To 'etsy' or not to 'etsy'?

I like to make things, plain and simple. I have a room full of all sorts of crafting supplies. For the most part, the supplies are somewhat organized. But at any given time, I am working on multiple projects. Knitting, sewing, crocheting, hand stitching, mod podge, quilting, baking, canning jam. This can lead to many unfinished projects.

In fact, to add to my pile of projects, this coming up Friday (you know the one, the day after Thanksgiving when crazy people get up early to try to find crazy deals!), you will find me at my local JoAnn's to purchase flannel for $1.49/yard. Yep, I will probably spend at least an hour or more in the store waiting to have yards of flannel cut so I can have a collection of material on hand to make flannel baby blankets for the multiple baby showers that usually occur during the upcoming year.

I have to say though, the finished pile of baby blankets and wash cloths I had on hand earlier this year was the start of my fundraising for our upcoming Compassion trip. Since the beginning of May, I have canned multiple jars of jam, made umpteen knitted dish cloths, sold almost 20 sets of baby blankets and wash cloths, and a good number of other homemade items. I have been able to sell all of these items on one of my Facebook pages. And it has been very successful!!

So I come to my question for this post: to 'etsy' or not to 'etsy'? Like I stated at the beginning of my post, I like to make things. After our trip, I would like to continue to make things and sell them. We really could use the extra income (our new medical rates are doubling, but don't get me started on that subject!). And I would like to donate part of the profit to Compassion.

fabric pennant banner

Here is how you can help me out: answer two questions for me in the comments, I will enter your name in a drawing for one of these fabric pennant banners!

Question #1: Do you think I should start an etsy store?

Question #2: Have you ever purchased something from an etsy store?

Thank you so much! I will keep comments open for the drawing until midnight pacific time on Friday, November 29th.

Photo Treasure Hunt - Brown

Brown is definitely a fall color. I wasn't exactly excited about trying to find brown things to photograph this past week. But when I really started looking, I noticed quite a few brown things that were great to photograph!

Now it is your turn to join me and my friend Jill on our Photo Treasure Hunt!

  • Link up by posting your blog post URL- not just blog URL
  • Link back to one of us (grab button if desired, I hope to have the button in my side bar soon!)
  • Visit other blogs and leave comment love.
  • Be sure to take note of next theme and start collecting more photos. Jill always has a fun transition photo, so be sure to visit her blog to see what the theme is for next week!
  • We reserve the right to remove any links that don’t fit the link up theme or that we find inappropriate

Next week's theme is....Thankful!! With Thanksgiving just a little over a week away, let's photograph some of the things we are thankful for each and every day.

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November Compassion Share & Tell

Compassion Share & Tell

Hello and welcome to my monthly Compassion Share & Tell link up! This link up gives us an opportunity to share with other Compassion sponsors what we are sending to our sponsored kids each month.

With Thanksgiving just a couple of weeks away, I was able to find the "I am thankful for..." printable on Compassion's Second Friday Letter Writing Club board on Pinterest. Then on one of my journeys through Hobby Lobby, I found these great cards! Did you know that DaySpring has a line of cards called Colors of Compassion? A portion of the sales from this line of cards goes toward Compassion's Child Survival Program! Win, win in my book!

Now, normally I would share with you what I have written to each of my kids. But this month, I want to share with you what my daughter wrote to her sponsored child, Katherinne, who lives in El Salvador (she wrote her letters online this month):

Hello Katherinne, How are you? I hope you are doing well there! Me and my family are doing well here where we are. We are getting ready to celebrate Thanksgiving. Thanksgiving is a holiday we celebrate because that's when people from England came over and came to the United States. There is normally a big dinner and we celebrate it with family and sometimes friends! It is lots of fun because we get to visit with family and friends and we all have a good time. Christmas is also coming up! Are you excited? You will have to tell me all about your Christmas when it comes. I love Christmas because it's such a happy time of the year. We sometimes have family come over so we can celebrate it! It is a very special time of year because Jesus was born! He came to this earth in human form so that he could live among us and also so he could grow up here and then die on the cross for our sins! Then he rose from the dead three days after he died! What an amazing thing! It is so fun and happy. We decorate a tree with different things like little glass balls and ribbon and lights. It always looks so pretty, glowing with all the different color lights! It is always so beautiful! I will be praying for you and your family and I love you but Jesus will always love you so so so much more then I ever could. :) I love you! Kelsey

Katherinne is just a few months older than my daughter Kelsey. We have already talked about planning a trip together in about three years for the two of us to visit Katherinne. Lord willing, I sure do hope will we have that opportunity together!

Time for you to join this link up!

 

Here are the rules:

  • Link up by posting your blog post URL- not just the blog URL
  • Visit other blogs and leave comment love.
  • I reserve the right to remove any links that don’t fit the link up theme or that I find inappropriate

Blog hop will remain open until Friday, November 29, 2013, so be sure to come back and share your blog post with us at the Linky Tools below:

 

My Capture Your 365 - Days 309 - 314

Through the month of November, the Capture Your 365 photo challenge is focusing on the subject of gratitude. Here are a few things from the past week that I am grateful for:

ISO 800, 50mm, f/1.8, 1/80 sec

ISO 800, 50mm, f/1.8, 1/80 sec

Day 309 - Birthdays: Even though we don't have any November birthdays in our famiy, we can still enjoy candles on a dark autumn night.

ISO 100, 50mm, f/1.8, 1/60 sec

ISO 100, 50mm, f/1.8, 1/60 sec

Day 310 - The Little Things: Last week was Compassion's One Meal One Day. This is a day set aside for people to skip a meal,  then donate money to Compassion to help a child living in extreme poverty. I skipped lunch on this day, spent time in prayer for children around the world, and drank a lot of water, thankful that I at least had clean water to drink.

ISO 400, 50mm, f/1.8, 1/20 sec

ISO 400, 50mm, f/1.8, 1/20 sec

Day 311 - Quiet Moments: With only one child at home during the day (and she likes to sleep in!), I am able to spend my quiet moments in the morning soaking in Truth to start my day.

ISO 400, 50mm, f/1.8, 1/40 sec

ISO 400, 50mm, f/1.8, 1/40 sec

Day 312 - R&R: I am so thankful that my children are able to take care of the dishes after dinner at night!

iPhone self portrait at Tuolumne Meadows

iPhone self portrait at Tuolumne Meadows

Day 313 - Challenges: I usually don't put up my iPhone photos for this challenge, but I challenged myself to take a self portrait while we were up in Yosemite over the weekend. Instead of reversing the camera on the phone to get the photo, I actually turned the phone around and manuevered my finger to just the right spot to capture this one. Ta da!

ISO 400, 36mm, f/5.0, 1/40 sec

ISO 400, 36mm, f/5.0, 1/40 sec

Day 314 - Selfless Acts: One other ministry we love to support this time of year is Operation Christmas Child. For years now, we have filled shoe boxes with necessities and trinkets to share God's love with children around the world. It is not too late to fill your own shoe box! National Collection Week this year is November 18th through the 25th.

Have you printed out the November Capture Your 365 photo list yet?