Archives for March 2011

It has rained all day today which is a major bummer considering the insanely, wonderfully, gorgeous weather we have been having lately.  Seriously…I’m talking shorts, tees, flip flops and popsicles everyday…and now rain and cold weather.  What happened?  We are eagerly waiting for our warm weather to come back.

And NO that is not the head of a Dwight Schrute bobble head doll in Sol’s hands and NO he did not just pull the whole thing out of his mouth…that would just be gross…right?

In other news, Harper had her first soccer game and I could have burst into tears maybe one million times watching her play.  She just rocked.  Go team Spain.

And do you see that lovely, long hair which she sports so well?  Well, we are getting it all cut off tomorrow…tear!  I’m not usually attached to hair…ha…but it’s just soooo Harper.  I will be a tad, just a tad, sad to see it go.

We have been talking about getting a hair cut for a while now and we told her she could just get a trim or we could get 10 or more inches chopped and donate it to Locks of Love. We explained what would happen and where her hair would go and she decided she wanted to cut it all off.  It does make my heart proud to know that she is so excited about “sharing” her hair…that’s how she explains it, but I will miss it…a bit.

I also have picked up a few new fabrics this week.  These are now available in my fabric inventory.

And lots of orders went out this week.  I am still not taking new orders, just yet.  I really want to get caught up and still have several orders that need to be completed.  Once I nail down a re-opening date I will post here and on my Facebook page.

This 12×12 canvas was ordered by Sheli in Illinois.  Sheli actually ordered this a little while ago, but she wanted to surprise her friend for her birthday, so I have waited to post, but the coast is clear now.  I really love this canvas…I was super happy with how it turned out.  Thanks so much Sheli.

This tee and camera strap were ordered by Stacie in Kentucky.  She wanted a special tee for her little boy and a camera strap that showed some love for Africa.  Thank you so much Stacie and hope your little one loves his tee.

This next camera strap was ordered by Kaycee in Washington for a dear friend of hers.  Totally appreciate it Kaycee…hope your friend adores it.

This sweet little tooth pillow is headed to Leanne in Texas.  She needed a perfectly girly tooth pillow for her little lady Endie and I was glad to help.  It was a pleasure Leanne and here’s to lots of loose teeth.

These florally key fobs were ordered by Casey in Livingston, Tn and Lori in Hendersonville, Tn.  Lori also wanted a sweet, matching fabric bracelet.  Thanks so much ladies.

This camera strap and fabric bracelets were ordered by Janna in Missouri.  Hope you love everything Janna and thanks so very much for your business.

And this last order is headed to Christa in Kansas.  Christa mailed me some tees and wanted Rwanda and Vietnam on them.  Rwanda was new for me, so I was super excited to add another place to my list.  Josh says I should be pretty good in geography 🙂  Hope you love them Christa and thanks again so much.

PS:  You love my feet don’t you.

Again I cannot say thank you enough to everyone who reads my site and orders.  Please know that I am extremely, extremely grateful and I hope I convey that in words.  Hope everyone has a great weekend.  Happy Crafty Friday!

Now that warm weather has started showing up, I may have a #1 email asked question:  “What are your yard sale secrets?”  I have been getting so many emails about what tips and suggestions we have for throwing a successful yard sale and Josh has been telling me for quite sometime that I should post about this very subject.  Odd as it may sound, I do think there is some art in throwing a good yard sale 🙂

First and foremost, I do want to say that we give all the glory to God for how successful our adoption yard sales have been.  With that said, I do think God placed certain people in our lives and that He allowed us to learn a lot from our previous yard sale experiences that gave us some yard sale wisdom…does that sound crazy?  Hope these tips will help with your fundraising yard sale style.

My yard sale mentor was my good friend Brea.  She is absolutely the QUEEN of yard sales…throwing them and shopping them.  So when we started planning our yard sale for Sol’s adoption Brea gave me some amazing wisdom and knowledge about having a successful yard sale and we took her words and ran with them.  Then after Sol’s yard sale, I knew we had learned some things that would be key in doing this again.  So here we go:

*TIP #1: START EARLY & WORK HARD.  A good yard sale takes a lot of time and work…very hard work.  Josh called it his “part time job”.  We always start at least 2 months out (if not earlier) letting everyone know we are going to be having a yard sale:  Setting up a Facebook page, blogging, emailing, Craiglisting and giving everyone lots of notice that we would love their junk they may be getting rid of.  Advertising is key.  Each week leading up to the sale I would re-post the sale details on Craigslist under the yard sale section and I would post new items that we had received.  Always make it clear what the yard sale is for.  We also put the yard sale details in the paper the week before and the week of the actual sale.  And ask your friends and family to share the information…it can’t hurt to ask.

*TIP #2: GET DONATED ITEMS.  And I mean really push getting donated items. We would send out mass emails, Facebook and blog posts letting people know that we needed items for the yard sale. The best thing for this is to tell people you will pick the items up. This gets really tiresome, but sometimes you just have to put some hard work out there. We found that if we picked the items up, people were much more likely to donate stuff to us…that way they just have to sit it on their back porch and their part is done.  People like convenience.  Also, you really have to flexible with this because some people want it gone that day and others just say you can come whenever to pick up.  We made sure we always made it work to get their items when they wanted them gone, since they were donating to us.  Also scout out other yard sales and talk with the people having the sales and see if you can have their leftovers…you pick it all up when they are done.  People usually love this because after someone throws a yard sale they just want the leftovers gone.  This is also great because most yard sales you pick up from will already have their stuff priced, which equals a little less work for you.

*TIP #3: BE ORGANIZED.  This take s a ton of time, but is well worth it.  Organize everything into categories like home decorations, holidays, books, movies, kitchen supplies, shoes, clothes, jewelry, toys, garden supplies, hardware, baby gear, etc.  You get the picture.  If it is organized, it is more appealing.  Use lots of tables and clothes racks.  Also don’t leave things in boxes.  People don’t want to rummage through boxes…they want to walk through aisles and see what you have.  So if at all possible, take everything out of boxes even clothes.  Books and movies don’t really apply here. You would want them in boxes, but with spines up so people can easily read what they are.  And don’t be afraid to ask for help.  I don’t believe that everyone is meant to adopt, but there are plenty of people that feel called to help those who are adopting.  Extra hands will be a pure blessing, so let go and let people help bless you.

*TIP #4: PRICE EVERYTHING.  People don’t want to name their own price. We actually had this happen twice last time, where 2 things slipped by us and the people came and asked us how much…my mom said. “What will you give for it,” and both times the ladies said, “I don’t want to do that,” and put the item back and moved on. So even down to the tiniest things…price everything.  For books and movies, we just labeled the boxes…like for books 50 cents paper back, $1 hard back. No sense in labeling every one of those.

*TIP #5: HAVE A TWO DAY SALE.  We always do a Friday and Saturday sale.  This is probably my best advice.  You actually will be the busiest on Friday and less busy on Saturday.  Most people just do Saturday and that is where I think they miss out.  The real yardsale people out there like Friday sales and if you have done all your advertising you will get a great turnout.

*TIP #6: RE-ORGANIZE.  If you do a two day sale, the morning of day two reorganize and make things look nice.  Just like a store cleans up each night, so goes for a yard sale.  Also at our last one, we had so much stuff that some clothes did not make it out of some boxes on day one, so on day two we straightened everything up and made more room on the tables, so we were able to get those clothes out of the boxes.

*TIP #7: ADD A BAKE SALE.  This is so easy and people who don’t have items to give you will usually gladly make you some Rice Krispy Treats.  For the pricing of baked goods, just make it by donation. So when people ask, “How much for the cake pops,” just tell them, “They are just by donation, so whatever you want to give and get you some goodies.”  This works well because some people will give you a $5 bill and then just take a few cookies. And if they give you a bigger bill and don’t take very much, we would always encourage them to take some more…the goodies are there to be enjoyed.  Also we noticed that “different” things sold better than just your normal cookies.  So yummy breads, cute trail mixes, cake pops or even if you have regular Rice Krispy Treats, dip one end in chocolate and it will go quicker than the regular Rice Krispy Treat.

And cute kiddos at a lemonade stand, doesn’t hurt either.

*TIP #8: GOOD PRICING.  As far as good prices…I would just say don’t be too cheap, but don’t be crazy pricey either.  I would do a reasonable amount for everything and for the most part I would be firm on price for the first day of the sale. When someone would ask if we would take $x for something instead of what we had priced, I would always say, “I normally would, but we are trying to bring our little boy home from Africa,” and I really can’t remember one person putting the item back.  So if you make it clear why this sale is so important to you people seem to be understanding. On day 2 of the sale, we were much more negotiable, especially on larger items. Near the end of day two, you just want that stuff gone, so we even did $5 a bag for the last two hours just to get it gone.

*TIP #9: CLEAR SIGNS.  Make sure you have big, clear signs that people can see from the road.  Make sure there are signs on the main roads leading to your sale location.  Also, we found that some people would stop just because the sign said “Adoption Yard Sale”.  We had several people that stopped, didn’t buy one single thing and just gave us a donation.  Don’t shy away from why this sale is so important.  I made sure that people knew we were working hard to bring our little boy home.

*TIP #10: BE GRATEFUL.  Make sure you send thank you notes. I know this might sound super trivial, but with Sol’s adoption I did this with everything and I noticed that people really appreciated it.  So with our second adoption process I have been doing the same and I just think people really appreciate thank you notes.  When someone donated stuff or made baked goods or even helped us move furniture I sent a thank you note to let them know how grateful we were for their help. I did this as I went so I could keep up and I noticed that some people that had already given or helped us, came back and offered more.  This may be because they were just nice, but sometimes I thought a thank you note maybe made them feel pretty good and really let them know how truly grateful we were for their help.  It’s nice to show people that you appreciate the help they are giving you.

(Thank You note design by Dana at Lifelines Designs)

So there you have it, our Top 10 Yard Sale Tips.  Not sure if I have ever typed that many words in one post before…can you tell I am a little crazy about my yard sales?  Hope these little tips help a bit and here’s to lots of fundraising yard sales this spring.  Happy Spring and Happy Yard Saling!

Have I mentioned that I absolutely adore this child?  And what an amazing, over-the-top blessing it is to be her mom.  I really like her.

Our 4 Months Waiting Art Giveaway ended last night.

And the winner is…

Comment #7 Nancy Cornwell.  Congrats Nancy and thanks to everyone who entered the giveaway.  Same time next month, unless, how wonderful it would be if we got to see our son 🙂

And I did finish up one large order of key fobs.  These were ordered by Jessie in Georgia for a girls retreat she is heading up.  I was so thrilled to do this order.  I loved all the fabric choices and really loved the theme of the retreat…Consider the Lilies.  Thanks again so much Jessie and hope the retreat is awesome.

The weather has been so perfect the last 2 days.  We have already been outside most of the day here is Tennessee enjoying the weather and the weekend.

I had to include the above picture of Huddy as he was about to wreck on his tricycle.  Boy held it together though…I like his furrowed brow.

Happy Weekend!

Happy St. Patty’s Day from the Kelley kids to you.

And our 4 Months Waiting Art Giveaway ends tomorrow night at midnight.  To enter either scroll down to the post below or CLICK HERE to Enter.

It’s that time again.  We have been waiting for our next little guy for 4 months now.  Honestly, I did not think we would even be waiting this long, even though 4 months isn’t that long…not complaining at all.

I wasn’t really sure what quote/verse/lyric I wanted to use for 4 months and then I ran across this song lyric by the Counting Crows:

It has been four days and nights
All I want is something fine
It gets harder every time
She is sleeping far away
Take a breath
Take your time
Spread your wings and rise

It just struck me and I loved it for what I was wanting to create this time on a 8×10 canvas.  My kids have been totally into daffodils lately and I knew I wanted to use some type of daffodil design and honestly, with spring finally showing up little by little, it reminds me that hope matters.  Even when I do not see God working I have hope and trust in the fact that He is working and moving in ways I may not physically see, but one day, I will see and how amazing and beautiful it will be.  I look forward to that day.

There are several ways to enter to win (please leave a separate comment for each entry):

-Leave a comment about something that is or has been a reminder of hope to you

-Blog about the giveaway

-Share the giveaway on your Facebook

–Share the giveaway on Twitter

–Become a fan on Facebook HERE

–Follow on Twitter HERE

-Subscribe to receive PPA updates by email in the right side bar

Giveaway will end this Friday, March 18th at midnight and the winner will be announced on Saturday.

I was able to get some more orders completed today.  This Africa tee was ordered by Holly in New York.  Holly wanted to celebrate a milestone in their adoption process with a PPA Africa tee.  She mailed in a tee and all her specifics and I set to work.  Thanks so much Holly and hope your adoption journey is quick and smooth.

These key fobs are headed to Morgan in Texas.  Thanks so much Morgan and hope everyone loves them.

These key fobs were ordered by Nina in Illinois and Jessica in Texas.

Jessica also wanted a 3/4″ pendant with her kiddos names on it.  Thanks so much ladies…totally appreciate your business.

Hope everyone has a fantastic Wednesday and here’s to the Kelley family being another month closer to our sweet boy!

The weather last week was amazing and we practically lived outside.  I am fully prepared for spring and lots and lots of full days spent outside – only coming in for bathroom breaks, naps and to get more snacks.

And Sol really does smile like this…90% of the time.

I scored the best Radio Flyer wagon for just $20 at my friend Brea’s sale, Encores & More North Consignment Sale and my kids are LOVING it!

Not only did I get all my kiddo’s spring and summer clothes and shoes, but also these amazing $2 bike helmets that have made my boys thoroughly happy.  What can I say…

Hoping one of my boys will play baseball…like fall in love with baseball.  Josh has been an addict since, well, forever.  I think they have a pretty good chance.  I do have one lefty and one righty batter.

My dear friend Ashley got married Saturday and it was a gorgeous day and a gorgeous wedding.  It didn’t hurt that she had one of the cutest flower girls ever.  I’m not partial 🙂  Love you Ashley and thanks for asking us to be apart of your special day.  You were too beautiful.

Harper is still rockin’ her 1st soccer season.  Her 1st game is coming up and I can barely stand the excitement.  The teams are made up of 6 kids and she is 1 of 2 girls on her team.  She is surprisingly pretty aggressive after the ball…makes this momma proud.

Got this awesome bracelet in the mail last week and I AM IN LOVE.  I have worn it everyday since getting it.  You must check out ETC Jewelry Shop and get you one too.

Picked up some new fabrics last week.  I am in total and complete love with the first print.

I’m going to be headed to Swaziland to visit our church’s carepoint, Ngungwane, in May.  It is going to be a simply amazing trip and I cannot wait to meet all our kiddos and just love on them for about 10 days.  I think Josh is a bit jealous 🙂  I’m crazy excited, but will miss these sweet faces.

I was so crazy busy last week with just life that I didn’t get too many orders finished.  I did finish these (2) 12×12 Names of Jesus pieces.  The first one was ordered by Angela in Mississippi.  Thanks so much Angela for your business.

The second canvas is going to be up for auction at a fundraiser for a little boy named Thatcher Link who is awaiting a liver transplant.  You can read all about Thatcher’s story HERE. Thanks Amy for asking me to participate…it’s an honor.

These camera straps were ordered by Laura in Indiana and Shannon in North Carolina.  Thanks so much ladies…especially for your patience.  Hope you love your strap.

Today we have officially been on the wait list for 4 months.  With recent changes going on with court in Ethiopia, I am preparing myself for several more giveaways 🙂  But God is in control, so I am resting in that knowledge and knowing that God’s timing is perfect.  I am completely for efforts that are going to make adoptions more ethical.  So if time is what the Ethiopian government needs to thoroughly investigate each child’s history to make sure everything is in line and as it should be, then so be it.  I know my son is in Ethiopia and I would wait a lifetime to meet him.  It does suck to have to wait longer, but I want to support efforts to make sure ethics in adoption is top priority.  Plus, who knows what God has planned…I’m anxious to see.

So 4 Months Waiting Art Giveaway will be posted tomorrow – Wednesday, March 16th. Going to have to snag my 15th newspaper and get to work.  Happy Tuesday!

Well the Kelley family has been insane lately.  We are so crazy busy that this momma is on the verge of loosing it.  I know life just gets like this sometimes and I am looking forward to next week when life seems to be taking a lull.

Also I have decided that laundry and dishes are officially my arch nemesis (like most moms, I’m sure)…with 5 people (3 being small kiddos) dishes and laundry and in abundance and most of the time, my cup runneth over.

I have officially quit taking new orders, so I can do major catch up on my order list.  This past week I made some minor dents in my list.

These camera straps were ordered by Emily in Minnesota, Casey in Alabama, Laura in Johson City, Tennessee, Jody in Louisiana and Carisa in Pikeville, Tennessee.  Thanks so much ladies…totally appreciate your business.

This 16×20 1 Corinthians 13 canvas was ordered by Deborah in Arkansas.  I love all the colors and patterns…just makes me happy.  Thanks so much Deborah and hope you love the piece.

This little taggie blanket was ordered by wonderful Dana at Lifelines Designs.  Are you tired of hearing how fantastic Dana is?  She does all my digital designing and I cannot say enough good things about her.  Make sure you check out her shop HERE.  And go “like” her on Facebook while you are at it…she does not disappoint.  Thanks Dana…you rock, as always.

Allison in Mississippi ordered this sweet little monkey onesie for her little monkey who’s on its way.  Thanks so much Allison and hope the rest of your pregnancy is a breeze 🙂

Cari in Goodlettsville, Tn ordered this floral key fob for her sweet mom and a cool fabric bracelet for her daughter.  Thanks Cari…as always.

And this 18×18 canvas was a gift for my friend Ashley who is getting married this weekend.  Harper is Ashley’s flower girl, so of course we are just too excited about this wedding.  I wanted to make Ashley something special, so I asked her to gather important notes, ticket stubs, invitations, cards etc that she and her fiance’ Adam had kept during their relationship.  I made copies of all the items and used them for the background of the canvas.  Then I used the verse Jeremiah 29:11 that Ashley chose.  This was a nerve racking piece to me for some reason, but I just wanted to get it right.  Ashley loved it, so I was pleased.  Hope your marriage is nothing short of amazing Ashley…love you!

When I have such a large order list and am always working to get everyone’s orders completed, sometimes I just have to take a little break and make something I have been wanting to make.  Like a crafty day off, except I make something that has been running around in my brain.  Last week was one of those times, so I made up this little 8×8 canvas and gave it away on my PPA Facebook page.  I really love how it turned out and it was nice to just create something new and then share it with someone else.

My kiddos have been pretty busy themselves.  Harper started soccer…

And the boys have been busy taking their pants off…a lot…like every time I turn around.

And lastly, if you are Tanyia and you entered our 3 Months Waiting Giveaway, I’m still looking for you 🙂  You can view the winners post HERE to see if you were the Tanyia who won.

Happy Tuesday!

For Christmas my mom bought the boys a tub of army men…you know the little green plastic ones that come with a million other comrades?  They have recently fallen in love with these little guys and our house has officially become a war zone.  I find army men everywhere.  This morning I found Huddy asleep with the entire tub of army men dumped out in his bed.  They are just smitten with them.

And yes they are both wearing a pair of Harper’s pink shoes…what can I say.

But, like I said, they are everywhere.  Today I surveyed the battle field and snapped pictures of everywhere I found an army man.  Consider the evidence…

This guy is Huddy’s favorite.  He even woke up in the middle of the night and cried for his “Army Weedeater Man”…I can see where he gets the name from.

If you need a cheap toy that may amuse your kids for hours on end, like mine, then stock up on these guys, just be prepared to be invaded…it will happen.

I also have completed several new orders.  These key fobs headed out to Kimberly in Gallatin, Tn, Joede in Arkansas, Ponn in Connecticut, Debbi in Wisconsin, Natalie in Georgia and Ayesha in Nashville, Tn.  Hope you ladies love them.

This set of key fobs was ordered by Kelli in Wisconsin.  Thanks so much Kelli.

Sometimes when I am working on things, I decide that I may like one of whatever I am making as well.  I was totally in key fob mode and when I started making my SIL Kim some new ones for her birthday, I ended up making myself a new one also.  Love how they turned out.

These two birthday tees were ordered by Courtney in Brentwood, Tn.  She needed a special car and train tee for each of her boys to sport at their birthday party.  I was so excited to make these for them.  Thanks so much Courtney.

I actually had back-to-back people order train tees.  This sweet train tee was ordered by Ashley in Hendersonville, TN for her little boy Grady.  Josh actually went to high school with Ashley and played baseball for years and years with her husband Grant, so I was more than happy to make this little tee up.  Thanks so much Ashley.

This 16×20 1 Corinthians 13 canvas was ordered by Terri in TN.  I love this piece and even more, that others love it as well.  Thank you so much Terri.

This sweet 11×14 canvas was ordered by April in Kentucky.  I love when I get to actually meet a customer and April is someone who I have been swapping emails with for probably years now.  She ordered this piece for her new daughter’s room and was actually passing through Tennessee after it was completed, so I got to hand deliver it.  It was so nice to actually meet.  I send one gazillion emails a day and often after swapping emails with people I think, “I bet we would be friends.”  So it was nice to really meet you April and thanks again so much.

These flowery fabric bracelets were ordered by Jennifer in Michigan.  I got some new bracelet hardware and I am LOVING the new look…even thought it’s a small change 🙂  Thanks so much Jennifer and hope you love them as well.

And this last order for Melissa in South Carolina I finished up today during nap.  By the way, nap is crucial for me getting anything completed during the day…if you were wondering 🙂  Melissa wanted some too cute key fobs…love all her fabric choices…some fabric bracelets and some sweet initial tees.  Thanks so much again Melissa…it was a pleasure.

And I currently have 30+ custom orders and need to close custom orders for a bit, so I can catch up.  So I will be taking no new orders until further notice.  Once I get caught up, I will start taking new orders again.  I just have to get all the current order completed and shipped out.  As always, thank you so much for all the business…it is a real blessing.