My Overthinking

Philly Area mom, Life forever changed by adoption

Custom Blog Designs for The Sparrow Fund

Blogging. I’m into it. Remember this post?

And, if you are into it–or just want to be into it–you gotta have a cool blog. It represents you after all. And, well, we bloggers are all cool.

And, I’ve got just the person to help you with that. Diana Hansen, creative and crafty mother of 3 including Dori who was adopted from China in 2006, established Custom Blog Designs in 2008. Diana specializes in custom makeovers for Blogger blogs, although she offers other graphic services such as blog adjustments and maintenance, digital scrapbooking, and custom photo cards.

Here is what Diana had to say about her business:

After we adopted our third child, I discovered digital scrapbooking. I got the hang of it right away and started designing and selling digital templates. After I had been doing that for about 6 months, I got contacted by a friend from our July 05 LID adoption group. She knew of my design skills from being webmaster our adoption support group and from seeing my digital scrapbooking creations and asked me design her blog. Through much research and trial and error, I learned out how to customize a Blogger blog and Custom Blog Designs was born.

Designing blogs gives Diana the opportunity to use her gifts and talents and be creative while still being a mama–don’t we all long to do that? At Custom Blog Designs, she will create a unique and personalized blog design or graphic to your liking, so it really represents you. She has created nearly 500 designs in the 3+ years (um, yeah, she’s super productive and should give us all lessons on time management!), and each is unique.

Take a look at some of these – you might recognize a few! –

If you’ve been considering a blog makeover, contact Diana. And, if you haven’t been, ask some of your bloggy friends if you should (kidding…sort of). And, visit her facebook page too and personally thank her for what she’s doing to support adoptive families through giving 10% of all her business this month to The Sparrow Fund.

Please go see all the shops supporting The Sparrow Fund this month by clicking on the button below


TSF


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Women….sheesh

I went to a Mother’s Day function today.

If you happened to be a part of that function, it was very nicely done. The food spread was really nice. Thank you very much. And, you can stop reading now.

____________________________________

For the rest of you, what an awful time it was! I arrived with Lydia in tow, got a plate of sugary sweet goodies I really should be avoiding, a cup of coffee that I should also be avoiding, and looked around for where to sit.

I was reminded why wedding seating arrangements are good ideas.

I could not find a single woman I knew better than simply recognizing her face in passing. And, no name tags to help me. Hmm…. and, there it was – a nearly empty table. Only a classy looking grandmother and a 2 year old were there. It was my best bet…I thought.

“Do you mind if I join you?” “No, no, go ahead.”

Seconds later, mom came, and mom’s friend with her 2 year old. Then, another friend. And, they all started talking.

Like I wasn’t there. Really.

I chatted with Lydia and pointed out to her the pictures up front that she would find interesting.

And, they kept talking.

Okay, this is getting awkward. If they are not going to say anything to me at all, I need to try to look for a window of opportunity and try to break into the conversation. So, when I heard the words “Disney World,” you know I started talking. But, right as I did, another friend arrived. And, the window was closed as all their attention went right to her. And, there was no room for her. Okay, now this is really awkward. Clearly, I did not belong. Maybe I should offer to leave? No, that might be weirder. She pulled up a chair and started talking with their full attention.

How long do we have to sit here? Has it only been 10 minutes?

That’s when the hostess announced that the flowers in the center would be given to someone special at the table, the woman who had the most children. At this point, I’m thinking, “okay, here’s my chance.” Well, since all those women knew each other and their number of children, they turned to the grandmother and said, “Well, they are yours because you have 8 grandchildren.” No one asked me how many children I had.

Here’s my window. “I have 4 children,” I say proudly.

silence. stares. maybe I should’ve just stayed quiet.

“4?” one asks me. “Yup, 9, 7, 5, and 2.” “This is your 2 year old?” “Yup,” as I brush her hair from her face.

“Wow.” and another second of the staring.

(From what I gathered eavesdropping from 6″ away, they all had 2 kids each.)

Then, they just started talking again about Jamaica and restaurants and other such things. While I sat there with Lydia, my only friend at the table.

As soon as the program was over, seemingly hours later (okay, it was like 10 more minutes), one of the ladies announced at the table, “I’m treating everyone to lunch. Let’s go. Come on, my treat.” And, there was a mass exodus as they all left for their nice restaurant. And, there we were, right there at the table.

Now there’s some Mother’s Day love for ya.

At least they left the flowers for me…which I proudly picked up and are now sitting on my old kitchen table in my outdated kitchen.

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Noah and Lilah for The Sparrow Fund

Don’t we all just love those stories of the corporate business woman turned stay-at-home mom turned small business owner following her passion? I do.

Sherri was a CPA in the corporate finance world who became a stay-at-home mama to two adorable kiddos–Noah and Lilah. When she was pregnant with her girly, she decided she wanted to learn to sew. As a jeans and t-shirt kind of gal, the pink, frilly, fussy dresses she found in stores just weren’t cutting it. So, going for the simple, understated look with modern fabrics, she took a sewing class which led to a new found love of sewing kids’ clothes. 3 months later, she opened up her etsy store and found herself sewing like crazy while the kids are sleeping to make simple, understated pieces for children all over the place–including two of mine. (I just ordered 2 skirts for my girls.)

This skirt but in green (below). Ashlyn likes that it looks sort of fairy-ish.

Sherri has several different fairy tale fabrics like this Rapunzel one that are so so cute.
And, this reversible pinafore? Oh, that fabric is amazing.

Sherri knew she wanted to use her shop to be able to give back and looks for ways to do so on a regular basis. She is a member of the Etsy Team Team Etsy Project Embrace, whose main purpose is to create awareness and support for people who have been diagnosed with cancer. And, she has generously given to places such as Craft Hope, Help for Haiti, the American Cancer Society, the American Red Cross, and NOW The Sparrow Fund.

Go check out her stuff. The fabrics are beautiful and turn a simple skirt into a total outfit-maker. And, with her prices so reasonable, you can afford to buy a couple. Visit her facebook page too and give her some love for supporting adoption and adoptive families through giving 10% of all May sales to The Sparrow Fund.

Please go see all the shops supporting The Sparrow Fund this month by clicking on the button below


TSF


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Jiayin Designs for The Sparrow Fund

I still remember when I got the charm with our daughter’s name on it–Mei Yue. It means beautiful moon. My mom had had it made for me in Beijing, handcut from a sheet of silver. And, it was priceless. I wore it everyday while we waited to travel. It was a tangible reminder to me, one I could hold onto when I really just wanted to hold onto her. And when we traveled, I wore it everyday in China with pride. Shop owners stopped me to admire it. The orphanage workers asked our translator about it and were touched that I had gone to great efforts to have a lasting remembrance of our daughter’s heritage. 
And, that is how Jiayin Designs was born. In an effort to allow other families the same treasure and to provide some extra financial support to a Chinese couple doing significant work in China who actually go and have the charms made and then ship them to me, I built a basic website using the name Jiayin–meaning literally good and beautiful news but also the word used in Revelation in Chinese Bible for the phrase the mystery of God. Pretty neat, huh? 
We have grown Jiayin some to include beautiful Niu Niu dolls handmade in ZhuZhou city in Hunan Province as well as Year of the Rabbit handmade rabbits, traditional Tiger items, hair accessories some made in China and some by an adoptive sister here in the states, and other special accessories.

Jiayin Designs has become a real joy to me to be able to give lasting treasures to families and children of their Chinese heritage, provide for my friends in China, and give work to gifted Chinese artisans. We even have had the special honor to send a few care packages of a doll or a rabbit to waiting children from their parents as well as charms as gifts to foster mothers. We don’t take this privilege lightly. And, we’ve been able to support great causes like a foster care program in ZhuZhou city as well as The Sparrow Fund. It doesn’t get much better. 
Come check out the site even if you aren’t a Chinese adoptive family. Consider having a charm made of your favorite phrase from Scripture in Chinese characters. Or, if you have a child adopted from another country, give us an image of his or her name, and the artisan will hand cut it into a charm as well. Be creative. And, know that your shopping is supporting lots of great causes–including 10% during the month of May to The Sparrow Fund.

Please go see all the shops supporting The Sparrow Fund this month by clicking on the button below


TSF


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