My Mother Created A Monster
You would think my momma ran a studio with as many art supplies as she routinely carried home for me: as she so often says, 'it started with crayons' (after reading this, she insisted I make sure you all know she specifically says 'Crayola. Roseart just wouldn't cut it'). She gave me every kind of creative outlet you could imagine; I crocheted, knit, beaded, bound, cooked, painted, drew, wove, sewed, and just about everything else that has a section in a craft store. She taught me to crochet when I was maybe six, and ironically, I didn't much like it at first.
Then around Christmas 2010, I found an amigurumi kit in Barnes and Noble, retaught myself, and I haven't stopped since. I did it in class to keep my focus, and soon enough the other students were lining up to buy their Christmas presents from me. I brought all my pattern books at once for them to look through, and kept a steady flow of cash, meager though it may have been.
Crochet became my obsession -- my friends all want to see the oodles of yarn I have stockpiled for the apocalypse. It kept me from feeling sad and gave me something to be proud of: after all, how many students could make dragons and dolls in class, and still make too high a grade to be allowed to do extra credit work?
I went from collecting various pattern books of other artists, to creating my own to sell at my very first convention -- my handwritten pattern book in the hands of another fiberwork artist is like US secrets in the hands of the Russians o.o I broke 1,100 in a single weekend (which NEVER happens to newcomers ;)) and ended up the top selling artist of the weekend. Custom orders started flooding in from Otakus and just about anyone else who saw my work, and I just couldn't stop coming up with new designs.
From there, I got pretty heavily into CGL geared things. I worked at Michaels at the time, and spent most of my shifts thinking of new patterns and ideas. Also, I had very easy access to my supplies. So, I grabbed a few things to start throwing together collars. I figured it would be a nice experiment; I'd put them up as a one-off sale, and not be very bothered if they didn't go.
Boy, was I wrong! They took RIGHT off, and now they've totally taken over the shop! We've expanded the type of conventions we attend and sell at and who we catered to, and enjoyed more stable income than ever before -w-
And, here we are!
