GARAGE SALE

I'm having my FIRST Garage Sale! When you get desperate enough, you'll do things you've never done before. My son wants to travel to Italy with his school while earning high school credit and perform with his school's dance show team in Disney World so I've got to do what I've got to do to raise the money. I'm selling all kinds of stuff! I have a lot of things from my old apartment, and Triston is parting with some stuff, too. My sister has put her children's things in the sale; my friend Jeffernier started us off with a truck load of stuff; Margie gave Mom stuff and of course Mom has LOTS of stuff and is organizing the whole shebang. We've got bedroom sets, sofa sets, exercise equipment, clothes for everyone, dishes, video games, etc. I'm even putting some scrapbook stuff in the sale! I know most of you who read my blog are hundreds of miles away and can't come, but I just wanted you to know that I'm doing something I've never done before. Any tips?
Remember: If you'd like to contribute to Triston's trips, you can click on the donate button on the top of my blog. I appreciate y'all!

Honor Band

Okay, the picture isn't exactly a scrapbook page. Maybe we should call it iScrap. Ha! I just had to share it so that you could see my son playing the trombone. I took those pictures last December when his middle school band marched for the first time. They participated in the school's neighborhood Christmas parade. Look at these middle school students marching with no music, and they sounded SMOOTH. You see Triston plays the bass trombone. His band director, Mr. Perry, makes so many instruments available to the students to rent every year. Triston was fortunate enough to receive the bass trombone. 6th grade was his first time playing a real instrument. Pictured to the right are my nieces with him after his first concert. The highlight of 7th grade was the Christmas Parade and Mom taking him to hear the Hot 8 Brass Band. This year, he wanted to try out for the All-Parish Honor Band. With the support of his Band Director and of course family, he signed up. I didn't have the courage to try out in middle school. In fact, I didn't have the courage in high school, but it was mandatory because I was in advanced band. Although I didn't make the honor band, I am well aware of what it takes to make it. My sister didn't make the honor band either so we were able to offer some advice from experience. Isn't it true that our failures prepare us for future victories? Well, then Triston had two people who could offer him the preparation for victory. Neither of us saw this coming though...A couple of weeks before the audition, his booksack went missing along with his audition music. We prayed and trusted God that the booksack with all of its contents would be restored. Triston went a week carrying around a miniature booksack from the first grade while he learned from his careless mistake. His booksack was finally turned in to the office with ALL of its contents just in time to get in some good practices. God is good! The day before tryouts (Friday), his instrument was locked up before he could get it so he quickly grabbed another trombone and caught the bus home. He found the trombone was in horrible condition! He practiced all night on that horn while I prepared for the craft show. Triston put vegetable oil on the slide trying to smooth out the rusted spots. He fought with that horn, making adjustments until he got a smooth sound. He was nervous, but confident. "I got this, Momma!" Candace took him to the audition while I was at the craft show. Love her! He didn't have much to say afterwards. "It was good. There were so many nerdy people. I don't know, but I did good." Oh, but today! When I arrived to pick him up from school, both of his hands flew up as he shouted, "First chair, Momma! I'm first chair trombone in the honor band!" With pride for his student, Mr. Perry, Triston's Band Director, said, "Yea, he's first chair. He worked hard, and he did it. It wasn't easy."

I am so proud of him for having the courage to try, and I'm happy for him to experience success. The best is yet to come!        

Triston with the Hot 8 Jazz Band trombone player. The drummer giving Triston an autograph.

St. Luke Craft Show 5 Years of Grace

The 33rd Annual St. Luke Craft Fair was this past Saturday. The fair is one of my first loves because it was my very first craft show. It's hard to believe that it's been a 5 year run. FIVE YEARS! The first year, I did it as a leap of faith. I remember having to constantly fight self doubt.Will people really like what I make? Would they like it enough to buy it? Well, they did and they still do! Praise God! I am so grateful for my customers especially the 5 year faithfuls and my family who have never left my side. Take a look at this blast from the past...

My FIRST craft booth! 

The second and third year of show participation was for the fun and joy of it all. You can revisit post HERE and HERE. The fourth year (here), I was motivated to participate in craft fairs by the need to pay off over $900 in unexpected car repairs. Talk about pressure! I was encouraged by SonJa to not lose my joy. I renewed my mind and got back in gear. Between all the opportunities to exhibit my crafts, God met the financial need above and beyond what I needed. This year, I was actually not planning on participating in any crafts shows until my son expressed a desire to travel with his school to Italy and receiving the news that he would be performing with his school's dance team in Disney World. Now I'm on the grind!

This year at St. Luke, I regretted that it even crossed my mind to not participate. All of my most faithful customers came out. With so many other conflicting events, it blessed me so much for them to show up. The show was not well attended this year, but with the support of repeat customers and a few new customers, I was able to raise nearly $400. This is not the best in 5 years, but God is so faithful. Take a look at the 

picture to the right...There is no way that I could have that amount in sales without the Lord answering our prayers. Booths all around me had packed up and left. The sun drained almost everything out of me, but we hung in there longer than most vendors. One customer even brought me a fan which gave me an idea to make some complimentary fans next year. I was going to tell you about all the wonderful customers and cute short stories from the show, but since I got a bit long winded with my reminiscing, I'll just leave you with a few pictures...

(l-r) Mya, Triston, Candace and my friend since kindergarten, Christie. They ALL helped me so much. Christie spent an afternoon helping me craft. Triston helped me set up the night before the show. Candace took Triston to all of his engagements on the day of the show. Mya's bug clips were for sale again. They all showed up towards the end of the show, relieved me from my booth and helped me breakdown and load up in record time.

New item...tile coasters! I'll be making more of these.

Mya's bug clips. I had them clipped to the top of my tent and different places throughout my display.

My other niece, Kaylee, was so excited and busy :) You see that I have Square now? That's right. I'm able to accept credit cards. Almost half of my sales transactions were with Square. Look into it by clicking HERE

My Dad's recommended item. 

Mom wasn't able to be with me this year. Her and Dad were out of town for a funeral. I missed them SOOO much! Several customers, vendors and the craft show organizer even asked about her. Mom has been making these blankets and made four especially for the show to help raise money for Triston. Anything for her grandson! Two of them sold on the spot!

This was Mom's first blanket sale! Ms. Laura  not only purchased the one in her arms, but she ordered another one for her parents. 

Thank you for your encouragement and prayers! 
Special thanks to my blogland friend, Tamika, for always being so supportive from way in Philly.
My next show
Women's Council MarketPlace Holiday Fair
Thursday, October 25, 6pm-8pm at
St. Paul Lutheran Church
Tara Blvd. and Old Hammond
Baton Rouge
FREE Admission

You can support Triston by making a donation today
by clicking on the Donate button below....

             

Old Becomes New

Hey folks!
Just a quick note to show you an upcycled craft that I did in preparation for a craft show. Who doesn't have a Jenga game? Well, I got mine for Christmas way back 20 or so years ago. I used to love that game and never got enough of challenging myself to build up the blocks higher and higher. My favorite games nowadays are word games like Scrabble and Boggle. I pulled out the Jenga pieces, played one final game with my son then transformed half of the blocks to magnets. That's right. Magnets! The weight is perfect. As a matter of fact, I may turn some of them into key chains. Of course, I'm keeping a few as keepsakes, but now that I've been working with the blocks, I'm kinda wanting a Jenga game for Christmas this year. Somehow I knew that I would get all nostalgic.

My profit from this year's craft shows will benefit my son's international travel with his school to Italy and his school's dance team performance in Disney World. I'll keep you posted on ways you can help his dreams come true. In the meantime, pray that God will use the work of my hands in preparation for the St. Luke Craft Fair to supply and meet my needs in great abundance. Believe with me that with God, all things are possible. I love and appreciate you!

The 33rd Annual St. Luke's Arts and Crafts Fair

8833 Goodwood Blvd.

Baton Rouge, LA 

Saturday, October 6, 2012

9am-5pm

FREE Admission

Happy Birthday OWH!

Operation Write Home celebrated its 5th birthday since they gained their 501(c)(3) status on September 12th. Well, actually, they've been celebrating all month. I love those type of celebrations! Can you believe 1,784,913 handmade cards have been sent to our heroes since 2007? AMAZING! That's a whole lot of cardmakers keeping a whole lot of families connected. Before the month is out, I'll make a couple of posts to share with you Any Hero cards that I created for OWH to get to our heroes. Some of these cards are ones that the ladies at the nursing home assembled. Our time at the nursing home was cut a little short so my Mom and two of her friends assembled some cards for me. I still have a ways to go, but it'll get done. I"m thinking I should have the single moms sign the cards that the seniors didn't get to sign. Not a bad idea, huh? So look for future posts featuring the cards from the nursing home.

Happy Birthday, OWH!! 

To find out more about Operation Write Home, click HERE.