I recently joined Handmade Spark in hopes it would help me sell my items on Etsy - plus I have an INSANE amount of stock to move. The amount of $$ I have spent re-listing things etc is obscene - and although I have had awesome feedback from people regarding the creations, they don't move.
 I can have things priced at my cost and they don't move - marked as favorites but no purchases. I even get letters from people about how great my things are - blah blah - but never get a sale.
 As much as i LOVE what I do, we are literally drowning financially and I can't justify the time and money spent away from my family. boo hoo. So this is my last attempt (handmade spark) at paying for any kind of marketing - I am overdue with my Etsy bill - and the past two years of living in a crafty bliss have been amazing and incredibly stressfull, but it's a bust. Gosh - writing this out is a little more emotional than I expected. I'm not totally off the scene yet - but I will be listing things to clear them out and hope they go to good homes :)

Kids just called to be picked up from the pool - in the meantime, check out AWESOME handmade creations found through handmade spark.  I just found a fab addition to my future post on being royalty :) Be back later tonite. hugs

So hubby and I left Southern California for the mid-west - Michigan to be more specific, so that he could complete his residency...long story.   We have been here for 4 years now - really only three for me since I was preggers and bed bound at the begining OY.
Michigan -- a state with one of the highest rates of unemployment, combined with the snow and winter weather for 9 months out of the year, it is no wonder we are also the fattest state in the nation!!  Who wants to do anything but stay at home where it's warm and safe (many roads were not regularly plowed b/c the city can't afford it) and eat!?  Now I'm drifting off the subject, which had to do with the desperate economic conditions - yes there is a point to this.  I was just talking to my girlfriend yesterday who was going through this insane list of job applications that her hubby had put out in the last 6 months.  "Last week alone he filled out 16 applications...and you can't call them to follow up - they don't like that..."  All part of a convo where I was trying to get her to see that her talented hubby was just a name on a piece of paper - one of hundreds that might get sorted through - what has he done to stand out?  blah blah blah  Then today I read this great post and was like Pa-Dow!  It seems that mommy-hood has taken my ability to speak/write properly to an audience above the age of 10 - so thanks for your understanding *blush*  here ya go:   WAKE UP!     

http://www.williambharding.com/blog/hiring/hint-for-job-seekers-wake-up/