I'm Back!

If you look at the date of my last post it was Thursday, February 5, more than 7 months ago. It has, obviously, been a very busy year.

• I traveled more than normal going to Florida twice, California twice, Ohio, southern Indiana, North Carolina, and Minnesota.
• In June my younger sister moved from Oklahoma to Kankakee, Illinois, just 45 minutes from where I live. I love having her so close!
• My mother-in-law has suffered with poor health for a number of years; in July she had a heart attack and on July 26 went Home to Heaven. Her memorial service was actually a celebration of a life well-lived, and a very sweet time for family and friends.
• On August 1, my niece Ruthy, got married to a wonderful young man. They both graduated from college at the end of May and he is doing his graduate intership on the staff of our church.
• My sister-in-law Kris and I have been working on a book about menopause, and are nearly finished.

In the future I may write some posts about some of these events, but I wanted to explain my long absence from my blog!

Being so busy in so many different ways took nearly all of my attention off of making jewelry. And I missed that because creating and designing is relaxing and refreshing for me. During this busy time I did little on my Etsy website. Amazingly, in the past two weeks I have gotten three orders, and somehow, those orders caused my creative juices to flow again. It's been a lot of fun designing some new bracelets. I hope you'll take a look and enjoy these new designs.

As we settle into fall, I hope you'll take the time to observe the beautiful changes that will be taking place...the bright autumn leaves; the beutiful mums; the crisp, cool nights; and the harvest moon. God is so good to have provided so much for us to enjoy. In all of the busyness of my life this year, one of the things that helped me so much was nature. There is a healing balm in taking a few minutes every day to look at a sunrise or sunset and realize that God put it there for us to enjoy. The same is true with beautiful flowers, or deer playing in the woods, or squirrels scampering from tree to tree.

I Timothy 6:17b says that God, "giveth us richly all things to enjoy." I truly hope in the days and weeks to come that you will "richly enjoy" all things God has provided for you in this wonderful fall season!

Really? Christmas Already?

I love Christmas. It's a wonderful time of year. Now, I realize it is still nearly 3 months away and I'm already talking the holidays! Let me assure you that I will not be forgetting Thanksgiving. It has become my favorite holiday in the past few years because I have so much to be thankful for. Please know that I will be posting blogs on the subject of Thanksgiving.

The reason I am mentioning Christmas is that I know people are already doing their Christmas shopping. I've hesitated to start pushing Christmas, but people are looking for gifts and I want to have available to them what they need and what they are looking for. That is why I have a shop on Etsy...to sell jewelry.

I am encouraging those who have shops online to go ahead and list the items you want to sell for Christmas. I listed two items tonight on Etsy and have had a good response already in just a few hours. One of the items I listed was the pair of blue venetian glass/sterling silver snowflake earrings pictured above. If you list items you are wanting to sell for Christmas let me know so I can take a look too! And, Merry Christmas! ...oh, that hurt, didn't it?!? It's still fall! I promise you I am enjoying every day of this beautiful weather...the turning of the trees, the crisp fall nights and more. I just want to encourage you to plan ahead and be on top of your inventory and your fall sales. God blesses us when we organize, plan, and work that plan. I want to help you have a great selling season this fall!

Are You Seeing the Signs of Fall?

I absolutely love fall! It is probably due to all of the great things that happened every fall when I was growing up. We would rake the leaves and play in them. We had bonfires where we roasted hotdogs and marshmallows and drank hot chocolate. We got bushels of wonderful apples including golden grimes, yellow delicious, and more. We got to eat acorn squash from our garden; Mom baked it and then served it with melted butter and brown sugar! Grandma came from Kansas and baked apple pies. We went on rides to look at the turning leaves in the Minnesota Valley near New Ulm. Oh, it was wonderful! If you live in a southern or western state where you do not see the trees turn I am sorry. It's such a treat!

Look for signs of fall. Tomorrow we will go with two of my nieces and their two sons to the local apple orchard. We'll take a hay ride, pick apples, drink apple cider and eat cinnamon doughnuts and then come back to our house for a weiner roast with s'mores over a fire my husband will build. It will help provide wonderful memories for these primary and junior-age boys!

Why don't you plan some "fall activities" for some people in your life? Make memories that will last a lifetime. It doesn't have to cost a lot; it's the fun and time together that makes the difference.

Look for fall and enjoy it; start getting out your fall wardrobe; make a purchase or two that will rejuvenate your wardrobe, such as the carnelian sterling silver pendant shown above. (You're welcome to check out my shop at http://www.janegraftondesigns.etsy.com/.) I just want to encourage you to enjoy fall from start to finish! HAPPY FALL~!