A Graff Designs

Well it's Wednesday, which means it's time to feature a fellow mom who is an Etsy artist. This mom makes adorable, very practical gifts for moms. Here's her story

Baby Wrap Carrier

- Tell me about yourself and home life (ie. you name, how many children do you have, their ages, names, other things that you do, some things about your family etc.)

April Graff. Mother of 2. A 2 year old, VERY active little boy and a 7 month old little girl. I work full-time outside the home as well as a Registered Dietitian.  Lazy Sayurdays are my favorite! This is a great time to catch up on spending time together (and housework if we feel motivated)

- What is the name of your shop and what is it that you do?

Shop Name is A Graff Designs (http://AGraffDesigns.etsy.com). I make handmade gifts for the fashionable and practical Mom. I specialize in Diaper & Wipes Clutches, Baby Wrap Carriers, and Diaper Bags as well as other mom-friendly products.

- How did you get started?

I started by making gifts for the many friends and family who were having babies. As a mother of 2 kiddos I know which gifts I appreciated the most - the ones that were practical AND cute! So A Graff Designs was born.

Diaper Wipes Clutch

- How do you balance your family and business?

I struggle with balancing all aspects of my life (I think we all do). I try to work on my business when the kids are sleeping. (Which means less sleep for me). Plus, I have a WONDERFUL and supportive husband who is great at helping around the house and with the kids.

- Is there any advice you'd like to give to other etsy Moms?

Do what you love!

- Is there anything else you'd like my readers to know about you or your shop?

I love making custom orders! Making a gift with a person in mind is such a treat!

I'd think the baby wrap carriers are my favorites, whats yours readers?

 

Your coupon codes for the two new members are
MAYFLOWERS for 15% at rainbeauxart and rainbeauxcraft

and

 LMC511 for free shipping at taniacavenecia

Friday's Faves #9

Friday's Faves Theme: Mother's Day

With Mother's Day right around the corner, I thought today's theme was very appropriate. I hope you'll find the perfect gift for the Mom in your life! (Or maybe drop a hint to the hubby for?)

All Natural Clay Trio

Being a Mom can be very stressful and stress isn't just felt, it can be shown; weight gain or loss, tiredness, skin... So why not pamper the Mom in your life by giving her skin some special attention with All Natural Clay Trio by opheliasapothecary. It has three different masks for her to try for $25. I can't wait to try these babies out myself!

8 x 10 custom matboard silhouette pink

How about a custom portrait Mother dearest, yourself or her grandchildren for Mother's Day? Silhouette portraits are VERY popular; they're affordable and fit in with any decor! You can get one at SuzieLouLou for $25.

My Babies

You can never go wrong with jewelry. This custom necklace would make a fantastic gift, you could put her children's names on it or her grandchildren's for $38 for this particular set by hiphophippos (Love the shop name by the way).

Rhinestone Rhonda Mini Blank Book

Two words, brag book. Cute, miniature, photo album to store pics of the kids or grandkids in her purse so she can whip them out and make herself the envy of the neighborhood, cause you know she just has the cutest kids on Earth; or grandkids. You can find this gorgeous one at KandiceInWonderland and many like it (I just love her work!) $20.

Vintage Apothecary Terrarium

I don't know about you, but I've done the whole, give-mom-a-bouquet-for-mothers-day which is nice and every lady loves flowers, but why not something different that's just as lovely and will last longer? Buy her a terrarium! I've always wanted one myself, but you can get one at doodlebirdie for $38.

Vintage Circle Daffodil flower Pin

I think this is a very sweet pin. I think a vintage gift is a very thoughtful, there's just something special about vintage, don't you agree? You can find this lovely pin at HoofAndAntler for $8

Harbinger Journal

This is a great one for husbands to give their Moms-to-be, after all, being a Mom starts as soon as she discovers she's pregnant. This journal can be kept as pregnancy journal or as a way to keep track of all of babies firsts. You can find this at moxieandoliver for $95

Triple 4x6 Distressed Picture Fram

I think this is a very cool and unique idea for framing photos and would make a wonderful gift with photos of the kids or grandkids already in it! Only at roundthebendshop for $55

Magnetic Spice Rack Coral Pink

I absolutely fell in love with this idea the first time I saw it and would love to put one in my Mom's kitchen someday (It would really free up some cabinet space) You can find this and other less expensive versions (and DIY kits) at saltcityspice for $45

Marcela

If you'd like to go with something a little more traditional, like flowers, then go to floresdelsol. There you can find beautiful dried boquets. This one is $45.

Jaclyn Elizabeth

Before I hop into this post, I thought I'd talk about why I'm starting a new series and give you some info on it.

When I became pregnant with Tessa, I realized that being a Mom doesn't just entitle you to unconditional love like you've never felt before and a holiday once a year, you immediately belong to a community. Once every one knew I was pregnant, other Mom's started to come out of the woodwork, giving me advice, words of compassion and support, funny stories and sometimes scary stories, and I felt this very strong camaraderie towards other Mom's. And so, was born my new blog series; once a week I hope to feature an Etsy Mom and her story, I hope you'll enjoy them as much as me.

I'd actually gotten a few entries for the first post that I'll be saving for later, but I wanted to start with this one just because I really enjoyed her story and how she told it, that I had to leave it in her words instead of writing my own narrative of it. I also felt it was the perfect one to start with because of why she started her online shop; for the love of her child.

Personalized Etched Wine Glasse

The name of my shop is "Jaclyn Elizabeth" and I just opened on April 7th, right now I feature etched
glassware but I have many plans for things to come!

Here is a little bit about myself and my family!
I have been in the Real Estate industry for almost 11 years now and for the
past few years I have worked from home so I can stay at home with my 5 year
old daughter, Jaclyn. I love to sew, embroider, create with vinyl, etch
glass, bake and do just about any craft I can find!
Before I was married I was worried that it was not possible for me to have
children due to some complications when I was younger. I always put that in
the back of my mind so I would not have to face the fact that I might never
be a Mom, which was the one thing I wanted the most in life. I lost my
mother when I was 7 years old so having children and being a mommy, since I
really didn't have one, was very important to me. In 2005 things were
going great, I had just landed my dream job and was about to fly out to
complete the training for my new job. Than the day before I was scheduled
to leave I received a call, my father had suddenly past away. I was so
lost, I had just lost the only parent I really ever knew. I somehow managed
to make it the arrangements, attend the funeral and keep it together to
attend the next session of my training class and start my new job (which
really didn't seem that important anymore). Then, the good news I needed!
I was pregnant!! A few months later I realized that I got pregnant one
month (probably to the day) after my father passed away, so I have always
believed that she was sent to me by my dad. My husband and I have tried for
the last 3 years to get pregnant again but with no luck. I became very
depressed over not being able to get pregnant again but I finally realized
that Jaclyn is the most wonderful gift I could ever receive and that is
nothing to be depressed or sad about. Everything I do is for her or
inspired by her, which led me to opening my shop on Etsy!

2 Personalized Champagne Flutes

For the last two years Jaclyn has been in half day pre-school, I choose half
day so I could still have the afternoons with her. Over the past couple of
months I have been getting everything ready for kindergarten next year,
filling out the registration forms, she took her readiness test and we have
both been getting really excited! Well then it dawned on me, her tuition
was about to double and that was nothing to be excited about! My husband
and I made the decision before she was school age that we wanted her to go
to Catholic school and we would do whatever it took to make sure that was
the type of education she received. After years of my husband telling me
"why don't you sell the things you make" I decided that maybe it was time
(again, tuition doubling!). My husband and I agreed that everything I make
from my shop will go to her education and I would still be a full time
Realtor (which is what I am doing now). I let my daughter name the shop,
since after all it was really for her. Of course you ask a 5 year old what
to call "her" shop and the answer is...her name which is how we came up with
"Jaclyn Elizabeth" for the name.

While I was creating some examples for the shop I was about to open I
realized something, and it was big! I didn't want to do real estate
anymore, I wanted to make things all day! So after a lot of thought and
prayer I have decided to leave the real estate industry sometime later this
year and create full time. I have plans for 2 more shops and a website (I
don't think just etching glass will pay the bills!) So I'm going all in,
leaving behind an industry that I really do enjoy and have been a part of
for over 10 years and I'm really scared but also really excited. This is my
true passion, not just something I really enjoy and I know that creating all
day will give me true satisfaction in my life. I recently thought back to
some of the things I have made for my daughter, her friends, my friends and
family and remembered the joy and fulfillment it gave me to see how happy I
could make others with something I made which really helped me make my
decision.

Since I have worked from home for so many years I'm pretty good at balancing
a home business and family so I hope that this transition will be easy as
far as work and family, but I know some changes will need to be made. It
helps that in a few months Jaclyn will be in school until 2:30p instead of
11:00am! It should give me the time I need to put into my current and
future shops.

 

Giveaway Winner!

And the winner is....

Kelly of Orangies Attic!

Congratulations Kelly! I'll be contacting you soon!

DIY Foot Scrub

Some of you might remember my DIY brown sugar body scrub. As much as I like using this scrub myself I felt it wasn't strong enough to give the attention certain places REALLY needed, such as my feet.

I don't know anyone who doesn't have a problem with dry, callused feet especially at the end of winter and who wants to show off those toesies when it's sandal season? Many of us seek professional help, other's just walk out in sandals as is and many of us just hide them, am I right? So, I created a DIY foot scrub and it really helped!

Ingredients:

1/2 cup Course Salt
1/2 cup Brown Sugar
2/3 cup Olive oil or almond oil
Jar or two

Measure out your dry ingredients and pour them into a bowl then measure out your 2/3 cup of oil of choice and mix well. Once it's mixed and the clumps of brown sugar are de-clumped, pour into your jar over the sink so as not to make a mess everywhere, and VOILA! Your homemade foot scrub.

I suggest using this with your feet either dry or slightly damp, you can try it in the shower but it seems to dissolve too quickly to really make too much of a difference. Be sure to rinse. Make sure there are no open sores on your feet as the salt will cause the sore to burn.

With Mother's Day coming up, this would make a very nice gift for the Mom in your life, just tie some twine or a nice ribbon around and attach a lovely note and there you go!

Tip:

For even softer feet, use the scrub before going to bed, rinse and pat dry. Then rub just olive oil over your feet, wrap in cellophane and then cover with a sock and go to sleep, your feet should be sooo much softer when you get up in the morning and ready for a little nail polish!