Monday, June 21, 2010

A new winner!

But first - check out what Kerri had to say about her prize from me on her blog Mommy 4 Him!  I shipped her custom artwork this week - my first [ReDeemed] piece to leave America!


Unfortunately our first winner was not able to claim her prize, so we had to draw again!
The new winner is Kristina Thomas, and she claimed her prize within 20 minutes!  Way to go Kristina!

Saturday, June 19, 2010

And the Winner is...

Recently delivered custom ordered "Ransomed style Fender Washer

I'm pleased to announce that the Facebook page has exceeded 350 fans!  In fact, we went to 373!

The drawing was dramatically held Saturday morning, by my lovely assistant, Jordan.


(she wants to be a model and actress!)

And the winner is...

Tina Hagar!  Tina is not only a fan of [ReDeemed] unique art, but a fan of the arts in general.  She is a member of the Little Elm Cultural Arts Council and is the Director of the Little Elm Library.

Congratulations Tina!

Here are a few more custom orders recently delivered:
Phillipians 4:13 Scrabble tile bracelet, hand-stamped with crystals

"Never Alone" Hymnal Fender Washer, hand-tinted with crystals


Wednesday, June 16, 2010

Blog overhaul...

First - I have to say that I am loving the new Blogger templae designer!  Thanks!

I applied some changes, so if you've been visiting regularly, you'll notice them :)  I'd love to hear what you think!

Just one fan away...

I am 1 fan away from 350 in my Facebook page!

I will be giving away a $25.00 gift certificate and FREE shipping to one lucky fan when we reach 350 fans! Please pass this link on to your friends - they could be the 350th fan who gets the drawing started!

BONUS - if we hit 400 by the 18th, I'll DOUBLE the prize to $50.00!

Coaster Set, available at Erica's Auction!
Also - don't forget to check out Erica's Auction - there's another gift certificate chance over there!

Tuesday, June 15, 2010

[ReDeemed] items up for auction!



My dear friend, Erica, is raising money to go to the Czech Republic and teach English this school year!

She is doing an online blog auction to help!  Here are the items you can find from [ReDeemed] over there:
Photobucket




And this is NOT a [ReDeemed] item, but I think you'll like it!
 
 
As a bonus, I am drawing for a $10.00 [ReDeemed] gift certificate - to enter, please leave a bid on one of Erica's items, then leave a comment here telling me which one.  If you can't bid right now, please post a blog with info about Erica's auction and leave me a link in the comments - I'll count that too!  Entries will be counted here and on my Facebook Fan Page!

Saturday, June 12, 2010

And baby makes... SEVEN

That's right dear friends, we are expecting!

I'm due January 13, 2011.  I had a fantastic visit with the Doc yesterday and all is right on schedule.  Aside from a good bit of contempation of how I'm going to fit more baby pics on my walls, I'm doing well!

I've had a little nausea and a lot of fatigue, so everything is just about right!

In other news, we've decided to go to Disney World this September (it's one of the perks of homeschooling - off season travel!).  I'm committing all my profits from [ReDeemed] sales to the vacation fund.  No pressure, but I've got to net roughtly $150 a week between now and then!  So far, so good!  We're driving to save money (so I'll probably blog about things for kids to do in the car, on loooong car trips!) and staying with some dear family friends halfway through :)

We've completely paid off our credit cards, and with the exception of one "fell-off-the-wagon" experience last week at a Macy's sale (to the tune of $35.00 LOL) we are committed to staying that way!  We are using the principles in The Money Map from Crown Financial.  We went through a class several years ago, and have been working in that direcion ever since.  It's been a long road, but praise God we've made it!

(This is starting to feel like one of those Christmas letters!) 

Anyway, the point of all of this was just to catch you up - I've missed blogging and hope that when things calm down (OK, when I get my act together and am doing  abetter job of balancing it all!) I'll be back on a more regular basis!

I did find some really great things at the thrift store yesterday, including some Mickey Mouse shaped playing pieces, so I'm sure I'll be sharing some more projects and items soon!

Wednesday, June 2, 2010

To Bling or Not To Bling?

I have had many people tell me that consumers are looking for bling.  They love it.  If I would just add some razzle dazzle my business would really take off. 

About six weeks ago I was listening to KCBI where I heard the tail end of a discussion on modesty by Nancy Leigh DeMoss. A fresh interest in the subject was stirred up in me that day. I’ve always been raised modest, dressed modest, tried to instill modesty in my daughter etc, but it really had been an outward clothing issue. As I listened, and subsequently researched her website and found the True Woman Movement, the manifesto and the 30 Day True Women Makeover (you may remember my blog on the topic recently). I buckled in for this makeover, not really expecting to be made over much, since I’m already a Christian, conservative, and an all around pretty good girl!


Boy was I wrong! God worked so much in my life in those few minutes each day by e-mail! I even started walking with Him each morning and talking to Him and more importantly LISTENING in a different way than I had before. Now, it wasn’t just the 30 day makeover, God was also pouring into my life through a few good friends, our Pastor’s messages, our small group study and just common sense observations of my surroundings.

I realized that I am where I am today because of God’s grace and the lessons I’ve learned along the way. I owe much to many good friends, not the least of which is Laura Belt. I realized how much I’ve taken for granted the truths I know, How uncommon it is to see people who genuinely desire to follow after God in all they do, even if it makes them look silly (I’m so guilty on this one – I don’t want to be a “freak”, one of “those people”, “backwards”, etc. I am thankful that God is working on my daily to erase my pride and increase my desire to be what He wants me to be, nothing more and nothing less!)

I realized that modesty is not contained in what we wear, but rather in the desires and motivations of our hearts. Here is where the “bling thing” comes into play. I’ve been considering adding bling to my jewelry; rhinestones and crystals, chunkier pieces, etc.  In fact, while at a wholesale jewelry findings supplier recently I was talking about my inner struggle on the topic and another shopper overheard.  She looked at me with a mixture of curiosity and disgust and asked "You've got a problem with bling?  All I know is I sell a ton of it!"

The problem is, it’s a feeble attempt to please “the market”. We all like bling – why? It gets us noticed! And in God’s economy, that is an issue. We were created to worship Him, to bring Glory to Him, to draw others to Him. If we strive for attention for ourselves, and never turn the glory to Him, then we’ve missed the entire point of our existence.

I’m not suggesting that it is “wrong” to wear jewelry, but rather we feel the essence of what the New Testament author is saying in 1 Peter 3:1-9

“In the same way, wives, be subject to your own husbands. Then, even if some (husbands) are disobedient to the word, they will be won over without a word by the way you live, when they see your pure and reverent conduct. Let your beauty not be (only) external – the braiding of hair and wearing of gold jewelry or fine clothes –but the inner person of the heart, the lasting beauty of a gentle and tranquil spirit, which is precious in God’s sight. For in the same way the holy women who hoped in God long ago adorned themselves by being subject to their husbands, like Sarah who obeyed Abraham, calling him lord. You become her children when you do what is good and have no fear in doing so.”

If our bling is on the outside, we draw attention to ourselves. If our BLING is on the inside, we bring attention and glory to God.



So my friends, you will find a bit of bling in my shop, but I pray that you will find much more BLING in my heart. And I pray that you’ll allow God to add a whole bunch of razzle dazzle BLING to yours as well!

Don't stop - there's lots more good stuff...

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