Hello my fellow FemmeDeBloomers (can I make that a thing?)!!!
Welcome to the first ever blog post for the FemmeDeBloom Etsy shop! This is something I've been wanting to launch for quite some time now and while everything isn't perfect yet, my recent motto in life is to jump first and then figure out all the small stuff and details as I go!
For those who aren't too familiar with FemmeDeBloom, I thought I would take a minute to share how I started my shop almost three years ago (!!!). I was fortunate enough to grow up with a mom who introduced me to crafts and art as a very young age, so I spent most of my childhood making EVERYTHING AND ANYTHING! My mom used to let me go wild with puffy paints and I painted my shirts, shoes, and anything she would let me! My favorite is when I painted hammerhead sharks on a pair of yellow keds I had. I was pretty obsessed with marine life and didn't care that no one else understood what the heck I drew on my shoes. I was PROUD OF MY HAMMERHEADS! Anyway, as you can see making things for myself and others has always been important to me.
Four years ago, I had an idea to make Minnie Mouse inspired personalized ornaments for my friends since we all shared a mutual love for Disneyland and often visited because were all annual pass holders. This is what they looked like:
To be honest, this is NOT my best work at all. I'm actually a little embarrassed now that I look back. BUT nevertheless, they were a HIT with my friends! They loved them! When the next year came around, a couple of my friends suggested I try selling them on Etsy. After considering it for awhile, I decided to JUMP IN AND DO IT! I reworked the design from a glass ornament to a shatter proof one because I figured it would be easier for shipping purposes and came up with these!
The next year I added additional characters:
Unfortunately, due to my packed schedule as a doctoral student I was not able to make them last year, but I plan to bring them back for a final year this year! Hurray! After the success of the ornament sales I was so hooked on creating things and sharing them with others that I decided to expand my focus from ornaments to jewelry and accessories! Since then, I have experimented (and partially successfully implemented) with designs using many different mediums including clay, resin, shrink plastic, and fabric!
As for the name FemmeDeBloom for my shop. I chose a hybrid of French and English to represent the phrase "Woman in Bloom" because 1) I love everything French (authors, the language, the country, macarons, the Eiffel tower, wine, baguettes, croissants, ALL THE FOOD THE END) and 2) I consider myself a woman who is always blooming, evolving, changing, and growing through my experiences with the world and others!
So there you have it! This is the FemmeDeBloom etsy shop blog! Please make sure to sign up for email updates, which will include updates on shop promotions and new items as well as updates to the blog!
If you have any suggestions on posts you'd like to see feel free to comment below!
LOVE YOU GUYS!
--Melanie