We're Back, and Boy Do We Have News!

Ok, it has been quite a while since my last post. I'm very sorry, but the last 6 weeks of the farmers' market was incredibly busy. It is now over (and thank you to all who came out, it was so nice to meet you all) and I should have more time to blog and do general things, like dust my house (it was getting scary). I was also busy because....drum roll...

...we bought some land! These are some photos of it. It is about 20 minutes closer to the city, though still way out in the country. We bought 20 acres! I am still in happy shock. I can't believe we have 20 whole acres! Now, there is a bit of scattered forest on it, with mostly cedars, but there is a good 4+ acre clearing in the front where we'll build the house (and maybe a barn one day!) and, because it faces south, I'll be able to have MONSTER vegetable gardens!

Of course, since we just took all of the equity out of our current house, this land will have to stand vacant for 3-4 years, but STILL! We're on the way to having our little dream house (and I'm on my way to having my teensy-tiny farm!).

Ok, deep breath. Must calm down. I'm starting to crochet again, and once I've cleaned my office from all of the farmers' market crap things, I'll be able to get back to making jewelry again. I have all sorts of new tools and I have some new supplies on the way to make some AMAZING things. I can't wait to show you, so after I take this weekend off (and be able to sleep in past 5 after going to bed earlier than 2 AM), I'll get to re-cleaning my office and not only show you the results there, but also the jewelry that I'll make there.

Hope you all have a great weekend, I can't wait to stay in touch with you more now, I've missed you all more than you can know :)

November's Charity of the Month: National Wildlife Federation

Thank you to all of my new clients, and my return clients for your purchases. Over the last two months, you were able to help raise $15 for Epic Farms, the previous Charity of the Month.

For November, I have chosen the National Wildlife Federation to be the Charity of the Month. I am hoping to raise $20 to symbolically adopt a jaguar, a perilously endangered large wild cat. In a recent National Geographic Magazine, it is reported that there are now more captive large cats (especially Asian large cats) than wild ones. This is making their survival nearly impossible, and experts are now saying that our big cats will probably go extinct within our lifetimes if something drastic is not done. How horrifying!

10% of the total sales of all the items in my stores (before taxes and shipping) will go towards symbolically adopting a Jaguar through the National Wildlife Federation. Thank you in advance for your help!

If you want to donate directly, or find out more about the National Wildlife Federation, please visit their website here: http://www.shopnwf.org/home.jsp

Thank you for your caring and compassion, you are helping to make a difference in the lives of people and animals everywhere!

Have a great day,

Thoughtful Thursday - Helping Others Makes Me Feel Good!

~Gift Wrapped and Ready to Go!~

I got an email yesterday from a woman overseas who wanted to purchase some of my jewellery for her mother who lives near me; her mother's birthday is next week and she wanted to get something local and handmade and my shop fit the bill (especially as I donate money from my sales to charities, and they both appreciate that). During this email conversation I found out that, unfortunately like myself, her mother has fibromyalgia and daughter unfortunately has Chronic Fatigue Syndrome, another debilitating and difficult disease. I offered to give her a free gift card and write "Happy Birthday Mom" in calligraphy so that it would look more like a gift and she wouldn't have to worry about a separate card arriving after the gift if she had to mail it from overseas. I then sent her a photo of what the package would look like (above) to make sure she would like it. It turns out that she was thrilled! She informed me that she had told her mom not to expect anything too nice for her birthday as she hadn't been able to purchase or mail anything due to her being so ill with her CFS. Now she knew her mom would be getting a nice package for her birthday!
I can't tell you how much it made my day to make her happy. I always wrap my items like the ones above, and it only took a few minutes to make an extra card to go with it, but she was so appreciative that it made me think of how little things done for others can not only make them happy, but the person who does the nice deed also.
Is there anything nice that you could do for someone today? Hold the door for someone whose arms are full of groceries? Pick up a book that someone has dropped? Tell someone (honestly, of course) that their hair/outfit/shoes look nice to cheer them up?
It's amazing how good a little act of kindness will make you feel...and you never know, they may repeat the favor to someone else, who may repeat that favor to another person, and before you know it, we are all nice, happy people! A little idealist, perhaps, but I don't think it is totally out of reach :)
Meghann