The Pink Camellia Etsy Shop

Amy has been making gifts for friends and family for a long time, and decided she'd give it a go on Etsy, a site she really enjoys and is proud to be a part of. She takes pride in every piece she makes and sells. Enjoy a visit to her gorgeous shop at http://www.thepinkcamellia.etsy.com/ .

by thepinkcamellia

I started up my Etsy shop in April of this year, after being encouraged by friends and family to sell my creations. I have always been "crafty", which means something different to everybody I suppose. Since I was a little girl, I have always spent my free time creating things. It started when I was very little, my Mom was a very talented seamstress (as well as full time career woman & super single Mom!), and I started off making purses & hair ribbons for myself while she made clothes and fun things for us. I must've been the only little girl with hundreds of hair ribbons, which I pressed and stored as if they were my prized possessions! In college, I still had the bug to create, but was sidelined a bit by my studies and working 2 jobs (one nights, one days) to put myself through school. I made gift baskets for weddings and other special occasions, but never made it official. People told me I should get into the gift basket business, but I just couldn't see having to do it instead of wanting to do it. I never lost the desire though, and here I am today, as a thirty-something career girl here in the SF Bay Area, creating the items you now see in my shop! I think I finally decided to set up my shop when I started making gifts again, primarily baby gifts for my nephew & niece, but for other friends as well. It was just really boring to me to go to the store and buy something that anyone else could buy too, I wanted something more original, more personal.

I think a quality handmade gift says so much more than something mass produced! People started commenting again that I should sell my gifts, but until I heard about Etsy, I thought it would be too much trouble to go about setting up shop online. Once I became familiar with Etsy, I was hooked! It was much easier to create, post, and ship items, even for friends and family to buy, than to try and coordinate it all on my own. I started making my Wipes Clutches out of designer fabrics, and that led me to Baby Bodysuits, then to Drink Coasters....you can see fabric takes me in so many directions! I was inspired this spring by all the beautiful flowers I've seen women wearing in movies, on the red carpet, and in magazines, so I created a line of Hair Blossoms that have sold really well.

I have branched out lately, and have recently become hooked on making jeweled hair pins, which I have started calling "Hair Sparklers", incorporating gold filigree, gorgeous Swarovski crystals, and other embellishments. I am really proud of the way they have turned out, and am in the midst of creating a whole line of them, including some silver and antiqued bronze...so keep your eyes open, they're coming soon!I find inspiration in just about anything that catches my eye, but only make and sell things that I myself would want to buy or give as a gift. My head swirls constantly with ideas, which means I have a notebook with me at all times of projects I'd like to make. In order to keep organized, I have invested in quite a collection of those plastic storage containers with drawers. I find they keep my items sorted, clean, and easy to access when an I get an order. A good filing system is also a must in order to keep copies of invoices, purchases, supplies, and even ideas for new projects. I have a big plastic accordian file I carry with me to put things in when I'm away from home. I don't have a studio, per se, but I do have an office and a coffee table in my living room that I use when I'm making things. I find the most difficult thing for me is photographing my items, and it sometimes takes quite awhile before I get a photo that I feel really shows the item well. I think photos are what sells an item, in addition to the quality and beauty of the item itself. I spend time after work almost every day updating my site, and reevaluating my photos and items I have listed to make sure they are attractive to buyers. So Thanks to all who stop in my shop! Every single sale gets me excited and makes me want to keep going! I welcome "convo's" anytime, so feel free to drop a line and tell me what you think of my shop!

Stop by & become a fan on Facebook:http://www.facebook.com/ThePinkCamellia?ref=ts&__a=1