Introducing my little shop front.

Well, after some struggle I have created a small storefront that is hosted by Cafepress. If you glance below the mini poll at the left, you will see the link to my store front. In it are mugs, a variety of clothing ranging in size from enfant to adult and from t-shirts to sweat shirts as well as some note cards, post cards, and a calendar. I believe the quality of the clothing is very nice as they are using the Hanes brand. As time goes by I will be adding more products as I become more proficent at adding cartoons created by Anna, photographs by the children and other pieces of art work by the children. We are trying to keep the images we use to decorate the merchandise pro life and pro family oriented. I need to take care when adding the images to product choices that they come out clear on these items as I would hate to have anyone dissapointed by something looking blurry or not perfectly clear.

If this storefront goes well, I will go ahead and upgrade it for a small fee of 4 -5 dollars a month, which will allow me to offer a greater selection. Right now I have to opt for one picture per item instead of being able to allow customers to choose from a variety of pictures on the t-shirt of their choice. At this time, my store front is completly free and unless I see that is somewhat successful, I do not feel I can afford to do more than just invest my time into the store.

Now - how does Cafepress make money if I am allowed to have this store front for free? Well - the prices you see listed are not total profit for me as cafepress is providing the merchandise while I provide the images to be displayed on the items for sale. For instance, the postcards have a base price of about 6 dollars. I am allowed to raise the price and the difference is my profit. There are 8 postcards in a set so I have the price at about 8.99 I am trying to keep my prices in line with what it would cost one to purchase a similar item in your local store. My profit line varies from a dollar to 10 dollars. On average most items will net me 2 - 4 dollars profit. So I would need several sales to make even 100 dollars.

While that does not seem like a lot of money, if people share my store front with friends and family members, I could actually start to make a little money from this. I prefer this to adding pay pal button for donations as I do not feel that I can justify that. Some bloggers truly can justify doing this as they are actually earning a living writing. While this is my goal, I am not there yet, so I do not feel that I can justify asking you to support my writing on my blog at this time. Even though my time is very tight, I am not having to make the choice between writing an article I will get paid for VS writing on my blog. Instead I have to choose, will I get up early and try to post before the business/school day starts or will I steal a little time from the business to write.

I love writing, and my children are also quite talented in various ways, as you have seen hints of on my blog. I see this storefront as an opportunity to use their talents to earn some family income. Ideally - we would love to be able to get away from the current business we are in, which we were forced into by my husband being laid off. The current business is lucrative but the hours extremely demanding and the physical demands on all of us immense. It makes being a normal family very difficult as it requires so much of every ones time that even just accomplishing the daily chores of every day life is almost impossible. I have all day been meaning to put on a load of laundry, so far the basket has made it to the top of the stairs...

So - if you would like in someway support mum2twelve's blog and her endeavors to become a paid writer or you would just like to have some comfy apparel that sports a great cartoon depicting what life in a large family it like, or a mug with a prolife message, take a look at my shop, buy something you like and SPREAD THE WORD!

Mum2twelve's Country Cupboard is open and ready for business!!

Blessings to you all!
Christi aka mum2twelve Read more!

Liberated...

Yesterday after receiving Communion, I quietly made my way to my pew with an eye on the back of Nathaniel to make sure he did not shoot out of the church and into the hall. Happily he sat down in the right pew and I joined him there. We both knelt to say our prayers and while I had my forehead resting against my hands, I thought about all of the stresses of the coming week awaiting me. And I thought about the lesson the children were on in the Baltimore Catechism. It is dealing the temporal sufferings of this world and the value of them.

“Love is purified, increased and perfected by suffering. This means not only bodily pain, but crosses of all kinds. God sends everyone all the sufferings they need on earth to cleanse, strengthen, and perfect their love. But most people waste their sufferings. They do not want them, complain about them and try to escape them in every manner possible, even by committing sin.” (Baltimore Catechism No. 2 p. 90)

We have been, as a family, talking about this and in what ways we reject many opportunities during the day to accept a small cross or to cheerfully make sacrifice. Things as simple as; cheerfully changing a diaper, offering your chair to a little one who really wants to sit by a big sister, putting down a book in the middle of an exciting sentence to answer a question. They are numberless. As I thought about this I offered Jesus to try and do better in this area, but I immediately felt so burdened by the thought of so many job titles awaiting me this week. Mummy, teacher, packer, secretary, and more. “Jesus,” I said, “I cannot possibly do this without your help. I cannot possibly cheerfully attack these small crosses and little daily sacrifices without your help. You must help me as I can only do it with you.”

Suddenly I felt liberated as I realized that I did not have to do this alone. That I was not even meant to do this alone, but that Jesus was waiting there to help me with my crosses, large and small. Such a simple concept, but one that so often eludes me.

So today, throughout the day, as I feel burdened by simple chores, when I feel too tired to be able to wash another dish, or impatient and unable to deal with another whiny voice of a child ill with a heavy cold, I will be turning to Jesus and asking him to help me with my yoke.

“Come unto me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, and learn of me; for I am meek and lowly in heart: and ye shall find rest unto your souls. For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.”
Mathew 11:28-30

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