When the long hours and disgruntled customers in retail started to wear on me, I knew I had to find a productive and meaningful way to pass my time.

For me, arts and crafts have always been a source of relaxation and a perfect way to wind down while watching a movie or spending time with family and friends, (I just can't sit still!), so it only seemed natural that I try to spend time focusing on things like that. I started out by making necklaces and christmas ornaments for family around Christmas 2011, and the responses from my family, while they may be a bit biased, were fantastic. I had the crazy idea that maybe I could drop down to part time at my job, have more free time to myself, and supplement my income by selling the things I make.

In February of 2012 I started up History of the Heart and cut back on my hours at work and have never regretted that decision for a moment. To be able to spend more time doing the things that I love to do and to share these things with family, friends and perfect strangers has made a significant difference in my life.

Through History of the Heart I am able to connect with people all over the world and give them tangible and meaningful ways for them to show how much the people in their lives mean to them. I absolutely love hearing stories of who my creations are for and how excited my customers are to share them with the people they love.

The name History of the Heart stemmed from the idea that we are all connected by love and compassion despite all of the ups and downs in life and all of the hard and awful things in the world. Etsy exists as a means for people around the world to connect through things that are beautiful and meaningful and ultimately tell a story. I feel that all of these stories come together to form a collective History of the Heart that can be shared and understood across cultures and continents.

My morse code necklaces are just one way that we can share this history in a simple, secretive, but fun and incredibly meaningful way.

I look forward to seeing where History of the Heart takes me and how it influences the lives of people around the world. While I make the things that I sell, my work will always be a collaboration as I am constantly making custom pieces and listening to ideas and input from the people I connect with on Etsy :o)