Here are some other things that I am continually involved with:
Zazzle Designer: Finding The Silver Sun
I have started designing for Zazzle. Instead of having to pay to get products made, I just design Zazzle products and get a commission when people buy my designs. For more information and some of my recent designs, check out my blog page about the store!
Scarlet Rose iPad Mini Case Sleeve by FindingTheSilverSun
Look at other Red iPad Sleeves at zazzle.com
The Beauty Around – By Elizabeth Bulfer
Shop currently empty while I work on the overhaul, sorry for the inconvenience. If you are interested in any of my photography or photo projects, please let me know and I can always make a custom listing for you!
“The Beauty Around” is my Etsy shop!
Because of all of my illnesses and the physical limitations they impose, I cannot hold a “regular” job. Sure, I could try, but the fatigue and physical requirements would cause me to burn out quickly. However, because of my medical expenses, finances can get a bit tight (and I have student loans, eeks!) so it would really help if I could make a little extra money on the side… TaDa! My Etsy shop is born!
Right now, my Etsy shop has photographs and photo projects (a puzzle, postcards, etc) available. I am always open to creating custom photo projects, they can just take a bit longer than prints.
I am, however, expanding the scope of my shop. I really enjoy painting (right now it’s acrylic on canvas) and mixed media, as well as upcycling clothing and accessories. Upcycling is just a fancy way of saying I use worn out things to create new things. At this exact moment, I’m working on building an inventory of paintings and upcycled items before posting any to Etsy. The best way to find out about the status of my projects is to follow my shop’s Facebook page (I even occasionally post promo codes exclusively for Facebook followers).
GoFundMe – Spoonie’s Medical Assistance
Due to sudden and unexpected medical expenses, it can be quite hard to find money to do anything else.
Dan (my husband) and I bought a townhouse that is in desperate need of some fixing up and updating. We bought the house December 2013, and really haven’t been able to do much. There are several fixes that are necessary for my health, but that we haven’t gotten to do because of my other medical bills: replace flooring and seal floors to eliminate old pet odors, remove and replace moldy tubs and tiling in both full baths, remove old and filthy popcorn ceilings and retexture them, wash and repaint all of the walls, replace all of the baseboards to remove pet dander from previous owners, etc. There are also a few fixes that need to be done to make my house more accessible for me: fix stair railings so they are sturdy again, replace kitchen cabinets with ones that are more accessible and utilize space better, replace windows with energy efficient ones so the house can stay a more constant and neutral temperature, etc.
On average, I see one of my specialists a week, which adds up. I also take about ten different prescription medications, a few vitamins, and use several OTC medications to manage my symptoms… which also gets expensive quickly. One of my most effective therapies has been regularly attending Pilates sessions. Because my body doesn’t function anywhere near “normal,” I cannot attend the inexpensive Pilates offered at the local rec centers (without risk of serious injury), so I attend a studio that combines Pilates and physical therapy. While this has been immensely helpful in my ability to move around on a daily basis, it is also quite expensive. Then there is also the cost of various braces (knee, ankle, foot arch, wrist, back, etc) and equipment (compression socks, home exercise/therapy equipment, special clothing, etc), and the more expensive types of household items (detergent because I’m allergic, lotions, soaps, etc) and food.
Because of all of these expenses, and the money the require, we have not been able to renovate our house as quickly as we’d like nor take vacations on a regular basis.
With the Zazzle and Etsy shops taking a while to get going, I thought I’d set up the GoFundMe in case people had extra money and would like to help out.
Miscellaneous
-School- GRADUATED MAY 2016!
On top of the medical stuff, and trying to get my Zazzle and Etsy shops running, I’m also a student. My schooling history is complicated, to say the least. I started (August 2008) at the engineering/science school where I met Dan, then realized I didn’t want to be an engineer (or any of the other majors they offer). After that realization, and because photography has always been a passion of mine, I switched to a more standard four year university and changed majors to photography… unfortunately, they only offered photography as an art major with an emphasis in photography, which meant I needed to take a bunch of classes I did not like and was having a difficult time succeeding in, as well as having classmates that I couldn’t relate to. Luckily, I ended up taking an elective in nutrition, and decided I loved it and wanted to switch. Once again, however, I discovered that I didn’t want to actually do anything with that degree, even though the material was fascinating. At that point, I had so much student loan debt, I decided to drop out of school entirely and take time to figure out life. I realized I love learning, and love history/archaeology/anthropology. Since I have been frustrated with the requirements for Bachelor’s degrees, I decided to re-start at the Associate’s level. In May 2016, I should be graduating graduated with my Associate’s of Art in Anthropology!
-House-
Dan and I are also trying to get our house fixed up. We have a lovely three story townhouse (the garage and utility/storage is on the ground floor, the living floor is next, then the bedroom floor), but it’s in need of some love. It was a rental property when we bought it, and we’re pretty sure it had been since it was built. The house was built in 1985, and almost everything is original. All the appliances were original, but we had to replace the dishwasher right away and we found a great deal on a fridge too (which was going to need replacing soon anyway). Luckily, the stove/oven floor unit is still in pretty good shape, the oven just heats a little unevenly but nothing catastrophic. All of the fixtures in the house have either been replaced with the cheapest available or are original. The furnace is original, but in really good shape for how old it is. We had to replace the furnace, thanks to a cracked element. The house, overall, also needs some love. The last tenants (and probably several before that) had pets, some dogs and some cats, so we’ve been finding some fun things. The powder room linoleum was laid on filthy old linoleum that still had a pile of used cat litter on it in the corner… we didn’t pull up the new stuff but we cleaned out the edges and then glued it back down. The entry smells like dog urine, so strongly I can smell it upstairs on the couch on humid or hot days; we’ve had no success removing the smell so now we’re looking into new flooring options. The animals also left us hundreds of dust bunnies glued to walls and hidden everywhere, and they even left us some toys. Luckily, I suppose, the entire house needs painting and new baseboards, so everything will get a thorough scrub down. We have picked most of the paint colors for the rooms in the house, so that’s pretty awesome! Once we’ve scraped off the filthy popcorn ceilings and gotten them retextured and painted, we can start painting the house! We haven’t been able to do as much to the house as we’d have liked to, but we should be able to do more soon. The powder room has new paint on the walls and ceiling, and a new toilet and light fixture. I’m going to repaint the vanity in there soon (counter too), I repainted the vanity and we installed a new door (that still needs painting) and we have a new door and we have painted baseboards that just need installing. Our whole house also desperately needs new windows and exterior doors. Crazy amounts of work, but we’ll be able to get going on it soon!
Finding Life's Silver Sun 