Busy bee with a blue blanky

It's been a week since my last post, did you miss me? And what a busy week it's been! I started a full time job (yay!) as the director for a new group home for teen girls, so between taking care of last minute details to get the house set up, paperwork, training, and learning how to walk the girls through orientation, it's been a busy, busy, busy last few days. But I love it and I love the work I do, so it's totally worth it!

It's definitely good for me starting this job. Don't get me wrong, I love crafting and I totally enjoy having my Etsy shop. But I've worked in the social services field for the last 6 years, and it really is a not only passion of mine, but it really is my chosen career. Yes, there are days that can be incredibly stressful, but I really do live for the days where you have a success story on your hand. It makes all the hard days totally worth it. I've had such meaningful experiences in this field, watching families reunited after a crisis, helping families keep their homes, helping them find new homes when they can stay in their current one... it is so rewarding to see the difference you can make in someone's life, and I wouldn't have it any other way.

In this job, I will have the opportunity to work with young and teenage girls, and help them on their path to becoming a young woman. The other staff in the group home and I will have a part in teaching the girls the skills they will need to eventually live independently, as well as helping them succeed in school graduate, and maybe even help them find part-time jobs if they are able. I'm so excited that we're finally getting started.

I also have one new item that I've added to the shop...

and another new item I'm working on for the shop... I've taken the ripple pattern I used for the pillow cover I told you guys about last week and converted it into an infant and toddler blanket. I love the colors, and it's coming out really cute so far. Here it is in infant size (work in progress, it's about 2/3 of the way done):

To help advertise my shop, I participate in various weekly activities hosted by a Facebook group called Craft Hour (it's based in the UK, but they have followers all over the place). They do a weekly event called Treasury Tuesday, and this week they nominated my treasury! Participating in these events helps to get my shop's name out there, so do me a favor if you would... Click on the link here, Like the photo, and type Vote in the comments to help boost up my votes please!

That's what's new and exciting on my end! I'll hopefully be able to show you the finished product for the new baby blankets soon. Until next time...