My Hobby Became My Online Business

I have been a crafter for as long as I can remember. My mother was a seamstress and I have fond memories of sitting in her sewing room, picking up the fabric scraps, and turning them into cute little outfits for my Barbie dolls. Of course, I started sewing all of my own clothes in my teen years and as time went on, I also learned how to crochet, cross-stitch, did flower-arranging, and designed quilts. (I actually had two of my quilt designs published in two different National Quilting Magazines!)

When I started on my working career moving from one administrative-type job to another, I found that my creativity was being stifled, so I decided to spend some of my weekend time learning a new craft. I visited my local Craft Supplies store and decided that I was going to teach myself to make jewelry. I became obsessed with it and before I knew it, I had tons of finished earrings, bracelets, and necklaces overcrowding my home. My friends encouraged me to try selling some of creations at our local Farmers Market. It was a fabulous experience and I was amazed at the feedback I received from the people that were shopping at my table.

I decided that I would try to move my jewelry selling to an online venue. I did a ton of research and found out that while there are a lot of great online selling venues dedicated specifically to selling handmade goods, they are also very saturated with handcrafted jewelry. This was a bit discouraging, but I was determined that I was going to create a profitable business.

My entrepreneurial spirit kicked into gear and I decided that I while I still wanted to create jewelry, I would focus on finding something - anything - that would make my jewelry unique. I did a ton of research and discovered that personalized jewelry was rapidly becoming extremely popular. At first, I thought that this might limit my creativity, but I was very mistaken. I started with a few simple designs and this really started the ball rolling. From these simple designs, I continued to come up with new ideas and different styles to try.

After a lot of work designing and creating, and also learning all that I could about online marketing, I have now achieved my goal of making a modest part-time income from doing something that I absolutely love to do. It is a sincere joy for me to create these meaningful and special items for every single one of my customers.

I have followed my dream and I encourage you to follow yours too. Dream...Believe...Achieve!