Dream a little dream

Here it goes... I'm laying everything on the table (p.s. this is something I almost NEVER do)!

Lately I have been so inspired and influenced by the many sellers on Etsy that I have started to think that one day I could open my own successful shop! As a little girl growing up I loved all things arts and crafts... at one point in time I was even in an arts and crafts club through our local recreation department. Lately I have felt that passion for arts and crafts enter my life just as it did when I was a little girl. I know that right now I am no where near ready to sell any of my projects I have made but after each project I complete, or for the ones I am filing away in my head to work on in the future, I always think to myself "this would look totally cute in my shop!"

My children have been my biggest inspiration in this adventure I have dreamed up. Everything I have created so far has been for them. The majority of me just loves a new challenge of making and creating a 100% hand made item rather than buying from a gigantic chain store where everybody will have the same thing. A tiny part of me loves knowing that I can save huge amounts of money by making these items rather than, again, buying from large corporations. Before I discovered Etsy I never knew that a market existed for the type of items I want to create and sell. Etsy has completely opened my mind and eyes to a whole new possibility. I think too that there is a special feeling that comes over a person knowing they have just purchased a hand made, unique item rather than something that has been mass-produced. To know that someone has personally sat down and made an item for you gives you a nice warm, fuzzy feeling!

Confession: Until now these are just thoughts I have kept to myself- none of this has ever been spoken aloud, written on a little piece of scrap paper, scribbled on a napkin, or jotted down in my blackberry. Practically every "crafty" item I come into contact with these days, whether its a picture I see or an item someone is wearing my mind automatically goes into crafter-mode.I begin to wonder what materials make up the headband/bracelet/accessory and I immediately start putting together a list of items needed to make the product as well as how I could best present it on my "shop". I'm inspired by colors that work well together, shapes that compliment one another, even patterns that are so different they are just enough alike to work well together. All of this, this entire process that I am going through is making me HAPPY and that is how I know this is something I truly want, and need to at least TRY to go for. This has begun to consume my thought process and for me that was the first light bulb that went off in my head that this could actually turn into something I have always wanted but just recently figured out how to do it.

From here on I would like to ask that if you have ANY input, or constructive criticism I am all ears! Over the next year or so I would really love, love, love, to take the time to perfect my crafty-ness so that one day I can open my own Etsy shop.

They say everyone has a niche right? Perhaps this is mine...