Some things money can't buy...

It's been a while! A lot has happened. But first things first... :) I decided to close my Etsy shop. I was very happy that the shop was successful, but not thrilled about how it was overtaking my life. Seriously, I don't know how other Etsy crafters do it. I felt like a slave to my own customers :) It wasn't an easy decision. The Bible is so right about the pitfalls of pride and money (duh!) There's nothing like people giving you fluffy feedback and buying your stuff to boost your ego and seeing your net profits shoot up to feed that little monster called greed. But I also (almost) equally hate the feelings of stress and guilt. I still remember that moment - I was trying to attach a flower to a dress with Charissa sitting at my feet playing with Calvin's dinosaurs and baby Stephen laying quietly awake, looking so darn cute. I literally threw up my hands and said to myself, "This Etsy stuff is so not worth my time. I'm going to go play with my kids and cook us some dinner!" (I hadn't been cooking dinner because I was either too busy sewing or too busy, well, sewing...) I believe that my role as wife and mother comes first before any money-making hobby of mine. And I figured if God has chosen to show me something I can do, He will also show me how to use it for His glory, someday, that won't involve compromising my responsibilities :) So I've canceled close to $500 in orders, but it's been worth it :) Sometimes, it pays to lose money. Here's to my short-lived venture:

Girlfriends We were so blessed to have the Liao's visit us during Thanksgiving. The kids had a blast, and now that they are older, their interactions have also gotten more interesting:

"So glad to see you again my friend!"

"We can dance and play and get along fine..."

"...as long as you don't take my lambie!" Adding to the Family As of last Saturday, I am no longer the only married "child" in my family! Which means, my dreams of becoming an aunt and getting some cousins for C,C, and S are well underway! ;) Seriously, no pressure guys, but you know, it's easier when you're youngerrrrrr... :) I made Charissa's flower girl dress and Melinda's junior bridesmaid dress. I don't actually have pictures from the weekend wedding extravaganza because I've been bad about taking them (but in my defense, I'm completely outnumbered. I don't have enough limbs for diaper bag, car seat with baby inside, free hand to wipe a dirty mouth, another free hand to drag a screaming child to timeout...)

I also took the time to cut Calvin's hair. I love you Calvin (talking to future Calvin who may read this), but you seriously look like a dork when your hair gets long :) And since he would be walking down the aisle with Charissa... Anyway, here are the before and after pictures:

All this for a beautiful and special couple:

A spoonful of sugar helps the medicine go down... Or in Charissa's case, a spoonful of birthday cake! We all caught a funky bug after the wedding (even poor baby Stephen!) The grandparents threw an early birthday party for Charissa. We were all in our PJ's. And if you were to only look at the pictures, you'd think it was Calvin's birthday :)

For everything else...

...there's my Amex :) I just had to do a quickie feature of my first ever Etsy purchase from norajane:

She even included a whole bunch of stamps for C&C! Very generous :) For those who know me well, I have a weakness for "collecting" (a.k.a. "hoarding") certain things (pretty socks, pretty duvets, pretty pillows, pretty fabric, good movies, books, to name more than a few.) I think I may have to add her stamps to that list soon... :)

Tags: Etsy

This entry was posted on Friday, December 11th, 2009 at 10:37 pm and is filed under Life. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.