E has been working the US Open! He is working swing shifts for 7 days straight delivering food. He gets to hang out with a trooper from Hawaii all day. He told me that yesterday he ate some Spam sandwiches that this guy brought in. He told me all about it as he made me a great big breakfast of Spam and eggs breakfast burritos! Yumm!!
Harper and Katniss are both doing well. We celebrated Harpers first birthday last month, and Katniss seems to be a lot less stressed lately, YAY!
I am officially on the countdown to my family's arrival! Only 11 days! I am so excited just to spend time with them, all the exciting things they have planned will be icing on the cake.
Now onto the bigger news. As many of you know, I love doing putzy crafty things. I like sewing, scrapbooking, making cards, making jewelry...just making useful things. Since I haven't had a job in a while, and I just want to do something relaxing I began thinking about making and selling my own jewelry. So this is the official scoop.
A little more than a year ago I was at a trade show in Salt Lake City, Utah. While there I came across a necklace that I loved. I picked it up and said, I could totally make something like this. I bought one just so I could remember the materials.
Click here to see a necklace similar to the one I bought. They actually don't even sell the necklace that I bought as inspiration. I really liked how light weight it is and how simple it is, although there were a few things about it I would change as well.
I had been toying on and off with making my own for a long time. I actually couldn't figure out what material was used for the cord for the longest time! It was so hard to track down without knowing the proper name for it. Well, in the last month I was noodling around and I stumbled across a place that sold it! Then I found a place that sold the style beads that I wanted.
Before purchasing anything I thought long and hard about whether this was something I wanted to do. I thought about the kind of job I wanted before I even began college, the kind I wanted while I was in college, and the kind I wanted now. I thought about how whatever I did, I wanted it to have a purpose, and I wanted do it for Jesus. With that in mind, I started brainstorming ideas. How do I attach a positive message to my product? Then it hit me, what about Proverbs 31:10-31? This passage lists out all of the characteristics of a virtuous wife. So I had my name "p.thirty-one" But then how do I connect this to my jewelry? I thought, Proverbs 31:10 says "Who can find a virtuous woman? for her price is far above rubies", what if I add a small red bead by the clasp of each piece? That way, it is a subtle reminder to uphold these characteristics daily. I shared this idea with a couple of friends, including my husband and got a lot of positive feedback. I was encouraged.
I began brainstorming ways to incorporate the bible verse into packaging and branding. I began coming up with designs and pricing for my jewelry...and I started to get overwhelmed. One evening I was making several pieces of jewelry and I texted pictures to a few people including my roommate from college. She offered to help me with the marketing of my jewelry! I was so excited! This was all of the stuff that left me feeling discouraged, and here was the perfect person to take on the job! Not only will this help me, but in the long run, if this goes over well, hopefully it can be something she can put in her portfolio so she can get the marketing job of her dreams!
Now we send ideas back and forth. I'll tell you, even if this turns out to be just a creative outlet for me, and a small side income for fun money or paying off student loans, the last couple of weeks have been so good for me. It has been nice to have a goal to work towards. To have a clear idea of what I want and to be able to take real steps to get there. It also has been amazing beyond words to work WITH someone. It feels like it's been forever since I've had this kind of "work" experience, collaborating with someone and working on the same project. Even if this goes nowhere, I really cherish this opportunity to work with my former roommate on this project. We had to laugh a little at the idea because I had dreams of making cupcakes while in college and she always told me she would do my marketing!
Anyway, that's where I'm at right now. Feeling encouraged, still looking for jobs. I actually made my first listings on Etsy! I'll have to practice my photography, and get a few other things worked out. My shop isn't anything pretty right now, I just listed a few things in hopes to generate a little bit of money to purchase more supplies!
Click here to go to my shop! If you're feeling generous, take a second to "like" my shop and "favorite" your favorite piece! I would love some feedback.
That's all for now!
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