In 2012, a friend of the family asked if she could buy a pair of the earrings I was making.
I’d been crafting for years, doing various crafts and forever picking up new crafts. I craft a lot. I have depression and some other related issues, and crafting keeps my hands and my mind busy. It gives me a sense of purpose, and the thrill of finishing a project never fades – whether it’s an origami crane or a crocheted dragon egg.
However, when you do a lot of crafting you end up with a lot of crafted products. There’s only so many jewellery pieces you can wear, and there’s only so much shelf space you have to display things. I was ending up with boxes of pieces just hiding away.
And so I decided to sell them. I started with friends and family, and set up a Facebook page. I gradually started going to school fairs during the summer and at Christmas. When I decided I wanted a website, I decided that I really wanted a craft blog too. In the last month I’ve set up an Etsy store. And so Crafted By Colette grew.
I’m still a small little company. I don’t make very much money. If I factored in what I spend on supplies I don’t make any money at all. But it’s something I enjoy, and it keeps me going. Everytime I get a new follower on Twitter or on Facebook I get a little jolt of happiness. When I get a sale from someone who isn’t a friend or family member I get a bigger jolt of happiness. Strangers are actually buying my things?!
And doing the school fairs is fun too. I don’t particularly like big crowds of people, but when I’m safe behind a table it’s not too bad. Especially when a little kid comes running up telling a friend that I’m the lady who makes the cute mini aliens.
I do have plans for a bigger business. I’d like to have a wider reach. I’d like to attend more fairs – like proper craft fairs. I’d like to have a bigger store on Etsy. I’d love to sell at conventions maybe one day. I’d love to be a popular blogger. And my ultimate goal would be to make enough money to actually make a living from Crafted By Colette.
I have lots of little brainstorms and ideas, some of which don’t come to fruition, some do. Some might do one day. And some are going to happen a little earlier than planned.
I hope you enjoy my rambles, and my attempts to learn new crafts. I hope that you’ll keep coming back, that you’ll share with your friends, and that you continue to join me as I attempt to turn my crafting-coping-mechanism into something that I can share with the world.
