Creator of Famous Handmade Belgian Chocolates

The Finest Belgian Couverture Chocolates available in Dark and Milk Chocolate

From the jungles of South America comes the exotic cacao bean famous for its intoxicating flavours. Known for centuries as the ‘love drug’ cacao beans are converted into Couverture Chocolate to please all lovers. Enjoy Real.

Impress the special person in your life with fresh, alive flavours coated in buttery smooth chocolate sensations. Perfect for any time and deliciously paired with the wine of your choice. Is it French, Spanish or Italian? You can decide.

A visit to Elm Creek Chocolates is a memorable experience. The wonderful aromas of fresh, handmade Couverture Belgian Chocolates greet every customer who enters our friendly shop. Browse our large selection of fine Belgian Chocolate products including a Gourmet Pantry emporium featuring award winning local gourmet products and those from around the world. We have an unrivaled selection of decorative and personal gifts to complement our Gourmet Pantry Lines as well as gifts for the discerning Hostess.

Sensual Chocolate and Romance

Romantic lore commonly identifies chocolate as an aphrodisiac. The reputed aphrodisiac qualities of chocolate are most often associated with the simple sensual pleasure of its consumption.

A study reported by the BBC indicated that melting chocolate in one’s mouth produced an increase in brain activity and heart rate that was more intense than that associated with passionate kissing, and “the buzz” lasted four times as long after the activity had ended. Dr. Lewis said: “These results really surprised and intrigued us.

Psychologist Sue Wright said: “Chocolate contains phenylethylamine which can raise levels of endorphins, the pleasure-giving substances, in the brain.†

Couverture Chocolate is the finest available. Couverture percentages of cocoa butter must be between 32% and 39%, and the total percentage of the combined cocoa butter plus cocoa solids must be at least 54%. Superior quality for a creamy mellow flavour you will love.

For unparalleled sensual chocolate pleasure Elm Creek is your destination. Once you taste our chocolate you will never buy anything else. Real Flavours Real Taste™. Enjoy Real.

‘The Success Recipe’

The evening diner and pool party planned for weeks is about to begin, a beautiful summer eve whispers wonderment in the breath of a soft breeze, just right, not too hot , while a beautiful orange harvest full moon makes a welcomed but unexpected arrival at the party, introducing itself low on the horizon, creating a perfect backdrop setting for this enchanted evening.

The guests are sure to marvel at the tables arrangements and decorations. The places are set and the candles are now lit in their theme holders. Suddenly, the mood of tranquility changes as the party is crashed by unexpected guests, in the form of dollar store candles, some now smoking like diesel transport trucks, numerous others with little immature flames barely glowing, while some self extinguish, drowning in pools of inferior melted wax. To make matters worse whiffs of lingering fragrances smelling of cheap perfume, you know what that smells like, street scent of a French Bordello in Paris. Panic sets in as the carefully planned ambiance has unexpected disappointment. Time for a game change.

A better plan is improvised. The Realtor gave us a beautiful themed assortment of candles as a house-warming gift. With in minutes all were replaced with the new candles, now alive with flames dancing with shadows across the table tops. It was a beautiful sight to behold. The evening air mingled with the scented candles as if fragrances from our own botanical flower beds.

Guests arrived, food and spirit enjoyed to lively music under a brilliant full white moon shining down from over head as candle flames continue to dance the evening away with the shadows of the night. Guests thin out as the evening wears on with the inviting glow of candle light glowing softly under the twinkling stars.

That evening was the beginning of an new adventure for Amber Ghosh as an Independent PartyLite Consultant. Thanks to a House Warming Gift from their Realtor and a wonderful dinner party surrounded by friends a new and rewarding adventure started.

It is rewarding to do something fun and fulfilling. Amber is an outgoing, engaging self-starter who credits the PartyLite System as a pathway to success. A young Professional raising small children, Amber wanted a break from the routine, a challenge for personal growth, an opportunity to make a difference along with a source of mad money to enhance her families lifestyle.

The trips to the Mexican Riviera, a favorite destination, feels great with immense satisfaction knowing it is a result of her ‘fun’.

As with every business, nothing is never as easy as it seems, sometimes what you hoped for doesn’t turn out while completely new opportunities present themselves. It always takes effort, dedication and commitment.

“Many people accredit my success to my ‘personal magic’ but it is really surrounding myself with like-minded successful people with vision, imagination and ability to get to the next level”.Being an innovate, creative thinker, Amber examined her personal Facebook page and with the assistance from Emerald City Media embarked on a larger more prosperous career. PartyLite With Amber was created. “Many people accredit my success to my ‘personal magic’ but it is really surrounding myself with like-minded successful people with vision, imagination and ability to get to the next level”.

“I wanted to capitalize on the word of mouth experience social media presence and Facebook is a great place to start. It is a popular culture that is paying off in great dividends, windfall orders and new customers. Did I mention a great return on my efforts?”

Amber goes on to say the word of mouth principle prevails as “people are looking for quality products, ambiance, relaxation, sophistication, simplicity, uniqueness, wonderful fragrance and the fact that I provide personal, customized customer service is unique too.  People love to show off the products to their friends and they love to report back to me when someone goes ga-ga over one of their PL pieces…it’s like having bragging rights and knowing they have a premium product. They want someone they can communicate directly with, some one who can help, someone they trust and have confidence in.”

“With the popularity of smart phones and tablets people are searching differently and looking for answers with real people for it is a more personalized approach. People love it.”

“Am I pleased with the results you may ask? The answer is most defiantly. I found I can level the playing field and complete with any retail store. Although that is not the objective, it is the reality”.

“I drive an online business as well through my website www.partylite.biz/amberghosh but I am able to continue connecting with customers and their friends through Facebook.  Staying in the forefront of the minds of customers and potential customers is key.”

“At the end of the day, the immense personal satisfaction of helping others and proving a superior, attractive product in the market place is indeed fulfilling. The Perks are great too!”

Amber Ghosh | Successful Social Media Entrepreneur

Order Your PartyLite Now

Visit my Facebook Page  

Staying in the forefront of the minds of customers and potential customers is key.
– Amber Ghosh, Independent PartyLite Consultant, Facebook Social Media Entrepreneur

Do the seeming inconsequential details really matter?

Atiny cause, huge effect describes ‘The Butterfly Effect’, the phenomenon whereby a small change at one place in a complex system can have large effects elsewhere.

What tips the scale In our favor enabling us to cross the line from good to being great? Is it imagination? A unique layout design, persuasive colour, a subtle stylized typeface, a captivating, emotion inducing image, a word or phrasing echoing through out the mind like an early morning bell toll, cascading reactions for a desired outcome while provoking purpose and a sensory outcome. What is influence at the subconscious level?

Such pervasive influences are based on Natural and Universal laws which prevail not only in the physical world but dominate the human psyche as well.

Details do matter!

We Don’t Know Haw Far The Ripples of Our Decisions Go

Understanding The How

Since the ear­li­est mem­o­ries of our child­hood molded by some of the most influ­en­tial peo­ple we will ever encounter, our teach­ers, we have been taught to lineup, con­form and learn our A B C’s.

Life became struc­tured at a very early age as did our beliefs, ways of think­ing and our own sense of identify.

We all remem­ber our home­work assign­ments, research, find­ing the right answers, doing what is expected — a tetra­he­dron does not fit into a round hole.

Mem­o­riza­tion is para­mount if we want to pass our exams. Con­di­tion­ing and ver­ti­cal, lin­ear, sequen­tial think­ing has over­taken our cre­ative, ran­dom, abstract think­ing process of youth.

Now as adults we have roles and expec­ta­tions to live up to. Hus­band, Wife, lover, friend, mother, father, pro­fes­sional and social life. The role demands and tugs on our life is never-ending.

Cometh the Hour, Cometh the Man

We are either cogs in a machine, doing what our supe­ri­ors expect of us, tak­ing their direction, downsizing, out sourc­ing, clo­sures or new career choice, the rea­sons are end­less and sud­denly find­ing our­selves in unfa­mil­iar ter­ri­tory. The Glad­i­a­to­r­ial arena of cre­ativ­ity and inno­v­a­tive thinking for our very survival.

Those of you read­ing this arti­cle on a tablet expe­ri­ence first hand how modern, advanced tech­nol­ogy is defin­ing how we do things and man­age our life. Some­thing new, hor­i­zon­tal, inno­v­a­tive think­ing is chang­ing our life once again.

Per­haps you are a busi­ness owner, an entre­pre­neur, a per­son look­ing for a career change or want­ing some­thing more in life.

Money will not make you happy but it cer­tainly makes life more comfortable.

What will make you happy you ask? Ful­fill­ment will.

Thus… The Why.

The How Never Pre­cedes The Why

The How is assem­bling and uti­liz­ing the under­stood, the process to achieve an end, a desired out­come.

If I do this, because it is a known expe­ri­ence, that will hap­pen. Ver­ti­cal, sequen­tial, lin­ear think­ing is learnt in acad­e­mia. Our A, B, C’s.

Many busi­ness peo­ple, pro­fes­sion­als, ama­teurs, devel­op­ers and design­ers are conditioned by vertical thinking, ‘The How’.

Few know or understand ‘The Why’.

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Perils of Linear Thinking

Vertical Thought Built & Sunk The Titanic

Laid down on 31 March 1909 and completed on 02 April 1912, she sank on her maiden voyage in the numbing, teeth chattering, black abyss of the North Atlantic, in the dread of night on 15 April 1912, slipping into the depths as the ships band played Auld Langs Syne, claiming 1,514 souls.

The nautical thinking, paradigms of the era are shattered, laid to ruin, strewn about like broken Champagne  glasses of celebration throughout the rooms and hallways of belief.

The impossible happened— the unsinkable has sank.

RMS Titanic departing Southampton
10 April 1912

Dr. Albert Einstein understood Ver­ti­cal Think­ing as doing the same thing over and over again and expect­ing dif­fer­ent results. Throw­ing more money at it, spend more hours on it or succumb, acquiescing to defeat. It is what it is until the perception of what it is changes— transforming whatever it is into something else! Re-frame it.

Think­ing Horizontally

Why do some sites suc­ceed, while the vast major­ity fail? The answer is in ‘The Why’. It’s easy to know ‘The How’ but what about ‘The Why’?

How To Think Horizontally

Nor­mally we ask our­selves How, Why or When, all seek­ing a pre­de­ter­mined answer. Now ask your­self these questions:

• What if?
• What would it be like?
• How would it be?

It is not easy, for it is Hor­i­zon­tal think­ing; your brain is not accus­tomed to it. It is some­thing you were never taught — The Why.

Once you know ‘The Why’ and bridge it con­cep­tu­ally you will have a pow­er­ful pres­ence and a vehi­cle to accom­plish your goals, produce or design whatever it is you desire.

Try it and you will dis­cover new ways of prob­lem solv­ing or cre­at­ing some­thing that does not exist.

It’s Not About The How, It’s About The Why!

It is better by noble boldness to run the risk of being subject to half the evils we anticipate than to remain in cowardly listlessness for fear of what might happen. – Herodotus (485 – 425 BC)

If you always do what you always did, you’ll always get what you always got.
— High-Tech Proverb GIGO

Inc. Magazine writer Keith Cline, Talent Scout, reports on December 19, 2011, the 5 hardest Jobs to fill in 2012 are:

1. Software Engineers and Web Developers
2. Creative Design and User Experience
3. Product Management
4. Marketing
5. Analytics

Hiring the best of the best is an absolute must if you are going to build a successful company.

You will need to be prepared to compete against big companies with deep pockets and other up-and-coming startups that also have blue chip investors and a game-changing idea.

So, what are the most competitive areas for talent these days? Here’s a look:

Software Engineers & Web Developers

The demand for top-tier engineering talent sharply outweighs the supply in almost every market especially in San Francisco, New York, and Boston. This is a major, major pain point and problem that almost every company is facing, regardless of the technology “stack” their engineers are working on.

Creative Design & User Experience

After engineers, the biggest challenge for companies is finding high-quality creative design and user-experience talent.

Since almost every company is trying to create a highly compelling user experience that keeps people engaged with their product, it is tough to find people who have this type of experience (especially with mobile devices including tablets) and a demonstrated track record of success.

Product Management

It is always helpful for an early-stage company to hire someone who has very relevant and specific experience in your industry.

This is especially true for product management, since the person in this role will interface with customers and define the product strategy and use cases.

However, be prepared, as it will be a challenge to find people with experience in these high-growth industries: consumer web, e-commerce, mobile, software as a service, and cloud computing.

Marketing

I’m not talking about old-school marketing communications. Companies are looking for expert online marketers who know how to create a buzz of inbound marketing or viral traffic through the web, social media, and content discovery.

Writing a good press release just doesn’t cut it anymore, as everyone is looking for the savvy online marketing professional who understands how the current state of the web operates and knows how to make it work to their benefit.

Analytics

Since data is becoming more and more accessible, smart companies are increasingly making decisions driven by metrics. Analytics is becoming a central hub across companies where everything (web, marketing, sales, operations) is being measured and each decision is supported by data.

Thus, we are seeing a high level of demand for analytics and business intelligence professionals who almost act like internal consultants; they help determine what should be measured and then build out the capability for a company.

Tablets Rule The Evening Hours

Tablets are dominating the PC world and users find themselves taking their tablet everywhere even to their favorite grocery store while shopping for ingredients for the dinner party later in the day. In the evening during periods of relaxation, the devices convert to favorite magazines as such VOGUE or House & Home.

The Bridal Studio | Splendour in the Hand

In a recent article by Johanna Werther, Product Marketing Manager, Google Mobile Ads, dated September 26, 2011, she writes.

Are you reading this post from your PC at work, from your mobile phone as you wait in line at a cafe or from your tablet at home before bed?

The screen a user chooses to engage with is largely driven by context and users are matching their device type to their situation.

At Google Mobile Ads, we’re interested in the way the proliferation of these screens is impacting user behavior, especially search behavior. We looked separately at searches from tablets, PCs and mobile devices.

Put QR Codes to work for your business. Be easier to find and more profitable. Mobile customers will love the convenience, you will love the additional business.

During the month of June 2011, according to one study, 14 million mobile users scanned a QR code or a barcode. Some 58% of those users scanned a QR or bar code from their home, while 39% scanned from retail stores; 53% of the 14 million users were men between the ages of 18 and 34.

Although the QR technology is still new to North America, mobile barcode scanning was up over 4,500 percent comparing Q1 2010 to Q1 2011. So far this year (as of Q3 2011), ScanLife reports over 20 million barcodes have been scanned worldwide, of which 60 percent were in the United States.

Recommended Mobile QR Scan Code Usage:

1. Serve a business objective to generate leads, retain customers, drive traffic, etc.
2. Add value for the user such as to save time, reduce cost, enhance experience, mobile-friendly content, etc.
3. Provide contextual assistance such as How-To Steps, link to get a reader app, call-to-action, barcode link or SMS alternative, etc.
4. Test to ensure codes are scannable reviewing QR Code size, colour, lighting, Wi-Fi, etc. across different readers and handsets.

Note: Some earlier camera phones like iPhone 3GS and Blackberry or any other brand for example, operating with less than 3 MP resolution with out auto-focus capability may not scan bar codes smaller than 1″x1″.

Where do I get a QR Code scanner?

Check with your manufacturer for applications such as Apple, Android and Blackberry. For best results keep your apps updated with the most current version.

Marketing To The Invisible

Emerald City Media enters a new decade of exciting web development.

Our modern minimalist site focuses on a ‘less is more’ design, clean and crisp with high impact visual mediums re-purposed for Tablets.

Providing valuable web resources to small business, we offer unprecedented options for greater profitability and security for the future.

We are a small creative advertising firm specializing in web design and supporting media, serving businesses of the Kawartha Lakes, Muskokas, Haliburton Highlands, Trent Hills, Oshawa and the greater Metro Toronto area.

CityLifeStyle™

Situated in the beautiful Kawartha Lakes often referred to as the ‘Kawarthas’ or ‘Cottage Country’, the area is rich in history with notable mechanical leviathans rivaling the Titanic; Lift Lock marine transport systems, constructed during an earlier military era.

We thank the ancestral indigenous people for naming the area. The word ‘Kawartha Lakes’ comes from the Ojibwe language, interpreted to mean “shining waters”.

We are a full service creative advertising agency supporting all aspects of your business. Now you have big city productions with small town value. We level the playing field with excellence.

You are important to our business. You are the best at what you do!
–MA