I've Taken The Plunge

So over the last few weeks I've been spending all of my spare time sewing and crafting and creating these cute little pin/brooches made out of felt, beads and sequins.

I'd spent months and months prior to actually making anything just looking at Etsy.com and wondering if there was something I could make, because I really liked the idea of it. I'd realized through time that Atmina and editing the photos and going to photo shoots just wasn't what I wanted to be doing. Don't get me wrong, it can be fun, but it wasn't fulfilling to me like it was to Jill. So she's taken over the reins completely and while I'm still here to support her, she is managing all of it now on her own. But I still wanted some sort of creative outlet of my own that actually would have some purpose.

If you've never been to Etsy.com before, you should check it out. It's a marketplace striclty for handmade and vintage items. I absolutely LOVE it. I've literally spent months reading the site and all of its features and looking through all of the items and sellers. I wanted to make sure I was totally comfortable with everything before I actually started doing anything.  And then I saw all the things you could make with felt!

Who knew felt was such a great material! I wanted to get into working with something relatively cheap and easy to handle, and felt is just that! In the past I've dabbled in cross-stitch and other forms of sewing, so I already had a lot of the supplies I needed. I went to some craft stores and bought all colors of felt, more embroidery floss and lots of sequins and beads. It's been SO MUCH FUN!! I cannot even tell you how relaxing it is to me to sit in my little craft area and just sew things together and be creative with them - I especially love embellishing them with the beads and sequins.

Anyway - I finally got my store up and running and it can be found here: http://www.etsy.com/shop/EnchantedCastle

I decided to keep with my "enchanted" theme because it's been one of my favorite words my entire life :) I also created a new blog for myself, just relating to my new endeavor: http://www.jennsenchantedcastle.com/

I hope you'll check it out and spread the word to anyone who might be interested. For now I'm just focusing on pins/brooches but I eventually want to make ALL sorts of things from my felt collection.

I don't plan on this being something that will replace my career or anything. This endeavor is very different from doing Atmina because I don't have to rely on anyone else's time other than my own and I'm in complete control of everything...which is really what I've learned I need to have in order to feel good about things. Hey, if times get tough, I can just pair down what I have in my shop. When times are easy I can fill the store up. It's all dependent on me alone and I like that :)