My latest creation

Here is one of my latest jewelry creations.  I'm just learning how to make chainmaille.  I would definately wear them!

Warriors In Pink

I know that October is typically Breast Cancer awareness month but I still want to share a website with all of you.  A lot of money has been collected at this website, mine included.  It's the Ford Cares, Warriors In Pink website.  It is a cause that is dear to my heart.  My Grandmother and two of my Aunts have the disease and I too have recently gone through the testing.  This is a wonderful website to find lovely items for a great cause.  I've added a widget to the left side of my blog if you would like to visit the webiste.  Early detection is extremely important.  Don't forget to do your monthly exam!  It could save your life!

Holiday Sale!

Hello everyone!  I am running a holiday sale!  Everything in my SALE section is 50% off with coupon code HAPPY50!  It's still not to late to add to you holiday decor or buy a few more gifts!  Come on over and check it out!

http://www.etsy.com/shop/TheCraftingPlace?ref=pr_shop_more

Sale! Sale! Sale!

I am having a fantastic sale on my Halloween items!  The prices are already marked down but you can use coupon code THANKYOU to receive and additional 20% off your entire order!!!  Come check them out!  Here are a few:

http://www.etsy.com/listing/83105966/50-off-halloween-sale-happy-pumpkin?ga_search_query=halloween&ga_search_type=user_shop_ttt_id_6267963

http://www.etsy.com/listing/83587858/50-off-halloween-sale-happy-pumpkin?ga_search_query=halloween&ga_search_type=user_shop_ttt_id_6267963

http://www.etsy.com/listing/83585416/50-off-halloween-sale-spiderweb?ga_search_query=halloween&ga_search_type=user_shop_ttt_id_6267963

Have a safe and fun Halloween!!!

Etsy Rock Stars

     A couple of weeks back I found a new home on Etsy.  A team that listens, respects my opinion, and wants to help me grow my business.  There is no fighting, control issues, or one person stealing all the lime light!  Instead, there is team work, cooperation, understanding, a group effort, and just really nice people!!!  The team is Etsy Rock Stars!  They are wonderful!!!  I'm learning new things and doing so in peace without stress and anger interfering in my life.  I just want to say to them, thank you for all you have taught me so far, for all of your support in my shop, and for all the understanding and laughter you have brought to me after my run-in with the captain of the Promotional Frenzy Team!!!  If there is ever anything that I can do for any of you, please don't hesitate to convo me up!  We are all in this together and I will do my part to help you whenever I can!  Thank you for everything!!!  You all Rock!!!

Blessings and sadness

     Today we found our dog and today we lost her too.  After being taken to the vet, our beautiful third child had to be put to sleep.  The cancer that she once had removed had spread throughout her body and was killing her.  As sad as it is to not have her here, she is no longer in pain.  I am so grateful that she didn't die alone in the feild where she was found and that she wasn't some scavenger birds next meal.  She came home for a little while, ate a full meal, drank clean water, cuddled with Jacob, was adored and loved on by her family, and was able to just be home before she left us.  We love you Lady girl.  You will be dearly missed by all of us.  You truly were one of our family members!  Rest in peace little girl!  Run in doggie heaven and be painfree, energetic, young, and just be happy!!!  We loved you for eleven years and will continue to love you forever!!!   

God's miracle!

     A couple of days ago, our 11 year old German Shepard mix dog busted out of our gate during the night.  We aren't really sure how since the gate was locked but none the less she was outta here!  Oh, how we looked for our beloved Lady for two days.  We hung up signs, called all the shelters, asked every runner and dog walker we saw, questioned kids walking to school, and drove everywhere all over the neighborhood!  I never knew there were so many mail boxes in my life.  The mail lady earns her paycheck!  We were trying to be positive but as the hours passed on we knew her chances of surviving were getting slimmer and slimmer.  Our little Lady is getting old, she has arthritis that makes her limp, she losing weight because (as the vet said) she is getting older and loosing muscle mass, and since she's always been in a fence she was not going to know what to do with cars.  I prayed, my husband prayed, but we were beginning to wonder if she went off to die somewhere or if she had been hit by a car and was dieing or dead on the side of a road somewhere.  All I could picture was scavenger birds pecking at her dead body.  Still, we were trying to stay positive for our kids sake.
     Today, my husband got the phone call!  Our limping, arthritic, sick, aged baby was found about 4 miles away from our house!  Did you hear 4 miles???  Here is where the miracle comes in.  Also this morning, a 7 year old boy went missing in our area.  All of the police were out looking for him along with the sheriffs department.  One of the sheriffs heard that the little boy liked water and knew where there was a small "creek" nearby.  The sheriff drove down the dirt road, across the creek, and further down the creek.  She said she drove at least 2 miles down the road when she saw Lady laying partway in the partially dried out creek.  She really thought Lady was already dead because she never picked her head up when she head the truck coming or when she called her 6-7 times.  It wasn't until she walked up to her and saw that she was breathing that the Lady finally popped her head up.  The sheriff tossed her a dog bone and she still wouldn't get up.  The sheriff knew she was in trouble and wouldn't last much longer out there.  She had Internet access with her and searched Craigslist for lost dog ads.  Not finding one, she called the animal shelter to tell them to come and get her.  Well, remember when I  said that we called all the shelters?  We also left our phone numbers with them in the event that someone brought her in.  Our Little Lady is home!
     Why is that such an amazing thing?  Just another dog getting lost, right?  I believe there is more to this.  I have always firmly believed that all things happen for a reason.  Losing an missing Lady has made us all realise how much she is truly treasured and how much we blessed we are to have her as part of our family.  I also believe that little boy was missing for a reason.  Maybe it was to help us find our dog?  Maybe it was so his family could change something in their lives?  Thank God the little boy was found and is OK!  What a horrible time that family must have gone through waiting for the baby to come home too!  Had the sheriff not been looking for the boy, NO ONE would ever have found our Lady in such a secluded area!!!  Had that sheriff not been a person who loves animals, someone else may have just left a dieing dog alone to die.  Everything was not meant to be, it was instead planned.  All things do happen for a reason!  God did answer our prayers!
     While Lady is exhausted, she is still happy to be home.  When the woman opened the kennel Lady didn't want to stand and get out.  She was so, so, tired!  When Lady saw me and Jacob (my son) she perked her ears up, wagged her tail, and sort of tried to stand up.  She knew she was going home!  She's wobbly on all four legs, is folding one of her paws under when she walks, and has a knot on her side but she has perked up a with pain meds.  Poor baby ate two cans of dog food and drank a bowl and a half of water.  She is coughing a little and still doesn't have enough energy to stand but she is headed out to the vet in a couple hours and I am sure she will get all the care she needs and deserves after her couple nights on the town!  =+D
     Although I know the Sheriff will never read this, I have to say thank you to her on here.  She brought our baby home!!!  I was able to thank her by phone and to tell her how much happiness she brought us simply by her doing her job.  What a kind, wonderful, caring person she is and I wish her all the best!!!
     I will leave you with a picture of our son and Lady cherishing and loving each other!

         
      

Something Smells in Denmark!

For some of my readers this is going to sound like an odd post today, but for others you will know exactly what I am so upset about.

I am so blessed to live in a country where democracy reigns free!!!  Laws, decisions, presidents, etc are all passed, made, and elected based on group votes and group input!!!  There are still a few in this country that are full of themselves and feel that they must command and dictate what others do and say!  I say when you cannot be happy with yourself, you must control others to make yourself happy!  AND when you cannot control your own life, you must control everything and everyone around you!  When a person like this rules the roost, discontent is bound to happen.  This is the case for me today!

As you can see, I have removed widgets and banners pertaining to the Promotional Frenzy Team.  What once used to be a fantastic team has now been reduced to a "dictatorship" where one commands the "little people" around her.  While, not all of my comments pertain to all of the leadership of the team, it does pertain to one.  The ONE who seems to believe she is always right.  Her controlling behavior has caused 6 active members of her team to leave.  She is either in denial that some of her team members are unhappy or she is delusional.  No one wants to confront her for fear of her nasty attitude and her backlash.  Proof of that can be seen in her team newsletter that was forwarded to all team members.  In the newsletter she discussed how shops were chatting outside of the team.  Comments were made by team members about her bad attitude and rude remarks.  She tried to defend herself and say that she doesn't make decisions alone.  The truth of the matter is that when confronted she recoils, becomes angry, and defensive.  How can anyone get through to an ego so inflated that they are NEVER wrong? 

A leader should care about their people.  A leader should put their wants aside for the bigger cause...the team.  I do not see that with this leader.  My suggestion to try a new kind of BNR was posted on a prominent thread for all to see, read, and discuss, and then promptly closed because she felt it was in the way.  When I posted another thread to show my disappointment in being removed from the main discussion area she started a tiraid of convo's.  I was scolded for "stirring up **it."  I don't know what planet she is from but where I come from I have always been able to speak my mind without permission!  If I don't like something I can, and will, say something....especially when I think the decisions that were made for the T E A M were flat out wrong!!!  For example, a couple months ago the decision was made to have BNR's every other week rather than every week because participation was down.  To replace that days activity, a "Temporary Treasury Tuesday" was established.  We were to create a treasury and everyone would comment and chat during that time in the treasury.  The idea was to bring exposure to our shops.  The theory was "Any exposure is good exposure."  So why then, if exposure was the top priority, would the leader decide to make new "rules and requirements" for the team that made us remove ourselves from other "conflicting" teams?????  We were told that if we wanted to be a part of the Promotional Frenzy Team that we could not be a part of other teams that used the same promoting tools as the PFT team used....such as Twitter, Facebook, Handmadology, Pinterest, Stumblupon, etc.  Are you freaking kidding me???  This dictator is now telling us who we can be involved with on Etsy!!!  What happened to any exposure is good exposure????  Something smells rotten in Denmark!!!

My intention was to leave the team today.  However, before I could leave she forwarded me a convo.  Here is the convo:


YOU are making assumptions.

I convo'd every single shop on this team that has been with us for awhile before making this decision. They all knew about this and all supported it. I wouldn't have made this decision without that.

I didn't just make a decision hastily or without support.

ALL my team leaders supported this and so did the majority of our team.

If you feel this way then LEAVE. you haven't been active at all with us and you pop up out of the blue to just cause problems. If you feel this strongly about it then move on.

The decision has been made, we aren't changing the decision. It wasn't just ME that made this decision so you don't be disillusioned about it.

Thanks.


The next convo to follow from her:

This is over and done with. I am going to contact Etsy for harassment if you continue. I see you are forwarding my PRIVATE convo's to others and accidentally forwarded it to me. So this will be very helpful in my contact to Etsy about what you are doing.

You weren't contacted by the way because you haven't been active.

You were just stirring shit up on purpose...

And clearly still are by forwarding my convos on to others, which is a violation of Etsy rules.


Truly I don't know if I can forward messages on Etsy

I am not the only one to leave the team because of this garbage that goes on.  I only hope that everyone else realises that there are thousands of teams on Etsy and my success will go on without her egotistic, inflated, dictatorship!  It's time to move on where my hard work, ideas, and contributions are appreciated and encouraged!!! 

To all of you looking for teams to join, beware that if it feels wrong, it is wrong!  Don't ever forget that there is no "I" in team but some people just don't know how to spell!!!! 

Bad, bad, Becky!

Ok....so I am officially bad!  I knew I hadn't posted on here for a little while but geeeeez has it really been over a month????  How on earth did that happen?  I swear I'm going to blink and in that instant I will be 91!  Time sure does fly!

So things have been a little crazy for me and my family.  My Dad fell and broke his hip a couple months ago.  While he was in the hospital recovering he had a heart attack and a stroke in the same day!  Who does that anyway?  One complication after another and we had to sign a do not resuscitate form for him.  By the saving grace of God, he pulled through and is now in a nursing home receiving physical therapy.  He is taking longer than most to recover from his hip surgery due to the strokes he has had.  Yes, I said strokeS, plural!  He's had two heart attacks and two strokes and he just keeps going and going.  My favorite little energizer bunny!  He is now able to walk down the hall to his room, with assistance of course, but nonetheless he is alert, walking, and best of all ALIVE!!!  He is the coolest Dad to ever live!!!  I am blessed to have him as my Dad and even more blessed that he is still here and fighting every day!

On the crafting side of life...I have a million things to do.  I have a special order half completed.  A wonderful customer ordered 100 Christmas tags!  However, I think I may pick glitter out of our carpet, off my craft table, out of my fingernails, my hair, my sink, and the rest of my house for the next 10 years.  LOL!  I heard someone once say that glitter was the armpit of arts and crafts and now I understand why.  =oD  I should have learned my lesson with glitter a long time ago.  My daughter taught me a lesson when she was six years old.  Both of my kids have always been very responsible.  Heather drew on the walls once and Jacob tried to stick keys into a light socket when they were little.  Other than those two major things, I have been lucky enough not to have to deal with kids and the normal things most kids do.  So, I knew I could trust Heather with scissors, glue, markers, and other craft supplies in her room without supervision.  Boy was I in for a shocker!  I went to check on her in her room one day.  She had that "caught with her hand in the cookie jar look" on her face.  "What did you do?" I asked.  Of course, "Nothing" is what I heard.  It didn't take me long to figure it out though.  My dearest, responsible, lovely daughter had taken 2 containers of glitter and sprinkled them in every crevice of every corner of ever square inch of her room!!!!!!!!  I mean it was in dresser drawers, behind furniture, in her hair, in the carpet, in shoes, on her bed, etc...etc....etc....!!!!!!!  My jaw hit the ground!  I really was in shock.  I didn't know if I should laugh, yell, or cry.  I was totally stunned!  I asked her what the hell....I mean heck.....was she doing?  She said she wanted to be Tinkerbell!!!!  Of course by this point I had to laugh!!!  It was short lived when it hit me that I was going to be the one to clean it up!  That was 6 years ago and I swear if you look in the corners of her room, you will STILL find.....errrrrr ummmm Tink's glitter in her room!   Oh how I wish I could use Tink's pixie dust right now to finish all I have to do. 

Until next time.  Thanks for stopping in.  Hopefully it won't take me another month to write!  Before you leave check out this store in the link below.  It's one of my newest favorites!  Fantastic seller and great prices too!  You will love everything she makes!!!  Don't forget to get started on that Christmas shopping early!  Take care and have an extraordinary day!

http://www.etsy.com/shop/crochetedbycharlene?ref=ss_profile

MEGA PROMOTIONAL FRENZY SALE!!!!

Hello all!  It's been too long since I've been on here.  Keeping up is hard to do.  I spent the last weekend tying to get ready for our team sales on Etsy.  I belong to the Promotional Frenzy Team on Etsy.  As a fantastic group, we are having a MEGA sale for those early Christmas shoppers!  Most of our team members have incredible savings and deals in their shops!  I know that I am going to take advantage during the month of August of their incredible savings!!!  You can find a list of the shops and what each shop is offering at the link below.  You will be blown away at the wonderful items, amazing craftsmanship, and fantastic finds that our team has to offer!!!  I have purchased from many of these shops and have never been disappointed!  My shop savings is 20% off anything in my shop!  Use coupons code FRENZYSPECIAL at checkout.  Happy shopping to all!!!

http://www.etsy.com/teams/7512/promotional-frenzy-team/discuss/8773512/page/2

Fantastic shop!!! A must see!!!

I've found a new favorite shop on Etsy.com called Prodigy Crafts!!!  I am truly in love with this shop!!!  She makes the most amazing coasters, blankets, scarves and all of it is crocheted!!!  I think that is why I love this shop so much....I can't crochet a stitch!  Well, I take it back...I can crochet a single chain!  LOL!  Seriously, just from the pictures you can tell her work is high quality and anyone would love to own her pieces!  Remember Christmas is coming and if you are like me, you'll start your Christmas shopping early!!!

See her shop below!

http://www.etsy.com/shop/ProdigyCrafts?ref=seller_info

New die cuts

I am getting better at the die cuts!  I am starting to do hand embellishments and use ink and paint to decorate them.  They are turning out pretty cute!  Come and see!

http://www.etsy.com/listing/77728598/pretty-purple-storybook-sayings-set-of-2

http://www.etsy.com/listing/77742177/hibiscus-die-cuts-seet-of-4-148

http://www.etsy.com/listing/77744450/cute-purple-butterfly-die-cuts-set-of-4

As always, let me know what you think!  I'd love to hear your feedback!!!

I Love Etsy!

Etsy is being addicting to me.  I love it.  There are so many wonderful shops and items on there!  I'm getting to know some of the sellers and just have to show you some of their beautiful work!

http://www.etsy.com/listing/77620146/the-crocheted-stuffed-slithery-snake

http://www.etsy.com/listing/77619271/purple-pansy-hair-clip

http://www.etsy.com/listing/77748526/fall-fun-wreath-red-yellow-and-orange

http://www.etsy.com/listing/77486405/purple-and-turquoise-crocheted-turtle

So many things to look at!  Come check them all out!

Thank you!

I want to say thank you to everyone who has become a follower on my page.  Blogging is new to me and I was worried that I would have a blog but that it would become a diary and something no one else would read.  : D  It's nice to see someone is reading!  So, to my friends, use coupon code THANKYOU at Etsy to receive 20% off anything in my shop.  I truly appreciate your support!

Yaaaahoooooooo!

WE WON!  WE WON!  WE WON!  Our Promotional Frenzy Team won the Top Handmade Contest!!!!  This is the greatest team on Etsy!!!  Free advertising for our team and it's all thanks to our team and everyone who "liked" us on Facebook and voted for our items!  Thank you so much for your support!!!  You can read more about our contest at the link below.  Come see how hard we all worked to get this win!

http://www.handmadeology.com/the-handmade-top-10-etsy-team-challenge-results/?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=twitter&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+handmadeology%2Ffeed+%28Handmadeology+Today%29

Contest finished

Our Handmade Top 10 contest is finished.  Thank you to all who voted and "liked" us on Facebook!  Your support is greatly appreciated!  We are still awaiting the winner...anxiously of course!  I will announce it as soon as we know.  Keep your fingers crossed for us!  Free advertising would be a wonderful thing!

Balance

I am having a hard time balancing home life and work life when I'm doing both in my home.  Before when I had an outside the home job, I couldn't wait to leave and go home.  Now, when working is fun and in my home, all I want to do is work!  Especially when my work is nothing but fun!  Fun for me but not fun for the hubby!  I am making the man crazy because I am always working on some new product for my shop.  He doesn't understand how much I enjoy the work or how it is relaxing to me.  I keep telling him that it's easy to do when the t.v. set is on and he is watching shoot em' up or hang em' high movies!  His relaxation time is watching tv and mine is making things.  It just doesn't seem right to fritter my minutes, hours, and days away watching t.v. when I can use what I was blessed with...creativity!

I am not a highly religious person but I do believe that we are put on earth for a purpose.  I hear people speak of their callings and wonder how anyone truly knows what they are supposed to do with their lives.  All I can do is take what I am good at and what I was blessed with to add to the world and not take from it.  Some people can sing, some build rockets, and me....I am supposed to draw, paint, sew...etc.  For whatever reason, I see ordinary things and want to make things with them.  I see a color and think it would look nice in a painting.  I just can't get pretty things out of my head. 

My point, I guess, is that I am finally doing what I am supposed to do with my talent and yet it is interfering with married life.  How do I find a balance?  I love what I am doing and I have never been happier at work.  Why does it have to be such a battle between the two? 

On a more chipper note, I am adding more to my store and discontinuing others.  I knew when I started my shop that it would be slow before it started doing well.  I'm learning what sells well and what does not.  I am having a lot of fun making cards and notecards and they are doing well.  I am in the process of making more scrapbook pages too.  I also am going to be adding supplies or rather destashing my craft room of them.  I've sold almost all of the other ones that I listed before so I figured my shopping habit will become someone else's lucky find!  Come and see what new things I will be listing soon!  I'm always happy to see you here and there!!!

On fire!

Our Promotional Frenzy contest is on fire!  We are way ahead of everyone else but we still need your help to make it a slam dunk!  Click on the link below and vote for us!  Of course we want all 10's!  :)  Thank you for your support!

On the non-business side....it's a pretty laid back Saturday for us.  One kid consumed with video games, one still in bed (uh, yes...still in bed!), and the hubby getting the car recall fixed.  We've got a dacshund snoring and the other warming up under a blanket.  Thank goodness the neighbor finally turned her thump thump music off so we can enjoy a peacful Saturday!

I'm working on some new jewelry today.  I think one of them is called a cha cha braclet.  It reminds me of those candy necklaces we had as kids.  I decided to sell earrings with them as a set.  I think they turned out pretty cute and hopefully someone else will too!  I'll be posting them on Etsy today.  Come and see!

Still working on my pastel drawing.  I saw a picture of Tulips from Skagit Valley in Washington and had to draw it as soon as I saw it.  Pastels can be so messy so my table has to be cleared when I work on it.  And since it's been so messy, I havn't touched it in a while.

I'm slowly getting the hang of the blog and I hope to be writing about more interesting stuff than this soon!  I learned how to add gadgets and know a little bit a small amount nothing about HTML. 

Off to work on Etsy.  Sales are slow but I still am working hard at it to make it successful!  Come see my new jewelry and cards!  I'd love to see you there!

We need your help!!!

The Promotional Frenzy Team has entered into the Top 10  teams contest. Friends and Family Please help me out! All you have to do is click the link where it says Handmade Top 10 in bold, and then click the "Promote This List" on the left..be sure to vote for all team items and then click the LIKE button for FB. I want my team to win!!! I so appreciate your help. Vote, Vote, Vote!!!

Day one and no clue!

This is day one of my blog and I have no clue what I am doing.  That is probably not the way I want to start a blog that I want people to read but none the less it is the truth.  I am going to stay positive and consider this a learning vacation.  I am on a journey to learn what blogging is all about!  I am going to learn what blogging is all about and I hope that you stick by me while this semi-computer literate Mom learns and experiments!

In the meantime, please check out my new Etsy Team link to the right.  This team is full of wonderful Etsy members who work really hard at what they do and I am very excited to be a part of the team.  When you get to the page, click on the members link to the left and browse around some of their shops.  I am continuosly amazed by what they make all the time!  They are great people with an extraordinary amount of talent!