Someone I think you should know- Amanda Carvelli

I was inspired to write my Guest post series on a whim about people that give me faith, hope and encouragement. 

These folks are regular people that have overcome an obstacle, illness, a successful small business or just some spark that ignited my own!  

This Maven of Vinyl has blossomed what seems overnight and she has an amazing small business as well as battling Chronic Illness that hasn't stopped her from becoming successful. I hope you enjoy learning more about Amanda Carvelli!

She describes herself as; "A 34 year old stay at home mama of 1 (for now), married going on 9 years this March. My husband and I have been together since I was 15 years old, off and on.I have Rheumatoid Arthritis which leaves me with chronic pain and unable to work a regular 9-5 job."

"I started doing my t-shirt business during a time family distress when my Aunt was struggling with Pulmonary Fibrosis. I saw how much my cousin, her daughter, was being affected by her health deteriorating and decided to make her a T shirt, of all things, to help encourage her to keep fighting." 

"I designed it all on my own and had a local lady friend of mine actually cut the vinyl and give it to me, then using my hand iron at the kitchen table pressed it on to a shirt and hand delivered it to my cousin and aunt in the hospital. My Aunt smiled so big, as did my cousin and other family members, and for a minute we were able to forget about how hard my aunt was struggling. I thought if this little gesture could bring this much joy to them, imagine how much joy I could bring to others that are needing personalized and customized items. I’ve been in business a whole year now since the end of January 2016!"

She states,"Running a small business from home is an investment in both time and money. The plus side is I get to stay at home with my kiddo and work on my own time. I don’t expect to become a millionaire, but it does allow me to make a little extra spending cash."

I asked her, "How have you overcome the challenges of working with a 2 year old running around?" She replied,"My home office is also my sons playroom so when I work, he’s usually in there hanging out too. On big orders, I sometimes call in reinforcements, my dad, or wait until my Husbands home to get work done."

A lesson she has learned along the way;

"Don’t sell yourself short and my time is definitely worth something. I sometimes tend to under charge people."

She feels her greatest success is,having repeat customers and personal recommendations. That’s how you know you’ve made it! She added; "My favorite story is when I was at the Dr with my mom, my dad, and my son the other day. We all take off our jackets and notice we are all wearing t-shirts that I made! The nurse commented on them all and asked where we got them, says she loves them and asked for my business card! It felt amazing!"

I asked her, what she felt was her greatest regret? She honestly replied; "Getting caught up in addictions. I treated my pain as an excuse to use heavy drugs since the prescription drugs didn’t take the pain away."

When asked what the best part of her job was, she said, "Being able to make my own hours, work from home and having my handsome son model cute shirts for me!"

She says, the best thing exciting about in her life right now is,"Being a MOM! It’s all I have ever wanted to be. My son helps me to forget I’m in pain and makes me smile just about every minute of every day."

If she could go back and tell her 17 year old self she would tell her to;

"Tell myself to SLOW DOWN!!  I was in such a hurry to grow up and be a grown up at that age. I would’ve kept a closer relationship with God instead of with the local bar keeps, would’ve JUST SAID NO to many temptations."

Amanda describes herself in 3 words as: Wife, Mom, and Badass! (She is my middle Sister in life so I know that last one is TRUE!)

What will you find this amazing Guru doing on a typical 9:00 weekday evening? 

She says, "This is a good question…By 9 I’m snuggled up in bed with my little one, watching reruns of 2 Broke Girls, nodding in and out of sleep."


There are several big Causes that she is passionate about are: Finding cures for Rheumatoid Disease, and Infertility. She has struggled with Infertility for a time (That will be another Guest post in the future! Keep an eye out!) A few more that she holds near and dear are Pulmonary Fibrosis Awareness as well as

Breast Cancer Awareness.

If you are interested in contacting Amanda for orders of customized Shirts, Mugs and gobs of other one of a kind items she is working on getting an Etsy shop going but can be reached by Facebook at Crafty Cow Custom Creations, by email at craftycowcustomcreations@yahoo.com , by phone at 708-224-8595, and by carrier pigeon, BIG CHEESY GRIN.

Crazy chickens taking a bath in our window!

WHAT?! You heard me! I've noticed the basement window has been filled with dirt granted it appears to need some serious TLC and perhaps regrading along the house. There are some water issues in the basement. Every once in awhile there is seepage after a rain or when the snow melt.

I was hanging out clothes when I saw this chick in action! I did take a video of her and a few other silly hens caught in the act that you can find on our YouTube channel.

It was an amazingly beautiful day that we have been blessed with over the past week or so. We have been taking advantage as much as we can. I put my mulch project on hold for a few days as Mr. Awesome decided to burn along the fence line of our garden before I start wheeling in more. Also the no-till process maybe better with the chickens doing they're thing. Some of the spots where I mulched in has already been fiddled with by the Girls. The plan is to get them in the Chick-saw or in their own run. They will have room to free range but we are going to limit it to certain spots that need to be picked free of bugs or weeds.

We are offering eggs for sale! We have a about 3 dozen available and I will be posting on my FB if you are in the area and would like to buy them. $2.00 a dozen! You heard me right! We want to make them affordable for anyone that would like free range eggs.

We had an unexpected visit from Brian who is Terry's oldest and dearest friend from grade school. I was too tired to sit and visit as much as I would have liked and then this happened...

There was an incident I will mention later so I was down in the basement to get the water rolling for the duck pool when I nearly stepped on this little one! We found a Salamander last year before the winter set in but I had Mini Man set it free. This wee one is a bit smaller then the other he had. Mr. Awesome is talking about putting into a tank. But it's missing a top so he will create a new one. Right now this wee one will stay in the shoe box.

There are holes for breathing. Mini Man already has found some spiders and worms for feeding and I threw in a fly that almost given up the ghost when I found it.

It was an interesting day! I had energy over the past few days to sweep and vacuum. This is a major feat for me! Most days I come home, visit with the family for a 1/2 hour or so shower and sleep for an hour or more.

It felt good to do some housework. Dusting sounds in order depending on how I feel. Though we have this glorious weather, my head has been achy and my joints have been on fire. I did have a bit of perspective yesterday during my Lyme meeting that meets on the 3rd Tuesday on the month at a local library, some of the Women had shared a bit of what symptoms they were facing and mine pale in comparison. I thanked them for sharing as I felt normal compared to what they deal with! Crazy right!?

I learned I can't be an Organ donor but our fearless leader Bonnie advised that John Hopkins or perhaps another group maybe interested in my parts for researching of Lyme. OH! I have no plans on joining the Lord, of course when He calls me home it will be a blessing!

I don't mean to sound macabre there is a high rate of serious health issues with chronically ill patients. There is also a high rate of depression and suicide as dis-ease progresses in many cases symptoms can have many cross over to a breaking point. No, I am not considering this alternative!

I am just trying to share awareness about this difficult and tragic matter. I'll be creating some FB Live vlogs to discuss Lyme and Domestic Violence both subjects are near to my heart. I have mentioned before I share my story to let others learn about and know they are not alone. They are also not crazy! My story is no different then the countless others that are still unknown.

These Ladies at the Lyme group opened up to share how much havoc and damage this dis-ease has caused. The challenges, broken relationships as well as the cost! Many times health insurance does not cover the expense of testing, medications, special equipment and supplements needed.

Now back to our critters! This girl right here...

Rolled in POOP! Mr. Awesome noticed her fur was kind of funky and her collar had what appeared to be mud on it but it wasn't mud. I promise I didn't laugh, when he wrinkled up his nose after realizing what was on his hands. Though I did give him an apologetic EW! He suggested turning the hose on her. I wanted to fill the duck pool anyway and you read the above about finding the Salamander!

I heard from my bestie as she offered prayers for my Dad whom is going for open heart surgery tomorrow. I was hoping to pay them a visit but I haven't been up for a long ride. SAD FACE! I did get to talk to him for a bit until a great shriek and cries came from the living room.

Peanut and Mini Man were being silly when Mini Man met Peanuts elbow/arm in the nose. No blood, no broken bones but plenty of howling. I thought his nose was broken. Peanut was beside herself I assured her all is well. The episode of melancholy was broken by Mr. Buttons walking in and proceeding to lick his private parts... Anything related to butts or private parts are hilarious to a 5-7 year old child. Of course 17 year old girls think it's just too funny too. Especially when I start interjecting voices into the mix!


Today like every other day was a blessed day. Tomorrow I'll share my plant starts from earlier this month. I plan to start some more as well. Did I say come on Spring?

Hope your day is wonderful!

Whatever your journey is I #believeinyou

Check out our YouTube channel Melinda Kunst or follow our family dysfunction, homestead adventures, Lyme Awareness through Instagram and FB as the same name!

Or perhaps you know someone suffering in silence from Domestic Violence please view my blog at www.hopewhentherewasnone.blogspot.com