ETSY taught and still loving it...
I really was interested in handmade because of the sixties. You know, tie dye, macrame, jewelry making, peace demonstrations. Then on to the early days of refinishing furniture (I remember getting two beautiful old kitchen chairs on Magazine Street for $5 each, and a great 19th century office chair for $35 - those were the days!) But then after grad school, I went on to a very traditional career as a history and English teacher. Along about 2008, I became aware of ETSY, and my old interest in making stuff, never far under the surface, was rekindled (to mix metaphors, as we English teachers like to say). I spent about a year perusing it; so I'm not self taught; I'm ETSY taught, as you can see. Then I opened TheMoonbeam, and I still enjoy it so much. The thing I love most is working with color and texture, but I also really like the personal interaction with customers. Oh, and the photography, what a creative and practical challenge! I'm not crazy about shipping, but the online postal services have eased that burden, too. My teacher husband and I have been retired now for about a year, and we are living the good life. Our house is directly adjacent to the Mississippi River levee, on high ground that has never flooded, at least not since the Sauve Crevasse of the 1850s. So we, along with Al, our airedale, are enjoying life: laissez le bon temps roulez!
