Hey everybody!! I know I've fallen off the face of the planet for a little while, but I have a lot to show for it!! I've got some great summer items up along with patterns for nearly all of them! Click on the links and check out my progress!
What I've been spending time on the most though is the soul of my shop. I've been doing a lot of soul searching into myself and over the past couple of weeks I've finally been able to bring all of my chaos together. It's just dawned on me that, with this new Etsy shop, I've committed and admitted to being in a completely different era of my life. A lot of people reference life as being a 3 Act play, and I believe I've officially entered into my second act.
I'm excited and determined, but scared all at the same time. You know, the same way you felt on your first day at school, then again at your first day of middle school, high school, college, and the working world. Now I'm actually living the American Dream of owning your own business. I still can't believe it every time I get an order! So I sat back and absorbed it all over the last couple of weeks and was finally able to put into perspective why I started my shop in the first place:
Quoted from My About Page
I was born and raised in Las Vegas, NV and never knew any of my grandparents. They all passed before I was old enough to remember them, my parents never really spoke about them, and nothing was passed down from them either. Naturally I gained a curiosity about my past, which in turn grew into a love of all history and traditions, so when my mother offered to teach me to crochet when I was a little girl I jumped on the chance. And well, I've been an avid and passionate "hooker" ever since!
I always wanted so badly to have a little piece of the people that made me who I am. That longing sent me on a mission to make something of great quality that would stand the test of time so my future grandchildren wouldn't be left with the same emptiness. So I crocheted every chance I got: while walking in between classes, during lectures, on the school bus, and (of course) whenever I got home. Once I began to make things from patterns, I came to realize why no one else around me shared my passion... I had put in all that hard work for an outdated piece! I didn't want to use or wear anything I could find to make, and so I began to design.
At that point I was in the working world crocheting every chance I got: in between phone calls when I was a debt collector, and between customers when I was in retail. I had even gotten chewed out for trying to make a catalog of my products on company time as my retail customers began to request special gifts from me time to time after seeing my work.
Spending all that time on crocheting left me lonely until I moved to Louisiana, met my husband, and his wonderful Maw Maw. Her passion was children, and she ran a daycare out of her home for decades. She crocheted too, and for the first time I had someone to share my passion with! She was the grandmother I always dreamed about: constantly trying to feed me, never ending hugs and love, and most importantly encouraged me in my craft. Sadly she had passed, and only days after we discovered we were going to have our first child.
He came quite early, and anyone who brings a preemie home knows it's beyond full-time work. So home is where I stayed, crocheting all the while and basking in the wonderful time I had to spend with my son. Then I could hear that strong little old lady's words in the back of my head telling me that if she could make a living doing what she loved from home, so can I. She is the main inspiration for starting my shop, and in honor of her memory I use the down comforter she passed down to us as the backdrop for all my photos. It's perfectly befitting of how I remember her now: ever present with her loving warmth, embracing and enhancing every piece I make.
And what an amazing experience this venture has been too! Not only to live a dream, but have the means to devote all my time to a cause I've been passionate about since the beginning: prolonging the life, tradition, and meaning of crochet in a way that everyone can enjoy.
Whether you're buying love-filled heirloom quality products or reminiscing during the time it takes to pull every little loop yourself, I believe that everyone loves to have that little piece of Maw Maw with them - a Nostalgic Novelty to warm the heart and remember who you are, where you've been, and what you've learned.
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