For the past six years I have been a wife and a mother who no longer works outside the home. I have been a mother for nearly eighteen years, a wife for longer than I can remember. My family is not your typical family. My younger son has autism and requires a significant amount of care and attention. My husband has been battling cancer for the past year. Oh yes, and there is my oldest, to whom I will refer as the teenage person in the house.
And the cutest black lab mix you could ever lay eyes on.
Flexibility is a definite must.
When I first came across Etsy a couple of years ago, I loved it just for the browsing and dreaming of beautiful things that would almost certainly never find their way to my house. A household full of male creatures does not bode well for beautiful things!
Over time I became more and more interested in the stories of those selling their creations on Etsy and it slowly dawned on me that many of them were people just like me, passionate about craft and motivated to sell their goods. From what I could tell Etsy seemed user friendly enough and so far I can say that it has been. I do love how I can always fall back and ask just about any question in one of the many forums and it will be answered by someone who may have encountered a similar issue within minutes. I love the fact that Etsy features different stores at regular intervals! I love reading about how various sellers have overcome obstacles and found their own version of success. And of course I dream of being interviewed for one of their features some day…
Doesn’t everyone?
I finally took the Etsy plunge last November. I have to confess I was pretty naive. I completely underestimated the time and effort required over and above what it took to make my jewelry. Photography can be a real bear! And it is incredibly intimidating when you see the gorgeous pictures featured on the front page. I shudder even now when I look back at some of the photos I took in the very early beginning! Let’s not forget that for all intents and purposes I am still a newbie! But not as green as I was then, thank God!
On the left is an example of one of my early attempts at photography! Geez Louise!
The right is an example of how my pictures look right now.
We’ll dissect this in the next post, alright?
If you are like me, passionate about your craft and want to earn an extra buck doing it and just aren’t quite sure if a platform like Etsy could work for you I invite you to follow along on this journey!
Karin,
So powerful it is to feel another ‘mom’ creating her own identity. You have stood by much, and seemingly continue to grow. Yay you!