I met craftyGAgal on Twitter and learned about how she succeeds in business through chronic pain. We connected on Facebook too. The more I’ve learned about her and her drive to make and sell crafts and to blog, the more I wanted to share her positive attitude and her beautiful work with my readers.

craftyGAgal’s real name is Meredith Crosby. She is 31 years old, married and has twin boys who are 7 years old. When she was a young girl, she was involved in a boating accident and injured her back. Her condition worsened after her pregnancy due to carrying twins and the weight gain that went along with it. She also has scoliosis and has had to endure a spinal fusion and a costoplasty- where they removed several centimeters of five of her ribs to remove a hump that was in her back due to the scoliosis. The ribs are then left broken to heal back together. She had two titanium rods put into my back, 13 screws and lots of other hardware. These were both very painful operations.

Meredith describes her condition as, “Constant never ending Pain, numbness in limbs and sometimes lips, unable to do anything for long periods of time, depression, anxiety, loss of social life…” But she has a loving and supportive husband and her children love her unconditionally. She is part of the Invisible Illness group because she doesn’t look disabled and has friends and even some family members who don’t understand her situation and her chronic pain.

After being told that she could not work, she began crafting for fun and to keep her mind busy and occupied. She makes stained glass, beaded and gemstone jewelry and crochets baby items and hats. She has a store on Etsy - craftyGAgal, where she takes custom orders and lists new items every day.

*Important* If you shop at her Etsy store between now and the end of the day on July 6th, put in a code “MyChronicLife” to the “Note to Seller” area you will get a 10% discount.

Get to know her and her bubbly personality on Twitter and on Facebook, where she’s also known as Southern Handmade Gifts. She’ll have you laughing, I promise! And if you think that isn’t enough, visit her blog, craftyGAgal’s Southern Handmade Gifts.

This is an ongoing effort to spotlight people with chronic illness, health issues and disabilities who are making a contribution in some way despite their pain, sickness, etc.

It’s good to laugh, especially when it’s laughing at something that is pretty ridiculous but is probably making someone a lot of money. What would you think if you saw someone wearing a bandana mask like this from FluFashion? They are real respirator masks but “decorated” to look hip and gangsta. Did I just write that?

I’m sure we’ll be seeing them on planes and trains since VP Joe Biden made his famous statement a few weeks ago. Or maybe not.

Now that I am doing more giveaways on my other blogs, with some of them not sponsored or some that I have to mail myself, I’m using my postage scale and US Postal Service website more often.

I’m keeping bubblewrap, shipping boxes and large envelopes. I still didn’t get my business cards because I’ve decided to change my main website name. When that site is ready, I’ll order my cards. For now I’ve been including a handwritten note with the prizes.

It will look a lot more professional to have a couple of business cards to add to the package. It will also look good to have a good looking website that lists all of my blogs and a short bio of myself. Little by little, things are falling into place.

I try to save money and try to save time when shopping. When I don’t feel well I love to shop online. It’s easy and painless. I don’t need to find a ride to the store and try to feel energized to look around stores for what I want. The other thing I like about shopping online is it is less work to look for a sale. I can look for promo codes, online coupons and check on comparison websites.

What are some of your favorite places to shop online? Does it help you when you’re not well to use this method of shopping?

Inviting Home is online company that provides quality products for your home. The products they offer are usually only available to professional builders, interior designers, etc. but by shopping online it’s like cutting out the middleman. So the prices are a lot less expensive than buying through a professional. But, the information on the website is there for you. For each type of product sold, there are pages devoted to detailed images, installation and what works in your home. You can also call customer service and view the decorating ideas on the site too. If you choose to become a member of Inviting Home, you will receive a newsletter, discounts and information on promotions.

We are still redecorating my home. It’s been a long process but there’s still a lot of work to do. In our den, my husband built a new wall but we still need to add molding to the bottom of the wall. We’re also thinking of adding some around the wall, because it is a recessed wall.  I would love to use something like this:

While looking through the site, I also found Corbels which would really add beauty to my kitchen counters, especially the part that hangs into the living room area of my home. I found photos of people who did the same thing in the Inspiration Gallery section called “Sharing Success”. Plus, I love any company that has their own blog.

Finishing up my home is something I need to get done to reduce my stress levels. I hate when I’m not feeling well, I’m sitting around the house and I look at all of the things that still need to be done here.

With Zenni Optical I can afford to purchase eyeglasses that portray the various styles I like. Now I can even own a pair of Holiday frames.

I love to wear Christmas jewelery and shirts. I do the same thing for other holidays like the Fourth of July, Easter and even St. Patrick’s Day. To be able to match my glasses to my clothing and mood would complete the picture for sure!

I saw these red frames that have white snowflakes on them and even though I live in Florida, I’d love to own a pair. I wear a lot of red with Christmas coming so soon. I have a red faux fur collar jacket that these would look stunning with.

There is a big selection of frames in red, green, blue and frames with holiday motifs like Christmas stockings, stained glass, horse drawn sleds, and so many more. I spent a lot of time looking through them. It was hard to choose just one favorite.

I know first hand that Zenni Optical has very good quality eyeglasses. My older daughter and her fiancee’ each bought a few pairs and were thrilled with them. They said that the customer service was terrific, even advising them that they had made some mistakes in ordering.

When they received their glasses, they saw that they were just like those sold at stores but for a fraction of the cost. They compared them to what they owned previously and couldn’t tell the difference based on the quality of the frames.

So why shouldn’t I splurge and get a few pairs of glasses instead of just one? After all it is the holidays.