A Coping Mechanism Turned Buisness.
As a child in the 90's, autism was still new territory.
I had a hard time with emotions. My mother, a well known artist, believed I needed an artistic hobby to help me cope. She took me and my brother to the craft store to select a craft kit. Nothing appealed to me until something caught my eye...Beaded animal keychains where you string columns of pony bead to make animal shapes. The feeling of the beads and string being weaved together was like magic! As I grew older, the beads got smaller and smaller.
In my early 20's, I started making little dolls out of Czech Glass seed beads size 10/0. Weather it's a cartoon character or little Victorian dolls with pretty dresses. Whenever I see a character, I visualize a pattern in my head, grab what colors I need, and start beading.
Over the years, I would make beaded gifts for my relatives whenever my parents and I visit them.
Even though they were gifts, my aunts and uncles would insist on paying. Whenever I was on break at my part-time job, some of my co-workers would ask me to make something for their friends or family and pay me for my work. My mother suggested I join Etsy and sell my artwork. With her help, I was on my way to being a business woman. It's not always easy getting started, it took time to get regular costumers, I have to advertise regularly, make videos, and take proper photos, and being financially stable is always an anxiety trigger.
Obstacles aside, getting an order from a costumer is always satisfying, especially custom orders. Custom orders are my favourite part of my business, not only it gives me a challenge for new pieces, it also allows me the opportunity to make people what they really want. When Christmas rolls around, I would make a bunch of beaded Christmas ornaments and hand them out to my co-workers and other store workers when my family and I go Christmas shopping to spread cheer. I always made plenty to sell and plenty to go around.
In the height of pandemic, I decided to make beaded handicrafts such as purses, wallets, business card holders, and pencil sleeves.
Despite all the anxiety and restrictions in the pandemic, my beadwork has helped me both financially and mentally.
A year ago, I got laid off from my part-time job after 15 years of stocking shelves and helping in the pandemic.
It was sad to leave a job that had been good to be all these years, but I was ready move on and thrive my business. Now I work full-time with my mother with her art business, packing orders, making freebies, and giving her ideas for her work. And trying to thrive my Etsy store, make new beaded pieces and writing patterns for them.
There are hard times and there are great times. Every costumer I get had received free beaded gifts as a "Thank You" for their support, time, and patience.
Like many artists, I have faced challenges and I have found many ways to cope with the anxieties of them, but my family and my beadwork was always there for me. And I hope my work and my patterns will help those who are going through what I went through.