Fantastic Finds (Vol. 3)

I've been scouring etsy finding more fantastic ladies to introduce to you. I have been successful, indeed!

Today I want you to meet Melissa. Melissa's story of selling homemade is so intriguing to me... I wanted you to "hear" her yourself!

So, Melissa, what's your story? My story is that I'm a stay-at-home mom with three boys, Joshua (almost 11), Zachary (almost 9) and Tyler (4). I've been married to my husband Martin for 14 years this summer.
I've always been interested in crafts and art and 4 years ago I started as a Stampin' Up demonstrator. I hold classes at my home for different card classes. My upline gave me a frame with our last name as a gift and I was inspired by that to start my All For Abby business. We are adopting from China and we have been waiting just about 32 months. We have decided to name her Abigail and can't wait to go and bring her home! We are prayerful that we will get her sometime this year, but still don't really know if that will be the case.

Um, 32 months?! How in the world have you waited 32 months without losing your sanity??? Well, thank goodness we believe and trust in God and He has given us the patience for this long wait! When we started the process, it was a 9 month wait. How funny. . .we figured it was just like being pregnant. By the time we got our paperwork done, it was up to 12 months. Never did we dream it would take this long, but I guess God just doesn't have Abby ready for us yet! We know when she's ready, it'll be our turn!
So, to keep me busy in the meantime, I've had so much fun making the frames and such that you see on my Etsy shop. Each Frame-a-name is personalized for that person. The customer gets to pick the colors and theme and frame color and I stamp it, cut it out and mount it all for them. For the Frame-a-family, each person is customized according to the customer and I then again, stamp it all out, color it in and frame it for them. The Frame-the-Grandkids works the same way. Each one is unique and made after the order is placed. I try to get them done within 2-3 weeks, but can be made quicker if I have the time.

How did you decide to pursue adoption? My husband and I didn't feel our family was complete yet and I had gone through 3 miscarriages and didn't want to go through the pain of another loss. So we looked into adoption and pretty much immediately looked into international adoption. We looked at Russia and China and China appealed to us more for various reasons. The cost was a factor. . .the stability of Chinese adoptions. . .the travel time. . .and we just felt a pull towards China. We have now pictured the future with our little Chinese girl and 3 big brothers!

And her name is Abby, of course! The name Abigail has actually been picked out since I was pregnant with son #2! We wanted to find out if it was a boy or a girl and at my first ultrasound, we were told 90% sure it was a girl. Well, my husband didn't believe it and wouldn't let me paint the nursery or anything and we were told we could have another ultrasound in a month. So, a month later we went back and a different ultrasound tech also told us it was a girl! We had picked the name Abigail and told Joshua that he was getting a sister named Abby. Thankfully, 3 weeks before I gave birth, we had one last ultrasound, this time my OB did it. We were then informed it was a boy. . .to our huge shock!! The nursery had already been painted purple and had butterflies stenciled everywhere! I'm thankful we found out before he was born and not AS he was being born! I had time for the shock to wear off. So she'll be named Abigail Rose and then one of her Chinese names.

And look what a darling frame Melissa made for my little boy:

How adorable is that? And it's all for a good great cause! The money Melissa makes from the frames goes towards her daughter's adoption (hence her store name of All for Abby), and $5 from every frame will be donated to her orphanage when they go to pick her up! Ahhhhhhh, I love this kinda stuff!
(I've already decided that Bug's getting a frame-a-name for her birthday this summer-- this one, how appropriate!)

But wait, there's more!

Melissa has kindly offered to make a Frame-A-Name for one of you!!!
*squeals of excitement*

If you'd like to win, please leave a comment either telling me something that inspired you about Melissa's story, or which frame you would choose. (Please make sure you leave a valid email address.) I will select a winner next Friday May 15!

For an extra entry, you can blog about this giveaway and link back to this post!

And hey, go buy a frame-a-name to support a worthy cause! (And cutesy up your walls!)
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This giveaway is now closed. The winner is #14!