I have always been a creative person. I remember as a young child being at my grandmothers house using her old singer with the manual foot pedal that you had to press up & down to make the machine work work. I don't remember what I made but I remember loving that machine.
I took home economics in high school and learned to make a variety of projects from quilts to clothing. Clothing would be my least favorite!
Over the years I have dabbled in woodworking, needlecraft, stained glass, crochet, scrapbooking, card making, needle felting, pottery, painting, jewelry making drawing & sewing. I really like to do it all. I am a creative person at heart. But my passion lies in sewing and making holiday home decor. This is where I find I am the most creative and content.
I could work on creating home decor all day long. I know that this is my passion because its something I am always working on or thinking about. I never get bored, I can work all day and never feel the need to take a break.
My business started back in the fall of 2009. I had been laid up from knee surgery and needed something to do. I am a horrible patient. So I began making tote bags from recycled coffee bean bags. I sold them at a craft show and was hooked. Now this was not my first show. I had dabbled in shows 20 years ago when I was making home decor with wood and painting it. Now that I look back both times I was super passionate about creating was when I was making decor.
My business now has evolved and changed so much over the years. I have made over 500 different products and have really found the ones that I truly love to make. These are the items you will see over and over again in my shop. They are the ones that I love to make and customers have shown me how much they love them too.
About 1 year ago I began to really let my self consider running my business full time. I had always dreamt about this but never allowed myself to fully commit and look at it as if it could happen. So I crunched the numbers, made some phone calls to schedule appointments with people I thought I should talk to about these moves to; like my financial advisor & my accountant. I looked into private health care, and yes its not pretty, but its possible.
I thought about this long and hard and really let myself think of this as if it had already happened and one day I simply knew it was the right move for me as well as my family. It was like the light came on and I knew it was my time to fly. I felt content & so excited about my decision.
I am now 11 months in and I could not be more happy with my decision. I have had more time to spend with my family. I have way less stress in my life and you guys are showing up and buying my products which brings me more joy than you could ever know. Its not just about making a living and supporting my family, its because you supporting me allows me to do what I love. I get to create things for others to enjoy in their homes or to give to others as gifts. You truly make my heart so happy. Getting up everyday and coming to my craft room is such a wonderful blessing and I am so grateful for every single day.
If you are searching for your passion, don't give up. Don't let the fear and the doubt keep you from doing what you love. I did, for many years. This job was always a dream, but I was afraid to really let myself take the leap and jump. I know that fear was holding me back, but I also know things happen for a reason. I think my timing was perfect for me and my business. I had a job that I truly loved and making the decision to leave it was tough. In the end I choose myself and my passion. I know staying in the last job I had for 5 years was were I was supposed to be. I learned and grew so much while I was there, that job truly helped me be able to do what I am doing today.
Don't let fear hold you back, spread your wings and fly my friend!
