taking the plunge

Ever since I was in elementary school, sewing and crafting things have been my raison d'etre. I've wanted my own craft business for many, many years. My problem was that with such a diverse range of interests & hobbies (papercrafting, scrapbooking, rubber stamping, sewing, needlepoint, crewel embroidery, rug-hooking, soapmaking, candlemaking, woodworking, knitting, restoring vintage hats & clothing... the list goes on & on!), I could never decide what I wanted to sell.

Over the years, friends and relatives have encouraged me many times to market my creations, but I was always afraid that crafting things would soon become a chore instead of a joy if I had to mass-produce. And so I remained just a girl who liked making things, mostly to give away to her friends & family. And there was nothing wrong with that!

But one day, I heard of a place online called Etsy, where creative people like me could sell their unique handiwork, and produce as much - or as little - as they wished. The lightbulb went on... and 1paisleycat.etsy.com was born.

For months, I labored to create my stock-in-trade: scrapbooking quoteblocks & holiday journaling spots, monogram alphabets, cardmaking medallions. These things, I reasoned, could be reproduced with relatively little effort on my part - simply insert a sheet of cardstock into the printer and click "Print"!

I also decided to try selling a few pieces of my handcrafted jewelry, some rubber stamps that are no longer favorites, and even a few items from my stash of vintage goodies, such as patterns and 1930s/40s hats & clothing (still to come!).

The funny thing was, I spent an entire Sunday afternoon uploading items, and I guess all that time at the computer left an imprint on my brain, because that night, I dreamed people were buying things. And weirdly {Twilight Zone music swells in background}, next morning, I found I'd sold 7 items! So I guess dreams really DO come true... at least some of the time! LOL