Turning Those Wheels

So my last day of the 9-5 was on July 15th, I opened my Etsy shop on July 19th, there was no time to waste.  I started out listing cupcake toppers:

You can find others here:  www.meadowsbrook.etsy.com

Then I started listing name banners:



And then....I sat and waited for my first sale....and I sat....and I waited....and I sat.  I still wanted to do more, but at the same time I didn't want to go too crazy with listings and then fall flat on my face after all I still had to put food on the table.  Then it happened!  My first sale!!!  I was over the moon!  That feeling is what pushed me to keep going.  The flip side of that coin was by adding more listings I would get to more people so what was it?  Take the risk or play on the safe side?  So I got a notebook and started writing down all of my thoughts and ideas and what came next was possibly my saving grace.

In the middle of all of this school was getting ready to start and I was trying to think of a personal gift to get for a teacher.  Then it hit me!  Here I am with all of these ideas swirling around in my head and I can't come up with a teacher's gift?!?!  Was I nuts?  Here it was right in front of me, within the pages of my black notebook staring me in the face.  A banner!  I sat down and wrote it out.  Exactly how I wanted it to look, the colors, the embellishments and so on.  I ran to my scrapbook stash and started to piece it all together and what I envisioned in my head is what I laid out.  It was perfect and then the 2nd light bulb went off and all I heard was...Ummmm, hello, McFly, how about banners that can be customizable for any classroom or teacher?  Not just kids name banners, but something for both the teachers and the kids to enjoy.  And so it was...the Teacher's Name Banner:

Check out the listing here:  www.meadowsbrook.etsy.com

Now the best is yet to come....but I'll have to share that tomorrow. :)