Hawaii to Nicaragua
Hello, fellow Etsy lovers! I began my journey on this site in 2012 when hair feathers was an emerging trend. I loved the hand-dying process and my shop kept me busy from the instant I opened. I was immediately drawn to this selling platform because of the immense support from other shop owners, their willingness to share secrets to their success, and the freedom it gave me in my daily life to be my own boss and surf whenever I wanted! Not to mention, Etsy is a world market! How exciting it has been to send packages to so many different countries! After the hair feather trend died off and my husband and I had our first child, I opened another shop selling unique handmade baby items like blankets, burp clothes, teething rings and other fun gifts. This shop kept me equally busy, especially as a new mom. I was proud of myself for being able to handle the duties of new motherhood while still contributing to our bottom line. Etsy has become a very important creative venue in my own life as we have transitioned into a family.
Last year, my husband accepted a full time job in Nicaragua. We built a house on the southern Pacific coast of the country in 2009 and have been going back and forth between here and Hawaii ever since, but we had always wondered what it would be like to live in Nicaragua full-time. When my husband decided he'd take the job, I was happy to be having this adventure with our young family, but I was also sad because it meant I'd have to close my Etsy shop. Mail in and out of Nicaragua is difficult from where we live. It didn't take me long to realize that Etsy had an entire digital market just teeming with possibilities.
I've always been a writer, so e-books was a natural transition. I've been sewing for many years and have drafted many patterns by hand. Learning how to convert them to digital files took some time to learn! Fortunately, living in the jungle has given me just that - time. It's been a rewarding learning process and I've developed an excellent format that I believe is perfect for a beginner seamstress to follow. So, have a look around the shop. I'm slowly but surely adding more each month! Aloha and adios! Thanks for visiting our little corner of Etsy. ~Melissa
