big huge ginormous announcement

{photo credit}

drumroll please. bang some pots and pans around, too. if you could get a choir of small children to start singing hallelujah that would be just about perfect. 

why?

because i finally opened my etsy shop! HUZZAH! (confetti machine, gogogo). i have been putting it off for years, ya'll. probably five or something. how embarrassing. i have had about a million different excuses for why i didn't have one. reasons ranged from i don't have time to ugh. i feel fat today.

i've been doing a lot of thinking lately about what i want to do in life and what am i good at and blah blah blah. it dawned on me that what i really like to do is be crafty. i like to make things. i like cutting paper and playing with glitter and snipping chain and fastening jump rings to lobster clasps. i like simple, pretty arts and crafts.

{photo credit: me}

i believe God has given me this gift of creativity, and i realized that i was not properly using it. by making excuses for not opening an etsy shop, i was putting my talents to waste in a sense. i don't expect to make a gazillion dollars by doing this (a million would be fine), but i do expect to make friends, get my name out there, make mistakes, learn how to be a "business owner", be brave, come up with new ideas, be inspired, make myself proud.

during the beginning stages of when i seriously started re-thinking my etsy shop i read this post by kelly ann of the flowerchild dwelling. 

"the moral of the story: you can do it. don't you dare listen to anyone who tells you that you can't. whatever it is that you want do, whoever you want to become... go for it. it will be hard, and frustrating, and stressful, and emotional, and scary... but it will be one of the greatest things you will ever do. you will meet people who will make you stronger, who will make you cry, who will lift you up, who will change your life, and who will push you to be better, because they know you can be. you will create things you hate, and things you love, and things you never knew you could create. you will find your your strengths, and your weaknesses. you will grow, change, and be stretched. you will be better, stronger, and more brave every day."

kelly ann is an amazing designer and photographer, and while her business is bigger than mine will ever be, her message encouraged me to just jump in and start. no more excuses. no more fear. no more laziness.

{photo credit: me}

so, now that i have made you cry tears of sweet emotion with my heart wrenching post, please head over to my shop and browse a bit! (or buy something. i highly suggest that). i am starting with my hand stamped coin necklaces and see where that leads me. i plan to add more stock as i go. 

two final things:

a great BIG shout-out to my dad for being my VERY FIRST ETSY SALE! daddio, you rock. 

thank you to everyone who always asked if i had an etsy shop. i finally do.