Military Week::Wednesday - Ready, Aim, FIRE!

TODAY IS GIVEAWAY DAY!!!

But first, a brief story to introduce you...

Last week I was in Atlanta , Georgia attending a conference. While I was in the airport, returning home, I heard several people behind me beginning to clap and cheer. I immediately turned around and witnessed one of the greatest acts of patriotism I have ever seen.

Moving through the terminal was a group of soldiers in their camo uniforms. As they began heading to their gate, everyone (well almost everyone) was abruptly to their feet with their hands waving and cheering.


When I saw the soldiers, probably 30-40 of them, being applauded and cheered for, it hit me. I'm not alone. I'm not the only red-blooded American who still loves this country and supports our troops and their families.


Of course I immediately stopped and began clapping for these young unsung heroes who are putting their lives on the line everyday for us so we can go to school, work and home without fear or reprisal.


Just when I thought I could not be more proud of my country or of our Service men and women, a young girl, not more than 6 or 7 years old ran up to one of the male soldiers. He knelt down and said 'hi...'


The little girl then asked him if he would give something to her daddy for her...


The young soldier, who didn't look any older than maybe 22 himself, said he would try and what did she want to give to her daddy. Then suddenly the little girl grabbed the neck of this soldier, gave him the biggest hug she could muster and then kissed him on the cheek.


The mother of the little girl, who said her daughter's name was Courtney, told the young soldier that her husband was a Marine and had been in Iraq for 11 months now. As the mom was explaining how much her daughter Courtney missed her father, the young soldier began to tear up.


When this temporarily single mom was done explaining her situation, all of the soldiers huddled together for a brief second...
Then one of the other servicemen pulled out a military-looking walkie-talkie. They started playing with the device and talking back and forth on it..


After about 10-15 seconds of this, the young soldier walked back over to Courtney, bent down and said this to her, 'I spoke to your daddy and he told me to give this to you.'  He then hugged this little girl that he had just met and gave her a kiss on the cheek. He finished by saying 'your daddy told me to tell you that he loves you more than anything and he is coming home very soon.'


The mom at this point was crying almost uncontrollably and as the young soldier stood to his feet, he saluted Courtney and her mom. I was standing no more than 6 feet away from this entire event.


As the soldiers began to leave, heading towards their gate, people resumed their applause. As I stood there applauding and looked around, there were very few dry eyes, including my own. That young soldier in one last act of selflessness turned around and blew a kiss to Courtney with a tear rolling down his cheek.


We need to remember everyday all of our soldiers and their families and thank God for them and their sacrifices. At the end of the day, it's good to be an American.

RED FRIDAYS 

Have you heard of Red Fridays, or maybe Red Shirt Fridays?  Let me give you a little background on Red Fridays - the premise is pretty simple...

Americans who support our troops used to be called the 'silent majority'. We are no longer silent, and are voicing our love for God, country and home in record breaking numbers.
Our idea of showing solidarity and support for our troops with dignity and respect starts this Friday - and continues each and every Friday until the troops all come home, sending a deafening message that every red-blooded American who supports our men and women afar will wear something red.
The color RED signifies the color of blood for all the soldiers whose lives have been lost as a result of war. 
By word of mouth, press, TV, online venues just like this one -- let's make the United States on every Friday a sea of red much like a homecoming football game in the bleachers.If every one of us who loves this country will share this with acquaintances, co-workers, friends, and family. It will not be long before the USA is covered in RED.

We need to let our servicemen and women know we support their sacrifice and we will not forget them and we will do this by wearing red on every Friday.

Wild Apple Design, in conjunction with the fabulous artistic talents of  Wild Blueberry Ink, have joined forces to offer several items for those individuals who want to support their country and soldiers by wearing red on RED FRIDAYS.  We recognize that many of you have dress codes or uniforms at your workplace and may be unable to wear RED clothing, so we have attempted to fulfill that market here. 

RED FRIDAY items are now available in the Wild Apple Design Etsy shop.  These items include:

http://www.etsy.com/listing/68215092/red-friday-bottle-cap-necklace-2-12884

Red Friday Bottle Cap Necklace: $14

http://www.etsy.com/listing/68214856/red-friday-bottle-cap-necklace-1-12882

 Red Friday Bottle Cap Necklace: $14

http://www.etsy.com/listing/68215412/red-friday-bottle-cap-magnet-set-5
Red Friday Bottle Cap Magnet Set: $7



http://www.etsy.com/listing/68215550/red-friday-bottle-cap-swivel-clip-12911
Red Friday Bottle Cap Swivel Clip: $6



http://www.etsy.com/listing/68215833/red-friday-bottle-cap-pins-set-of-2
Red Friday Bottle Cap Pins: $2 for 5



Red Friday Bottle Cap Key Chains - COMING SOON!!

10% of the sales from all RED FRIDAY products sold will be donated to Soldier’s Angels, an organization of volunteers who provides countless methods of assistance to all branches of the U.S. Military, veterans and their families. To learn more about Soldier’s Angels, please check out their website:
http://www.soldiersangels.org

When Keith was in Iraq, I awoke on Christmas Day to find our furnace had completely quit working and our house was 55 degrees.  The outside temperature was 32 degrees with snowfall and winds of 18 miles an hour.  The temperature was dropping fast.  It was Soldier's Angels who assisted our family with help acquiring a new furnace, and our family is extremely grateful for their assistance.

I can't thank Shirley at Wild Blueberry Ink enough for all of her hard work on the graphics for the RED FRIDAY project.  Please visit her Etsy Shop right HERE.  You can also find Shirley and Wild Blueberry Ink here:

Newsletter: http://wildblueberryink.com/blog/

Blog:: http://www.WildBlueBerryInk.com/blog

Twitter:: http://www.twitter.com/wildbluberryink

Facebook:: http://www.facebook.com/wildblueberryink

GIVEAWAY CONTEST:

What you win:  1st prize winner  - RED FRIDAY Bottle Cap Necklace (Value $14 USD)
                                2nd prize winner - RED FRIDAY Bottle Cap Magnet Set (Value $7 USD)
                                3rd prize winner  - RED FRIDAY Bottle Cap Swivel Clip (Value $6 USD)

How you win: 

• Leave a comment on this blog telling me what you do (or plan to do) to support a soldier - One entry.
• Leave a comment on your Facebook page, with a link to this blog - One entry. (Don't forget to come back here and leave a separate comment that you did this, otherwise I won't know you did it!)
• Leave a comment on your Twitter page, with a link to this blog - One entry.  (Again, don't forget to come back here and leave a comment that you did this...)
• Write a blog post about the RED FRIDAY concept, with a link to this blog - Two entries. (Return and leave a separate comment here please.)

All winners will be chosen by random number generator on Monday, Feb. 21.


Today's Tips and Terms:

Definition of Deployment:  To position (troops) in readiness for combat, as along a front or line.  During this phase, units or individuals deploy from their respective installations into their designated assignment.

Deployment Cycle:  The four phases of a soldier's deployment, as described below:

·       Pre-Deployment: Timeframe - From first notification of deployment until deployment occurs.

·       During Deployment: Timeframe - From departure until demobilization.

·       Demobilization: Timeframe - From the unit’s arrival at the demobilization station to departure for its home station.

·       Post-Deployment/Reconstitution: Timeframe - From arrival at home station to 180 days after arrival.

Please join me tomorrow for a little insight into the world of The Real Army Wives of the 34th ID, complete with VIDEO!!  Our motto:  Whatever gets you through.... [Hint: With us, it was mostly CHOCOLATE!]

Military Week::Monday - Rise & Shine!

Today marks the first day in a series of posts this week regarding a subject that is very dear to my heart. As many of you know, my husband Keith is a National Guard soldier. He joined the Army when he was 17. He actually turned 18 during basic training in Fort Dix, New Jersey, while doing push-ups in a mud puddle with a drill Sergeant screaming things that are not fit to print here. Needless to say, this was a far cry from his normal family birthday celebration on the farm with birthday cake. You're in the Army now, son.


Well, Keith survived the mud puddle, and the drill Sergeant (and many who came after him) to graduate from basic training, advanced training and move into being a paratrooper. That's right, my husband was one of those crazy people who jumped out of planes ON PURPOSE! His favorite thing to tell people when anyone asks if our age difference matters (7 years and no, it doesn't) is that he was jumping out of airplanes when I was still jumping off of school buses. Ha ha babe, you're a riot!


Keith served 6 years in the regular Army and saw some interesting parts of the country and really enjoyed Panama. He served as rear support for Grenada, honorably discharged, joined the ranks of civil service and got a regular job just like everyone else.


Fast forward to about 5 years ago. When my husband joined the National Guard in 2006, he wasn't even my husband yet. We were just friends and he didn't need to ask my opinion on whether he was making a good decision or not.  Regardless, there is no way I would ever ask him to consider my personal wants before the needs of our nation  Truth be told, being a soldier and doing "what's right" is who Keith is. Truth, justice and the American way are his mantra - no wonder superhero movies are his favorite. (He got me to go see Ironman by telling me it was a love story. He was right...)


In September 2008, Keith and I got married. The hardest part of getting married was knowing that in a few short months, my husband would be deploying to Iraq. One of my first roles as a new wife was to learn as much as I could about the Army - FAST! I think I did a pretty good job of that, attending FRG (Family Readiness Group) meetings and going to pre-deployment academies with thousands of other family members.  More on my support system during Keith's deployment later.  Keith was deployed to Iraq from February 2009 through February 2010.  Last week marked the one-year anniversary of his homecoming.  In some ways, that year sped right by like a freight train.  In other ways, there were days I thought would never end.  Being deployed to a combat zone in a foreign country during a war can change a person in ways I'm not sure I can explain, but I certainly will try to help you understand in order that you may truly appreciate what military families endure before, during, and after the deployment of a soldier. 


This week, I would like to share a little bit of what having a military life has been like for me over the last few years, in hopes that you will gain a greater appreciation for what military families go through during the deployment cycle.  If you are a military family, the experiences my family had may not mirror your experiences, but the intention of this week is education and information. I would be more than happy to answer any questions you have.

Today's tips and terms:

ACU's - Acronym: Army Combat Uniform, current combat uniform of today's Army (think desert or digital camo).

FRG - Acronym: Family Readiness Group. The FRG is a command sponsored organization of all assigned Soldiers (married and single), DA civilians, volunteers and their families (immediate and extended) that together provide mutual support and assistance and a network of communications among the family members, the chain of command, and community resources. While all of these individuals are automatically considered to be members of the FRG, participation is voluntary.

Skype - Skype is a method of making phone calls to anyone, anywhere in the world, using a microphone and an Internet connection.  Positive aspects include free or extremely low costs involved.  Negative aspects include spotty reception and often poor connections.  (More on this later...) 

For those of you who like STUFF, there will be a NEW PRODUCT released this week, as well as a giveaway. Trust me, this is good stuff! This is a totally new, totally original line, created in conjunction with Shirley of Wild Blueberry Ink.  Shirley is amazing.  I could seriously write an entire blog post about how wonderful I think Shirley is.  As my kids would say, she is "the bomb dot com."  When I approached Shirley to help me with the digital artwork for this new line, she rocked my socks off!  You will NOT be disappointed!  This week's blog posts are linked hand-in-hand to the new products that will be released.  The new items will be released Wednesday, as well as a giveaway - STAY TUNED!


The following poem was written by a gentleman named Michael Marks, as a way to express his thankfulness to soldiers.  It really hit home when I read it, so please honor soldiers everywhere by reading it also.  Thank you.

A Soldier's Christmas

The embers glowed softly, and in their dim light,

I gazed round the room and I cherished the sight.

My wife was asleep, her head on my chest,

my daughter beside me, angelic in rest.

Outside the snow fell, a blanket of white,

Transforming the yard to a winter delight.

The sparkling lights in the tree, I believe,

Completed the magic that was Christmas Eve.

My eyelids were heavy, my breathing was deep,

Secure and surrounded by love I would sleep

in perfect contentment, or so it would seem.

So I slumbered, perhaps I started to dream.

The sound wasn't loud, and it wasn't too near,

But I opened my eye when it tickled my ear.

Perhaps just a cough, I didn't quite know,

Then the sure sound of footsteps outside in the snow.

My soul gave a tremble, I struggled to hear,

and I crept to the door just to see who was near.

Standing out in the cold and the dark of the night,

A lone figure stood, his face weary and tight.

A soldier, I puzzled, some twenty years old

Perhaps a Marine, huddled here in the cold.

Alone in the dark, he looked up and smiled,

Standing watch over me, and my wife and my child.

"What are you doing?" I asked without fear

"Come in this moment, it's freezing out here!

Put down your pack, brush the snow from your sleeve,

You should be at home on a cold Christmas Eve!"

For barely a moment I saw his eyes shift,

away from the cold and the snow blown in drifts,

to the window that danced with a warm fire's light

then he sighed and he said "Its really all right,

I'm out here by choice. I'm here every night"

"Its my duty to stand at the front of the line,

that separates you from the darkest of times.

No one had to ask or beg or implore me,

I'm proud to stand here like my fathers before me.

My Gramps died at 'Pearl on a day in December,"

then he sighed, "That's a Christmas 'Gram always remembers."

My dad stood his watch in the jungles of 'Nam

And now it is my turn and so, here I am.

I've not seen my own son in more than a while,

But my wife sends me pictures, he's sure got her smile.

Then he bent and he carefully pulled from his bag,

The red white and blue... an American flag.

"I can live through the cold and the being alone,

Away from my family, my house and my home,

I can stand at my post through the rain and the sleet,

I can sleep in a foxhole with little to eat,

I can carry the weight of killing another

or lay down my life with my sisters and brothers

who stand at the front against any and all,

to insure for all time that this flag will not fall."

"So go back inside," he said, "harbor no fright

Your family is waiting and I'll be all right."

"But isn't there something I can do, at the least,

"Give you money," I asked, "or prepare you a feast?

It seems all too little for all that you've done,

For being away from your wife and your son."

Then his eye welled a tear that held no regret,

"Just tell us you love us, and never forget

To fight for our rights back at home while we're gone.

To stand your own watch, no matter how long.

For when we come home, either standing or dead,

to know you remember we fought and we bled

is payment enough, and with that we will trust.

That we mattered to you as you mattered to us.

See you tomorrow, everyone. 

Giveaway Week at Everything Etsy - part 2



http://www.everythingetsy.com/2010/11/wild-apple-design-sassy-jewelry-giveaway-week/



Guess who the first sponsor is today for Giveaway Week over at Everything Etsy? 

That's right - little old me and Wild Apple Design!  First, a rundown of the rules for those of you who would like to participate:

All giveaways will be open to entries until Sunday 11/7 at 10pm Eastern Time.

 

______________________________

 

The following apply to all giveaways:

1.  Entries are counted by comment numbers, so you must leave a comment for each form of entry.

2.  All giveaways have the same ways to enter (up to 10 per giveaway!):

• Visit the Sponsor’s site and leave a comment telling us your favorite item on their site
• Follow the Sponsor on Facebook (if applicable, see link in post)
• Follow the Sponsor on Twitter (if applicable, see link in post)
• Follow Everything Etsy on Twitter
• Like Everything Etsy on Facebook
• Subscribe to Everything Etsy
• Tweet about the particular giveaway
• Post to your Facebook about the giveaway
• Post to your blog about the giveaway
• Put the “Giveaway Week” button on your blog

3.  Winners will be selected by random number generator and posted on Everything Etsy.

______________________________

You have the chance to win a Coke Classic Bottle Cap Bead necklace from Wild Apple Design this week:

http://www.etsy.com/listing/60702566/bottle-cap-bead-necklace-coke-classic

There are also lots of other bottle cap bead necklaces for you to choose from, so head on over to my shop at Etsy and check them all out!

Best of luck everyone!!

Give Me Peace

The first time you ever decide to "drop by" my house for coffee (or cocoa if you prefer), you will quickly learn a few things about me by merely looking around:

1.  The majority of the walls in our home are painted some variation of beige. 

Tan, ecru, champagne, willow, mocha creme.  Except the kitchen.  The kitchen is red.  Very red.  Deep, rich, 14 coats of paint to finally reach the correct level of "ruby" red.  It inspires my cooking.

2.  I like quotes. 

There are times in life when certain quotes, sayings or phrases have wedged themselves into my brain.  These kind of quotes are the ones you see and say to yourself, "Wow. That really makes sense in my life" or "I can totally relate to that."  A little creativity goes a long way at my house!  Quotes in the brain turn into vinyl wall art.  Just this past week I applied a new wall collage which I made with the help of - who else - a wonderful Etsian named Tawnya!
You can check out Tawnya's Etsy shop here: http://www.etsy.com/shop/tawnyamdesigns 

The quote says: FAITH:  Seeing light with your heart when all your eyes see is the darkness ahead.  (Pics of my finished wall quote at a later date....)  

Two other quotes you will find on the walls at my home are: 

• Breathe . . . you are home.

and

• Did you think to PRAY?

3.  If the house is really clean, you are in the wrong place!

We generally survive on a level of disorganization at our humble abode.  Considering there are three grown adults, three teenagers, two toddlers and a baby living under our roof - consider yourself lucky if you can get make it in the front door without being asked for help reaching the juice, whether you like Batman or Spiderman better, what you know about American history between 1900-1915, your knowledge of Jersey Shore, would you like to buy Boy Scout popcorn and do you know anyone who babysits?  (Yes, that last one was a trick question - We mostly eat babysitters for supper around here...)

4.  We have published Family Rules.

What?  You don't believe me?  Try breaking one of them and I will pull the framed copy out and read them all to you.  They're pretty basic rules, most of which people learn at an early age: Words are not for hurting, hands are not for hitting, be respectful, use your manners, be responsible, if you make a mess clean it up.  Oh yeah, NO WHINING tops the list.  Sadly, it comes crashing down to the bottom of the list countless times a day too.  We do the best we can.

Speaking of learning things at an early age, it was probably around kindergarten when we started being given those golden nuggets of knowledge.  Those all important tidbits of information that would make us or break us.  If we had really understood how much easier life could have been if we had just paid attention to that information when it was given to us, we would be so much smarter and would have undergone so much less pain and heartache through our journey of life.

Things like:

~ Share everything.

~ Play fair.

~ Clean up your own mess.

~ Don't take things that aren't yours.

~ Say you're sorry when you hurt somebody.

~ Warm cookies and cold milk are good for you.

~ Live a balanced life - learn some and think some and draw and paint and sing and dance and play and work every day some.

~ When you go out in the world, watch out for traffic, hold hands and stick together.

~ Be aware of wonder. Remember the little seed in the Styrofoam cup: the roots go down and the plant goes up and nobody really knows how or why, but we are all like that.

~ And then remember the Dick-and-Jane books and the first word you learned - the biggest word of all - LOOK.

This isn't a complete list, just a few of my favorites.  When we were in kindergarten we were young and impressionable; our minds were moldable, our spirits were free and we were fearless. What a great time to impart wisdom on young minds!

I occasionally ponder the realization that not only have people forgotten the wisdom of days gone by, some people just plain don't care about these things anymore. Maybe today is a good day to look at the world through a 5-year-old's eyes and ask ourselves a couple of questions...

Have we been living by these tried and true rules?

Do we expect more from others than we do from ourselves? And if so, why?

Do we understand why there is no "I" in teamwork?

Do we practice these rules on a daily basis or just when it is convenient?

WHY do some people require a certain amount of drama in their lives on a daily basis?

And last but definitely not least - why is it ok to expect these things from small children and not hold ourselves to those same standards?

. . . Ƹ̵̡Ӝ̵̨̄Ʒ . . .

For those of you who have, or have had, teenagers living in your house at any point in time, you may be able to relate to this:  Occasionally the selfishness and inability to consider that others exist in the universe simply astounds me.  For those of you who do have teenagers, may God Bless your soul and sanity.  For those of you who know someone with a teenager, please pray for them.  Keeping the peace in a household where teenagers live is not an easy task.  There are hormones involved, friends, boy/girlfriends, cell phones, and let us not forget the all-important underdeveloped frontal lobe of the brain.  The frontal lobe controls the reasoning aspects of your brain.  As evidenced with 96.8% of the teenagers I know, reasoning is not an exercise that happens frequently throughout the "normal" teenager's day.

We all do our best to "keep the peace" in our home lives and some days it just doesn't happen.  Those are the times we need to allow ourselves to step back, let go and let God.



http://www.etsy.com/listing/59914552/peace-sign-magnets-set-of-4-bottle-cap



Blessed are the peacemakers for they will be called

the sons of God. – Matthew 5:9

The Links:

Website:  http://www.WildAppleDesign.Etsy.com

Blog:  http://wildappledesign.blogspot.com/

Twitter:  http://twitter.com/WildAppleDesign

Facebook:  http://www.facebook.com/WildAppleDesign

Wordless Wednesday

25 Random Things About Me

Hey Gang...

I woke up this morning with a raging migraine.  Much to my dismay, I wasn't able to attend church or work with the little ones in our church's nursery as is my role on the third and fifth Sundays of each month.  I envisioned Melanie (she works in the nursery with me) with a dozen kiddos climbing all over her and no one to help her out.  I won't lie, I felt guilty.  However, as the rest of the family left for church and I administered another spring-loaded  injection of Imitrex into my leg (migraine medication) - OUCH - I realized that if anyone was going to heal my throbbing head, it was going to be God.  So, after the medication side effect of my brain being on fire eased a bit, I prayed for the good Lord to work a miracle and heal my head.  When I gave God my anxiety about letting the church nursery down, I was able to sleep for an hour.  I really needed that hour of rest, and anyone who has experienced a migraine before knows that total quiet is absolutely necessary.  

Today I would like to share with you 25 random things about myself, in no particular order.  My brain is still asking for more healing time today and after 14 years of migraines, I know that pushing myself will end me in the Emergency Room for at least three hours.  

1.  I am a survivor.
2.  I am head over heels in love with my husband.
3.  I get great pleasure out of a job well done.
4.  One of my biggest joys in life is helping others.
5.  My teenagers still call me Mommy and I love it.
6.  The first car I learned to drive was a stick-shift.
7.  Creepy crawly bugs freak me out.
8.  I am not scared of the sight of blood. (So, come to me with your gashing head wound, but don't ask me to kill a spider for you) 
9.  I LOVE Jesus.
10.  I know my way around the kitchen.  I dream of Viking stoves and santoku knives.  I know, it's sad.
11.  I can type on a keyboard (accurately) with my eyes closed.
12.  Dan Marino walked into my office once and we chatted.  His eyes are SO green.
13.  I believe anything worth having is worth the fight to get it.
14.  I support our troops.
15.  Politics fires me up.
16.  I believe you should always tell people about where you came from. It makes you who you are.
17.  Respect and accountability are huge rules at my house.
18.  I love hard.
19.  I believe if you only have one chance, you better make it count.
20.  I have looked death squarely in the eye, turned from it and run the other direction.
21.  I have been saved.
22.  If you mess with my children I cannot be responsible for your safety.
23.  You have to respect yourself above anything else.
24.  I think it's important to find the lesson to be learned in every experience.
25.  I have learned that when people forget what you said and forget what you did, people will never forget how you made them feel.

One last thing, when I woke up from my nap today my migraine felt about 50% better.  I also got a text message from one of the Children's Ministry directors at church.
It said this:

Jenn, I hope you are feeling much better.  The Lord had you covered today, there were no kids in the nursery.

God is great.  ALL the time!

Blessings for your week everyone,

Genesis Revisited

For those of you new to Through The Grapevine here on Blogger - WELCOME! If you were previously my follower on WordPress, you will hopefully enjoy this new platform as much as I do.


For the new readers, I would like to provide you with a bit of information about how Wild Apple Design got started. The post titled "Genesis" premiered on WordPress last May; if you have read it before, please indulge my new followers.


As always, thanks for reading!!


Ƹ̵̡Ӝ̵̨̄Ʒ . . ♥ . . Ƹ̵̡Ӝ̵̨̄Ʒ


If I think about it hard enough, I would say the seed for Wild Apple Design was planted more than 30 years ago. The word CREATIVITY is what comes to mind as the strongest building block for what has turned into modern day business. I remember watching over my grandmother's arm as she sewed on her yellow Singer sewing machine. She could hem up a pair of pants in about a minute. She could rip out a stitch and improve it with her own on no time flat. I recall one time that the waistband in a pair of shorts I had was a little too big. My idea was to put safety pins in the back and pull my shirt over the top so you couldn't see the pins. She wouldn't hear of that. She took my shorts, sewed elastic into the waistband and VOILA! They fit perfectly. I was amazed.


My grandmother would indulge me if I asked her to teach me something. Whether it was learning how to sew, trying to play the piano (HA!) or painting the fence outside, she really allowed my creativity buds to blossom.


I also recall hearing the word CREATIVE from an early age. And who better to hear something affirming from than your mother? Sure, when I brought home painted macaroni art my mother gushed just like we all do as mothers. But my mom did an amazing job promoting my creative juices the whole time I was growing up. My tie-dye shirt from YMCA camp was THE best, the pages I ripped out of coloring books covered our refrigerator. She even saved the ashtray I made in 5th grade pottery class - and no one even smoked! (It worked great for coins on the dresser though).


However, once I was an adult, had moved out of the house and had children of my own, something really wonderful happened. I had been going through some old Christmas decoration boxes with my mom and we were gushing for the sake of sentimentality. I removed the dusty lid from one of the cardboard boxes and under some gold tinsel that had obviously seen better days, I found two red Christmas stockings. Let me clarify. These were stockings cut out from plain white paper. The paper had been colored red with crayons and embellished only with the names of my brother and I, Matt and Jenny. This would strike you as strange if you knew that I NEVER (never, ever, in a million, trillion, gazillion years) go by Jenny. There are about five people on the face of the Earth who are allowed to call me Jenny. Anyone else is risking life and limb. But, I had made these paper stockings myself, so that was just plain CRAZY!


I pulled the stockings out of the box and said to my mom, "You saved these?!?!?" My tone was utter disbelief.


"Of course" she answered, "you made them".


How do you counter that? Every year at Christmas, they get hung up again. I cringe at the fact that SOMEONE says, "Oh look, JENNY" or "Those are nice stockings JENNY".


UGH.


Paper stockings aside, I have worked hard to ramp up my skills over the past couple of decades. I have traded in my notebook doodling for journals. My plain white paper, glue and scissors were boxed up in favor of various weights of cardstock, photo-friendly archival-quality adhesives, paper shapers and crimpers. I have given up stringing big wooden beads onto a piece of string to make a bracelet. I now turn to wire, glass, crystals, digital art and any other medium that will hopefully amaze my audience.


Like anything else, it had to start from somewhere. My grandmother helped to plant those seeds of creativity when I was young. My mother did a fabulous job of cultivating that crop, year after year, making sure my creativity got lots of attention. When I was down, she lifted me up. If I didn't think my work was good enough, she showed me why it was better than good enough. My mom was my own personal Miracle Grow!


I had a period of years where I still dabbled in creativity here and there on a personal level ~ painting techniques around the house, flower arrangements as gifts, photographs of the kids, handmade cards for holidays ~ but nothing that really kicked my creativity gene into full gear. I was, as my mother always told me, "missing my calling".


The year my husband was deployed to Iraq was quite possibly the most difficult year I've experienced in my life for many reasons on many levels. One of the things my husband and I discussed before he left was this whole business venture thing. Sure, we had talked about it casually here and there, but you know what happens - people get busy, life gets in the way, there are kids to raise.


One morning while my husband was away in Iraq, I was alone with my thoughts. The kids were at school, the house was empty, the TV was off. I remembered the discussion my hubby and I had about me finding something to do that I LOVED. Funny thing about us women, we can hold onto things our husbands say for years - good or bad. This one was pretty good. My husband told me, "Jenn, I want you to find something that you L♥VE to do. Something that makes you leap out of bed with joy in the morning with excitement to do it."


LEAP out of bed with excitement? Wow. Now you know why I had to give this a lot of thought!


After I had asked several people's opinions, the answers I got kept pointing me back to the same thing ---> CREATIVITY. I learned about Etsy from a friend at church. (Thanks Dawn - YOU ROCK!) I learned some more about Etsy from every source I could. I was impressed. Here's the thing about ideas; you can have the best idea on the face of the Earth. If that idea is rattling around inside your head, it's the same as not having the idea at all. Finding the time to breathe life into an idea like starting a new business while running a household, raising kids, paying the bills and everything else that a deployment entails - alone - is another story entirely. To make an already long story a little bit shorter, I took the plunge. On October 1, 2009, I became an official Etsian and opened up shop. Does anyone want to guess who my very first customer was? MY MOM!! She even opened a Paypal account just for Etsy - way to go mom!


I will also add that my mom is my single best method of advertising, bar none. She wears my jewelry. She distributes my business cards. She talks me up to her friends, acquaintances, people she doesn't even know!

My shop has now been open a whole year!  Wild Apple Design hit the 150-mark for number of items listed, which is pretty exciting for me. I have had 29 sales so far.


I ventured into a Facebook Fan Page: http://www.facebook.com/WildAppleDesign

I even started Twitter! http://twitter.com/WildAppleDesign


Of course, the pièce de résistance would be my actual website: http://www.etsy.com/shop/WildAppleDesign where you can find all the items I have for sale, my shop policies, a little bit about me personally, and make a custom request order.


Let me say that one more time. You can make a custom request order. If you see something you like on my site that you would like personalized, a component on someone else's site that you would like to use, or have an idea of your very own, let me know! There are a couple of places you can contact me from my Etsy page, there is also a feature to request a custom item. I would be more than happy to work with you to create something for you or that special someone in your life. You can also email me directly from this blog page.


Lastly, please share this information with your friends, contacts, family members. With social networking (Facebook, Twitter, etc.) as popular as it is these days, connections are imperative personally and professionally. I like to call it sharing the love!

Stay tuned for giveaways and promotions too.  I really enjoy collaborating with others on advertising and fun ideas.

Blessings,



~ Jenn

The Links:

Website:  http://www.WildAppleDesign.Etsy.com

Blog:  http://wildappledesign.blogspot.com

Twitter:  http://twitter.com/WildAppleDesign

Facebook:  http://www.facebook.com/WildAppleDesign



Bottle Cap on Swivel Clip - We Didn't Come Here To Lose Zipper Pull
http://www.etsy.com/listing/57527636/bottle-cap-on-swivel-clip-we-didnt-come



Getting Settled

Soooooo….. What do you think?!?

Do you love the new blog design?  I told you it was going to be wonderful.  I do have to admit; I never imagined it would turn out quite this wonderful!

Let me give you a little background on the new digs:  I was involved in a Facebook contest and ended up winning and getting connected with Leah at Cutesie Blog Designs.  I looked at Leah’s work and got pretty excited because she is really talented and working with her on my new blog design held lots of promise. 

My new found anticipation quickly dwindled, however, when I discovered that Leah only worked with Blogger (a blog program) and not WordPress, where my blog was already published.  Here’s the twist ~ I had actually been contemplating moving the blog to Blogger for awhile, but had no clue how to do so.  Once I contacted Leah and she gave me a few really good ideas, and assured me that the Blogger platform was much easier to work with according to my business needs, I started getting excited all over again.  And so the process of blog-building began.

We started from scratch.  This is important because I previously worked with someone who attempted to revamp the header on my Etsy shop by starting with what I had and tweaking it.  Total disaster.  Starting from scratch and adjusting the details was definitely the way to go. 

That being said, I must tell you that Leah has the patience of a saint.  Once Leah had my “vision” in place, knew basically what I was looking for and sent me the first draft, we began to correspond back and forth to adjust the details.  I considered myself to be a major pain in the backside and way too picky, but Leah did everything I asked, gave me fabulous suggestions along the way and her ideas were fabulous!  By the time I opened the file with the final blog design on it, I literally gasped and had to cover my open mouth.  It was beautiful.

Well, I guess you know that because you’re looking at it!  I don’t have a hard time ranting and raving about it since I really didn’t have too much to do with it.  So, here come the props….

Leah – you are incredible.  In case no one has mentioned it to you today – you are an amazingly talented woman.  You did not miss your calling in life.  How a bunch of letters, numbers and symbols of HTML codes can turn into art, I will never know.  Please accept my most sincere thanks and appreciation for the wonderful job you did with my blog.  All 19 emails were so worth it!  =)

If anyone has a blog that needs redesigning, a few new elements, or perhaps just a logo for their business – contact Leah.  If you have a friend who needs any of these services, please have them contact Leah.  She simply rocks.  Here’s how you can reach Leah:

Cutesie Blog Designs Blog:  http://cutesieblogdesigns.blogspot.com/p/home.html

Cutesie Blog Designs on Facebook:  http://www.facebook.com/CutesieBlogDesigns

Please feel free to click around the blog page and make yourself comfortable.  There are a few places that will become more developed as I get to know the Blogger world better.  Of course, the first step is to become an email subscriber so you don’t miss anything.

If you were a subscriber to “Through the Grapevine” on WordPress, you heard about the promotion that’s running right now.  Here’s more about that:

If you currently subscribe to this blog, simply get out your address book and suggest that a friend (or two) also become an email subscriber.  Once your friend has subscribed, simply send me their name or email address and you will BOTH get 20% off your next order PLUS free shipping in my Etsy shop!  That’s right – the WHOLE order!  Once I have verified that you and your friend are listed as subscribers, I will email you a coupon code to use during the checkout process on Etsy.  It’s a win-win situation! 

Here are the simple instructions:

1.  Follow this blog.  If you don’t already, subscribe now.

2.  Find someone in your life you think would enjoy Wild Apple Design jewelry.  Suggest to them whatever way works best for you (i.e., email, Facebook fan page suggestion, phone call, text message, link to this page) that they also subscribe to this blog. 

Don’t forget to tell them to leave a comment here on the blog; that qualifies them for their 20% off plus free shipping coupon code.

3.  You also need to place a comment after this post, stating that your friend is a new subscriber.  Once I’ve checked this out, you will receive your 20% off plus free shipping coupon code also!

This offer runs through the first week of the blog transition to Blogger, so take advantage of it while you can.  Offer ends October 6, 2010 at midnight central time (U.S.)

Football fans in your life?  Check out my new line of football fan zipper pulls.  The swivel clip attaches instantly to the zipper on your sweatshirt, purse, gym bag, backpack or keyring.  Only $7!


Blessings,

~ Jenn

The Links:

Website:  http://www.WildAppleDesign.Etsy.com

Blog:  http://wildappledesign.blogspot.com 

Twitter:  http://twitter.com/WildAppleDesign

Facebook:  http://www.facebook.com/WildAppleDesign