9 the birth of barberry & lace.

A little background on myself: when I was a young girl, I used to play games with my brothers like “school” or “grocery store” or “library”. Of course I was always the teacher or store clerk or librarian. When I was a bit older + we were able to buy a computer, I played games like “Zoo Tycoon” + “Sim City”. I was also the QUEEN of lemonade stands (as I’ve mentioned before). We didn’t just sell lemonade, we were a full service snack + lemonade stand. I used to do my brothers’ school fundraisers for them…

All of this to say that since the beginning of me, I’ve had a passion for creating + selling. I love to access the creative side of my brain. I get antsy if I can’t create something… anything. At the same time, I love selling things… I’m not a “salesperson” per se ( I could NEVER be a car sales(wo)man), but I get excited when I can offer a product that people want to have.

I believe that anyone that wants to have a successful business needs to have both of these attributes, or have a partner (or something similar) that compliments one or the other.

 
(I’m the cookie queen at Christmastime. I make a mean cookie!)

How Barberry & Lace came to be: with all the background information in place, you have to know that I have been creating + trying to sell those creations for years. Before jewelry, it was greeting cards. I made a small success with those, selling wholesale to a boutique in the downtown area where I live. It was a great supplement to my other job, but definitely didn’t offer any longevity or significant income. I went to a couple of craft fairs with my cards, but they didn’t go well either, so I went back to the drawing board.

I started finding all kinds of adorable charms + fun, vintage findings, so I decided to give jewelry a go. My tastes were starting to change at this time too, so I explored more of the vintage feel. I was a little nervous about dumping a bunch of money into supplies at first as I had just been laid off of work + gotten another job. I didn’t have a lot of cash flow, so I just bought a couple hundred of dollars worth. As soon as I got my supplies in, I started making jewelry + fell in love. I had so much fun putting the pieces together to make something that I thought was fun + charming. I took my first batch of jewelry into work with me a few days later + my co-workers bought over half of it. I was stunned. After that, it was a repeat process… buying supplies, making fun pieces + selling them… and let me say, they were selling faster than I could make them while maintaining a full time job.

  
(products currently listed at Barberry & Lace on Etsy; click photos to visit product pages)

I started my Etsy shop in September of 2010 and by Christmastime I had to cut back my hours at work. I was having a hard time filling the orders that were coming in + making new jewelry, let alone working 35-40 hours per week at the restaurant. With the success of the holiday sales,  I decided to branch out. I started looking into craft fairs again. I was SUPER apprehensive about them since the events I participated in while selling greeting cards were so terrible. I applied for just one to start out with and, honestly, it was hard to find a venue that I thought would be good for my product. I found the Horseshoe event online + decided to give it a go. It was much more expensive than I anticipated, but I decided to bite the bullet. It was FANTASTIC! I did so much better than I ever thought I would, so I started applying for all the craft fairs I could find. I’ve been invited to some + have gone out to find others. Networking within these markets has been priceless. I’ve met SO many amazing women who have been so incredibly helpful in linking me in with other markets… it really has been a wonderful + rewarding opportunity.

  
(photos of the mock booth set up in my garage before my first event in May, 2011)

And that’s where we are today… I participate in a craft fair almost every weekend, boutiques in other cities are starting to pick up my product, + online sales are going strong. I’m still working 3 days a week at the restaurant, but I hope to someday be able to make a full-time living through Barberry & Lace.

That’s the story. I’ve had a lot of requests for advice + tips on creating + running a successful Etsy shop, so I’m working on putting together a post if you’re interested! Thanks for reading my start-up story… I hope it offers some inspiration to create something for yourself!