Birth of a Store

   Now that you know some background of how I began crafting I can share with you the background of my Etsy shop.

   When I was much younger my sister, cousin and I would play all sorts of imaginary and make believe games together. Every Friday night our family would get together for dinner at Meemaw's and spend some time with extended family and enjoy each others company. Of course when I was little I didn't treasure that time together as much as I do now. Back then it was just a fun chance to escape all the 'boring grown up talk' and play games with my little sister and cousin. Pretending to be cats and dogs, princesses in distress with imaginary princes to rescue us-or as a spinoff from that movie stars, and such games were so fun. And then we started playing shop. Those winter months where we were confined indoors and unable to run around inspired new games. 'Shop' was a game where each of us had a store in a different corner of the room and would make things to sell. Mostly drawings or little things out of paper, but it was fun. And of course prices ranged from a couple of cents to two dollars then. Family would indulge us and buy things from our shops, especially our grandparents. And so I began dreaming of one day owning a shop. I loved the idea of having a little shop downstairs with a bay window to display my craft items. A mirrored gallery to display my beaded jewelry. A section to hang my quilts, aprons, and knitted wares. And another area for my cards, paintings, photographs, drawings and other miscellaneous crafts. And so I continue to dream.

   In college I sold some of my knitted items to a lady who owned a shop in the next town. I liked the extra income, but it wasn't my own shop and I wasn't able to see what demographic was purchasing my items or learning how to best present and sell my own wares. But with college classes and studying occupying the majority of my time my focus was on that instead of my crafts. So all worked out as it was. I made a slight profit on my hobby and could still focus on my school and what future lay ahead of me. I graduated with a degree in Health Promotions and a minor in Psychology and was focused on finding some job to help people or communities to be healthier and live a better life. However, the economy had another agenda, as did my boyfriend soon to be fiance. I completed my internship with a senior center which I loved every minute of. And two months later I was getting married to the man of my dreams and moving away from the life, family, friends, and all the connections I had to the foreign state of PA. Now, I had never moved out of the state I was born in. I had never been away from the mountains of NC.
   Being married is enough of a life change but moving 8 hours away from everything I had known was a whole other undertaking I wasn't so sure about. However, I quickly made friends and settled in to our apartment and a new life with a wonderful man. In the meantime I had had two or three close friends mention Etsy to me in college. I had never paid much attention or really looked into what the site was. I had just logged it away in my memory to consider later. And then it was mentioned to me again. And then again through an acquaintance -now close friend- and I decided I should really look into it. I checked out the website and loved the community feel of this craft based buyer/seller website. After a short discussion with my hubby, he encouraged me to go ahead and set up my own shop. I had always intended to pursue that anyway, so why not now? I began brainstorming names and ideas for products. I googled some of the shop names my hubby and I had come up with to see if any were already taken and eliminated a few that way. I stuck with Creative Medley because I have so much variety of handmade items that I love to make that it just made sense. A whole medley of crafted items created for buyers of my own creativity.
   I started the site and was excited to make my first sales (even if they were to my mom and grandmother!). Then reality hit me and I recognized my need for more stock, and the fact that stocking up meant spending money on supplies and materials and that this would be a strain on a newly wed budget. This catch 22 of needing money to buy materials to make some extra cash to spend on my homemade craft store was becoming frustrating. So I gathered things for projects when I could manage to spend some extra, and spent the time working on creating them when I wasn't taking care of the house or my part time job. This has been slow going of course. And then life threw another curve ball. (Funny how that always happens!) My husband was being promoted -hooray!- but that meant we would be moving - sadness -.
   And so I put my store on hold, in 'vacation mode', and proceeded to spend all my extra hours searching for an apartment within our budget in the much higher cost of living state of New Jersey. We had only been in PA for a year and I had only just started feeling like it was truly home. I knew where all the shops were, where my favorite craft stores were, and had started to be able to get around without complete reliance on my GPS. Not to mention the friends that I had made, some of whom I had begun a deeper relationship with and would consider lifelong friends. Phooey. So that brings us to present day in October 2011. Finally finished with the hubbub of finding a place, closing out everything at our old apartment, moving into the new apartment, all the lovely first deposits and expenses of moving, and finally, FINALLY getting everything unpacked and feeling more like a functional home.


   So now my shop is up and running again. Still with only limited items on sale as our budget will allow, and my brainstorming for ideas continues. I want to do so much and offer so many handmade items that I can't (and our budget can't) keep up! Someday, someday, someday all of my ideas will come together and be available for others to enjoy and gift. But today I will be thankful for a desk to work on, the fact that I have a little online shop, and that we are starting to have a little extra for me to spend on craft supplies. So, as I search for yet another job in a new state, I will be creating and adding more and more to my sparse little shop. I am thankful for what I have and where I'm at right now, but I am dreaming big! I hope this gives you a little insight to my shop and the heart behind it. And I look forward to updating and keeping you all in the loop of CreativeMedley!