It's weird, how time truly flies. At the same time, it seems like I've been doing what I've been doing all my life.
It's been five years since Denise and I opened our
Etsy shop, and we are celebrating with a 15% off all regular priced items sale (coupon code 'anniversary'). I can't believe it's been that long, and it feels like it should have always been there. Props must be given at this point, if it wasn't for our good friend Kerry, we aren't sure we would have considered Etsy at all. She has the store,
Effiehandmade. Thank Kerry. You are a gem.
I think it was 4 years ago I bought my beautiful Viking emerald 115 sewing machine. It is a trooper, poor thing. Also, I love now making all the patterns and product designs. Denise gives me ideas and has her input in my pattern/designs too.
Denise is a writer, but I've loved seeing her use her obvious visual artistry skills and watch her confidence grow. She never makes anything less than fab.
Pleased to say that our store has continuously gotten busier. We will keep adding new products. And keep working harder to make our shop more successful.
Hmmm, I wonder were we will be in 10 years?
-Melina. :D
When we started the shop it was with the sole purpose of making money to help us reach our goals. Melina loves sewing and I love jewellery so it seemed like a worthwhile effort. It has helped more then we ever thought it could have and taught us tons of things that we will use in other areas of our lives. For instance, in the midst of a zombie apocalypse, chainmail armour will be at a premium. And a knitting needle roll doubles nicely as container for a weapons kit.
There are other things we have learned since starting the shop that some would argue are more important. I will say they might be of more immediate concern, but not MORE important than zombies. Nothing is more important than zombies.
I am now conscious of the importance of buying handmade. People complain all the time about box stores taking over, the alternative is the wave of handmade items available at the click of a mouse. Let's face it, there is no avoiding shopping at the corporate giants entirely, but I feel great when I buy a gift from a crafter or artist. Maybe in my small way I am contributing to a shift in the world towards supporting the little guy. Wouldn't that be a great world to live in?
In the meantime, I will continue to to plan my zombie strategy.
I had to go a few days without my laptop because the adapter was fried. A few days - no big deal, right? Hells yeah it was a big deal! I felt downright Amish! OK, I did have modern plumbing, but you get the idea. Now that I have back I am a blogging, Tweeting, Etsy-working fool!
I had my computer back in time for the Witchy New Year of Samhain. People often ask what we do that is different than most people's celebration of Halloween. It is always one of the best nights of the year. This year we worked our goals into a brand new ceremony / spell that we will work until next Samhain to help us with our goals.
Let's start with the beginning of our night. This is consistent from year to year. We always take out photos of loved ones who have passed and arrange them in a nice display. Yes, we include our pets in these photos. They are family. Samhain is a time to remember those that have passed on and tradition is to set a place at the table for them. We don't have a lot of space here, so me make do with one place and consider that all of loved ones get along enough to share. lol! It sounds sad, but it really isn't. It is an amazing thing to feel close to the spirits of those who have gone before us.
This year we did a few other things. The past year has been ... challenging. We wanted to focus on positive change and on what we will have happen in the coming year.
We carved spell candles marking our intentions for the year. Melina made a lovely beeswax candle for the season with appropriate herbs and oils, again, for the coming year's intentions. The truly new thing was our spell jar. We cut out strips of paper and wrote one of our intentions for the coming year on each one. We added appropriate herbs to the jar. This will be used throughout the year in our workings.
It was a wonderful night. Today truly feels fresh and new and wonderful.
~Denise
