Little Bit of Pretty

by littlebitofpretty 

Hi! I'm Kim from A little bit of pretty. I opened shop on Etsy in July of this year, and boy has it been a major learning experience! I think that no matter how much you research beforehand, you are never truly prepared for the time commitment running an online shop takes. I have found, and I'm sure many other shopkeepers on Etsy would agree with, that I spend most of my time promoting my business - not creating. But I also think that to be successful among all the fabulous shops you have to find your own formula.... I'm still developing mine :)

I grew up in a household where everything was handmade by my mom, including my entire wardrobe (until high school)! My mom taught my sister and I how to cook and to sew, and being a constant crafter and experimenter, it rubbed off on both of us. But I never really got hooked on anything crafty until I was an adult - probably because I spent 10 years in competitive swimming and there just wasn't the time to be creative. When my sister and I moved out, we started going out with friends to dinner, to clubs, to the Ballet and of course we had to have something fabulous to wear! So we started making our own. It was around this time that I picked up my first beading magazine and decided that I could make jewellery - it certainly would save me a lot of money and after all I was in university. But I discovered that I really loved to create jewellery and I kept up my hobby throughout my university career hoping someday that I could make it my job. When I graduated last year with my degree in Geology and went to work, I found out right away I didn't enjoy working in the "real world" very much. And so last April, when my contract wasn't renewed due to the recession I took it as a sign that I should go into business for myself :) And here I am, with a shop on Etsy.

My work space is far from organized although I don't like it like that! Until very recently I was making my jewellery at the kitchen table, so the fact that I have a room all to myself in our new house is definitely an improvement. I have grand plans for furniture and organization and of course I have my eye on some great artwork from various shops on Etsy to fancy it up. I have lots of great ideas for my shop floating around in my head right now too - I plan to develop a winter line of jewellery but still keep a small number of one-of-a-kind pieces in my shop for those people looking for a truly unique piece. I would like to expand my bridal line as well to offer a few more styles and then perhaps introduce them to some of the boutiques in town. Lots and lots of plans - you'll have to stay tuned to find out exactly what will happen!!! Thanks for reading about my shop you can visit here http://littlebitofpretty.etsy.com/  or you can follow my blog here http://littlebitofpretty.blogspot.com/.