Etsy

I've been checking out several different friend's blogs and a lot of them have Etsy Shops.

Now I'm not trying to be like everyone else here but I LOVE to do crafts!!

Beading, Knitting, Crocheting, Scrapbooking......OH MY!!! 

You name it and I HAVE to at least try it!

I love to just sit and crochet or knit something. In fact I have to date made more things than I can honestly count, including the afghan that is currently on Dowe's and my bed. It is so relaxing and makes me feel closer to the two loved ones who taught these crafts to me who are no longer here. Like their legacy's will still live on through my hands. 

My Great Grandmother taught me how to crochet. 

My Great Grandma is the lovely lady standing on the right hand side of this picture. 

(also have to point out my mom is the cute little kid at the end of the table on the left.)

Over the years of family vacations visiting my Great Grandparents down south, I grew to love sitting and watching my great grandma crocheting for hours on end. The fluid motions she would make with her hands, the way that the project she was working on had to be perfect in order to give it to whomever she was making it for, and seeing her "rip out" hours and hours worth of work because of realizing a mistake she made earlier and hadn't caught sooner. I never asked her to teach me over the years, just was happy to sit and watch. Then the very last trip we made before she passed away she handed me the project she was in the middle of working on and with great love and patience taught me the thing I had loved watching her do for so long. I don't remember ever asking her or her ever asking me if I wanted to learn, I just remember her handing me this beautiful thing she was in the process of making. From that moment on I was  "Hooked". I went out that night to Walmart with my parents and bought a small kit that was a "Learn to Crochet" book and a few crocheting hooks, as well as a couple of my favorite yarns in the same weight that she was using and the same size hook. It was a treasure...this gift she gave me.  Now if you knew this wonderful woman you would also know that she HATED her picture being taken. She would yell at my mom (who is a photographer at heart) every time she saw the camera was out. Now my mom is a very clever woman and was able to sneak a few special photos of my Great Grandma (her grandma) over the years. This time however was different. My Great Uncle J.P. was there (her son) and he asked her if my mom could have her permission to take a photo of us together. He told her how special that would be to me in years to come and though she wasn't thrilled about it, she agreed. I will forever be thankful for J.P. being there that day. This was the last picture that was ever taken of my great grandma.

There are times when I'm working on a project and I look down I see Her hands instead of mine.
The first time I had this happen I found it creepy and then wonderful. It now makes me smile thinking that maybe in some little way I'm a little like her. 

I learned how to knit because of KayLyn, a girl I use to babysit. She was learning how to knit from someone else and accidentally unraveled her whole project. Not knowing how to start it on her own and knowing she wasn't going to be seeing the woman who was teaching her for a while, I decided I would try to figure out how to "Cast on" for her. I started looking for directions on the internet and asked a friend to show me how to get started and it just went from there. I don't think that KayLyn ever got real far with knitting but because of her I learned how to knit and I made scarves for her and her younger brother and older sister for Christmas that year. :) 

Just look at that beautiful smile! Oh how I miss it.

KayLyn unexpectedly passed away just shy of her 11th birthday. 

She lit up the whole world with her presence. No matter how rotten of a day you were having she would make it better. KayLyn loved God with her whole heart and showed love to everyone around her better than anyone else I have ever known. KayLyn even knew that Dowe and I would get married even before we started dating. *smiles remembering that day* We had all gone to this park together with a big group of people. Dowe and I were still in high school and were just best friends at the time and weren't even talking about dating yet. (this was all back in 2005) KayLyn attached herself to us that day as we walked the park. She would come over to me and whisper in my ear that he liked me and how cute she thought he was. (She was quite the girl let me tell you! with FANTASTIC taste in men ;) haha) When Dowe and I started dating in 2007 the only thing she said to me when I told her was "I Knew it! I told you he liked you!"  She then told me a little while later that she knew we were going to get married. When Dowe proposed to me on March 15th 2008 I could not WAIT to tell her. I waited to tell KayLyn in person that Dowe and I were going to get married. She threw her arms around me and hugged me so tightly. Oh to feel that tight sweet embrace again...(some day...in heaven I will.)  KayLyn sadly was not at our wedding in person as she passed away less than a  year before our wedding. Her mother and I shared a very emotional moment together at my wedding missing our beautiful KayLyn. Yes, everyone was very happy and excited for us for our wedding...but no one was quite as happy about it as KayLyn.  She also told Dowe and I that we would have beautiful babies together. She was right about that too. Our son was born 1 year and 9 months after KayLyn passed away and has an identical dimple to the one she had. He brings such joy to our lives like she did.

I loved to do crafts and have always enjoyed doing things with my hands anyways but having this little piece of these two loved ones with me when I knit or crochet makes it that much more special and enjoyable.
The biggest problem I have with doing crafts of any sort though is trying to figure out what to do with the things I make when they are done.... This is where my Etsy Shop will come in to place. With being on this new schedule and having so much more free time to be able to sit down and enjoy these crafts I am going to begin to sell them on Etsy. It will be a little while before my shop is up and running as I want to get a little bit of a stock pile of items to upload all at once to have a "grand opening".
The best part...I have Dowe's FULL support on this! He is also loving this idea. I brought it up rather cautiously a few nights ago telling him about Etsy and what I would like to do and he loved the idea!
I'm not looking to make a fortune on my Etsy shop but I would however love to make enough to be able to buy a sewing machine. I am not planning on having just one type of item on my shop either. I would love to have a wide variety of things. (Like I have said several times...I LOVE doing all sorts of crafts!) I am hoping to eventually also be able to take special orders and customize/personalize others. This will probably be down the road a little ways but I am so very excited! I hope you are too. :)