etsy, cornell, & first grade

I had the opportunity to sell at a craft fair several weeks ago, but unfortunately marketed to the wrong age group.  In order to be successful at this show, I would've need to make wreathes/other holiday paraphernalia or sell Scentsy.  Maybe one day I could sell at Renegade Handmade...I mean that's the dream craft fair in my mind.  Anyway, I now have a surplus of handmade goods.  I have also always wanted to open an Etsy shop, so that is now the plan: to sell on Etsy.  The execution of this will happen in the next few weeks.  While you wait, here's a very brief sampling:

This is not really the best picture to show the purpose of these flowers.  

And these last two pictures were taken with my cell phone.  

Also, in other news, I had the opportunity to attend the Allison Cornell Mustard Seed EP Release Show at Dino's.  It was nothing short of amazing.  She practically had a full orchestra with her: cello, upright base, violin, banjo, harmonica, keyboard, drums, acoustic guitar. So glad for her! What a blessing!  The lighting in that place is difficult to figure out, so this is my halfway decent photograph from the event.

Oh and in between all of these shenanigans, I laugh and play with first graders [while they learn to read and write]. These tiny human beings are incredibly gracious and forgiving.  I am reminded of this daily. They also have a capacity to love without hindrance.  I have noticed that as "we" get older, "we" become more guarded with our hearts and emotions. First graders don't do that; they lay it all on the line: good, bad & ugly. I think sometimes we become so consumed with guarding ourselves that we lose sight of the fact that we were created to share ourselves, hurt and all. I read this book recently and I think you should too.