My Shop Bio
Because I’ve been a teacher for years, I had my summers free. I loved gardening and planted vegetables, flowers, and lots of herbs, including some catnip for our cats. So I decided to make and sell sold handmade crafts, vegetables, herbs, and dried floral bouquets at local markets, craft fairs and galleries.
My mom was a seamstress and had taught me a lot. So I began selling catnip mats and toys too, and customers really liked them. I enjoyed growing the catnip (loved the minty fragrance and soft leaves) and expanded my business locally by selling catnip mats and toys in local shops.
In 2006, I decided to open MeowWow, an online shop at Etsy where I now sell handmade catnip mats and toys for cats, and sometimes other items such as vintage cat collectibles or aprons with cats on them. I’m still growing catnip using organic methods, and drying it. I’m careful to dry and store my catnip at controlled temperatures and humidity, so it stays fresh and fragrant for a long time.
Later on, I decided to open a second Etsy shop and named it BarkRiverBoutique because we live on the Bark River near Fort Atkinson, Wisconsin. In that Etsy shop, I sell some of my other handmade items: different kinds of aprons for adults and children, some fabrics by the yard,
occasionally some sachets filled with homemade potpourri (grandma’s recipe) and other items too, now and then. That shop is: https://www.etsy.com/shop/BarkRiverBoutique?ref=seller-platform-mcnav
I love selling on Etsy, and I really enjoy messaging back and forth with my customers.