ADOPT- A- FAMILY

About this time twelve years ago I was happy with three young children, a wonderful husband and a thriving career in law enforcement. Having a double income lifestyle made everything comfortable for us. I was preparing to return to duty after my maternity leave when life presented a unexpected change. My career ended and my husband and I found ourselves with half the income we had previously enjoyed for several years.

Christmas Ornament Earrings - Box set of 2 - $9.50

I was devastated. The commitments that we easily met before were difficult to fulfill. Things like coffees, take-out and buying clothes became luxuries to us. There came a day that buying milk for my youngest daughter, approaching her 1st Christmas with us, was non-existent.
Worried for the welfare of our children we did the only thing we could. We visited our local food bank sponsored by the Salvation Army and received a box of food and a $25.00 food voucher.

It was a humbling experience, but we were grateful it was available to us. Christmas wasn't as elaborate as we had wanted and our children were confused because it was so lean. We explained to them, in a way a child could understand, our circumstances.

Box set of 2 pairs of Earrings

Miraculously, our situation worked out in the long run. It was a long, tough road ahead but we survived. The following Christmas we saw a Christmas wish tree in the mall. It was then that we decided to pass it forward. We picked two names from the tree, a boy and a girl, to buy gifts for. It filled our hearts knowing that some child, like ours, would have a Christmas.

Last year I started selling glass ornament earrings at our local farmers market and donated the proceeds to Adopt-A-family. The results were overwhelming. With every $50.00 we raised, our money provided a turkey with all the fixings and a small gift for the children in the house.

Glass Ornament Earrings - box set of 2

As I write this I feel overjoyed about the recipient families. This is a time to help one another and what better way than purchasing a gift box that includes 2 sets of ornament earrings and helping to give a Christmas to another family.

You can either contact me (type "Adopt-a-family" in the subject box and I will invoice you) OR click on the title link to purchase this set Or visit our shop at Catch A Shining Star.
Please note that the earrings will vary in design (glitter and pattern) so when you order please advise what colour you want.

I will post the amount raised each week on this blog. 50% of the proceeds (the rest to cover the cost of materials) will be delivered to the Town of Cobourg Women's services via the LCBO drop off.

Thank you and God bless,

From our family to yours!!

Anne & John

Our One Year Anniversary Celebration with Etsy

John and I are thrilled to announce that we have crossed a major milestone as Internet sellers in the Etsy community.

Our road was a slow and unsure one but with perseverance and some wonderful buyers we did it. We want to share our good fortune with the community and listed many of our items for sale at greatly reduced prices.

Below are just a few of the items that are listed on sale.

Leather Earring with Concho and Turquoise

John is very fussy about incomplete edges. So, as you can see from the passport folder he made below, it was finished, in what I now consider, his signature double laced edge.

All Leather Passport Folder W/ Double laced Edge

This is one of my mini shoulder bag designs and very much my personal favourite. This style of bag was designed to be hands free and spacious enough to carry all your essentials without the clutter. I prefer the thicker leathers like this one for its durability.

Mini Chap Shoulder Bag

John and I started out in this business handcrafting belts. The pattern on the belt pictured below has been our most popular selling designs for both men and women.

Black Leather Stepped Southwest 1.5" belt to accommodate trophy buckles

We invite you to visit our site and take advantage of the sales. Feel free to convo us with any questions you might have.

Our sister sites are:

Catch A Shining Star

CK Signature and

All Things Inspired

We look forward to working with you for another great year.

Thank you so much for your support and a wonderful beginning!

Anne & John

The Stud In Me \00/_

Like every mom, I try to encourage my children to succeed. Not in a bad way but a supportive way. My son, Chris, has an artistic eye. He can sit down and make something out of anything - even a remnant piece of leather that I have discarded.

Last year, for a lark, I gave him a piece of leather because he wanted to try his hand at leather work like his dad and I. I figured why not..., he usually wears what he makes anyway.

The wristband below is what he came up with. I have to tell you though, working with pyramid studs is tricky..., they are slippery suckers that pop right out of your hand just as your about to set it in. Well, *proudly* he mastered it quite nicely - and some, showing up his ole mom. :P

It wasn't until recently did Chris make another one, the first one he kept for himself. If you get the chance show your love to an up-and-coming young artist and view his shop.

Studded Leather Wristband from CKSignature.etsy.com

Good ole mom tried her hand at something new too. I aspire to be unique in my designs. I don't want to be usual - I want to be superb! This was my attempt to be stylish without overworking the design. This is a wristband I made. I offset the diamond clusters - which was a "B" to do *pat on back* while keeping the clusters aligned. It can be viewed it in my shop. :)

CLASSIC ROCK Pyramid studded wristband

I've always wanted to design studded earring too. For about a month now I have been awake at nights tossing idea around in my head. Maybe if I just slept I might have dreamt up something sooner. This pair of earrings are my most recent creation... I am so proud of them... It is quite a challenge to line up the pyramids and center them on a small piece of slippery leather... GAWH!!! but with perseverance I did it. \00/_

DIVA Pyramid - Diamond Studded and Leather Earrings.

This was my first attempt at designing pyramid studded earrings. I am so pleased with them.

Now that I have accomplished this I have a ton of ideas bouncing around in my head. I am hoping to have more designs in our shop soon.

Pyramid Studded Linear Earring and Leather.

Thanks for dropping by!!

Have a Happy Easter everyone!!

Anne ^i^