why i started my small business!

 hello friends! i am so sorry i haven't posted in a few weeks, i've gotten sick a few times, and have been very busy in life! i have also been struggling to make blog posts! i don't know what to make them of! i have really been slacking on doing my bullet journal so i can really post of that... so my friend (shoutout: grace @ beyond the pages) and i came up with an idea for this post! i'm not going to waste any more time and just hop into it! 

so the question is: why did you start your business?    (oooh just got a great idea, comment any questions you have related to my life or my small business and i will answer them in a post!) 

it all started in 2019.. i just started to homeschool and i needed another hobby. my step mom owns her own small baking business so i went to her for this. i wanted to just have an extra hobby and i told my step mom about that. she was like what about a business? she got me a bunch of paper packets on how to start a business as a kid.  the next thing i needed to figure out was WHAT i wanted to sell an WHERE i wanted to sell it. i also had to think of a business name.. i have to give all the credit to my step mom for this one. she gave me a bunch of different ideas and i went with "Simply Crafted- Jewelry by Madeline". obviously you can tell i wanted to start making jewelry! i didnt have much money to start with, i believe i do recall borrowing a little bit of money from my parents that they lended me. i tried to figure out what was trending at that moment, i dont even know if it was trending, and i chose leather earrings. i bought just everything i needed to get started. below is a picture of what i started making. 

i ended up making a whole facebook page for my business through my moms facebook! she helped me get it all set up and everything! i was doing it all through her phone at the moment also. i was still younger and didnt have my phone yet.

 at that time, i thought they looked amazing and i just thought my business i started was gonna BLOW UP!that was a total fail! i sold ONE PAIR of these earrings.  i wanted to add more items to my business. scrunches were now trending at this point. i did lots of youtubing to try and learn how to make scrucnhies. i first learned how to make scrunchies with a hot glue gun. yep, you read that right! a hot glue gun! it didnt work the best, but i was getting somewhere. i had a little bit more money at this point from doing chores. it still wasn't a ton, but i had money! my mom kept saying "we have a sewing machine, you should learn to sew scrunchies!" one day, we got it out of the attic, i messed around with it a lot, youtubed some tutorials, and i ended up learning how to sew scrunchies! it took lots of time, and practice and error and frustration but i was able to learn! 

i visited a lot of craft shows to see what other people were making and there were lots of vendors with resin. i thought they looked so cool and thought it would be great to make items with resin! i asked for resin for christmas and that's what i got. i got lots of pigments, add-ins, molds and everything that was needed to do resin. i was IN LOVE! below are few of the little things i've made, including some custom orders and coasters and necklaces just from messing around. i do a lot more now, that's just some of the little bit. 

as you can see in the top two pictures, there are some very great decals.. after doing lots of craft shows, setting up my etsy, and saving money, i was able to get a cricut!!!!!!! that cost lots of money but it was all worth it! i now do lots of cricut and my cricut has added lots of items to my business! 

i has now been 3 years since i opened my business and i have grown so much!

some of the things i have been making recently 

a craft show i did in april 2021! 

 i have lots of followers on my facebook page (and am trying to grow larger!), i've gotten orders from etsy (and i am still taking orders, custom orders too!!!), have done many MANY craft shows and i am so glad! i love doing what i do, i love all the people i get to meet, i love coming up with many different ideas of things to make! 

be sure to check out my etsy and my facebook page too! i have a pinterest account for my business also     -> here!!! i am so thankful for all the people God has given me through this journey and i cant wait to see where He leads me! 

i will be glad to answer any questions you may have about my business in the comments, or privately! thank you for making it this long in the post too, lol! 

in Christ, 

         maddie ♡

p.s. do i still make the leather earrings? sometimes! but they look so much better! and they have a much cleaner cut because i use my cricut to cut them out ;)