They said in one sentence, and that about sums it up.
This shop was originally opened when I was drawing and painting. A few sculptures sold. A gorgeous Gemini self-portrait drawn in pastel was sold off this site, just a week before I was notified that it had made it in a scene of the movie Magic Mike, which was filmed in Tampa, Florida during a show I took part in. Heartbreaking but somebody has a great conversation piece.

Anyhow, a year into the shop opening my family and I underwent some tough times. I have boy/girl twins and they are now 5yrs old, and both non-verbal autistic. Like any mother I underwent a period of struggle, self-pity, acceptance, trasnformation and here i am... everything happens for a reason.
I am stay home mother to the two cutest, happiest and most hilarious creatures I've ever met and if it wasn't for them and their having special needs, I might not have found this great hobby! Since my husband works long and late hours my mother came to help me with the kids: Unpacking things I found an articulated cat's head. the head belonged to my sister's pet but now was in my possession.
During that same time my mother Chihuahua passed and i put her in the backyard. I was browsing Instagram one day and I came accross a picture of a carved deer jaw and everything i ever thought I wanted to do just disintegrated in that moment. I had to carve bone. I grabbed the cats head, bought a dremel, and sold it for $50 to the first buyer. I dug up the dog, researched proper bone cleaning methods, and made keychains and carved her skull.
I still have boar and cow skull to carve but after finding these great shops on etsy, that will supply me with all the ulna ill ever need, and it be already cleaned and flawless, I decided to stop digging up my own pets and let other people do the stuff I really don't have the time or stomach for. With two kids that lick everything in site, I'd much rather not.
So, that was a really long story but it's how this went from a portrait and painting shop to "beads, bones, feathers and stones". Although I'm still just a beginner, and completely self-taught, I will be sticking with it and am proud to be part of something that still has some obscurity to it. So many painters and photographers today, it's nice to be part of a smaller group of sellers and I'm proud to say "I work with bones"... even though my husband is none too happy :D