for another day but in creating and sharing my love so openly and really putting myself out there - fulfilling that purpose of sharing my deep soulful self, it is in this moment that I really need YOU….In this very overwhelming and chaotic Christmas market -your support means everything….. And it is why I would be so grateful that my friends, yourselves, my supporters might like to order a calendar to have in your home or you might like to buy one for your mam/dad/granny/granddad or maybe your best friend. I promise you the reaction so far to them has been really special. Here’s a few of the messages I’ve received and just to declare complete clarity, none of these people are my blood relatives, they are all my fabulous fb family….some I’ve been lucky to have met and lots I haven’t met YET xxx

Kids love them too becuase there is a robin hidden in each month that they have to find. The wide array of colourful photos really draw them in and also the information about Irish traditions and historical facts seems to have their eyes open as it’s a way of learning too.

Okeydokey I think I’ll leave this letter here and thank you so much for reading all the way down here! I am so grateful for your support - and the most important support a writer can have is a reader ….so THANK YOU for your time, your attention and that beautiful heart that read every word of mine with my voice in your head.

If you do wish to have a ‘Keep Looking Up’ Calendar on your wall or maybe as a special gift for someone you love, I’d be thrilled if you might follow this link to my website.

The Link to the calendar is here!

Love always,

Keep looking up my dear friend,

Lou x