Beautiful Baby Booties

Beautiful Baby Booties

You may make this to sell, but NOT online - craft fairs and flea markets are fine. Please email me to let me know that you intend to use this pattern - it's strictly for vanity :) DO NOT, under any circumstances, sell this pattern.

Please donate a few of these to local charities and put a smile on a parents face.

Baby, It's Cold Outside

Weather.com says it's 31° out, but feels like 23°. Personally, I don't care - it's freakin' COLD outside. I live in the wonderful South; Georgia to be exact. The land of magnolias, sweet tea, and brutal humidity in the summer. I've checked - there's no humidity out there right now. There may be ice on my nose from checking - bleh!

I love living in the South and could not picture myself living anywhere else, ever. I even live in a quaint farm house from the 1860's. Being surrounded by history on all this acreage and in this house also means other things: large ceilings meant to provide respite from the never ending southern humidity means it's freezing in my craft room right now. Hell, it's freezing everywhere in this house right now. I myself have on:

• a Rome Braves hat (from a much warmer time last summer!)
• a scarf I crocheted for my mother (yes, I stole it back!)
• a shirt from my other half
• a warm Old Navy fleece
• my jeans
• TWO pairs of socks (one pair stolen from my amazing other half, again :D)

My feet are never warm. I do mean that quite literally - the other half has threatened major harm if I ever stick my Popsicle feet on his warm legs again. I went and filled up a 2 liter bottle with hot water and I'm warming my feet on that right now. I actually keep a heating pad in the bed so I can warm my feet up at night.

So, as I'm huddled up in front of my computer right now, typing away, my fingers are still cold - but they're not as frozen as they were. If your core is warm, then blood flow can flow to your outer extremities (wow, that college degree is paying off!!!!!). I'm working on an Etsy order that came through the store this morning! Yah! Love getting orders - feeds my yarn habit :D

Talk to ya'll later!

Goals

It is a new year and with the new year comes all those pesky resolutions. This year I decided I wasn't making a resolution to 'get in shape' or 'lose weight'. I'm more of a realist these days anyway :D Anyway, the goals of 2010...

1. Find a physical activity that I actually enjoy! The current idea is bike riding as it's something the other half and all three of our children can do (ages 6, 8, and 11). The only downfall is that it's about 19° outside during the daytime and there's no way I'm venturing from these walls until spring rears her head outside!
   
2. Grow my business. Right now I'm pretty much a custom order gal. I wait until someone meanders along and purchases an order, tells me what colors they want, and 3-5 days later I ship it out, all nice and pretty. As a result, I don't see much in sales. I'd like to be able to grow my Etsy business as well as sell at craft fairs this year. I think it's totally doable.
3. Stay in touch with friends. I went through a totally rough spot these last couple of months and pretty much became a recluse - I think some of my friends thought I may have died! No more of that - God gave me very, very wonderful friends and I plan on letting them know how much I love them as often as I can!
4. Be a better mother. Yeah, I know... but I want to :D

I tried to stick with realistic goals for myself - things that I wanted to improve, but nothing totally crazy like going to the gym - I hate those places!

Anybody else have resolutions?

Beautiful Baby Bonnet

Beautiful Baby Bonnet

You may make this to sell, but NOT online - craft fairs and flea markets are fine. Please email me to let me know that you intend to use this pattern - it's strictly for vanity :) DO NOT, under any circumstances, sell this pattern.

Please donate a few of these to local charities and put a smile on a parents face.

It's Not All About Me - Donating is Wonderful!

One of the most rewarding things that anyone who crafts can do is to donate their time and work to those around them in need.

• First off, the talent that we have (and is is indeed a talent!) was GIVEN to us - we do not own it and it can be easily taken away.
• Second, no matter what is going on in our life, there ARE those that have it worse. If you don't believe me, take a hat to a homeless shelter or a baby set to a hospital.
• And third, if our lives are so busy that we can't take out an hour or two a week to help those around us, we are in sore need of prioritizing our lives.

I currently donate my efforts to Newborns in Need. We meet once a month in Sugar Hill (a 60 mile drive for me from Cartersville) and I swear I'm talking so much I never get anything done!! My efforts are joined by my mom and my two aunts. My mom and I usually take the donated items every 2-3 months. Our group donates to Scottish Rite, Egleston, Grady Memorial, and many other places in the metro Atlanta area. I love looking around at our group of ladies, men, and children (we take EVERYONE to help out!!!) and marvel at the love and compassion found within - it is breathtaking to see the items that are made and that go out every month.

I have a couple of patterns that I would like to share with you. Please don't sell these - donate them instead. Light the heart of a parent whose child is sick and let them know that you care about them.

Etsy in the New York Times

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/12/17/fashion/17etsy.html

Etsy made it on the news, ya’ll!! It’s amazing to me the number of people who have signed up for accounts – I am one of those many, many people

I signed up for Etsy (www.brandimcline.etsy.com) for a few reasons:

• To get rid of the yarn stash that I had in my house (don’t we all say that??)
• To make some extra money so I could buy more yarn (but… didn’t you just say… yeah… lol!)
• To feel good about myself and my favorite hobby

There is nothing better than having someone pay YOU for the things that you created straight from YOUR imagination and MADE with your own hands! It is the most rewarding feeling on earth (next to raising babies).

I don’t ever forsee myself making triple digits. As a matter of fact, I don’t WANT to make triple digits. I’m happy with my store being a side line. I don’t ever want to lose the thrill of seeing an order come into my store and forgetting how much I love crocheting.