Monday, December 29, 2014

The VAT and you, what American Etsy sellers need to know

Did you know that starting January 1st all sellers of digital goods who sell to European countries will be required to pay a VAT tax to that country?  Did you know that as of January 1 2016 any US sellers of physical goods will also be required to pay a VAT tax to that country?  What's worse is there is no minimum.  If I sell one crochet pattern all year for 4.50 cents I have to apply for a VAT tax ID number and pay 1.50 or whatever that tax rate is in that country to that country in order to stay legal.  Now as a freedom loving American this doesn't sit right with me.  Why should I be required to pay a tax to another country's government that has absolutely NOTHING to do with my intellectual property.  It's not owning the site that I sell on.  It's not in charge of the site where I get paid from.  It's simply the country that my buyer happens to live in.  What???

So as of January 1st my patterns will no longer be available to buyers in other countries.  I feel bad for the people who live in these other countries as I am sure they still want my product, most of my buyers of patterns are from other countries, however I am out that income.  I don't even make enough to be charged taxes in my own country I refuse to pay taxes to other governments in order to sell my products.  And as if Etsy couldn't possibly make this harder on its sellers. .

It is up to the SELLER to prove where these buyers are coming from.  When you sell digital items on Etsy, it doesn't tell you where these buyers come from.  If you only sell one item a day you can figure it out by the map but what about sellers that all they sell is digital items?  How are they supposed to know what product went to what country?  Also since there's no way to add the tax onto the purchase as of right now the taxes are coming OUT OF YOUR EARNINGS.  So you can either raise the price on all of your items because the average VAT tax for the country of randomness is about 25% or you can just loose money.  Some VATS are as high as one third of your price.  Also from what I am looking at online the VAT seems to change every year so  .. . your never going to get a current real time cost of VAT you can guess and try and make up for the revenue loss but yeah this is just bad.

One step closer to a world currency and a world government.  Not to sound like a crazy person but this is just another sign of the end times.  This is the part that bothers me  most.  Why did our government allow this to happen?  Why did Etsy not even tell us about this?  Had I not been on an amazing team that told me about this I still would be in the dark.  Please share and reshare this with anyone you know who sells digital items (prints, patterns, ebooks) on Etsy or any other global platform.  Please don't shoot the messenger. . ..

Sunday, June 22, 2014

A perfect day

Well it's officially summer so we had to have our official beach trip.  Since my kids are late coming home AGAIN I figured I'd share some awesome pic's and write a tid bit about how it all went down.  See my daughter was bored at about 11 since we did the whole sleeping in thing and watching a couple of shows thing and she wanted to go to the beach.  So we did.  I love that I live 10 minutes away from a perfectly free beach where my kids can swim in the awesome lake Michigan.  Bonus this beach is man made so you can walk like 30 feet out and still only be in about one foot deep water.  After a quick lunch and getting everyone suited up and sunblock on we were out the door about a half hour later.  We got to the beach about 10 minutes later and to my surprise we got right in to the "close" lot.  The one where you only have to walk about 50 feet and your there.  Not super great for getting exercise but hey we were there to have fun.  And fun was had by all. 
At Mom's pool

Friday, June 20, 2014

Fun with Google analytics and a new addition to Crochet By Mel

One of the features on Google Analytic's that I think I understand is the audience overview.  One of the things I like to look at is my top 10 city's so I thought I would share them with you and maybe my fellow Etsy'ians would like to share your own top 10 cities?  I get a little thrill every time I send something out that something I made is going off to enjoy wild and exotic locations that I will probably never get a chance to see, but here without further ado is my top 10 city's (lately) via google analytics:

1. Valparaiso (Me) for some reason it seems to record every time I go to my own website, since I am pretty sure I don't have that many fans in Valpo it seems like that's the only logical reason.
2. Beverly Hills Crochet artist to the stars?  Why yes thank you don't mind if I do .. .
3.  the ever helpful "Not set" yeah.  Depending on what device your on Google may hide your location from me.   Okay then. . .
4.  New York, New York. .  . I wanna be a part of it New York!! 
5.  San Francisco From what I hear it's pretty nice there.  Maybe someday I can get out there. . . I know my parents sure enjoyed it.
6.  Moscow- Thank God for the programs that translate languages, for some reason a lot of my stuff is on par with the stuff you find over there in Russia, they have such beautiful needlework over there, its good to be noticed by them.
7.   London England, yet another place I have always wanted to go, see Big Ben and all that.  Listen to the sexy English accents. . .  you get the idea.
8.  Dublin is that in Ireland???  Pretty cool . .. if it wasn't for Craig Furgason I wouldn't even know that much :)
9.  Chicago- Chi-town!  Kind of sort of my home town, glad to see that it made the list!  The second City has never been the second one to me.
10.  Sydney Australia- g'day mate!  I used to be online bud's with a girl from Sidney she was a very cool person.  Miss her. 

So there you have it folks the beauty of online shopping you can sell to anyone in the entire world.  Very cool.  And now without further ado, my new hat I just finished.  I am getting ready for the winter (hopefully) rush.  What do you guys think?  I would love to get your feedback.  It is of course in one of my signature colors, purple and you can find it right here if you like it but want a different color I would be happy to assist you as this yarn helpfully comes in just about any color you can dream of.  I like this hat because it adds some volume and is unique.  I made the pattern myself so if you'd like it please just let me know.  The color in the first picture is most like what it looks like in person, for some reason the light was bouncing off of it like crazy in the others. 



Monday, June 16, 2014

What's new in Crochet By Mel land. . .

So what's new peeps???  Very happy to say I had my first 2 sale day yesterday :).  Where as I will say the money is nice it's not so much about the money and more so much about the fact that someone liked something that I made with my own two hands enough to give me money for it and then (presumably) add it to their wardrobe.  Getting paid to do something I love?  Amazing.  Being able to provide for my kids?  Awesome.  They weren't super big sales or anything but after a long drought its nice to get a couple sales in.  I think people just don't think "crochet" when they think summer, even though I do have more than a few items that are great for summer. 

So what's new?  I don't know I have been adding products like crazy lately but my latest two are fingerless gloves.  From what I hear people like the fingerless gloves so that they can text.  ( I don't text) but I could also see them coming into play when your strapping your kids in the car, or driving at least you won't have to touch that freezing cold steering wheel with your bare hands.  Here' take a gander .. . .

 

 These hand crochet fingerless gloves are made from soft vegan friendly acrylic yarn.  One size fits most women, if you'd need a different size or color I'd be happy to make them for you.  You can find these gloves right here and the price includes shipping to the 48 states.  So comfortable to wear! 

Below is my take on rainbow fingerless gloves.  Colors may vary a bit by pair depending on what colors I have in my stash but you will always get an adorable pair of gloves.  As always made in a pet free smoke free home.  I would love to get some feedback on these in the comments!  thank you for stopping by :)

Sunday, June 8, 2014

Google analytic's, why???

Being an Etsy seller, I went ahead and checked out google analytics however is it just me, or is it not helpful?  I don't understand how to use it like, at all.  I consider myself to be a somewhat intelligent person but this is a total mystery to me.  Why is it I can see what kind of device people used when they are on the site but it won't tell me what search words they used to find it?  Unknown is not helpful.  If you don't know what words people are searching for how in the world do you figure out what content to put up for sale?  How do you know how to word your listings?  It's kind of interesting to see what country and town people are coming from but how is that really helpful to me?  And why does it never match up with what Etsy says?  Etsy will say I've had 600 some odd views for the day but then if I go to google analytic's it says I've only had 45 sessions.  Who's telling the truth here?  I find it interesting that my views keep reaching higher and higher on Etsy yet this other site is saying they are crashing into oblivion.  I guess that explains why sales are non existent. 

The one helpful thing I did find is it tells you how you got some of your views, it helps me to know what advertising is working and what is complete crap.  It seems to me that paying for ad's is not worth it since most of my views come from pinterest, witch is totally free and it also has the lowest amount of drop off views.  Oh well.  At least I tried.  If anyone has helpful tips on how to use this tool I'd love to hear them.  Until next time, take care.

Friday, June 6, 2014

Too much too much .. .

Lately I have had much too much going on, I actually kind of forgot about this blog.  Good thing I don't really  have any readers!  So what have I been up to?  Well making candles for starters.  I started making candles again so my house smells all kinds of awesome.  I use soy wax so they burn clean like partylite candles and did I mention they smell amazing?? Here's a pic you can find them all at Crochet By Mel I use cotton core wicks so they burn all the way and at the right temperature for soy.  These particular ones in this picture I believe are Gardenia scented.  You'll find I do a lot of floral and fruity scents since those are my favorites, but if there's a particular kind you enjoy I'd be more than happy to do a custom listing for you.  Also another new thing in my shop is Free shipping for all my USA customers.  Etsy has been playing around with hiding shipping costs so I decided to cut them off at the knee since most my customers are from the states anyways. 
I love making votive's and tea lights because with votive candles you can reuse the same holder over and over, and with tea lights I do re use my tea light cups to make new tea lights.  I have been all about the recycling lately. 
Something else that's new going on is my new shop Puzzled By a Name my mom loves to puzzle and she's got all these beautiful puzzles some of them are 1000 pieces and they make great wall murals and they were just sitting there staring at me so I asked her and she let me have them.  There's a lot of Thomas Kinkade and a few pretty beachy ones.  I'd put them on my walls but my wall space is pretty limited.  If you'd like a puzzle matted and or framed first please message me I can make it happen :) And yeah we don't care if you want to tell everyone your smart and did it yourself, be our guest!
 Lastly but not leastly my adorable daughter just had her last day of kinder garden and I am super looking forward to spending my summer with my angels.  I see lots of beach days in our future and we got water park tickets so hopefully we will have some fun there and I won't loose anyone.  Lately the blonde one has been running off I am about to be one of those mom's with a kid on a leash again. . .yes again. . . you try being a single mom with 3.  Don't let the smile fool you  he's trouble.  The weather is looking like its going to be park weather this week so that will be super fun.  Everything I do is for them.  Don't forget when you buy handmade, and when you buy from small businesses your supporting families.  Buy American. Anyways thanks for stopping by, hope you enjoyed the show. . .

Thursday, May 29, 2014

His Daughter ~ Molly Kate Kestner (Original)

 Love this so much I just wanted to share with all of you.  Get the tissues ready .. .

Saturday, April 12, 2014

Things no one ever tells you when you open a store on Etsy

When I dived down the rabbit hole that is Etsy I had no idea how far down it went.  Well to those of you who are thinking about diving down there with me I just thought I would give you a heads up.

1.  Making quality handmade products will not get your items sold.   No matter how awesome your stuff is no one is going to care unless you have equally awesome pictures, good reviews, high sales numbers and competitive pricing.  I have found that if I price my items at what they are actually worth they get a ton of views, ( I am assuming bot views) but never ever sell.  Even with awesome professional photo's many times items do not sell.  There is a ton of competition out there and it is  not as easy as putting a listing out and getting a sale the next day.  This is not Ebay people.

2.  I had no idea I would spend so much time obsessively checking my numbers.  How many views do I have now?  Okay how many views do I have now?  What about now?  Oh 30 people viewed that scarf maybe someone will buy it.  NO.  You are wasting your life.  There seems to be no reasoning behind what will sell and when it will sell.  You can have an item get shared on facebook 30 times and it still will not sell.  You can have an item be viewed once that day and sell.  Checking your stats while it is fun is in an of itself a waste of time.  Its good to keep tabs and see that at lest someone somewhere is looking at your stuff but checking it more than once a day- waste of time.

3.  I had no idea all the social websites that you can and should promote on.  Not to mention all the time and effort that goes into getting follwers on said websites.  I never had a twitter before I had this store, now I have a twitter, a facebook page, a wanelo account, a weheartit account, a fancy, a google+, craftjuice, craftori, stumbleupon, and probably a bunch I forgot because some of them are tricky and I never could figure how to navigate them so I kind of just gave up on them.  Yeah.  Thousands of followers on many of those sites and it's bringing in views, yet not many sales.  I really truly don't know the formula for sales on this thing. 

4.  Etsy teams.  Yeah.  Tons of helpful nice awesome people who will talk to you all day.  You will have no time to make your items because you get sucked into the promotional threads and making new virtual friends and you learn each others tricks and try and improve upon your respective brands.   Very helpful people but not everyone there is there to help you.  Beware of snakes in the grass. 

Bottom line.  I spend way too much time on the computer these days and I keep thinking that if I spend enough time it will translate into sales.  It's not so much proving true.  If you have tips and or tricks or any advice at all I would love to hear it please leave a comment and thanks ever so for stopping by :)

Saturday, April 5, 2014

God's Not Dead.

I got some extra time off this past weekend so I took the time and went to a movie by myself.  I went to see God's Not Dead because people said it was so good and stuff. I was pleasantly surprised to see that the theater was packed, I was kind of thinking I'd be the only one in there.  You know, these Christian movies are usually made on a shoe string budget and for some reason the writing is usually really bad but I don't have much to complain about this time.  The one thing that got me was the darn Newsboys.  I don't care that they are a "modern" Christian band, a big portion of the movie sounded like a Newsboys commercial.  That turned me off.  The writing, not that good but it had a couple of good parts.  The message is pretty good.  I was told that this helps you when you have questions and it will renew your faith but I did not have that experience.  I wish I could say I did.  All I can say is this,

My ways are not his ways and my little simple brain can not function on his level so I have to keep telling it to SHUT UP because my heart knows the truth.  All my simple first world problems are NOTHING and I am blessed beyond all measure because he has revealed to me his truth.   I keep struggling with the whole "its not fair" thing.  For a long time I have been kind of angry with God for making me a women.  It's no secret that women get the short end of the stick the majority of the time.  It's not fair that Eve ate the fruit and now anyone who's born with girl parts is cursed.  But you know what else isn't fair?  That some people know God and some people never do.  I can't imagine having to go threw this life alone.  Even in the greatest country in the world, even in this day and age with all of our gadgets and luxuries I just can't imagine how empty and lonely it must be without him.  Sure I don't have the latest toys or a car that's reliable or my own home but I have so much more than some people do.  I know that the creator and master of the whole freaking universe LOVES ME- even loves me enough to DIE FOR ME- how crazy is that?  I know what it is to have little, and I know what it is to have much, but I know this I can do all things threw Christ who strengthens me.  I refuse to live my life bitter or looking back at all the things I've lost.  I don't know why I'm here.  I don't know why he trusted me with these 3 awesome amazing little people but I do know I'm going to take what he has given me and I'm going to run with it. 

I got a miracle yesterday.  It's funny because I just trust him so much with everything that I never even doubted that he would take care of my Asher, but he has.  See Asher was born with a birth defect called Duane Syndrome.  Maybe I spelled it wrong I don't know.  All I know is I used to work at an eye doctor and ever since he could sit up I noticed his eyes don't quite line up and so I took him to a doc who referred me to another one who sent me to another one who did a CT scan of my baby and they found he's missing a nerve cluster witch makes it impossible for his left eye to turn to the left.  Now not only has he blessed Asher by giving him the kind where at least his left eye stays centered when he's trying to turn it left so at least he can still see, (some versions of it the left eye will turn up into their head or down making it useless) but even after 2 years of not being at a specialist he still uses both eyes and he's still seeing 20/20 out of both eyes.  The doc said that it's a miracle.  I can't even count how many modern day miracles God's given me but he's just awesome like that.  On top of that Asher is super smart.  He had saw the eye chart for just a second with his first eye and when they were doing his second eye he was all like "That's a I again.  That's a N again." little stinker memorized the thing that quick.  They then had to do random letters to be sure he hadn't memorized it and sure enough he can see great with both eyes.  So happy for my little man! 

I haven't been on here much and for that I do apologize I have been ill for a really long time but finally went and got some medicine from the doctors and am starting to feel almost myself again.  My sinuses are not happy with this weather and come to find out (again) that I have allergies.  I knew it before but totally forgot.  I stopped taking the allergy meds when the twins were babies because I didn't want that transferring in the milk and then when I stopped nursing I forgot to start taking it again.  Happy to say I can breathe threw my nose again.  Anyways whatever, I'm rambling again.  Waiting for my kids to get back.  I should go do something productive. . ..thanks for stopping by.

Train (feat. Ashley Monroe) - Bruises [Lyrics]


Monday, March 10, 2014

Mr. Peabody

Being a mom of 3 I have sat threw my fair share of really terrible children's movies.  I am glad to say however that Mr. Peabody wasn't one of them.  This movie was very well thought out.  The plot was interesting and it wasn't even until my second time viewing it that I fully got the moral of the story.  I don't want to ruin it for anyone so

* * * *spoiler alert* * * *



The moral of the story was a cleverly hidden agenda about how love is love and how anyone should be able to adopt a child.  They no doubt will keep the average person in the dark about it though because I think I'm a rather smart individual and I only got it the second time around. The movie is so cute and has so many interesting characters that the message kind of gets lost on your average person.  For all I know maybe they didn't even intend for this to happen and maybe I'm not supposed to put the 2 and 2 together but I can't help but think it was intentional.  Honestly I don't see any reason why homosexuals shouldn't be able to adopt a child.  There are so many kids in the foster system that need good homes and so long as at least one parent in the relationship fully commits to being a parent till the child is of age I see nothing wrong with it.  I do not believe that homosexuality is contagious.  I do not believe that it would ruin a child's childhood to have two mom's or two dads.  A lot of kids don't have any dad.  Some kids don't have a mom.  Not saying being a single parent is easy but a kid would be better off with at least one decent parent figure in their life verses being stuck in the system till they get too old and get kicked out. 

Now that I understand the message of the  movie I like it even more.  Honestly I don't really remember the cartoon it was fashioned after I think maybe it was on around the time of Tom and Jerry and I never cared to watch it.  The movie was super cute though and it had jokes in it for kids and a few for adults as well.  I like movies that make me think.  MUCH MUCH MUCH better than that turd of the Lego movie.  And the moral of the Lego movie is what?  Let kids play with toys? Really?  Man that movie stunk. 

So anyways go see the Mr. Peabody movie with your kids.  Even if your a total homophobe you will still enjoy it. 

Until we meet again . . .

Tuesday, February 25, 2014

The T-shirt Bra At Victoria's Secrets

Those who know me know I'm an avid Victoria's secret addict so much so that I am on the Angel's Forever panel where we chat and do polls and surveys to improve upon the brand.  Not only was I lucky enough to receive a free Victoria's Secret T-shirt bra they also gave me an extra one for one of my besties!  How generous is that?   I have got to say this new bra is amazing.  They really took into consideration all the feedback that we gave them and made a superior product.  It is so comfortable that you totally forget you have it on and I could totally see myself sleeping in it no problem.  I have worn mine all day and haven't had to adjust it once.  I love that the straps come off so you can wear it cross back or regular.  The colors area all kinds of awesome and they don't have all the jewels and bedazzlements that show up when your wearing it under a t-shirt.  It's nothing fancy but definitely their best demi yet and probably going to be my new go-to every day bra especially in the summer when you don't want all that extra padding making you feel like a girl in a hot car with two pillows strapped to her chest.  It's got the perfect amount of lift for wearing with V-necks and tank tops.  Totally thrilled with this new product!

My shopping experience was pretty good too this time the cashier didn't look at me like I was trying to pull one over on her so I am assuming they gave the associates a heads up this time.  They didn't open the store on time though witch was a little annoying, especially since I had my 4 year old twins with me and you know how impatient children can be.  The store was tidy as ever and I got to smell the new Bombshells In Bloom perfume.  I do like it its much more flowery than the regular Bombshells though and I think I am just going to stick with that as my signature fragrance for now.  Even my kids love the bombshells fragrance I often catch my daughter spraying it on herself or stealing my bombshells lotion. . . .and yes even my 4 year old boys.  I think they just want to smell like mommy.  The youngest said he does it when he's going to daddy's house for the weekend so he can smell mommy when he's gone. :)  Nothing wrong with little boys who want to smell pretty. 

My friend went to get hers today as well and she's equally thrilled.  She too ran home and put hers on right away.  Honestly its a brilliant strategy by giving one away for free they are sure to get women to come back and get more especially since it's so darn comfortable.  Anyways I had a hard time leaving a comment on the Angels Forever Panel so I thought I'd just blab it here, go try one on, you'll never want to take it off!

Saturday, February 15, 2014

Meet VaLon from thevicagirl!  I have recently got the chance to interview her and check out her shop, check out her answers below.


Why did you start blogging?
I love to write, and write tons of journals. I had been reading and learning so much about being green that my mother suggested I write a book about it. I decided I didn't have enough info for a whole book, but that blogging would be fun. Ever since then I just enjoy writing blogs.

Where does your inspiration come from when writing articles?
I blog about the things around me. Whatever I am learning about at the time. I also like to photograph every project I make, so that I can share it with the world.


What 3 websites could you not live without?
Gmail, Blogger, and YouTube, oh, and Twitter. Weird I know. But I constantly get all my other websites forwarded to gmail, so it is all in one place. And I love to blog, I guess I could do a different site, as long as I could write. YouTube because I might be addicted to watching some guys who make videos. Love it. And twitter because it is so much fun.


Why should Etsy seller’s blog?
To give a backstage look at things. I feel like a lot of my items people can figure out how to make. And with pinterest these days, everyone wants to know how to make things themselves. Just because you show how to make something, doesn't mean people won't buy your craft. They may try it themselves, realize they can't do it, and buy yours. Or if they are anything like me, run from making it and just buy yours. It is always fascinating to watch someone work. Plus, people can see your drive, and learn that what you charge is worth what you are asking.

How do you manage your time between Etsy and the rest of your life?
Set aside a time, each day, to work. Work on it during that time, and then move onto your different responsiblities. I love having a schedule, it makes me be able to do more in a day.

Where else can we find you online?
Etsy - etsy.com/thevicagirl
Blogger - thevicagirl.blogspot.com/
Twitter - twitter.com/thevicagirl
Pinterest - www.pinterest.com/thevicagirl/
YouTube - www.youtube.com/thevicagirl
I love talking and learning from other artists!  Please go check out her shop she's got some sweet upcycled necklaces, I especially love the Eiffel tower one. 

Friday, February 7, 2014

Can whoever ticked Elsa off please go and apologize? Schools need to close.

Enough already.  Many states have had it worse than us but I just have to say, Why????  No one around here shovels their snow so kids are walking in the street to get to the bus stops.  Well I guess they would be if they were waiting for the bus.  I tried waiting for the bus today because my car won't start.  We waited for about 10 minutes before I said forget this she just isn't going to school today.   It's -2 with the wind chill and there's a wind chill advisory yet they don't close the school why????  I guess because they already called it off too many times.  My boys are 4, I can't leave them home alone while I go wait for the bus with my daughter.  Even with hats, coats, mittens and scarves after 10 minutes they were screaming in PAIN because it is so cold out.  There's about 2 to 3 feet of snow on all the sidewalks so you can't walk on the sidewalks.  I get that kids need to go to school but some of the kids around here don't even have coats, lucky the few I've seen without them their parents drive them to school so they are only out there for a minute from the car to the school but still.  It's not right.

I think parents need to rise up and say NO.  If its too cold out to wait for the bus than its too cold out to have school.  If everyone I've talked to that has agreed with me would just keep their kids home eventually the schools would have to listen.  They get money for every student that shows up every day.  I realize that many have jobs and hate when it's a snow day because they are left scrambling to find a sitter so they can get to work but what's more important, our children's well being or keeping a job?  These are the choices parents are faced with every day.  With the outrageous cost of daycare a lot of these second incomes are only going to pay the daycare bill and your left with what at the end of your paycheck?  50 bucks?  Quit your jobs.  Take care of your kids.  I have friends who have -26 temps and they are still taking their kids to school this is INSANITY people.  We as parents need to say enough is enough!  This is not okay.  I say until winter can behave herself and keep the temps above freezing with the wind chill they should just close school.  If there's anyone local who needs a sitter on snow day's I'd be more than happy to help you out I'm here anyways.  I'd love to hear your thoughts!  Please leave a comment! 

Monday, January 13, 2014

There are no accidents

I really don't even know where to begin.  Words just are not enough for what I'm feeling right now.  I guess I'll start with my bottom.  I knew when I was pregnant with twins, had a 2 year old, no job, and was loosing my house because my at the time husband decided not to pay any of the bills because he'd rather pay a divorce lawyer that that was my rock bottom.  I had nothing.  Yet I had everything.  If you don't believe in God my post is going to sound crazy but I have always been a Christ follower although during my marriage I really lost my way, when all that turmoil was going on and I had no idea where I was going to live or if I was going to get to keep custody of my children, couldn't get a job because of my pregnancy and couldn't afford a lawyer due to lack of a job I really thought I was going to loose everything.  One of my ex brother in laws said something, I think he was just trying to be stupid but it didn't work out for him. When I was trying to talk to my husband who refused to talk to me he said "Are you scared?" and I said yeah, and he said "Go to church"  I guess it was some kind of joke from a song or something but that's exactly what I did.  I went back to church.  And I prayed.  And I was not afraid.  Sure I lost my house because my first lawyer was a looser who took the money I had used a credit card to get him with and did nothing including never even showing up for court but it turned out that was a blessing because it was enough for me to report them to the ACLU or something I forgot their letters but at least my really bad lawyer who never did anything he promised so I lost my house had to do some work for that 5000 I gave him to defend his whole not doing anything for my case.  I think they wrote about 60 pages of lies to try and cover up the terrible job they did. I just hope that they get enough complaints on them to put them out of business because they are really taking advantage of people who really need help.  So I had to fire him and had no lawyer. 

I prayed.  I looked into doing it myself.  And then a miracle happened.  3 days later, just like how long it took Christ to come back from the grave I got a message on facebook on Thanksgiving no less from a lawyer who took my case for much much less than the used car salesman lawyer did and bonus- it was someone I knew so I could trust that they would do right by me.  I got primary custody of the kids.  And that is all that matters, really. 


That's me.  I had nothing else to do- no other options but to take that leap of faith and he took care of me.  There's been crutches and set backs and hurdles along the way but my latest hurdle got me here, and here is a pretty awesome place to be.  All this time I was finding myself, but I didn't know I was lost.  I truly didn't know how very lost I had become.  He called me back.  I don't know why, I certainly don't deserve it but he gave me another chance.  And he gave me a gift.  So many gifts really that I can't even list them all.  The best thing about hitting rock bottom is there is no where to go but up.  Every day I'm getting up, and I'm getting closer, and that is an awesome feeling.

 And now by a series of twists and turns the very first dress I've ever made with crochet or otherwise got featured in a bridal mag on the East coast.  I didn't believe in myself like at all, I didn't think I could make a dress so it really blew me away when people were saying it could pass for a wedding dress because that's like the be all end all of dresses but yeah- it looks pretty good in this feature.  My dress is the one in the summer photo's.  It took me about 2 months to make it and some achy hands but to create it's just my thing, its a gift that God gave me to do good works.  I tried to be other things, it never really worked out.  Got fired from a couple of jobs, quit a few more so why not create pretty things and hope and have some faith that things will all work out.  You'll never know if you don't try right?  Anyways thanks for stopping by . ..

Monday, January 6, 2014

Indiana has been closed until further notice due to cold and snow

My kids are being held hostage by the weather.  I get that its really super cold out and there's snow but when if ever has this happened before?  We have how many hundreds of plow trucks for what?  Illinois is perfectly fine.  What is it about Indiana that makes the roads so impassible?  My babies just want to come home.  I think the worst part about this all is that they are giving no indication of when the roads will be open again. 

Now I get that it's not ideal to be on the roads but was it really needed to block all the entrance ramps with huge piles of snow?  Are people really that stupid that you had to go and do that?  After what 12 hours of there being no snow fall the roads are still not cleared enough to be considered safe, really? 

Martial law is coming people.  Get ready.  Home of the free and land of the brave yet we are afraid of a little snow and cold?  I want my kids back.

Sunday, January 5, 2014

Shop of the day: Sterling Silver Rings!

Today I want to talk to you about this lovely gem of a shop called Sterling Silver Rings.  All his rings are handmade in Mexico from sterling silver.  They are just straight up beautiful!  Let me show you what I'm talking about . ..


How pretty is this?  The best part is you know none of your friends will be sporting the same thing!  For more details click here

 
Next up we have this beauty that's so simple yet so lovely.  I think its so cool how its like a spring, yet the light plays off of the little details.  For more info just click here.
 
 
Who doesn't love butterflys?  This beauty would make a great gift if you could part with it . . . the thing I love most about silver jewelry is it goes with everything and you never have to worry about clashing with your clothes.  If you like what you see here please go like his facebook page and or his twitter account to keep updated on his latest products.  He's got 200 different items to choose from and looking at his shop is fun, even just to window shop.  Thanks for stopping by!
 
 



Thursday, January 2, 2014

Shop of the day: Eye Candy Quilts!

There's so many great shops on Etsy but today I want to shine the spotlight on Eye Candy Quilts!  There's so many great items its hard to just pick a few.  First up is this lovely gem that's sure to please any lady, it comes with a custom made tote bag, a wallet, a check book cover and a tissue cover and some other items that all match!  You can get it in the fabric shown or choose your own.  Just click here for all the details. 
 
 
Next up is one of the cutest little quilts I've ever seen.  I could go on and on about the cuteness of this but I think the picture really speaks for itself.  Super adorable security blanket for any child in your life.  My sister had a quilt like this and she kept it till she was 8.  It went everywhere with her.
 
 
Lastly I'll show you one of her wallets.  I need one of these!  I am one of those who just shoves the cards and stuff all in a pocket in my purse and then you go to check out and your digging threw all your cards wasting everyone's time looking for the right one.  Who doesn't love a little zebra?

It's the perfect size to go in your pocket or purse.  Got to love this little pink and zebra gem!  She offers so many other products in her store you should really go check it out, from handmade friendship bracelets to fabrics to handmade quilts and bags, who says reusable has to be ugly?  Happy shopping :)