A Shop Update

I'm nearing the end of my 6 month experiment with my Etsy shop and I'm just as excited about it as I was back then! I want to continue with my experiment and expand my product line to include scarves for the winter. In the spring, I'm hoping to launch a new fun project that I'm currently working on - to be shared soon!

This Thanksgiving, I had a chance to break away from routine and think more deeply about my business and its future. It was exciting to consider new possibilities and options. I read Handmade To Sell which gave me lots to think about and even my mom got excited about the idea of helping me out if orders ever get too much. She's teaching herself how to crochet and knit, just in case. :)

I decided two big things during that week:

1. I'm going to change my shop's name. 

The Scrapperie is a cute name and I love it, especially the "-erie" at the end. But, it's a little confusing. It sounds too much like a scrapbooking place and after doing some Googling, realized that it is actually a scrapbooking business. So, I'm looking into new options. I'll keep you posted.

2. Increased prices. 
In order to keep my business sustainable, it had to happen. After reading Handmade To Sell, I realized that my prices were currently making me lose money. If I want this to grow, that just can't happen. I was so nervous doing it, but I felt good about it afterwards. It made me feel more like a business woman and more serious about my work.

I have fun and exciting projects on the horizon for January too. Next month, I've got three goals:

1. Ask my husband to help me take better photos of scarves, then list them! (The one above is the only good one from my selfie photo shoot.)
2. Finish making final scarf design, then list.
3. Continue experimenting with a new project.

I'm making progress and blogging about it is helping me see that more clearly. It's not as exciting or glamorous as I thought, but I love it.

Five Gratefuls

"When I give thanks for the seemingly microscopic, I make a place for God to grow within me." - Ann Voskamp, One Thousand Gifts 

It's a season of being thankful so it makes sense to start photographically commemorating my gratitude. 

And yet, I want to make sure that I'm not only grateful during November. I'm so much happier this time of a year and I think it's because I consciously slow down and enjoy the season, soak in time with family and don't mind if people judge me for jamming to Christmas music. Sure, there are cozy sweaters and hot chocolate involved too but I don't need those to be grateful year-round. 

And so for this week, here is what I'm thankful for each day, even the small things because that's where life and beauty are found, right? 

God, may I be a more grateful person always. Not just this time of year. 

monday // hair

tuesday // my messy but comfortable bed

wednesday // sun after rainy days

thursday // a refreshing face wash on a sunny morning 

friday // this man {my husband} 

Celebrate Children 5k Update #2

It's a rainy fall day, dark and overcast. And I've been itching to blog for a long time. I've had so many projects, Etsy orders and work assignments that I haven't had a break in quite some time. But today, today is a day to write!

So much has happened since my last 5k update and our first meeting. Our committee has grown from five women to eight. We've surpassed our goal of $1,500 donated in corporate sponsorship money. We have a Compassion graduate who once suffered from a lack of clean water coming to the race. Exciting things are coming down the pike. And some amazing stories have come out of our two months of planning that I hope to tell later.

And, yet. 

Yet, the dark night of the soul keeps pushing in. That point in which the dream is no longer as exciting. When I start to wonder if I've got the energy to see this thing through, even though we're not even half-way there. I look at the work and the challenges to overcome and I can't help but be weighed down. Not knowing if we'll keep getting rejections from businesses or if runners will even show up on race day. Not knowing what to expect as we market or register or network.

But, God. 

Last night, I was on a webinar panel for Compassion discussing the process of starting the 5k race. At the end, the organizer asked all of us panelists what we wish someone had said to us at the beginning of our projects. I was speaking more to myself than to the audience when I talked about how Satan wants nothing more than for these children to suffer horrible diseases - to even die. Of course, obstacles will be flung my way. It shouldn't surprise me that I feel like this is an endless cycle of tasks. What we are doing is worth something. And if I have to suffer in a pile of rejection emails and unstuffed goodie bags for children to be safe, then so be it. So be it.

My job is to be faithful to God, through the dark night of the soul and the bright sunshine of success. Wouldn't that scare our enemy the most? To see someone discouraged and frustrated to just keep going? To keep marching forward, not understanding why such struggle is before them and trust God to find a way? Perhaps that's real courage.

I don't know, friends. I'm still learning. But all I know is that I'm just going to keep on marching, keep on planning, keep on hitting obstacles and praying for a way around them, trusting that God is bigger.