It’s not too late for St. Patrick’s Day!

Yep, yep, yep…if you are like me and constantly wait until the last minute to get out your cards I have some fantastic news for you…it’s not to late! All card packs in my store are buy 3 get 1 free AND you can mix and match between St. Patrick’s Cards, Easter, and Administrative Assistant appreciation day (April 27, 2011!) Current St. Patrick’s Day cards include the

Kiss me I’m Irish:

Luckiest of lucky friendships:

and yummy Shamrock Pi!


















So come by the Dragon’s Trove by Jenbug122 and see what has been found!

Also, if you have any suggestions for cards or packages you’d like to see made available all comments are read and appreciated. If you just want to see my studio visit Dragon’s Trove by Jenbug122 on artfire: www.jenbug122.artfire.com

The “Real World” Strikes Again

The Christian’s Walk

One of the hardest concepts for a non-Christian to understand, how is it that we truly “Let go and let God”. A recent revelation for myself, I have become the people I used to poke fun at! Yep, I thought people were insane for trusting in God, for trusting in anything they couldn’t see, hear, feel, touch….

But just over the last 2 years, with faithful guidance and careful tending to my own walk I have begun to notice it’s not quite so bad, it’s not quite so crazy, and everyone seems to be better off for it! And recognizing your gifts from God – sometimes we are taught by family and friends that our gifts are not as valuable as we think they are…God teaching us humility. But eventually those gifts will blossom and you find life seems to be finally cooperating. My gifts blossomed when I was laid off…now those gifts are making it all happen – for the best!

Every Christian has their own walk with God. For some it is a daily devotion to prayer which expands and expands until life is almost like a constant prayer. For others it is reading God’s word, memorizing every chance you get until it seems the entire Bible is hidden in your heart. For most this is simply a recognition of God’s work in your life. While you struggle – and things seem to be insane with no hope in sight – you stop, pray, and things seem to calm down! Say thank you to God and watch the wonders unfold. What has been your walk with God? And how do you trust in HIM?!

(Ephesians 4:17-32 NASB)

17 So this I say, and affirm together with the Lord, that you walk no longer just as the Gentiles also walk, in the futility of their mind,
18 being darkened in their understanding, excluded from the life of God because of the (AT)ignorance that is in them, because of the hardness of their heart;

19 and they, having become callous, have given themselves over to sensuality for the practice of every kind of impurity with greediness.

20 But you did not learn Christ in this way,

21 if indeed you have heard Him and have been taught in Him, just as truth is in Jesus,

2 2that, in reference to your former manner of life, you lay aside the old self, which is being corrupted in accordance with the lusts of deceit,

23 and that you be renewed in the spirit of your mind,

24 and put on the new self, which in the likeness of God has been created in righteousness and holiness of the truth.

25 Therefore, laying aside falsehood, SPEAK TRUTH EACH ONE of you WITH HIS NEIGHBOR, for we are members of one another.

26 BE ANGRY, AND yet DO NOT SIN; do not let the sun go down on your anger,

27 and do not give the devil an opportunity.

28 He who steals must steal no longer; but rather he must labor, performing with his own hands what is good, so that he will have something to share with one who has need.

29 Let no unwholesome word proceed from your mouth, but only such a word as is good for edification according to the need of the moment, so that it will give grace to those who hear.

30 Do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God, by whom you were sealed for the day of redemption.

31 Let all bitterness and wrath and anger and clamor and slander be put away from you, along with all malice.

32 Be kind to one another, tender-hearted, forgiving each other, just as God in Christ also has forgiven you.

*whew*

Okay, so Valentine’s is over, St. Patrick’s is coming. Between the two we have a special day – a day when we celebrate my daughter’s birth (as well as 2 other people in our Church!) So after putting all the stuff together for her party I realized I needed another project. So, I came up with a few St. Patrick’s Day cards! If you are like me you have a crazy family that LOVES to send cards at every occasion, this year be able to send cards back…with your own personal flair! Use my designs or create your own – I print and ship at the same price! Postcards are 50-cents each and tent-fold cards are $1 each with envelopes!
(artfire)
(etsy)

And, hey, get a jump start on Easter too!:
(artfire)
(etsy) available starting March 17th!

And don’t forget the gift boxes/bags.
Reusable drawstring bags:
(artfire)
(etsy)

Pillow Boxes (mailable):
(artfire)
(etsy)

And Flat-box fold holders (great for stickers or temporary tattoos!)
(artfire)
(etsy) (at checkout indicate you want the box fold, 20 come with this listing price!)

“If only… If Only…” the Woodpecker Sighed

Bonus points to anyone who knows the movie/book that is from

So, I’m stuck in limbo again. still technically unemployed with a fantastic store idea that just won’t take off. Between lack of startup capital and the games Etsy is playing I’m totally hosed. Add in that Uniimi is not only up but I’m finding so many bugs the webmasters are pretty much ignoring me when I do send information – instead wasting time answer the same 2-3 questions. So I try to help out by posting FAQ to the facebook page and get ripped a new one…guess I can’t win. I know, I know, the common denominator is me, and only me, so I have no one else to blame. That is fine, God didn’t make me perfect and my exterior is a simple expression of what’s on the interior – nothing perfect! *sigh*

So why “if only if only…” because, if only we started webmastering Uniimi sooner, if only Etsy hadn’t taken down alchemy, if only Zibbet hooked itself to google so people can actually find it, if only artfire doesn’t require “pay-per-bid” scams, if only I had listened to my gut in the first place and not taken those jobs that turned out to be scams…if only, if only!

I guess on the plus side I’m at least starting to work for myself, I just wish it didn’t have to be under these circumstances. If only, If only…Dragon’s Trove could have taken off as the gaming store it was meant to be…I miss that old idea. Sometimes I find myself looking back at that old business plan and laughing to myself about how precocious I was…and to think that Professor Bennett actually thought it had real potential! Well, maybe the plan did, after all he didn’t say “You, Jennifer, have real potential.”

…if only, if only!

Caeleigh Turns 11!

So later this month my daughter turns 11 – and what does the little smart alec pic – LOL cats!  oi – it’s going to be interesting.

Don’t get me wrong, I’m not one of those people that has to have a ton of stuff for parties – a cool cake and a few key decorations – but mostly favors and fun stuff!

So, knowing this was coming up I’ve grabbed a few fun fellow etsians and with their help this is going to be a fun and EASY party!

For starters I needed a cake.  I had 5 fabulous pictures from Icanhascheeseburger that I just had to use – unfortunately the complexity of the designs are just too time consuming – sorry my darling daughter but I don’t have hours to spend on a cake that will be devoured in 10 minutes or less!  But I found PinchMeImDreaming who makes fantastic and BEAUTIFUL edible images on rice paper! Too bad these didn’t arrive in time!

For the top of the cake I wanted to duplicate an image – in 3D.  So, I will pipe the top words but Somebodyllbuyit makes these adorable cat sculptures she made into fairies to match our kitties!

For gifts I know my daughter loves pendants and I found 2 awesome sellers, one is making a portrait face sculpture of our kitty Nyra – Monkeytails does custom work and is also a fellow Coloradoan!  Also I love to barter and when TheBarterArtist needed a digital design done she was willing to trade for a beautiful scrabble tile butterfly in her shop!  I was thrilled but, again, neither of these arrived in time!

The final task – party favors.  Oh boy!  Considering she’s a teenager (almost) I’m sure most typical “dollar store” party favors aren’t really appreciated…and most end up broken and in the trash anyway, right?  Well, AprilDraven has some fantastic crochet designs and I had to get Stars the Black Kitty to make favors.  Add to that my own iron-on transfers of special LOL cat images and a adorable quote based on 2 Corinthians 6:14 for shirts they can decorate further at the party.  Add a fun, reusable, fabric bag and all is well with the world!

Yes, the party is going to be fun, exciting, and fantastic for her 11th birthday…topped off with a trip to the Aquarium!

Dragon's Trove

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Alchemy down – Uniimi up!

Yes, that’s right, Etsy has officially removed the alchemy feature from adding new subjects – plus we cannot bid on subjects that are there.  So, now, I’m thinking that maybe leaving Etsy is a really REALLY good idea! I guess I’ll keep etsy for now – after all I’ve already paid their fees and listed so many items!  But, let’s be real, why pay for something just to be listed when it may or may not sell?  So, I’ve also moved on to Zibbet as a temporary reprieve until Uniimi is up and running fully!!  At least I can still put things up for sale – it just totally sucks that etsy had to pull this little stunt

So, seriously friends, don’t hesitate to stop by and see what’s going on in my store!

http://www.zibbet.com/Jenbug122/shop

http://www.zibbet.com/Jenbug122/sell

Uniimi is still in the creation stages but they are working super hard to get things going strong!  Get in early and help make it great!

The best part for those who are willing to get in on the ground floor of uniimi – You get to test and tell what you want and don’t want!  Once it is up and running I will then decide whether to keep zibbet or not since Uniimi will be creating a storefront for us to use! (yay!)  I was shocked to hear this since it means they actually listen to their people – how fantastic is that!  I hope they get it up soon – then I can recreate these links for my uniimi storefront!

For those looking for great Valentine’s gifts and cards I offer customized cards with any picture and text.

Also favor bags.

And finally, adorable Valentine’s gift boxes – personalized or use my pre-designed boxes!

Have fun and happy crafting!

Dragon's Trove

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The Joys of Change

So my etsy shop is taking off: www.jenbug122.etsy.com and I really am enjoying the fantastic opportunities I’ve had to perfect and show off my skills!

In the last week I have:
*crochet a kitten, crochet a puppy and crochet kitten ear hats
(patterns for these courtesy of April Draven Designs http://www.AprilDraven.etsy.com/)

*learned to knit tardis socks – no they are not perfect yet, but they go well with the 4th doctor‘s scarf!
http://www.etsy.com/listing/65232259/4th-doctors-amazing-scarf

*created a full birthday party set – plates, cups, cupcake toppers and wrappers, invites, stickers, favor bags…… http://www.etsy.com/listing/66559342/custom-party-packages

* drew a child’s beautiful face into a rose-flower fairy!
*painted a tennyson saying onto canvas
*created 3 wedding suites and coloring books digitally
*printed 2 wedding invitation sets (yeah, I go through A LOT of ink in my printers)
*sold a set of geeky valentines – http://www.etsy.com/listing/65827213/gamer-valentines-day-cards-10-pack
*created 2 more sew-in labels for clothing lines: http://www.etsy.com/shop/Jenbug122?section_id=7600637
*created about 3 dozen cards – 1 to 30 in each pack!

Plus I am still working on 4 pinatas and iron-on shirt designs for birthday parties!

overall I would say it has been a successful week – and all of it is thanks to the Etsy Alchemy feature! If you have ever tried etsy alchemy you know this is a wonderful tool for buyers who don’t want to spend hours sifting through thousands, even millions, of shops to find their perfect creation – just ask and ACTIVE sellers will bid to give you the perfect item (rather than asking and waiting for a seller to answer)!

Alas, etsy has finally decided that the alchemy process is too complicated. I admit I’ve had some clients who can’t find my paypal invioices, or who think that by writing to me every 5 minutes on convo will get the work done faster (FYI – it doesn’t because every annoying contact I drop their project to the bottom of the pile!); but now Etsy wants to shut down the entire alchemy section to “revamp”. I have NO idea what I am going to do for the next month as all the above creations were done through alchemy. I cannot imagine most buyers will find my shop – unless you read this blog – but, hopefully, it won’t be down long and I can get right back to having a blast and making dreams happen!

If you are in the market for special valentines (I do kid’s valentine’s too!) for any occasion they run anywhere from 10 to 50-cents each piece (no minimum) and you get 10 free for ordering through my site! come by, take a look, and see what’s exciting in the Dragon’s Trove (please, I’m going to be very bored with no alchemy to sustain me!)

My special this month is a free 10-pack of kid’s valentine’s with every purchase ( you choose the theme) and if you are looking for a cute and unique Vlaentine’s or St. Patrick‘s skirt check out my pettiskirts – red, pink, white, green any color/pattern combination you can imagine comes to life with this adorable skirt – pefect for anyday/everyday wear!  http://www.etsy.com/listing/64875416/adorable-petticoat-skirtskirt

Happy Valentine’s Day

Yeah, I know, I get bummed this time of year too.  I love Christmas, despise February!  I recently did the most fun set of “valentine’s” I can think of – unvalentine‘s Day card  Sorry to all you Valentine’s lovers out there but I just simply never had anyone (outside my loving parents and my [cough] [cough] loving children) to celebrate the day with!

So, whether you’re a valentine Scrooge like me, or one of the many wishful fanatics – come by and see what the Dragon has added to her treasure trove!

http://www.etsy.com/shop/Jenbug122

I did decide on one special, though – free pack of kid’s graphic valentine’s with any $10 purchase – not valid on alchemy, only 1 pack per customer (period!) but you can purchase additional packs for $5 each!

Lessons Learned My First Business Christmas

So the Christmas rush is over, the Christmas work is done…well, almost.  I was surprised to find how many people wait until the last minute to do their Christmas shopping, especially when they know items on etsy generally take time to make!  That last week before Christmas I hardly slept, barely ate, dropped about 20-lbs in the process.  No, this wasn’t a healthy way to do it, but at least I don’t have to do the same old New Year’s Resolution!

On the plus side there were a few Christmas Lessons learned:

1) Children seem able to drop in and out of the Christmas Spirit at the drop of a pin.  My children had a blast right after Thanksgiving when daddy was home to help put up the tree and decorations.  It took a couple of weeks for me to finally get up the motivation to put out the rest and fix what needed to be fixed.  Off and on they would ask to put up some decorations, for the most part they could do it on their own and that was fine.

2) I now have Veggie Tales (2 of 3 Christmas movies), Tiny Toons Christmas, A Christmas Story and the Year Without Santa Claus memorized…sad, I know

3) Etsy does not allow changing feedback, once you leave it for someone, even if they turn out to be a jerk, you have to leave it as is.  *sigh* of course that means if someone lies in their feedback about you you’re stuck…I hope it goes away soon!  At least now I know not to take everything said on feedback as 100% truth!

4) I now know why people shut down their stores that last week – because for some reason people think that by emailing you 50-times-a-day the work will go faster!  By putting my store into vacation mode I could setup an auto reply that tells them to watch the tracking info through paypal.

5)  Finally, I learned that some things really do sell on Etsy. Judging from my close friends and family this kind of stuff is not liked and appreciated….but, well, visit my store and see for yourself all the wonderful changes that were made (and added!)   Yes, more and more is added every day, I LOVE to make things!  http://www.etsy.com/shop/Jenbug122

Here is wishing you a wonderful time and God‘s Blessings to you and yours for the New Year!  2011 is just a few days away and with the New Year offers a new start….to life, to family, to friends, and to prosperous endeavors!!!

Christmas is Coming!

Fast approaching is this wonderful and joyous holiday!  Or…well…at least it should be.  How many times do we really stop to think about what this time of year is truly all about.  Whether you recognize the Christian birth of Jesus and the fulfillment of God‘s promise to Eve and all mankind, or you recognize the Pagan New Year, this time of year is supposed to be the symbol of joy, love, kindness, and promise of better things to come!

 

So, stop your shopping, quit worrying about where you are going to find this or that present, and let’s calm down and talk about activities for this time of year.

 

My first suggestion is an advent calendar.  You can do something with toys or chocolates or whatever else tickles your fancy, but I prefer a “flip calendar” style.  Each day we take off one page and do the activity listed.  Then the last day is our north pole “fun” trip and getting ready for Jesus‘s birthday party!  I do offer these advent calendars on my etsy site:  http://www.etsy.com/listing/63227346/advent-calendar-activity-cards

 

Consider taking a bit of time out of your busy holiday schedule and remember this special time of year.  Enjoy your time with family, friends, and loved ones.  And, remember, you are always loved, always welcome, and you, too, are special!!

 

One other thing that strikes me this time of year is the amount of sadness and depression.  I get that way too and having a Church family and good friends always helps.  Please remember to take time to talk to someone.  Yes you are busy, yes you have places to go and things to do, but maybe, just maybe, you will make such a difference in a person’s life just by listening that it pales in comparison to that ugly tie you just had to abandon them to get!