How it all started

I did not start out to make handmade crafts to sell online or at craft fairs.

Believe it or not I was a Home Economics Major in college!

I majored in Food & Nutrition and had enough course for a Minor in Chemistry.

So, how did I end up with a little shop on Etsy doing Craft Fairs??

My Sister.

My sister took some pottery class for fun. After awhile she began to sell her work and took the big leap, quitting her day to make pottery full time. I would help out with her craft shows.

For Christmas two years ago, I made her an organizer so she could keep her show information together until she got back to her studio. A section for contact information, one for orders, one to jot notes, an envelope to put checks in for deposit and another for receipts for tax purposes.

I personalized the organizer with her Studio name & made a little pocket for her business cards too! The Organizer was a hit and when she did craft shows it drew interest from others.

My sister encouraged me to make these & sell them. One of the small galleries she was in was expanding and she suggested I try it out. She offered to give me a shelf in her booth to see how it goes. The first day I put my little books in I sold 3 books! I got busy making more books and by the next month I had my own booth! It was exciting and I was hooked! In the fall my sister talked me into sharing a booth with her at a craft fair we had heard about. It was fun, a learning experience for me to get my feet wet and also talk directly to the people who liked my work.

The show did not have a lot of traffic, but I met another artist who told me about selling on Etsy.

I had signed up on Etsy as a buyer and took the next step & listed my first book on

Halloween 2007!

I have only been selling 10 months and love it!! I did my first solo craft fair this summer, my sister was close by (in the booth right beside me). We will share another booth again this fall at the Junior League Holiday Galleria in Shelby and I will have another solo craft fair two weeks before. I didn't set out to do this, but I am glad I took the journey!

This is one of my sister's works and my favorite! She hand rolls each grape and builds the bunch one 'grape' at a time. The leaves are made by rolling out clay very thin and pressing real grape leaves into the clay. She then forms them into handles and accents.