Introducing.....

Well, finally an introduction to the hobby that spurred an idea to start a little business. I have followed blogs for a while, even before I ever started writing this one, and came across different mentions of a site called Etsy. Etsy is a site for buyers and sellers of handmade items as well as supplies and vintage items. Individual sellers can set up a virtual shop where they sell their own goods, market them, and ship them to their customers. I first purchased some hair clips earlier this year from a wonderful seller on Etsy. She was participating in a donation to build a playground in the memory of a sweet baby girl who passed away from neuroblastoma. She was donating all the proceeds from her sales along with many other sellers to help build this playground. I was very happy to support this great cause and to get some darling hair clips for Adalyn.

I started browsing Etsy and learned more about the cute products people sold. I was particularly fond of the adorable accessories for babies and little girls. Then I started finding information on making my own hair clips. It was quite a process to first find local materials, find the best prices and the best methods for making the clips. Then I started looking into making bows, first practicing the folding techniques and then perfecting different styles. Then, I learned how to make a cute tutu and flower clips.....

The idea of setting up my own shop bloomed, and with Jamey's encouragement and support, I started gathering more materials and working on different products. I came up with a name, PunkieGrace, inspired by my sweet little Adalyn. When she was little we would spike her hair up and she acquired the nickname "Punkie" or "Punky." When we were brainstorming names, I kept coming back to names that had some special sort of connection for me. I did my "due diligence" (thanks business classes!) and researched the names to avoid any potential copyright issues and decided PunkieGrace just had to be the perfect fit!

Jamey worked very hard to create a design for my product/business cards and my wonderful website, blog and banner for my Etsy shop. There is a tremendous amount of work and time involved in doing things the professional way and I am very proud of what we came up with. We are hoping to make the PunkieGrace website live very soon....tonight, possibly ;) Currently, all of my products are sold through the PunkieGrace on Etsy shop. To purchase these products, customers pay through PayPal on the Etsy site. Customers can use their PayPal account but don't need an actual PayPal account to purchase items, only a credit card or debit/bank account.

Then, I need to finish my Etsy shop policies and start listing my items for sale. We have taken photos of most of them so far but I need to work on the descriptions. I will keep my PunkieGrace blog updated with new information about coming products, promotions and giveaways. This blog will also be filtered right onto the PunkieGrace website itself.

Thanks for reading about the new endeavor....I would love to hear any comments after the site is up and my products are listed.

Soon, I will get back to Jamey's birthday part 2 and Adalyn's 15-month update, when I have some time to catch my breath :)