Back to some favorites and good news :D

The good news is that 2 items sold in the Crafting4Causes shop so the cute little animals in the Humane Society will get some love! My cousin actually created an etsy account and surprised me by buying them, so sweet of her!

Next are my 2 noteworthy items of the day:

Here we have a cute little Christmas Gnome painting I came across on the etsy forums. When I read that it was about a gnome I thought-oh, just another funny looking little guy, then I saw it and it's just adorable!!! The seller has a variety of paintings, this is just one of the series and can be found here.



And then another item listed just today in the Crafting4Causes shop is this beautiful journal/book. This item was donated by another kind etsy seller, the link to her shop is found in the listing itself, which can be seen here.

A very Happy Birthday to ME!!!

Today I'm 25!
Wow, 25 years old today! Quarter of a century. It was a pretty chill day-some nice times and stuff from friends and family and a good nap. I haven't really felt well all day so that's not so fun :( But overall it was positive :D Yesterday I got laid off of my hotel job because of slow business but I'm not crushed as I still have the classified substitute job and my etsy store has been having more sales. I can hopefully find a job that's closer as well. Anyway-as a reflection, here is a little list I've compiled.

25 of the most important things I've learned in the last 25 years of life (in no particular order):
*A testimony of Christ and our Heavenly Father is the most important thing you can have in your possession.
*Family can be and should be your closest of friends.
*Think before you speak or act because those things can never be undone.
*Don't stress out so much-take some time to enjoy life!
*Don't stick things up your nose (I learned this one young in life)
*Every experience, whether good or bad, can be learned from.
*Keep an open mind.
*Stand your ground-stick up for what you believe in.
*Always search for truth.
*Take every chance possible to stand in someone else's shoes-especially before passing judgment
*Simple service yields great joy.
*Budget-make your money work for you.
*Living life in fear is hardly living life.
*We are not just human beings-we are human becomings. We are all works in progress, that includes OURSELVES-give yourself a break!
*Take the time to gaze at the stars, pick out figures in the clouds, and take pictures of the flowers.
*God keeps his promises.
*Beauty is in the eye of the beholder.
*Months of 6 or less hours of sleep is not cool.
*Much can change in a short amount of time. Savor today, have hope for tomorrow, and don't clench on too hard to yesterday.
*Education is a worthwhile endeavor.
*Sometimes you just need a good cry. That's ok.
*Make goals.
*Challenge yourself.
*Explore options you haven't considered.
*Friends can be made everywhere.

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Today I forced myself to not make or list anything for etsy but to spend the time making things just for ME! I often buy duplicate beads of items I make for my shop to make for myself because I like them so much-but I never get around to making them :P Here are some pictures:
















Lastly I wanted to show a cute package some friends and I made for a friend of ours a couple of days ago. Our friend is going to serve a mission for our church in Russia so we sent her a fun packages-I love themed stuff! Can you name the Biblical scripture that we based this off of??? It was fun because my friend Shon is surprisingly crafty-I first discovered his crafty skills when we made cards for a retirement home for Mother's Day this year :D






Anyway-thanks for stopping by and have a great day!

EAT THAT FROG!

I was highly recommended by someone to read the book called "Eat That Frog". It's about putting a stop to procrastination. It was explained to me this way: If you have a list of food that you need to eat-and an ugly frog is on the list, just get it done with-get the ugly gross thing over with so the thought/anticipation of eating it doesn't ruin everything else. If you have more than one frogs-eat the ugliest one first. Basically-just suck it up and get the hardest tasks that you're avoiding done and over with. Want to know the funny thing? I was recommended this book about procrastination months ago...and I haven't found time to read it yet, lol. But I have great cause to remember it today as my guilt is stacked a mile high for priorities that I've put off for other things such as etsy. The hardest thing is that I live my life like a checklist-with such great accomplishment for each item checked off. But some things will never be checked off and it frustrates me. I can never permanently check off, for example, cleaning the house-it will always pop back up. Anyway-that's my 2 cents. I really ought to get to reading that soon :P

Creative Juices A-Flowin'

My mom's birthday was Sunday and I had fun making this candy and fruit bouquet for my mom. Making it brought back my culinary arts classes and the time I spent this last Valentine's for 2 weeks working a temp job making bouquets at a flower shop.
(Sorry the picture quality isn't very great)


I also wanted to give a sneak peak of a couple upcycle projects I've worked on. I have made the comic envelopes out of the daily newspaper envelopes and have lined the insides with white printer paper from the scrap paper box at work (so the newspaper ink doesn't rub on whatever you are sending) The envelopes have 3 layers of paper including the white lining so they stay durable. The only part that is not recycled is the tape! I love them! I will probably list them soon-how much do you think a dozen should sell for? They don't cost a ton but they do take a bit of time.






And another upcycle project to be listed-This set of 6 coasters-made by weaving leftover coupon guide covers (I work at a hotel and people will cut out 1 small coupon and will leave the rest of the guide to be thrown away). I coated them so they are sturdy yet flexible and waterproof. I made a box for them to be stored in as well-covered in nothing but....Comics of course :D I still need to coat the box so the ink doesn't rub off. These required a lot of time, but I'm sure they aren't exactly everyone's style. What price would you recommend?

yay! Happy News :D

I was contacted on Crafting4Causes to join the AOE (Altruism On Etsy) Team. It's my first team, so that's pretty awesome :D I haven't been added to this list as of yet but here's the link: AOE Team I highly recommend them...at least to browse around because it contains a list of sellers that donate part or all of their causes to various charities.

Also exciting, I won a giveaway from this lovely shop: http://sheabalina.etsy.com/
That's pretty exciting :D

As a side note, it's my birthday this Saturday! Both my shops will be 25% off this week in honor of my 25th birthday! Please stop by!

CRAFTING4CAUSES THANK YOU NOTE

I would like to thank all those who have contributed to C4C-I just got a thank you letter in the mail today for August's donation. Even though it was small, it was a start :D You can see a scan of the letter below.

Do you ever just have one of those days?

Do you ever wake up and just feel kinda down. Like it's a rainy dreary day...but it's sunshiny? :P I have the day off of my regular job but have picked up 2 jobs substituting at my local school district (I'm in between the 2 right now). I'm supposed to go to the local fair with some friends but I just don't know if I'm going to be up to that :( I need to make my niece a birthday bracelet and ship 2 trades from my jollyjennifer shop...but I just don't feel like doing anything :( I need to re-take more pictures for my shops too. I guess part of the problem is I was on the forum and so many people assume that shops (like mine that claim to donate to charity) are scams :( Don't get me wrong-we shouldn't be naive-there are many out to scam-but it still is sad. I'm grateful that people are trusting me with their donations...I just hope more would sell so the items would do some good! I'm also bummed because of the trial and error that it takes when learning new crafts. I won't go into too much detail-but it's a pain in the backside! Lastly I wonder how many people actually read this blog :P Seems like Christie is the only one that ever comments, lol. Give me a holler if you read please, it would bring a smile to my face! Anyway...

Oh yeah, and my last 2 cents-A lot of people say "I'd rather just donate straight to a cause". I completely understand that myself, I just figure-If I can make something for $5.00 worth of supplies and $5.00 worth of my time-the buyer gets $10.00 worth of product and a warm fuzzy feeling and the charity gets $10.00 from my bank instead of the $5.00 I would have given directly instead of spending on supplies. That math makes sense to me :D My boss's daughter walks dogs for $ each week and gets $40 a week. She turns around and buys dog food with the $40 and donates it all to an animal shelter-what a cool kid! But this way she could spend $40-get cool stuff, and the $ still goes to the shelter. Just a thought...

SALE!!!!!!!!!! And new goodies :D

SALE
I'm holding a sale at crafting4causes.etsy.com! THIS WEEK ONLY: 25% off of EVERYTHING (before shipping).
ANNNNNNNNNNNNNNNND........
If your purchase is $15.00 or more (before shipping) you get this FREE pair of earrings! (Valued at $6.50) *The first person to make a qualified purchase wins it-not everyone)
PICTURES OF EARRINGS: 1 AND 2


This month all proceeds from my charity shop go to the Humane Society to care for all of those cute little critters :D

*****25% off of the listed price-you must mention this deal from the forum when purchasing and I will refund you the discount via paypal*****

New projects:
On the left you'll see the cutest card I made today-I think I'll be making lots of these :D

And on the right I have a picture of a custom painted book box I made for someone for a trade. I just really like it :D And all of these pictures are taken in the new lightbox :D

1 for the money, 2 for the show, buckle up 'cause here we go!!!!!!!!!

We're back in business!

I've attached some pictures of my newly organized crafting tables. Including the smaller new light box awaiting a permenent second lamp and attaching the fabric as well. I've got lots to list next to it and everything else lined up :D I've even unpacked my new scale from the post office, though I haven't tried it out yet. I usually do my items at the kitchen table that my work tables are next to or at the couch pictured :D My cute little puppy Pepper is staring at you above :D I also do a small amount of items during slow times at my work (i.e. punch out paper tags, cut paper for matchbook notebooks).

Anyway, I even got 3 orders finished and packaged to mail tomorrow. I don't usually work on Sundays-a policy of mine for religious reasons but I kinda fudged it today. I couldn't stand the chaos and disorganization. So tomorrow will be nice-I only work 2 hours at my school district job and then I will work on some of these custom orders/trades awaiting my attention then start the daunting task of listing new items and re-taking pictures and re-calculating shipping now that I have my new scale and have a better handle on this all.

I'm excited to be a bit more organized and have a handle on things. Soon I'll get back to daily picks and I have a couple of tutorials in the works. ;) I am still deciding a sort of contest or giveaway for this month-for the crafting4causes shop and since it's my 25th birthday on the 26th!!! But I don't know what to do!

The Light Box Blues

Well well well, here we have a light box and are still struggling! I made a large one to fit a variety of items, but the light I bought just doesn't light it up enough, I would need more lamps. Luckily I also made a smaller one that works better. I'm experimenting with different fabrics, lightbulbs, and camera settings to best represent my items. No matter what your venue (jewelry, vintage, etc) you also have to be a photographer to sell on etsy! Here are some before and after pictures I have up. 1 is the earring with flash, but no special lightbulb/fabric covering the light box. 2 is with the lightbulb and actually no fabric, and then brightened up a bit using paint.net (like photoshop) And then the beads are using the lightbox, no cover, and edited to brighten up the background. If you want to see all of the shots, please look here and feel free to comment here on my blog!

*UNDER CONSTRUCTION*

My stress level out of 10 is about a 12 lately. But I'm trying to stay focused balancing everything. I'm taking a break right now during my re-vamping of my shops. I am checking for errors and updates in titles and descriptions as well as policies. I am also constructing a light box so I have better pictures. I just bought the supplies. Then I will have the lovely task of re-taking all my pictures. I just received in the mail as well my scale so I can accurately guess shipping costs including listing foreign destinations to help my customers out. In other words---we're getting serious, and we're getting busy! I have so many other items I'm working on and want to get listed-just envision a chicken running around with its head cut off. I want to do some giveaways, and contests, and on and on and on, but I need to do ONE THING AT A TIME! Lol. Not to mention I've gone overboard on the trading fun. Anyway, that's my blurb for now. I won't be doing too many updates until I get this under control. Though I did get a lovely package with some GREAT items from a very generous etsian yesterday to list in the crafting4causes shop. I'm so excited! I will post some pictures here soon.

Also, in case you haven't seen, come sign up for Secret Santa!!!! Here it is on the forums: http://www.etsy.com/forums_thread.php?thread_id=6274962

I'm Still Alive!

Wow, I go a couple days without posting and I feel so neglectful! I sent off the money from the proceeds of Crafting4Causes.etsy.com to the Second Harvest Foodbank of the Inland Northwest today (and added in a little extra cash since the shop didn't make much). Another kind etsian is sending some items my way to help in the great effort. Please spread the word!!!

As for my jollyjennifer shop I've gotten behind as well. I have lots of items to be made and lots of items to be listed but life has been running me ragged lately. I was 40 minutes late to my day job today because I slept in :( I'm going to have to be more disciplined and concentrated soon as I anticipate starting yet another part time job on top of my current work load. But I still have great plans for etsy-I'm loving it despite the nearly non-existent sales. I really need to simmer down on all of these unneeded trades I'm currently doing, lol. I'm trading away so much stuff-some of it for Christmas shopping and some just because :P

Anyway-here are my picks of the day>
You will see a Kanzashi Flower Barrette here.

I saw a similar barrette on the front page of etsy and LOVED it. After hitting the forums asking about it-I was told to search for Kanzashi-the type of folding/flower design. There's lots of great stuff, this is just one that I like :D

And from my store-here is a simple pair of earrings that I listed a little while back. I had a long detailed dream last night about missionary work. I served a year and a half long mission for my church in Poland not too long ago and loved giving service and teaching others about Christ. These earrings are simple yet a pretty symbol of Christianity. You can see them here.

And as for possible giveaways and sales-I'm making all sorts of plans for my birthday this month, for this month's sales going to the Humane Society, and for Halloween upcoming. So keep tuned! Also, do you want to participate in SECRET SANTA????? Visit this thread in the forum and sign up!

The uncreative title for another great post :D

Soooooo, it's past 2am. I should be in bed :P Here are some picks that I like--You'll see a beautiful Christmas Ornament with polymer clay detailing. I actually found out about this etsian through another blog I follow and enjoy their work. This particular ornament is on sale and can be found here.

My feature for the day is this lovely pair of earrings. I fell in love with the beads and just had to make something from them :D They are being sold here.

Giveaway Winners and Daily Picks :D

My first giveaway just ended and I'm proud to announce the winners: Grand prize of $10 in my jollyjennifer shop goes to 5erg, and runner up prize of 25% off or a random prize in the mail is gugu. Thanks to all those who entered!

As for picks of the day, I'm proud to show my cute little Coloring Book Booklets for Halloween. It's my first time making Matchbooks as well as making my own custom crayons :D I love this and plan to make some as stocking stuffers for Christmas as well :D You can find them here

And as for my other pick of the day, here is a cute headband by Weezawear. They have lots of cute stuff and reasonably priced! I wish headbands worked in my hair better-I must have a funny shaped head or something. Who knows, I still might try one... the listing is shown for the apple one here.