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god give me truth

Happy New Year – 2017

Holidays , Personal • Jan 1, 2017

2017

It’s always crazy to think that the holiday season is over. So much work and so much energy for a few weeks of festivities and a few dinners with family and friends. You then get that awkward week between Christmas and New Years. The last week won’t make or break your yearly work goals and your not ready to accept that 2017 is going to bring an all new slate of goals. I have to admit though.. It’s worth it!

But then your also hit with New Years Resolutions. Do I make them? Do I skip them? Do I even know what my resolutions where from this year? Regardless I always take the time to make resolutions. I do my best to set realistic expectations for myself though. I’m not going to change the world but I can change the impact I’m making on myself and others around me.

I’m starting to ramble so let me bring it back, lol. My small side business has grown tremendously from a small idea to .. Well .. THIS!. I couldn’t be happier. My numbers don’t begin to compare to others around me but I’m happy. I took an idea and made money from it! My resolutions are going to center around this site and the customer base I’ve built around it.

Starting a business isn’t easy. To be honest I don’t feel that it was initially my intention to even do. I realized right away that a small business wasn’t just making things that I enjoy but so much more. I can make the items but then I have to actually deliver them to my customers. Boxes, bags and shipping supplies came as a surprise (oddly enough). Having stock of the items that my customers wanted was crucial along with the customer service I provided if there were any bumps along the road.

I believe that customers will come if you have the right product and the proper back end support to handle the business. In 2017 I’m going to work on the back end logistics that customers will never see. I hope to be reflecting a year from now on the success I’m striving for.

I wish everyone a happy and safe new year! Are you starting resolutions?

Seasons Greetings

GGMT , Holidays , Personal • Dec 5, 2016

seasonsgreetingsTis’ the season! Holiday decorations, pine scented candles, christmas lights, decorated trees, hot chocolate and so much more! There are so many great things to love about the holiday season. It’s my favorite time of the year for so many great reasons.

The last few years have been very different since my mom passed. She left me with so many beautiful memories that I have plenty to look back on and be grateful for. My mom was the type of parent that could hardly wait for Christmas to begin opening presents. Lets be real, she also didn’t want me waking her up early so many times we did our presents on Christmas Even instead of waiting until Christmas morning. Each year I make sure that my partner opens one gift on Christmas eve regardless of how small it may be. I’ve never told him this but it’s one of those little things that keeps the memory alive.

Each year we put up two Christmas trees. His and His if you will, lol. I like a tree with multi-colored lights and glittery ornaments. Brian on the other hand prefers white lights and a tree full of ornaments both from his childhood and from his travels. Both trees are stunning and it’s disappointing each year when they have to come down.

There is also a massive Christmas village that Brian puts up each year. Probably 50-ish houses and all of the people to match. It’s a Department 56 village so it has all of trimmings to really make it come alive. A few novelty houses as well such as Play-Doh and Lego. Takes a few hours to put it up and a few more to take it down.

I hope that everyone takes the time to truly enjoy this holiday season. I would love to hear some of your traditions!

New Site Design

Business , Etsy , GGMT • Nov 19, 2016

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I’m excited to finally release a new site design! It features everything the site had before along with an integration to my shop items. I apologize if some of the updates are coming up slowly. It’s taken me a little bit longer than expected to learn the features of the new theme.

Etsy has truly been great to me and i’ve had somewhat moderate success but I know i’m going to outgrow their services at some point. My fees have seemed to be somewhat heavy for such a small shop but i’ve understood their important (marketing, storefront, etc). I can imagine paying the amount of fees i’ve been paying as my business continues to grow. On a small item the fee eats the majority of the product. Profit is the end goal (someday) but right now any income that’s coming in is going straight to product upgrades and stock merchandise.

I hope that everyone enjoys the new layout! I look forward to any feedback. Thank you as well to http://helloyoudesigns.com/ for the beautiful design and assistance with any setup and this beautiful stock image above.

Opening My Own Business – Vol 2

Business , Crafting , Etsy • Jul 19, 2016

03.05.16

It’s crazy to think that almost a full six months have passed. SIX MONTHS! I still wouldn’t quite classify myself as a small business though. That is of course the end game but for now I would say that I’m still hovering in the hobby zone. Although I wish business was a bit steadier I’m feeling good. It takes a lot of time to build any sort of brand and I’m doing my best to make sure that I’m spending the right amount of time on the right projects.

My biggest fear getting into this (aside from wasting time and money) is a bad customer review. When you have a sheet of 100+ stickers you can’t take the time to test each one to make sure it’s properly peeling form the back. My fear was that one that wouldn’t come off would take a five star review down to only a two thus potentially tanking a fresh reputation. I’ve been lucky with a lot of five star reviews and nothing less.

For anyone looking to potentially start their own small/craft business I’ve created five quick bullet points of advice. Nothing crazy but things that I didn’t think of beforehand that I hope could be helpful to you!

1. DON’T WAIT! Seems pretty straightforward but it’s the truth. I personally have a tendency to spend a lot of time planning to start. Planning to make something happen when the truth is that I should have really just jumped in head first months ago.

2. CREATE A SYSTEM – I’m not saying I have the <i>perfect system</i>, I’m just saying you need one! I’m not at a point where I’m getting consistent orders but it seems like when I do get an order that I end up with more than one at a time. In an effort to keep myself sane I had to create a simple system. That mostly consists of not delaying on the order or tracking progress.

3. CREATE A FINANCIAL SYSTEM – This is important for many reasons. Unless my business really picks up over the course of the next four months, I’m going to end up in the red because of the initial startup costs that go with starting a business. This leads me to the next item…

4. PLAN AHEAD – This was my biggest mistake. I was so excited to start creating things that I didn’t realize I had no way of shipping these beauties. As I adapted to my new business I got in the habit of ordering packing supplies ahead of a product release. If I got ahead of myself I simply adjusted my shipping time in Etsy to plan for a mishap. Worse case, I knew I could run to the post office and pay extra to get it right!

5. BE FLEXIBLE – To me this is the second most important aside from not waiting. You can develop your systems and plan as much as you want but if you’re not willing to roll with the punches you can’t succeed. Life isn’t black and white. It’s extremely grey at times. My stickers weren’t moving very fast so I quickly had to develop new products that would help move the current ones along. I also moved into Vinyl a little faster than I was truly hoping to. That’s okay though because I’ve ended up making more money in two weeks than I did in the first three and a half months.

I’ll admit that I’m not exactly where I was hoping to be financially but I’m satisfied. I have plenty of room to grow and I’m really looking forward to the advances over the next few months. The holidays are coming soon and from what I’ve been studying that seems to be a very busy time. I assume of course it’s going to depend on your product and the market that your own.

Acutane – My Experience

Cosmetics , Health , Personal , Reviews • Nov 16, 2014

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I have had acne for about as long as I can remember, or so i thought. I felt at times like i ‘struggled’ a lot through my teen years but looking back I don’t know that I truly did. When I think of acne I think of the worse case scenario. Those that struggle are those that have horrible acne scarring and a continuous onslaught of pimples popping up on their face. That truly wasn’t me.

I always had something popping up on my face but rarely had more than a couple pimples. My true struggle was just the hyper pigmentation that was left behind after each breakout. My pimples would be gone but the red mark left behind would stay at times for months. Even years. It was more than frustrating.

I got to a point about a year ago that I just couldn’t take it anymore. I’m sure that the majority of you know by now that I wear makeup. I’m not embarrassed by it and i’ve never been afraid to tell people about it. Those that wear foundation can attribute the fact of how frustrating it is to have breakouts when your wearing makeup. My skin was always combination/oily and I had to purchase specific products to accommodate. Half way through the day I might as well have been wearing nothing.

I went to Walgreens minute clinic to see what they could offer (they now offer solutions for acne). That was a horrible experience. I was offered the solution of buying a random face wash and mask to use on a nightly/weekly basis. Waste of money and time. I finally had enough and made an appointment with a dermatologist that a few of my other family members have seen on a regular basis for years.

This was truly the best decision that I ever made. We tried a combination of medicated washes and pills but nothing worked the way that I hoped. Progress was just to slow. Once you are on antibiotics for so long their is only so much that the dermatologist can do so they stop the pills. Antibiotics stop working after so long so it was time to move on.

That was when the dermatologist suggested Acutane. I was shocked. Acutane was for people that had severe cystic acne. That I knew I didn’t have. My problem wasn’t numerous pimples on my face it was again, the hyper pigmentation that was left behind from the pimples that I did get. Why would my dermatologist want me on something so severe?

Simply put, because it will work! Acutane isn’t just for those that suffer from severe acne, it’s also for those that suffer from more mild forms of acne that will just simply not go away. My dermatologist seemed to feel that if antibiotics don’t work then acutane will!

My treatment wasn’t horrible. My skin dried out slightly and i had quite a bit of nausea that first few weeks (the nausea went away after a short period). The only complaints I had where the severity of how dry my lips got and the annoyance of the packing it came in. I swear.. you got these big boxes that included about 2 weeks worth of medicine. Inside that box was about 4 smaller boxes. You had to then unfold the boxes, discard some security warnings, and then every day (twice a day) you had to rip through the packaging below.

Acutane Packaging

My results were worth it! I’ve been off the  medication since the very end of September and I haven’t had a breakout since stopping the treatment. The dryness that I had was never out of control and after about a month completely went away. My lips were an absolute nightmare (i couldn’t do enough to keep them moisturized) but that too cleaned up in about a month.

My concerns after the treatment were the length of time I would be clear from acne. The dermatologist said that i could be clear for anywhere from a few days, a few weeks, a few months, to the rest of my life. They can’t determine how long the medicine’s affects will remain. I’ve stock with the same basic face wash I used during treatment, used a lighter moisturizer, and then  started to occasionally use a Retin-A that my dermatologist prescribed (wrinkle benefits in that bad boy too!).

I’ve been asked a few ties if I would/would not recommend it for someone else. I can’t make that decision for anyone. I can tell you that the side effects for me were minimal and the results were fantastic. Some people don’t have that great of luck though. You can read various reviews across the internet of people who have had horrible affects from the medicine and some that have even died. Pregnancy is of course never an option on the medication so if you are planning on being pregnant or could be don’t even consider it (I believe that women have to take pregnancy tests on their monthly visits to confirm that they are indeed still not pregnant).

  • Cetaphil Face Wash  – twice daily.
  • CeraVe Moisturizing Cream – twice daily.
  • Aquaphor Healing Ointment – numerous times every day for lips.
    • Don’t waste your money on the lip version. the original Aquaphor is a better deal and the same product.
    • EOS balms, regular Vasoline, Berts Bees, Medicated Blistex and Carmex did not work for me.