Changing Lives: Charlie and Maria

I’m excited to bring you some updates from Chicago’s Emergency Fund, the organization I’ll be donating 10% of my Etsy profits to this year. I’ll be posting some of the stories they send to those on their email list so you can have an idea of what impact they make in the Chicago area. Below is the first story!

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If you met Charlie, you would see a regular eight-year-old boy. You would never guess that he was born three months early, that he weighed only one pound at birth, or that, as a result, he has permanent breathing problems.

This winter Charlie's mother, Maria, noticed that he was having more trouble breathing than usual, and that his symptoms were at their worst when she turned on the dirty gas furnace. Maria knew that using electric heaters to warm her home would be costly, but with her son's health on the line, she didn't have a choice.

Maria did what any mother would do, but that didn't help her pay the electric bill. With no one else to turn to, Maria came to the Emergency Fund for help. We helped Maria pay her electric bill, and a Fund Manager at Renaissance Social Services provided her with information on furnace cleaning.

Today Maria doesn't have to worry about keeping the lights on, and, now that the furnace has been cleaned, Charlie can breathe easy.

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Next week I’ll be going on a site visit with Emergency Fund staff, and will then blog about the visit. Can’t wait!

Please, make a donation to the Emergency Fund today. Together we will make the small change that changes lives.

Donate today and your new or increased gift will be matched* by an anonymous donor!

*Double your impact! An anonymous donor is matching all new or increased gifts. That means that 100% of first-time gifts and gifts from donors who have not given since 2008 will be matched. For those who gave in 2009 or 2010, any amount above the highest annual gift amount in 2009 and 2010 will be matched.

Dance Party Friday: ROCK OUT

Today's Dance Party is a rock 'n' roll extravaganza . . . these songs are one of my favorite genres of rock - at least the genre exists in my mind: hot rock . . . sex rock . . . sweaty, dive bar, driving fast in your car rock. Yeah, man. I think it's no coincidence that a lot of these rockers are in each other's bands.















Do you have songs that fit in this genre? What are they?

Slowing Down This Handmade Train

So I set these goals for my Etsy shop this year. Update my brand (actually, MAKE a brand) and come up with new products. I’ve been pretty stressed out lately as I’m behind on most of the big and small goals I set for myself and my shop. Looking at my life right now, nothing else is slowing down, I still don’t have time to make these goals a reality, and I’m a little overwhelmed.

As such, I’ve decided to remember that some progress toward a goal is worth something.

Here’s my Some Progress List:

· I have come up with ideas and started work with a graphic designer for my brand.

· I have renamed my blog.

· I have found some great mentors and listened to their advice.

· I have made some decisions about what I will and will not do to market myself.

· I have come up with some ideas for new products.

· I have tested the products. Some have been successful, some still need some work.

· I may not get the new products out this year. I may decide not to do a big launch on these products. I may keep working on new ideas, working toward something I can be really satisfied with.

I was hoping to do all this by the fall so when my big sales season came around, I could be ready with a whole new shop & game plan. I don’t think that’s gonna happen.

But you know what? I have had 2 successful fall/winter sales seasons. I was successful far beyond what I thought I could be, and that was without all the fancy changes I’ve been trying to make. I hope to have a successful third year.

And if it takes until year four to make some of these larger changes and to meet my current goals, so be it. I am ready to dig back into the rest of my life and stop freaking out about something that is helpful to my family income, but is nowhere near the bedrock. I’ve been in this weird place for months now where Etsy stuff has taken over my thoughtlife when I should be doing other things, but I haven’t had the ACTUAL FREE TIME to devote to making those thoughts a reality. I’m tired of stressing about it, so I’m gonna stop.

This means my sense of urgency is going to die down, which means I will probably not be as heavily involved in all the handmade biz chit chat and planning and all that. Not saying I’m completely going away, but I’m allowing myself a bit of a break.

They/We Wrote It, You Read It

Read what some other folks have to say . . . ok, I’ve said some things too. But mostly it’s other folks.

An Open House – my high school friend and her husband (who happen to be one of the most gorgeous couples I've ever seen, they kind of put me in the mind of Jennifer Connolly & Bradley Cooper from Hes Just Not That Into You - I'm seriously, they're so pretty it's ridiculous) sold all their stuff, bought an Airstream trailer and are traveling the country. This entry on their blog gives you a tour of their trailer, which they customized. Make sure to read through their old entries on the why, how, and latest adventures!

Handmade Philanthropy: How To Series – posts written by myself and others on the Handmade With Purpose Blog. How to . . . Decide If You’re Ready To Give Back . . . Who To Give Back To . . . What To Give . . . Approaching a Charitable Organization . . . Establishing Credibility.

Chicago Style Crafters Blog – Follow along as my local Etsy team writes about the Chicago handmade community with reviews, member bios, tips, questions and events! Here’s my first entry on Social Media – new social media posts will be posted every Thursday. The rest of the week, look for other awesome content!

What I’ve Learned About Marriage – thoughts on what marriage requires and how our parents’ marriages impact and shape us, by my Twitter friend.

Erase the Tape – another Twitter friend writes about those damaging thoughts that stick with us . . . that aren’t true . . . yet we still believe them.

From Inny Mini Biz to Mega Empire – Mayi Carles is my new favorite handmade/small biz guru. Watch this video and read the comments and tell me you’re not a believer. And hey – if you, like me, aren’t interested in a mega empire? Just a fun, successful, educational journey on this handmade biz road? The post is for you, too.

Writing About Writing

Recently, an online friend of mine said something to the effect of, don’t apologize for your lack of blogging. Blog when you can.

That means a lot to me, though the truth is that I feel I’m letting myself down much more than anyone else, when I don’t consistently blog. This is because I have thoughts! Thoughts to share! Lots of thoughts! Full of opinions and questions! I want to tell you my thoughts, and I want to hear what you think about my thoughts.

Over the weekend I spent a great day volunteering with my kids and some friends. Next weekend I’ll be recovering from my employer’s largest event of the year (recovering from all the planning and making sure it goes off without a hitch, that is). So far, plans to find flowers for front yard planting, and visiting our local waterpark/pool are in the works. I imagine many weekends spent this way, though of course I will do some hiding from the heat inside with the air conditioning (what a luxury!!). Anyway, my point? My point is that all these things I want to write about, might not get written. Maybe not anytime soon, maybe not ever. Consider that I think of new things all the time to write about, I don’t see that changing anytime soon . . . my “to write about” list will just grow and grow.

I have no good solution, other than writing when I feel motivated and when I have the time. I guess we’ll see what turns up!

Here are some topics I’d like to write about:

• Emergency Fund! I’d like to get some of their client stories posted. Two good things about this – my volunteering this weekend was at one of their partner agencies, the Lincoln Park Community Shelter, and later this month I’m going on a site visit with EF staff to Inspiration Cafe. These blog posts are going to be top priority for me to get written . . . but I want to do a good job of them, which puts the pressure on. I also want to write about their annual reception which they graciously invited me to, where they kicked off their Small Change Matters campaign.
• I’d like to do a “day in the life” entry.
• I want to continue with the series of posts I started a few months ago about Black History Month.
• I would like to talk about some of the things that are frustrating and difficult about having a handmade business.
• Faith, and where I’m at with mine.
• Career thoughts and questions

So – no apologies, but yeah . . . I hope I can find the time to write about these things.

Multiple Mom Fails In One Entry!!

We’ll see if I actually publish this thing. Actually, we’ll see if I can write for 5 minutes without being interrupted. I’m taking the challenge from Veronica at the Crunchy VT Mommy blog, to do Stream of Consciousness Sunday, which is hosted at all.things.fadra.Let’s see. I’m sitting in one of those foldup canvas chairs, on my front lawn, with the laptop on my lap, stealing someone’s wireless. My 3 year old just ran up to me to grab his shoes, we’ve been having quite a time outside today. First he was having fun with the neighbor boys as they chased each other, trying to throw water from a baby pool on one another. Then he got wet, and it was cold, and the game wasn’t fun anymore. I had to keep him from punching the kid who got him wet, so Fail #1 as a mom, I guess. My husband and I have this awesome parenting technique where I say, “violence is not the answer” and my husband says, “you have to show people you’re not a punk.”

Finally, all the kids tired of the water, mine got new dry clothes to wear, and now he’s running around with no shoes on. Which I’m cool with. My husband isn’t, though. I’m like, it’s just grass! I really don’t care if my kids get dirty and I’m not worried about them catching parasites. Mainly, I want them to not cut their feet . . . but that’s what eyes are for, AMIRITE?

Now he (the 3 year old) is mad because I won’t let him go inside someone’s garage to play. Sorry! Not really. While I don’t care about rusty, pointed objects piercing my kid’s feet, there is no way I’m letting him inside your home without me being there. Call me overprotective if you want. You can get the big WHATEVs.

Ok! 5 minutes are up.

OH, life

So life is ratcheted up to about the top level of crazy right now, and I don’t have time to give you anything of real substance. I’ll point you to some others who can. I work at a grad school and next Friday is our commencement (graduation) ceremony. I’m on the commencement committee, we’ve been working on this for months but as the date gets closer, the work level increases. So a week away from the ceremony means I’m running around like a chicken with my head cut off. Next Friday, it’ll all be over. Next Friday, I’ll be consuming a few frosty beverages with co-workers. Next Friday, I will once again say, “I’m not going to work on that committee again next year!”

Anyway – I may not get around to Dance Party Friday or any posts after today. Get yourself to Pandora or YouTube or your mp3 player or even your local radio. Dance it all out. Say a prayer for me that I don’t lose it on someone during the next crazy-stressful week.

Blogs You Will Want To Read

every nothing wonderful

Tricia’s roundup of summertime citrus-y cocktails, with some of the most gorgeous photos ever! Can you say, blood orange?

Love Isn’t Enough

Good Whites/Bad Whites: A False Dichotomy Prevents the Anti-Racism Progress of White People – This is a great post that digs a little into the idea that racism isn’t just the overt violence we’re used to seeing on film. I don’t agree fully with the author’s final point – I agree with her but also think there’s still value in the TV show featured.

Chicago Style Crafters

This is my Etsy team blog. Sometime this week, I believe, will be a post from me about social media. The welcome currently on the page is from me & our team’s web captain.

Handmade With Purpose

Earlier this week we posted about why you should get in contact with a charitable org if you plan on donating shop/blog revenue to them, and how to do so. Would love feedback!