Doing the right thing

I was doing some reading yesterday about marketing your small business and I read a line that struck a nerve,I re-read it and it sparked a flame,then I wrote it down and it made knots in my stomach.
"How you handle anything,is how you handle everything!"
Some of you might think, why the heck would that simple line make such an impact?
I will tell you why....
Etsy has become the small town girl/boy who made it big in Hollywood and forgot all it's high school friends who supported him/her through drama class and stuck by her/his side during auditions and disappointments. But hey, that's business.
Knowing that fact, is why team members should behave like team members and that is why we should respect the rules set in place by team captains. It's tough trying to not sink in the ocean of other creative warriors
Don't misunderstand, I am part of an amazing and supportive team (holla STATTEAM) but there are a few members who make it rough and uncomfortable for the whole lot by not abiding by the rules and disrespecting their captain/leaders and fellow members. And I am making a statement about this for no other reason than it breaks my heart!
You may think I'm silly for taking it personally but I will ask you this...
Is it easier to ignore someones wishes and fail them because you don't have to look them in the eyes when you do it?
I can tell you that my shop is a shop run with morals and heart, just like my home is run. And there are MANY other shops on Etsy that I know are run the same. Of course it's business and ultimately we are there for the sale! But there's more going on in the Etsy community than bottom dollar. So stealing someones creative ideas and blatantly copying their work, creating treasuries and not commenting on the ten above you that your peers worked so hard on, not favoriting or at least commenting on a treasury you were featured in, or just doing sneaky business is crushing to the shop owners who get up every morning (in addition to taking care of their families) and pour their heart and soul into their little piece of this handmade community.
Again,I am not here to call anyone out or to be the big mean ogar (no offense Shrek)
If nothing else this will give you insight to who I am. But if one person reads this and thinks "oh my gosh I am behaving that way but now it's time to put my big girl panties (or big man briefs) on and do business the humble way!"
Than that is awesome!!!
I don't think I am any authority here I guess you could say my conscience made me do it!!
I wish you all the best!!

The Fifth is for Friends!!

Every month on the fifth I will feature art work and crafty creations made by friends of mine!
This first lovely, is a cross stitching piece made by my darling friend Nichole. Take a look and read what she has to say about her work!

I started cross stitching after finding a website full of video game patterns - suddenly stitching looked pretty cool.  I started with simple, small pixelated characters (mario, megaman, link, etc.) before moving on to bigger projects.  This one is my biggest project so far - Samus from the intro of Super Metroid, with a total of 25,920 stitches (17,515 of them being black) I felt quite excited to finally finish it.  I've recently branched out into television as well - the last project being pixel people of the characters of Big Bang Theory, and having recently completed a pattern for a large stitching of the Winchester brothers from Supernatural.  It's turned into a great hobby, I recommend it to anyone with access to a craft store and some spare time to be creative