After a long hiatus from the world of sellers, I am finally back on Etsy. As for in person vendor live I watched as I threw money away trying to sale my craft. Online, it had gotten frustrating spending .20 cents per listing and never making a sale. I watched as others with goods of equal or lesser quality art made sales while my products never moved. I spent a long time in my pity party wondering why a could make a sale. Then it happened. I finally sucked it up and did a ton of research about marketing and self-promotion. I had always thought my art would just speak for itself, but there really is a skill to taking stylized photos and leaving nice, catchy descriptions.
This time, after just two weeks of an open shop I made my first sale on Etsy.
While I can attribute part of this to researching and watching the WHY behind the most successful shops, I give the glory to God because I truly believe it is He who paved the way and gave me guidance. It would have never occurred to me that perhaps my pride-fullness and refusal to learn was the actual reason I was not able to succeed.
Just a couple years ago I had quit. I stopped attending shows and vendor events in person. I closed my Etsy. I was so uninspired to even make anything. But this LITERALLY is not how God, the maker of ME designed me. It took a lot of prayer and patience, but God finally made it clear to me that it isn’t selfish or wrong to practice your talents. He gave them for a reason. What’s more, it isn’t wrong to sell them (see Proverbs 31)! I’ve asked for God to provide for my family, to give me work to do that will bring in enough for my daughter and I to get by. As it turns out, I was praying all wrong.
I used to say: “God, please give me a good job that will allow me to give my daughter what she needs.”
Then that changed to: “God, please show me what I need to do to provide for my family.”
And finally I learned that my thoughts and heart were in the completely wrong place: “God, I trust that you are actively working in our lives already. I trust that you are providing all we need. Your will be done in our lives.”
It is more clear now than ever that running away from my talents and interests because of the belief that a more traditional job makes more sense…is blatantly going against what God wanted. There is always a reason! Nothing happens by coincidence, and nothing lacks purpose. I have recently begun several writing projects from poetry to short stories, in addition to my art. This is just the beginning! Below you’ll find my latest uploads. Enjoy and expect more soon 🙂
Designing Lorri 
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