Surprise!

We're adopting a baby boy who is due in May! We are so excited and couldn't be happier! We met his birth mom and her family a few weeks ago and they are all so amazing! We all feel that this was all meant to be! We have been so busy trying to get everything ready for this little guy's arrival and of course we feel like we have no idea what we are doing... so any advice would be greatly appreciated!

This whole adoption process has been such a life-changing experience and I honestly wouldn't change any part of it. We are so lucky to be able to adopt and we can't wait to be his parents!

Getting Personal

One of my New Year's resolutions this year is to update my blog at least once a week. Well, now it's almost Valentines Day and I'm just getting to it... oops! I can start that one now, right?

Why have I neglected my blog? Anxiety. I take medication for that, but apparently it doesn't help everything (don't you wish that there was a magic pill that would just make everything better? I do).

So why do I have this anxiety about my blog? Well, I want to do a series where I write about my infertility, but then that's a really personal topic for me because I want to talk about my feelings about it, how I've dealt with it, how my marriage is better than ever because of it, etc. but is all of that appropriate for my blog? And then I have this other topic that I want to talk about (it's something very few people know about), but it's even more personal than infertility. I think that this topic needs to be talked about because maybe I can help someone who has been through it...

And then I want to do creative DIY posts and talk about other awesome artists. I want to talk about all the fun things I make to keep my creative juices flowing. I want to talk about how I was able to quit my "day job" and do my handmade business full time (you can do it too!). I want to talk about nail polish and how I just got these awesome bangs and everyone keeps telling me how they make me younger (what???). I want to just pour my heart and soul into this blog, but I'm scared to open up that much. Some of those topics are so scary to think about writing about them!

Anyone know what I'm talking about? Crafty DIY, nail polish, and getting bangs are not scary topics to write about... but infertility is. The scary topics make me feel anxious about writing anything else, so I don't write at all. BUT I want to change that. So this year, I'm going to open up and talk about the hard stuff, in addition to the fun stuff. It's going to be awesome.

Thinking about starting a handmade business on Etsy?

My shop is hosted in Etsy.com and so I found this infographic incredibly interesting to read. I definitely did see a huge growth in sales around the 2011 holiday season and it has stayed fairly busy ever since.  If you make something creative and want to start selling it online somewhere, Etsy is definitely the place for you. I have decided to start mentoring people who want to break in to the handmade marketplace and so this will be the first of many "start your own handmade business" posts.


Created by: www.MBAOnline.com

We're hoping to adopt!

If you follow me on facebook, twitter or seen my shop announcement in the last few months, you'd know that we are hoping to adopt! We have another blog dedicated solely to our adoption process, so please check it out and leave us comments / words of encouragement. We also love hearing about other people's adoption experiences, so please feel free to share those as well.

And please pass our name along if you know of anyone wanting to place their baby with a super awesome family like us :)

https://www.itsaboutlove.org/ial/profiles/27685670/ourMessage.jsf

or

www.chrisandjulianne.blogspot.com

Have a wonderful weekend! I'll be posting up brand NEW earrings in my shop this evening or tomorrow morning. :) Get excited, they're cute!

Queen Bee Market

Guess where I'll be this weekend... at the Queen Bee Market held at Thanksgiving Point! Made by Jewls will have a booth there and we'll be debuting some brand NEW items! Stop by and say hi, I'd love to meet you!

Guess where I'll be next weekend....

Made by Jewls will be a vendor at the spring Bijou Market next weekend! We have a TON of brand new earrings, so you won't want to miss this one! I'm so stoked about all the vendors that will be there, want to see what's on my bijou wish list?

a layered tee

felt button earrings by ila's garden

 

print by cinnamon ink

pillow cover by sew hip and humble

Five Years Ago....

 

... I married my best friend. I'm so blessed to have him in my life and can't wait to see where we are in another five years! Happy Anniversary Chris, I love you!