This is an awesome idea!

You do great work, Michaela!

This thread is exciting! I can't believe I'm just now seeing it. Thanks for letting me know about it, Michaela!

Still working on my website. I'll post it when I'm done.

Photobucket isn't working for me to post pictures. It's so aggravating. I was hoping to post some pictures in the meantime while I construct my site.

Anyway, yes, I sell soap. I've entered my first craft fair with it, so I'm hoping to do well. It's this Saturday. I'm going to put some of the soap in the bathrooms in the building that the fair is in, so people can try it. Then they'll want to buy it. We're also going to have a week old goat kid at our stand for people to pet. That should draw them in!

Pics coming soon!

Dear James,

Thank you for the post! A very good question.. how to make a Rosary last.  A lot of machine-made Rosaries fall apart very easily.. and for the money that you pay for them, it can make you steaming mad! :really-mad2:
A sure-fire way of getting a Rosary to last is to use quality beads. Since you are a man, I would use some beautiful-yet-sturdy Jerusalem olive wood beads. Now, here is the important part... the holes in the beads HAVE to be big enough to have an 18 gauge wire go through, and make a loop that goes INSIDE the bead at each end. ( hope this makes sense, I will post pics)
The wire is essential as well. It HAS to be thick and strong enough to take years of wear and tear.
Also, if you look at the centerpiece, most machine-made Rosaries have cheap "jump rings" attaching the chain to the centerpiece. That is a huge place for things to go wrong. I have always used one piece of wire to make a figure-eight loop that is virtually indestructible!!( My hubby is in the Army, and he has only had ONE Rosary this whole time!!)

I hope that I have answered your question, I will post some pix explaining what I mean if that would help.

OH! And I forget ALL the time to say.... I fix broken Rosaries and even remake them sometimes. I just ask for prayers for my family and for the Poor Souls in exchange!

God bless you, and thank you for praying your Rosary!

Love,
+michaela

Dear Michaela,

You make very beautiful rosaries! I have a question, I have bad luck with rosaries they all seem to fall apart or break after only a few months.  I've gone through hundreds of rosaries since becoming a Catholic! What kind of rosary is the most sturdy and is there any kind of trick to making a rosary last?

James

James, I know you didn't ask me, but my husband used to have the same rosary affliction as you.  I often wondered what he was doing with them.  I asked here on CI and someone suggested a ladder rosary.

http://www.miqcenter.com/religious-goods/rosaries-new-2.shtml#LADDER

 We haven't purchased another since.  I purchased an aqua one for my mother-in-law and it was the one she was laid to rest with, God rest her soul.

michaela benedicta, your pics are illustrative of talent reflecting great love of God, which makes your work all the more beautiful.
I happen to be in the market for 2 of your items.  Will be in touch.

I make REAL, old-fashioned delicate homemade lace suitable for home devotional shrines, borders for altars and altar linens, doilies for underneath statues, etc.  I've been making lace for 54 years.  I also make other lace devotional items but not mantillas.  They take sewing-weight thread and I would go blind trying to make them!  

I am a transcriber for the sermons on Inthissign but that is voluntary and I'm looking for a way to make a little income as I'm on a fixed income and I would like what I do to be of a religious nature when I'm not transcribing if I can manage both.  Doing both is a lot of work for the eyes so I haven't made a definite decision about it yet.  The transcription is emotionally intensive and I'm trying to balance it out with something I enjoy to avoid burnout.  

The price would depend on how intricate the pattern (I have a very wide assortment for you to choose from depending on what you want), how large the project, and how long it takes.  I would do a short sample and see how much I could get done in an hour, then estimate how many hours it would take to finish. The more intricate the pattern, the more time it takes.  Sometimes I can make 4 motifs in an hour.  Others patterns take one hour to make one motif but they are gorgeous.  (Not all patterns are made with motifs; this is just to give you an idea of what is involved.)

You would receive a sample of my work before I begin to show the quality of my workmanship and complete laundering instructions with the finished product.  I might ask for a deposit for a large item and then full payment when it is done. If I could not complete it for any reason, you would get all your money back.  I'm not out to take advantage of anyone.  This would be for God and His Church and at a much lower cost than what it would really be worth simply because the labor alone would be above what most Traditional families could afford.  

Also be aware that intricate patterns, though the most beautiful, take a long time so it might be months before I could finish your project if I could only work on it for a few hours a day.  My eyes would determine when to quit!  It is all done under a magnifying glass because of the intricacy.  It's what nuns used to do.  

I have not decided definitely to do this but I just want to know if anyone is seriously interested before I think further about it.  I'm working on an order now so it would be awhile before I could begin something else.  Just wanted to see if there is any interest.  In the future I could post pictures if anyone so desires.  If there is interest I could get a web site for transacting business.  

nipr

Very positive to see this thread.