CHRISTmas at our house!

Good Morning Friends! I don't know how your Holidays went, but CHRISTmas was wonderful at our house. It was absolutely amazing to see our gifts underneath the tree, but I still am in awe at how they appeared there. Not due to the Santa Clause fascination, but due to the money we must have used to purchase these gifts.

When we were writing our "Gift Giving List," more than once we looked at each other with that "There's no way were going to be able to buy all of this look" and just felt a little deflated, honestly. But, over time, we caught sales and prayed about it, and the gifts started appearing. We wrapped and wrapped, and I was constantly thanking God that he sent me to certain stores and showed me where to look. The big factor in this was that I set my mind to this one thing: I refused to choose convenient gifts this year. I made up my mind around Thanksgiving that the gifts we bought were going to be personal and thought-out. They were going to be specifically chosen for each person based on what they would truly love to receive. That was my little way of bringing the spirit of CHRISTmas into our home.

I also tried to have little conversations with Jesus about his Birthday. I mean who wants to see everyone celebrating something, only to realize that it was SUPPOSED to be your special day, but they made it about them. This year, I wanted to remember: Jesus is the reason for the season, and I hope HE knew that I wanted to make it special for him. I know that ANY effort was a winner in HIS book!

All in all, I missed TWO very important CHRISTmas celebrations due to an extreme bout with nausea and vomiting that I've been having. I've been getting car sick and motion sickness really bad, and unfortunately I'm not quite out of the line of fire on that one. I'll be a little unstable, and then I get in the car and I feel like I have the flu with nausea. We really don't know why yet, but nausea is quite common with MS, due to vertigo.

I didn't get to celebrate CHRISTmas with friends and family on three different occasions, and I hated that I had to miss out AGAIN this year! Please pray that we do get a good grasp on my health issues this year, because I'm ready to gain more control over this illness!!

One event I missed was with my grandparents, Maimie and Pawpaw, my uncles and aunt, Ashley, Blu, and Ryan, and my two adorable twin cousins, Emma and Ella. They were all so wonderful, and sent the most amazing gifts to us anyway through my mom, and I hate that we couldn't be there to receive them! We received some amazing gifts, and I must mention one of them which was for both Scott and me, but I've taken it over: (This is not me, just a model in the pic)

Isn't this chair/couch amazing? Our bean bag couch/chair is Brown Microsuede, and it takes about 7-10 days to reach the full size, which is "pretty HUGE!" It is already big enough for me to stretch out on and sleep for hours, which is something I am famous for, as you know. (I hibernate daily!) Seriously, I grab my blanket and pillow, fluff the chair up a bit. and stretch out. And I don't have to worry about getting chilled, because my furnace of a chihuahua, JoJo, sinks into it and curls up around my belly, under the blanket. I'm in love...

I also missed Christmas with our good friends, Lee and Gena Anderson and with my Mother-In-Law Dianne. Next year, I refuse to let this control me!!

While I received a LOT of amazing gifts, here are a few of them:

• Project Runway Sewing Machine
• My entire collection of METAL STAMPS and Anvil to start my collection and new HIGHLY ANTICIPATED Metal/Stamped Jewelry Venture
• Estee Lauder Make-Up Collection (I get one every year!)
• FOUR different ART sets (with pastels, charcoal collection, oils, paint brushes, colored pencils, Ahhh.... I LOVE THEM!)
• A new sign for our den (Already Hanging!)
• And MANY more gifts of love.

Izzy was all into ZEBRA PRINT this year, and she received a LOT of it! Here are a few of her gifts:

• An Art set
• Zebra print boots
• Zebra Print Duct Tape ( Don't ask...)
• A Zebra Mini Pillow Pet
• A New Study Bible
• Jewelry Making Beads
• And much much more!

Evan is into "Boy Stuff" and he got plenty of it! Here are a few items he received:

• A Diablo game (to play Daddy online)
• A BB Gun
• Nerf Gun (Ahem, excuse me... Barricade RV-10 gun)
• A New Study Bible
• A Remote Control Car
• And much much more!

Scott didn't ask for anything... ANYTHING, so we were all at amiss on what to buy! He got:

• A new Eddie Bauer Coat
• Eddie Bauer clothes
• Wool Hunting Socks
• Gift Cards to Academy Sports
• A Father's Wisdom book (It's an awesome read!)
• A Browning T-shirt
• More Gift Cards
• A few more shirts

Needless to say, we were more than blessed this Holiday season. I'm anxious to learn how to sew so I can start sewing Scott's underwear soon! (haha... just kidding!)

I pray that your Holidays were as blessed as ours, and I hope the stress has left you with the shopping frenzies over! Have an awesome week, and don't forget to start planning your New Year's Resolution... I have many this year!!!

Craft Shows and New Creations!

Hey guys! I know, I know... I've been a slacker-of-a-blogger lately. And, right when I promised you that I would write more! Well, I have a good reason for not writing (I'm not going to call it an excuse, because... well, I'm just not!)  My good reason for being a poor blogger is because...... DRUMROLL..... I'm about to do my first craft show! (Exhale)

I have to be honest... I am FREAKING OUT! I have a million questions, concerns, and out right fears that keep mingling around my brain, and I'm so  so nervous! I keep thinking, what if I look like an idiot or what if someone thinks my prices are too high, or what if no one stops at my booth, and so on... I am scared out of my mind... but I have to get out of my little comfort zone-of-a-house, and truly try to sell my items! Since I've been focusing more on Etsy than on facebook, I've made quite a few more sales than usual!! Yay!

***FYI  Update*** 

I will be posting a REALLY important blog post later this afternoon, and you do NOT want to miss it, so don't forget to check back a little later today! I'm going to give you some information on how you can score FREE JEWELRY without doing much of anything really! (And NO, I'm not talking about HOME PARTIES... I've come up with a MUCH more creative way for you to earn free jewelry and fill your Christmas Gift List at the same time!) I have VERY LIMITED spots available, so make sure you check back ASAP to find out the important details first thing!

In the meantime, here are a few pictures of my latest creations... I hope you like them!!

Don't forget to check back later for FREE JEWELRY opportunities! New Information coming this afternoon!

Talk to you soon,

Chel

Have a Real CHRISTmas this year!

Merry Christmas!! At our house, I think we're just going to skip right over Halloween, take just enough time to eat a few bites of turkey and macaroni and cheese on Thanksgiving, and sail straight ahead into Christmas Season. Every year I hit Christmastime Full-Speed-Ahead... and every year I procrastinate certain gifts and things that need to be done.

Where in time did the true meaning of Christmas go out the window? When did it become easier to focus on buying, choosing, wrapping, and giving a million gifts than it is to tell ten people about the whole reason we even have Christmas? Imagine if this year you told your kids and family that instead of buying gifts for them, everyone else, and your neighbors, you were going to read them a special book about the Birth of Jesus. How well do you think that would go over?

The truth is, giving gifts, buying gifts, wrapping gifts, UNwrapping gifts, opening gifts, just about ANYTHING involving gifts, is forever a part of Christmas in America. That's just how it is and will be for at least the rest of our lives.  So, why can't we give gifts AND read our kiddo's the REAL Christmas Story? If God allows us the privilege to have the financial means to make our family feel special and loved through gifts and celebrations on during each Christmas season year after year, don't you think we OWE it to Him to include Him in all of the SPLENDOR? I think WE ALL do.

I admit, in the past years, I have failed to remember the true meaning of Christmas and WHY we have Christmas. Lately, I have been painting and making different Christmas Crafts, so I've been googling random ideas to incorporate into my own ideas. I've found a million crafts with SANTA as the focus, but I started noticing how hard it was to find BIBLICAL CHRISTIAN Christmas craft ideas. That's when I really realized that I'm just as much to blame for this as anyone else is. And I also realized that also, just as everyone else, I also have the ability to fix this problem. And this season, I'm going to make a conscious effort to not only spread Holiday Cheer, but I want to make a conscious effort to remember the real reason for Christmas, WHO we are honoring, WHY we even have Christmas, etc. I want to wake up POST Christmas this year, and feel like I did my job to make God smile by remembering Him, and I encourage you all to make sure you start NOW to remind your kiddos WHY we even have Christmas.

Breathe in, Breathe out, and this year don't stress about whether you spent too much on someone or if they will know how much you spent. I wish EVERYONE, myself included, would pick out each and every gift, stocking stuffer, etc, by putting emotions and feelings into it. It's the beginning of October, so you still have time. Take your paper, and write down everyone on your list that you WANT to buy Christmas for. Beside each person, write their interests, what they enjoy doing, etc. Then, instead of hitting Dillard's when they have their special sale days, hit odds and ends stores NOW before the traffic and hustle picks up. If you put thought into their gifts instead of $$$ signs, you will find yourself making your new recipe for Christmas cheer in your life and the life of others. Who knows, you may be the only person who really put thought into that person this year. And the $5 pair of fuzzy gloves that you know the lonely housekeeper would love... put down that cosmo magazine and buy them for her in it's place. That's what we all should do. You NEVER know when your smallest of gestures may be their only gesture at all! What's small to you may be life changing for them. You could even send anonymous gifts!!

If there is a particular area of your family that is rather large, and the thought of buying for the ENTIRE family stresses you out, make the the phone call and tell them that you want to draw names this year. Set a limit and stick to that limit. If the limit is set for $25 and you stick to the limit, but they spend $40, don't feel bad about not sticking to it. I bet next year they'll spend $25 like you all agreed to, so it's only like one year of uncomfortableness... :) And don't run out and pick up random things until you reach that $25 limit... Add that person to your list of people to buy for. What do they like? What do they collect? You would be surprised what kinds of things you can add to people's collections from antique stores...

Bottom line(s):

              This year, remember the wise men brought Jesus their finest oils. They did this willingly and they wanted to give Him this gift to show Him how important HE was to everyone. Show your friends and family how important they are to you, not by buying the hottest item, but by making this Holiday CHRISTmas season count. For everyone.

Stay Here or Go There? Can't Decide...

Hey Everyone... This post doesn't really have much of a point to it. Maybe you could file this post under "Random Therapy Blogging." Therapy for me, that is. Obviously.

Lately, I've honestly just been in a cranky mood. I think I'm in a funk with selling my items and making them, and it's hard to snap out of it. I'm almost positive that most of my "blah-ness" is due to the fact that I make everything at home, sell everything from home, and ship everything from home. So where does that leave me? Always at home, constantly. A LOT.

Don't get me wrong: I LOVE being at my house more than anything. But occasionally a Sunday night will roll around where I wish time would stop for just a little while so my normal weekly routine could wait just a tiny bit longer to come again.

Well on a different note:

I'm kind of stuck in a rut with my shop. I've struggled over the past few months, mainly from March until now, trying to find my style, my niche, and myself all at the same time. I LOVE making new things and hearing compliments and comments about my work! So, I'm trying to decide exactly where to go from here.

Right now, I'm about to start focusing on the upcoming Christmas Holidays, and making gifts and items during the busy season! I need to have a MAJOR plan to put into place after Christmas when everyone is sick of shopping and broke as a joke from buying gifts. I'm looking into several different options, and I'm trying to see which ones fit nicely into my tiny budget area. Here are a few of my options.

I can continue to sell solely online and to friends. Besides my Etsy Shop sales, this is mainly that I'm doing right now. As I've said in earlier posts, Etsy and Facebook are two completely different selling atmospheres, and do better in different areas in both shops. Jewelry is better on Facebook and paintings and housewares sell better on Etsy.

I can start traveling and selling wholesale items to different shops and boutiques. I have had three offers to purchase and then sell my jewelry from three local shops, but I still haven't traveled down that road as of right now. The offers are still available, and I have a little time to decide.

I know that I'm still struggling to make an organized inventory system, and I still have a few kinks to work out. When I first started making jewelry, I would make a few items here and there, but nothing major. Now, I have a HUGE collection of supplies, tooks, and teeny tiny pieces, which I have neatly organized in plastic containers and a HUGE Tiered Tackle Box with a million slots full of beads. That's not where the problem was/is.

The hard part is filing and organizing the finished pieces. I had to develop a system to keep track of each piece, the date, where it is listed, etc. I've finally started consistently naming each completed piece of jewelry, and I'm currently working to create a manageable paper trail with all of my information and create "Collections."  Before I can even think about selling to actual shops, I have to finish my inventory count, organize and name all of my pieces, know how many pieces I have the capabilities to make, etc.

I have to say, though, it would be nice to have like... say ten shops that purchased wholesale from my collections. Ten consistent shops to start out with. And I would have all of their contact info ORGANIZED neatly in my business files. When they place an order, I make the pieces and deliver the finished inventory to them, which they then purchase from me. Then I have a set date that I make contact, preferably in person, with the owner again to see if they are interested in making any more purchases, and to let them see any new pieces and accessories. Ten Shops doesn't seem too outrageous, if I already have three interested. I just don't want to jump into something before I think it out, or before I'm completely organized.

Kind of like how I first started out with no inventory system in mind? Now any of the pieces I made in the beginning that did not sell yet are not inventoried or saved in my computer according to the system I created. Once those pieces are sold, I will be able to have everything finalized.

Item #    0911E0001 is one example:

09= September
11= Year (2011)
E= Earrings
0001= 1st pair created that month

This still doesn't sort each piece according to color, so I'm working on that area as well. Every single finished piece or pair has (or will have) an index card. On the top of the index card is the Item # just like the above number. Also on the card, in the lined space, is a list of every material or piece used to create the piece/pair, my cost, the time it took to make each piece/pair, IF it is a piece to a set and if so I'll list the other Item #'s for those pieces as well, the selling price, the date of creation, the date listed online, and the date sold (IF Sold already), and anything else I want to list. Each index card is filed in numerical order with like pieces.

It may sounds tedious and confusing, but remember what I have to remind myself of all the time when I Start to feel overwhelmed: I created the system. I decide what goes on the card and where. I can manipulate the card to meet my needs, because I'm the only person who will read the card!

So all in all, I'm trying to decide if I want to broaden my business a bit or if I want to stay solely online. I think selling wholesale will give me an even bigger reason to explore metal stamping more and learn creative techniques for creating items no one else has made around the area. I would also have an opportunity to travel more and get out of the house.

I think this one is a decision for me to speak with God about... Let's just see what He has to say about this... :)