I'm Prepping.....

I'm prepping for my biggest craft show of the season.

It is happening tomorrow in Chambersburg, Pa.

My dear friend, Angel, has been working on this for 

six months!  She has poured her whole self into it.

I've never seen any craft show this well organized and 

promoted.  She worked hard to get a 

good blend of vendors.  

There are 26!

She has us on the radio,

flyers hanging all over, 

yard signs, 

a huge banner hanging on site.

Yep!

She's a master of 

spreading the word.

I've been so busy with Tommy candles 

that I don't feel as prepared as I would like to 

be.....but I'm a craft show veteran so 

it will all be good.

I'm not inventing a table for the first time

or anything like that.

I just wanted to come up with more 

unique one of a kinds....

because it is fun.

I did get a couple of things completed that

make me smile.

The tea cup candles, 

for example.

And these tarts in a tin.

I'll be prepping a few more of these

this morning.

If you can possibly come

I would LOVE it!!

There are a ton of give aways.

One is an evening art class with your best friends.

It is valued at 

$350

and a photo shoot with 

F2 Photography

with a value of 

$250.

Every vendor has offered up an 

item to be given away.

Pretty awesome!!

Mine is a 12 ounce 

Pumpkin Pie Spice Candle.

My friend, Kim, of Rochelle Crochet

is offering a 

gorgeous scarf.

You can check out the 

I {Heart} Handmade 

Facebook Page.

So much to see.

I'll be staying in Chambersburg this evening 

with a whole host of other vendors.

I foresee a ton of fun.

I'll be meeting online friends

from Etsy for the first time.

I.can't.wait!!

Hope I remember to take photos!

I'd better make that list of things not to 

forget right now

before I leave something very important

behind!

Have a great weekend!!

Feel free to come out to 

Four Points by Sheraton

on Lincoln Highway 

in Chambersburg

between 8am - 2pm.

The first 100 shoppers in the doors

get an adorable shopping bag 

with which to carry your 

finds!

Do You Have Any Idea?

Do you have any idea what it is like

to watch election returns 

while fasting to prep for blood work?

It is pure torture.

As the returns came back last evening,

each one pointing to 

the lessening of my candidate's chances

I yearned to nibble.

There were jellybeans in a bowl

just across the room.

I could have been there

in mere seconds.

One swipe of the hand 

and they would have been mine.

However, 

that was not to be.

Just as my choice for president

was not supposed to win.

However, 

today I am going to go and get 

that bloodwork done.

I'll move on.

And so will our Country.

We will make the best of it.

I'm sad because I believe that so many 

are enslaved to the check that comes in the mail

each month.

I'm sad because the family values that my candidate

would have supported have been discarded.

But, you know what?

This is apparently what "we" want.

I will pray that God will show His people

how we can show His love to those around us.

I don't believe that spewing hate

and despair is the answer.

Somehow

that just doesn't seem Christlike.

Can you imagine?

And so.....

just as I had to put aside the desire for 

jellybeans......

Yes there might be a political implication

if you are old enough to get it.....

I will wait and see what 

God will do 

over these next four years.

God is definitely not dead.

He is at work.

His purposes are never wrong.

Sorry Facebook Friends

I'm going to repeat myself.

Those of you who are friends on Facebook

have already seen my two exciting things from yesterday.

But, my "bloggy only"  friends should not miss 

out on the fun.

Ever since my friends, The Rabes, 

purchased their own little, (petite, adorable, mini),

o.k. enough with the adjectives....

shoppe

in downtown Lancaster

I have loved their taste in merchandise.

One day at their home Lindsay modeled

a bag for me that she said would be just perfect for 

carrying my laptop.

It was love at first sight.

That was months ago.

In the meantime we started selling

my candles in this adorable shoppe.

I made the determination that as long as there

were items on my wish list from 

Fab Fashion

I would use candle money made there to buy them.

Yesterday I got to make my first purchase.

It is this adorable bag.

I can slide my laptop,

Kindle, Phone and Papers

right in and my office goes wherever I go.

Pretty awesome.

Can you tell I don't buy many things 

for myself?

Anyway....

I also had the opportunity to fill these 

adorable tea cups yesterday.

This may not seem like a big deal to you

but they have been on my "to do" list

for a while.

The tea cups are very delicate.

Made in Japan.

I was so happy with how the colors

worked together.

The fragrance is Spearmint Eucalyptus.

I had given up filling tea cups because 

no one really wanted to buy them.

At craft shows people ooh and ahhhh.....

and then they walk away

or buy a jar candle.

However,  one of my Etsy friends has encouraged me 

to begin again.

So, if these don't sell on Etsy or 

at the craft show this next weekend

I will enjoy them.

*****

This post seems a bit fluffy 

after yesterday's post.

But, you know, 

God made beauty.

He wants us to be productive 

and being organized helps with that.

Taking care of the things He has provided us

is a very good thing.

Therefore, I declare this post to be not fluffy.

(She says with a twinkle in her eye)

I declare it a post of thanksgiving for all 

He  provides.

He is soooo good!

 

For The Love of Tommy and the Others

I didn't see it coming.

The amazing response for Tommy candles.

I had hoped, of course,

that we might raise a couple of hundred dollars.

But, 

things have happened 

that I did not anticipate.

Readers sent money

and didn't want me to spend one penny of it 

on candle wax or jars.

"Just give them the money, please."

Others ordered Tommy candles in bulk.

Sometimes it was just one or two.

I've even been approached about purchasing

12 ounce jelly jar candles 

with the proceeds going to 

Tommy.

Of course!

At the latest count 

more than 230 candles have been sold.

The ladies at the post office and I have 

bonded every day....

well, 

except for the day of the hurricane.

Not only have we bonded but now they 

are sharing the story.

One clerk was asking me to verify details 

for her again as she was trying to tell 

others what was going on.

Yep!

God must really love Tommy.

Because He is spreading the word.

Please understand, 

our money is a good thing.

But even more powerful is every opportunity

to share about the things God is doing 

in that Eastern European Orphanage.

As I write this big changes are 

happening within the walls of a former

house of suffering.

Children are now being fed.

Diapers are being changed.

Children are just beginning to thrive.

Now, 

the best thing in the world would be if we could 

just get them all out of there and into loving

families.

But, God is on that too.

More and more families are finding these

little ones.

I read the blogs of two of these families 

regularly.  It is interesting to see the impact

of bringing these children home.

There is a commitment that is to be admired.

There are also challenges to work through.

The story does not end when the families walk out the 

doors of that orphanage.

In reality it has just begun.

These children have to learn how to accept love.

How to give love.

How to recognize their own family members

as uniquely theirs.

I am struck by the differences in 

these families.

The parental personalities. 

And how God has chosen

children with very differing needs

to match up with those personalities.

Pretty amazing.

The hardest thing in the real life of being the 

friend of the family is knowing that as much 

as I would want to connect with one brought 

home I must wait.

And wait.

At times it feels uncaring.

Watching a Mama put her own lunch to the side

for hours as she teaches her young one

how to eat.

It would be so easy to jump in and 

offer to help.

But this would be detrimental to the 

learning process.

That sacrifice is one the Mama wants to make.

One that she needs to make.

She must be the one to meet the needs of 

this darling daughter, every time,  for a long time.

Long enough that it is very clear that 

this Mommy and Daddy are hers.

That they are not going away.

So....

as a "doer" 

what is one supposed to do?

Spread.the.word.

For more information about 

adoption in Eastern Europe

I encourage you to get lost in either 

of these blogs.

Copperlight Wood

A family in Alaska who adopted two children

with no obvious physical challenges.

However.....

Their emotional and bonding issues are very real.

The Blessing of Verity

Our friends here in Lancaster County

who fell head over heels in love with two 

children with serious medical needs.

One we have met.

One we very much look forward to meeting.

Thank, so much, for bearing with this very long post.

My heart is full to overflowing at the evidence

of God's love for those 

that others just wanted to 

throw away.

Life is so precious.

Every life.

 

 

Fading Beauty

 Fading beauty is still beautiful.

There is something bittersweet about Autumn.

Days get shorter.

Our activities shift and we know before long

our contact with neighbors will be far less

as we hunker down for the long winter.

Our gaze shifts from the flower beds which have

brought so much pleasure all Spring and Summer

to the heights of the trees.

Their blazing color

grabs the eye.

There is no doubt about that.

And yet

I feel compelled to visit and say 

goodbye to the solid

echinacea, 

the mums and even my roses

as they take their final gasp.

 Most of the Echinacea had run its course weeks ago.

Yet, this particular little bit

opened late and continued the impact of color

beside our entry door.

Until the Spring then.....

Thanks for a job well done!

Fading beauty is still beauty

Indeed.

On a different note -

We fared very well during Hurricane Sandy.

It was windy, of course, but we've experienced worse.

Perhaps it was that the eye passed directly over us

that kept things a bit more sedate.

Or, it just could be that we were spared

for no reason other than that 

God willed it that way.

Whatever the case.

My heart breaks for those who lost 

everything.

We hear every day a new death count.

Sobering.

The fires.

The flooding.

The damage.

We were spared 

but not untouched.

Our thoughts are with them.

Our prayers lifted up.

Jammy Day

I have some really comfy pj's.

Today I plan to just stay in them.

It is cold, windy and rainy

at the moment.

It will get much worse.

I had plans to run out this morning 

but nothing seems important enough to 

do that.

So....

it is a jammy day.

Time to do some laundry,

dust and clean.

Putter here and there.

Make more Tommy Candles.

All in the comfort of my 

Jennifer Lopez black and white jammy pants

and soft black t-shirt.

Yep.

Gonna make the most of a 

scary situation.

If you are in the path of this storm I wish you safety

and quality family time.

I did suggest to Warren that this would 

be an excellent time for a spontaneous vacation

to a midwestern state.

He laughed.

So, 

I guess we are staying.

Along with millions 

of other

people.

So happy that unlike the poor dogs

my potty spot is in the warm and dry house.

They were very resistant to 

heading out this morning.

That will only get worse.

Poor things.

Catch you later.

Hanging out in my jammies.

What are you doing today?

A Post To Touch Your Heart

Wreath made by Judy....You can find more here.

I don't recall how I stumbled upon Linda's blog

but it has been a source of inspiration and even

challenge to me.

This post touched my heart in many

ways.  First, I cannot imagine having happen 

what she experienced.

Second, the honesty in Linda's response really 

touched my heart.

And finally, 

the conclusion and outward look that 

God brought Linda to

is something I never want to forget.

Check it out....

and let me know what, if anything, 

stood out to you?

Forgiving