Sponsor Spotlight: Chronic Christen Crafter

I'm so happy to introduce you to Erin. Erin, take it away!

 Hello lovely readers of "the Sasse Life".  I am so blessed to be asked by Kim to guest post here at her amazing blog, "the Sasse Life".  She is just the sweetest, and I was the luckiest girl just a few weeks ago to win one of her BEAUTIFUL "loved" brooches that she hand crafts in her new "Loved" shop, which was opened to remind us that we are to love one another and to raise suicide awareness...a WONDERFUL CAUSE!

 My name is Erin, and I blog @ Chronic Christian Crafter.  I blog about DIY home decorating, crafts, and recipes. In addition, I try to post inspirational, encouraging, and uplifting blog posts. And, I do suffer a chronic illness which has been one of the biggest "teachers" in my life to date, so I occasionally address some "life lessons" that I have learned from this...in a positive way and hopefully in a way that is applicable for each and every one to apply to their life. I would love to have you visit, and I have various ways to follow.  I included them at the bottom of this post. When I received Kim's brooch, I was very excited...I knew exactly where I wanted it to go.  I know it can be worn as a brooch, but I decided to utilize it in another way...as decoration.  I wanted to use it as decor in my half bath downstairs...loved how it fit into the decor...

Top Left: close up of brooch, Bottom Left: Brooch, red and black beads purchased @ Dollar Tree , Right: Pedestal dish inherited from great aunt...I love to integrate heirlooms when I can

Just as I like to integrate heirlooms, items of special meaning (i.e. "loved" brooch) throughout my home...I like to integrate items which invoke "memories".  I've done just this in our half bath by decorating with pictures, postcards, drawings, etc. purchased from my husband and my travels.  Here's pictures:

Top left: Pictures we bought on vacation in New Orleans, Bottom Left: Post Card of trolley purchased on same New Orleans trip, Top Right: Another Picture purchased on New Orleans trip as well as framed "L" purchased from a Charleston, SC trip, Bottom Right: We framed photos, post cards, etc. uniformly to create a unified black and white look

When we first purchased our home, our half bath was painted  burgundy.  I personally like burgundy walls...but, it was not becoming of our small half bath.  So, we found this greyish paint in the "oops" bin, and liked how it complemented  the black and white scheme.  In addition, we painted the cabinet black...ALL of our cabinets in our home were a natural color with a heavy varnish over them (thankfully I have a very handy husband who has painstakingly updated all of our cabinets since except for our upstairs bathroom...which I am going to try to tackle).  We also added a new light fixture in here, new fixtures, etc. (the little touches really do make a big difference)!   And, to add an additional "pop"...I added a few reds.  However, one of the biggest changest in this room was when we laid tile over the UGLY laminate...BIG IMPROVEMENT!!!

Since the "mini-makeover" was all BEFORE I ever even dreamed of a blog, I don't have before and after photos.  However, here is pic of the tile...just take my word for it...BIG IMPROVEMENT!!!

So, there it is...a "mini tour" of my half bath...as well as a glimpse at where I used my "loved" brooch.  And, while we are on the subject of the "loved" brooch...I thought I would share a little bit about why I'm SO GLAD Kim is supporting suicide awareness.  Kim shared a very touching story of how suicide touched her life so personally...I'm going to share a little story as well....

I went to a private, christian university...some of the best years of my life!  We had rules at our university...one of them being a curfew...so we had dorm monitors/RAs to check everybody in at night.  One semester, this was my work study job.  One night, I was up late, checking people in...when a friend ran down telling me to "call 911"...someone I knew had slit her wrist, and her roommate (that I had just checked in) had just found her.  Sparing all the details, the ambulance arrived...and, after a stint in the hospital...she survived.  Why did she do it?  She and her boyfriend had broken up...she felt hopeless...like there was no tomorrow.  I remember that night to this day.  One of the more memorable nights, not in a good way, from my college experience.  

In addition, I graduated from college with a degree in social work...I worked with individuals diagnosed with clinical depression (something NO ONE should ever be ashamed of).  Depression is real, and it is no respecter of persons, social status, etc.  Don't be ashamed to ASK FOR HELP!!!  As a social worker, I worked with people stating they "wanted to kill themselves".  And, I worked to help caretakers in setting up suicide prevention plans.  Unfortunately, I've seen the hurt that suicide leaves behind...

That is why I appreciate Kim in raising the awareness of suicide prevention.  This is my personal thanks, Kim.

Thank you again, Kim, for allowing me to share with your wonderful readers.  If you enjoyed this article, please feel free to come visit me @ Chronic Christian Crafter.  I would love to have you.  You can find and follow me via:

I also co-host a link party on Tuesdays each week with Debbie @ Debbie Does Creations where you can "toot your horn" about anything that you have created/blogged about.  We would love for you to join us...double exposure...double features!  Here is our blog button:

<div align="center"><a href="http://chronicchristiancrafter.blogspot.com" title="Chronic Christian Crafter"><img src="http://i1111.photobucket.com/albums/h477/ErinLedbetter7/Toot-Your-Horn-Tuesday-125x125.jpg" alt="Chronic Christian Crafter" style="border:none;" /></a></div>  "Each one should use whatever gift he has received to serve others, faithfully administering God's grace in its various forms." 1 Peter 4: 10

Thank you so much, Erin. Love seeing you using a creative way to use the brooch and also sharing your story. Don't forget to shop by and say hi to her!