Macaroni and Who?

Ok, so I've gone about this all wrong. I set up a little blog on another site - fine, nothing wrong with that - but I've since realized that you a) need to be a member to comment, and b) would never find me there if you googled til your fingers fell off. So, if it's not too much trouble, can we just start over? Just forget about the past and make a clean start of it? Let's pretend we've just met - I'm smiling, you walk up, we shake hands. Good...

So, new friend, let me tell you why I'm here. I'm a mom, I'm an activist (more on that as we get to know each other), and I'm a budding entrepreneur. As of today, I've been papercrafting for a little over a year and have been selling said papercrafts for about six months. At the suggestion of my sister (finder of all things cool online), I set up shop at Etsy about a month ago. I continue to promote and sell my stationery line among friends, family and referrals outside of Etsy, and in the coming months I hope to begin approaching local boutiques about wholesale opportunities. I also really like parentheses... but you knew that already, huh?

I expect that this blog will largely focus on my own creative journey - my design process, the work I churn out, and the process of turning something I love into a sustainable business. I expect that there will be ups and downs along the way, and I intend to share them with you as they happen. For example, I had 10 sales in my first 30 days on Etsy (yay!), but it took Trunkt.com no more than an hour to reject my first portfolio application (ouch). As someone who crafts and sells stuff, I find it interesting to read about others who craft and sell, so I hope to be able to provide some perspective and insight as I try to figure out the best ways to do both.

You'll probably hear a fair amount about my family as well - my 2-year-old has more of an influence on my creative process than any other single factor and my husband, although supportive, has concerns that all this crafting might be compromising the housework....

In addition to me and all things me-related, I intend to use the blog to spotlight some of the amazing talent I find every day over at Etsy. It is so exciting to be part of such a dynamic and creative community! At least weekly, I'll feature someone or something that I've found to be truly special in my daily travels through the Etsy-verse.

And on that note, I have a couple of cool things for show-and-tell today! I have featured her before, but for my inaugural macaroniandglue.com post, I am giving it up once again for one of my all-time favorite designers, rubypearl.

Her women's line is stunning and her designs for kids are ridiculous (in the best sense of the word).

And back in my studio this week, there are antique sketchbooks galore. I've just begun work on a series of notecards with graphics created from drawings of children from 1907. You can see the first two of the series here and here.