Necklaces for sale

CLICK on the thumbnail of each photo, to view a larger photo in Photobucket.com. I'm trying this out because it saves me a BUNCH of time (leaving me more time to CREATE)!! Leave comment or email me at chosenone.blingwithaheart@gmail.com for more details. Or come by and see me at the market to see them 'live'!!!  If you mention this post, receive a FREE pair of earrings with the purchase of anything else! 

Be the change...

                                                        ...you want to see!


I love this quote and felt is was a good title considering ALL the changes going on in my world these days.

To name a few, I'm just going to list them and tell you about it.


Ready???


Set.....


GO!!!

BLOG MAKEOVER:

As you can see, there are many physical changes in the look of my blog (thanks to Nikki at Blogs for a Cause).  This girl is amazing!   She has travelled the world doing amazing humanitarian work, all through the proceeds of Blogs for a Cause.  She has a gift and a huge heart!  Keep up your amazing work Nikki (and sorry for any misunderstanding with the email communication)!!! :) 

BLOG BADGE:

Nikki also created for me my very own Blog Badge, can ya tell that I'm ubberly excited!!!  I've been trying to figure this one out for sometime now and no luck!!!  THANKS Nikki! 

Now, YOU can share in my 'at home' missions by posting my blog badge on YOUR blog (and possibly say a few kind words about my mission - this would be good too) to help spread the word!!!

For now, the html code is below.  Nikki is working on trying to get it set up so the code will be directly below the badge (for now, this should work). Let me know if you have any issues posting.

BLOG MISSION:

The mission of this blog has changed slightly (like I've said in previous posts).  To start, this blog was created to document my journey of travelling on my first mission trip to Haiti in December of this year, 2010.  Then my trip got cancelled.

I was lost and confused over my 2nd missions trip being cancelled or not happening.

I opened up to God and asked him "WHERE do you want me to go?", "How do you want to use the talents of mine?", "Show me the direction he wanted me to go (booking another missions trip or what??" and "WHAT I was supposed to be doing to fulfill the purpose He has for me."

Then a strange, and I mean really strange thing happened.

In March, I saw a 6 day old baby in the doctor's office and began crying.  Weird thing is, I didn't even know I was crying until the tear hit my hand that was placed in my lap.  Then, I didn't even know WHAT I was crying for.

Later that night, I told Jacques about what had happens and explained I had no idea what I was crying for. We talked a bit and I thought 'that, was that'. Then.....God took a grip of our hearts and planted a HUGE seed, a seed that we should possibly consider adopting again. But I had SO many reasons why it wasn't true, that we couldn't be. We played tug-a-war for sometime with the idea, it kinda went like this:

  

I mean, really? A baby? It can't be. Are you kidding me? A baby? Are you sure you have the right family? I mean, life has resumed to normal and relatively stress free after our first attempt at adopting a 12 year old girl (that sadly ended in a breakdown). And I thought that adopting was not ever going to happen in our family again.  I thought this wasn't my mission anymore. What about our home schooling adventure that starts this year? Don't ya think this is going to be too much to accomplish? Ha, a baby!   It can't be. There was NO way. Are you sure? What about our ages? We're both approaching 40 and Noah's approaching double digits. Life is comfortable now. A baby?  It can't be. What about the financial side of an adoption. We don't have an $30,000 just lying around in a bank account, waiting to be spent on an adoption. How are we going to come up with THAT kinda money? Really, a baby?  It just can't be. And what about our upcoming move next year? What happens if these two big events happen at the same time?  A baby?  It just can't be, God, it can't be.  

 

Guilt (over questioning God and what He is asking us to do), followed by a bunch of scripture and parts of Dangerous Surrender, by Kay Warren came rushing over.

"I am the Lord's servant, and I am willing to accept whatever he wants" Luke 1:38           If you love me, you will obey what I command. John 14:15           "What is a litmus test of your surrender and obedience to God is how you treat the least among us." Kay Warren           'I tell you the truth, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers of mine, you did for me.' Matthew 25:40           "For you to become a seriously disturbed, surrendered person of faith, you will have to be willing to say yes in advance - to give God your answer before you've heard the question." Kay Warren            The reason I wrote you was to see if you would stand the test and be obedient in everything. 2 Corinthians 2:9           If you are willing and obedient, you will eat the best from the land. Isaiah 1:19           Remind the people to be subject to rulers and authorities, to be obedient, to be ready to do whatever is good, Titus 3:1           As obedient children, do not conform to the evil desires you had when you lived in ignorance. 1 Peter 1:14           If anyone loves me, he will obey my teaching. My Father will love him, and we will come to him and make our home with him. John 14:23           To look after orphans and widows in their distress and to keep oneself from being polluted by the world. James 1:27

It was like a merry go round, going faster and faster and faster and faster and faster when we finally just came to a screeching halt.      Okay, okay....yes, yes, yes....we will, we will adopt.

So YES my dear friends and family, you read correctly. We are adopting! We have begun an international adoption from Vietnam.   By the grace of God, we will welcome home a baby girl, under 12 months old with minor correctable special needs (like cleft palate, club feet, premature, low birth rate, etc).  It is a very LONG process that could take between 2-3 years, possibly less for a special needs.

An exciting day:  mailing our application!

It was an exuberant feeling when we finally stopped fighting the call that God has so clearly asked of us.   And we are all very excited.   Noah (for the most part) is absolutely thrilled to be adopting a baby sister in a few years, especially after he got to spend some time with my friend's daughter (who is adopted from Vietnam) this summer when their family visited (and we visited theirs).  Every now and then he stops me to say 'will she be this small?' while holding his hand up to his waist. 

Then once, he actually gave me the list of his demands (so cute!) on whether we 'would' adopt or not!!!

In order, they were:

1.  She will NOT be allowed in his room. (fair enough, I get that)
2. She will have to pick up all her toys and not leave them lying around the way the cat and dog leave there's around the living room! (LOL, so cute)
3. He will NOT be changing ANY diapers! (surprised this was not his #1 demand)

So BIG gulp...here we go.   We have a couple years living on the BARE minimums to afford the cost of our adoption. We are saving, scrimping and doing as much as we can to save all of our money for our adoption.  We are absolutely willing to do what ever it takes to make this happen.

"In what ways are you allowing God to rearrange your schedule, your finances, your affections, so that you can regularly interact with those he loves?” Kay Warren

I 'get' that some people may not get our intentions or desire to adopt, or may just plain out disagree with our decision. You have every right to your own opinions.  But please respect that we live by God's rules and not yours.   God doesn't always ask us to choose the route that is most popular, or do things that are easy and we want to follow Him, not the crowd.   Heck, if we always fit into the status quo and didn't turn heads or had people talking, wouldn't that get boring after a while?  Would we really grow or just be stuck in the same boring place in our lives?  

“It really isn't any of my business - or your business - what God does in someone else's life. My only business is to follow him" Kay Warren

"Do not follow the crowd in doing wrong. When you give testimony in a lawsuit, do not pervert justice by siding with the crowd,” Exodus 23:2

So...with all that said, part of our plan to save money for our adoption was to come out with a new line of jewelry.  New pieces that are JUST for fundraising efforts for our adoption.

Let me make one point clear:

• All earrings I make (and any that have already been made), will still be sold to raise money for rice in Haiti.
• All solidarity necklaces I make, will still be sold to raise money for income for women in Kenya.
• And...all new pieces will be sold to raise money for our adoption

Once our adoption is complete, my vision is to continue to use any money raised through the sale of my jewelry in 'pay it forward' ways.    A few ideas I have in my head are to help others who are adopting internationally, to help the orphanage that our little girl comes from or helping our agency, etc. 

Go BIG, or go home, right?

With these changes, I felt a new name was appropriate as well. 

So here it is *drum roll please*................ OK, so a drum roll wasn't 'really' needed, but come on.  Have some fun with me, people!!!

NAMES AND CARDS:

I have been 'busting my butt' working on getting lots of new designs to raise money for our adoption.  With all these new pieces, the response has been HUGE at our local farmer's market each weekend.


So far, we have raised close to $400 towards our adoption in only 3 weeks!  

Once the markets are finished (after Christmas), I am going to start selling them online.  Right now, I just don't have time to take photos and upload...plus, we are doing very well at the markets!

CHRISTMAS AT THE COLISEUM:


Feeling confident about the success we're having at the markets, I started looking around at different Christmas craft shows in our area that I could attend to make a few extra sales at.


As I searched, I kept coming back to the Christmas at the Coliseum (in Moncton).  This is THE largest craft show in all Atlantic Canada in November.  It's the 23rd annual show, with over 400 exhibitors and over 30,000 expected to be in attendance. 


When I first talked to Jacques about it, his immediate response was 'Go for it'!  Naturally, I was a little scared and thinking I was a little crazy, but many prayers later I have decided to go for it!  It is a little bit of a risk, but without risk, how can one grow.  Go BIG, or go HOME!!!

So here I am ready to mail my application for the Christmas at the Coliseum - another proud and VERY exciting moment in our house! 


CHIP IN:

You'll notice that I've added a "Chip In" on my side bar. To date, I have sold enough jewellery to raise close to $400 (but have not figure out how to 'start' the chip in with an amount, rather than at zero (if you know, can you please let me know).

If you would like to help in any way, please let me know. Any help is MOST appreciated.

So that's ALL my new news....lots going on, huh!

 I can breath now.... *breath in, breath out, breath in, breath out*

I have everything organized in our adoption, fundraising, home schooling world - just in time for our home schooling adventure to begin in one week.  Now it's time to do some fun Mom and Me activities with my boy this week!!!

Keep an eye on my blog, become a follower (so I know you are reading), send some kind words of encouragement and keep in touch.   It'll be a long journey, are you in for the ride with us?

Thanks for all your support...

Many Blessings,

Tara

Are you ready?

Lots of changes on the way.....

Be prepared!

Blessings,
Tara

Where it all began, and where I'm headed

So the conception of this, I began document my journey started so many years ago.  Working on a mission to help those around me.  What I thought was going to be travelling on my first mission trip to Haiti in December 2010, has changed so much since our trip got cancelled after the earthquake.


With this news, I have agreed to continue what I have started.  Even if I can't go on a mission trip I can still do mission work, right from home! 


This blog will be my mission adventure, even if there is NO travel involved!


SO, here I am!  Making jewelry 'on a mission'!!!


I will continue to make and sell jewelry to provide for a 'better good'! I've been at our local farmers market for 4 weeks now and it is going amazing.  I have all remaining Saturday's booked until the end of October, come by and see me.  Click HERE, to see all the dates I will be at the market..  If you mention this post or my blog, I will give you a FREE pair of earrings with the purchase of any other item at my table!


So here's how it will work:


ALL jewelry made to raise money for RICE for Haiti, will remain being sold with profits going to buy RICE and help in Haiti.  This consists of most earrings and several bracelets.  I will continue to make earrings to raise money for Haiti.

Earrings     $2

Bracelets    $5

ALL necklaces made to raise money to provide INCOME for women in Kenya, will remain being sold with all sales being sent to the Kenny family for this project.  I will continue to make necklaces for Kenya, until my beads run out!

Solidarity Necklaces    $10

There are 5 colour pendant beads for the Kenya collection.

Tan (not shown)
Earth Brown (top left)
Light Green (top right)
Royal Blue (bottom left)
Light Blue (bottom right)


I will get some better photos of these necklaces as soon as I can, to better reflect the colours of these beautiful pendants!


MANY new pieces of jewelry will be sold to help support an international adoption.

Most necklaces    $10

Wire work rings     $5

Glass pendant rings (top right corner)     $10

There are SO many more designs of necklaces and these photos are not the 'best' as I had several requests to get them posted (so I did them quickly).  I will be working at taking some better pictures of many of the designs just as soon as I can.

So as you see, the beginning of this blog until now - my focus has changed slightly.  In the end, it's all to do a better good for the world in which we live.  So has it 'really' changed?

If you're interested in any of the designs, please email me at tara.morin473@gmail.com.

Blog Badge?

Can anyone direct me to 'fool proof' instructions on how to create a blog badge???

Sale Progress

So far, the earring BLOWOUT Sale is going amazing.  I was at the market today and sold over 40 pairs of earrings, 8 bracelets, 4 rings and 1 kids necklace.

Lots of feedback as to what customers want - VERY excited.

Like I said, I am transitioning away of fundraising for Haiti & Kenya sales, but are still going to be having lots of new stock.  Check back from time to time to see what's new. 

I will now be at the market the following weekends:

• August 21
• Sept 4
• Sept 11
• Sept 18
• Sept 25
• Oct 2
• Oct 9
• Oct 16
• Oct 23
• Oct 30
• Dec 4 (Christmas at the Market)

Each week, we will be selling lots of jewelry.  Come and see us at the market.

If you quote this email:  "I read it on your blog"

Get a FREE pair of earrings,

with the purchase of any piece of jewelry!

BLOWOUT SALE

on all earrings & bracelets

The time has come and I am going to 'close out'

all our fundraising for both Haiti  and Kenya.  

We will be at the 
Grand Falls Farmer's Market
on

July 24 and July 31.

After this, I will be posting all remaining earrings

(close to 200 pairs)

as a "LOT" 

on either etsy or ebay,

for a VERY good price. 

 If anyone is interested in a LOT price,
please contact me:  tara.morin473@gmail.com.

Until then,

ALL earrings - $2 each
ALL bracelets - $5 each

Contact me if you are interested in

purchasing either or both.


Some samples of earrings ($2 each):

Some samples of bracelets ($5 each):

Some samples of Kenya Necklaces ($10 each):

NOTE:

I do not have photos for each type of earring, bracelet or necklace.

SO....

If you are interested,
please specify your colour preference 
and
 your style preference
(example, do you like longer earrings or more simple).

Email me your mailing address and I can send you a quote for shipping.

For most, it is $1.22 or $2.00 (depending on the quantity ordered).

Also,
I will be away from today (Fri July 16 thru to Fri July 23) and NOT have access to a computer.

New Opportunities

Well life in the mission field has been pretty grim lately...I still have lots of ideas, just not too much is being executed.


I'm excited to announce that I will begin selling the Earrings for Haiti (and then some) at our local farmers market tomorrow morning!  So excited!


Now, a while back I told you something that I was really excited about.....I will tell you today!

The new 'fire burning' mentioned in THIS POST, I will finally share.

We met a young missionary family (through our church) living in Kenya.  When they delivered their presentation, I was excited to learn that they had recently started a 'Jewelry Ministry'!  How cool is THAT!!!

The women in this ministry (or program) - make their own beads out of clay from Kenya, make the necklaces and sell them.  The Kenny's (the missionary family) brought (I think) around 250 necklaces with them to sell.  If they sell all of these, the money raised will provide 10 women's annual income for the coming year!    I bought a few necklaces...but the more exciting news is that they gave us many of the single beads.  In return, I have told them I would make the necklaces and sell them for their ministry! 

Starting on June 12, I will have a table at our local Farmer's Market to sell both these necklaces and Jewelry for HAITI. 

My friend Dianne has been working hard at jewelry making, while I've be working hard at the school.  She has created several beautiful pieces, from necklaces, bracelets and even some rings.  They are beautiful.

I really looking forward to talking to customers 'face to face'.  Over the summer, I have booked 4 Saturdays to sell at the Farmer's Market.  I hope this will produce much income for these women in Kenya and much food for families in Haiti!

New fire burning...can't wait to share!

Remember THIS POST, you know about the not so great news of our trip to Haiti being cancelled. 

Well I said (and I quote):

At this point, in terms of making a decision I feel like I am at a fork in my road. Obviously, it's not time for me to decide so I'm excited to see what the year brings. I am going to pray about it and I KNOW that God will lead me in the direction I am supposed to go. I trust this.

Since this post (on April 18), my prayers have been: 'God show me a new path, open up a new road and show me the direction you wish for me to go, help me used all I have learned in a way that will serve you'  

GUESS WHAT....God has answered my prayers.  

My family and I will be busy on the long weekend (here in Canada), so stay tuned (it may not be until next week)!!!

Progress

What's up these days? 

It feels horrible not visiting this blog so much and writing updates :(

I miss all the excitement I felt at the beginning when our trip first got booked.

Here are some updates:

• I'm continuing to take Creole (official language in Haiti) lessons - in hopes that one day I will travel to Haiti and if anything else, to help our instructor out and to learn!
• Roland & Bernice are (most likely) going for almost 2 months in September/October time frame, VERY excited for them!
• We're preparing for a garage sale with LOTS of donated items to sell with ALL the proceeds going to New Missions - in Haiti to buy rice or help rebuild or help buy medical supplies.
• We are continuing to make jewelry - earrings, bracelets and now necklaces to sell (and getting a few orders here and there)...all this money will continue to go to buy rice & beans through New Missions in Haiti

So you see...even though I am no longer going on my trip, I can still do lots to help out!  I love doing it!