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Heeeyyyy...
Welcome everyone to Elizabeth and Comp. I am so excited to be sharing this adventure with you. This is my first time writing a blog, so bare with me... lol
When I was two years old, my mom bought me a huge purple rag doll. Little did either of us know that that day would change both of our lives completely. For her, she would be stuck "holding Ziggy" for the better part of the next ten plus years. As for me, Ziggy (how I came up with that name is beyond me) became my world and went with me everywhere. Anyone who knew me, knew about ziggy. My extended family still to this day brings her up and even asks where she is now. I always proudly answer that she (at least what is left of her) is next to my bed, just in case I need her. And yes, sometimes I still do.
The idea that something someone made, with their own two hands, was able to make such an impact on a person's life is really why I started Elizabeth and Comp. I was definitely "that girl" that made gifts for people all the time.
Skipping ahead to college, I learned to crochet. Well actually, I attempted to learn how to knit first which turned out to be a very awkward disaster (lol). Trying to hold the needles turned into one hideously uneven scarf that took way too many months to make. From that point on, it was all about crocheting. I started by finding projects online and trying them out, of which a few worked and A LOT did not. Once I got a better handle on it, people started to take notice what I was able to make. This resulted in people asking me: Can you make this for me? My honest response was always: I can certainly try.
Once I decided that I was going to start turning my passion into a business, I started making baby hats, little girl purses, Tooth Fairy pillows, and whatever else I could think of for children. I started a facebook page to get my items out into the world. Also, during this time many of my friends began having children, which meant I had models!!!
After going back and forth for quite some time, which was mostly me doubting myself, and much convincing from my best friend and now business partner I decided to leap into craft shows. This started out with very minimal inventory with a very small booth set up. At the beginning there were A LOT of growing pains accompanied by a HUGE learning curve. I started with four hat designs in inventory and a bunch of random child items which I insisted would sell like hot cakes... some of which did and most did not.
After spending a couple of years trying to figure out which shows were worth doing and which ones were not, our sales finally started to take off. Honestly, much to my surprise, my little business was really starting to turn into something and nobody seemed to be surprised...except for me. Eventually, after getting Julie to come on board and help we doubled and then tripled our booth set up as well as my hat designs that we keep in stock. Currently we have 16 of my designs in stock on a regular basis among other inventory items.
And that brings us to this year!!! We are so excited for our 2018 Craft Show season. I am particularly excited for this year's season for SO many reasons. This year my husband and I decided that it was finally the time to transition from my full time job as an Event Planner for a local restaurant to focusing on Elizabeth and Comp!!! I cannot even begin to explain how exciting this is! I am truly blessed to be able to be following my dream and really be able to focus on sharing Elizabeth and Comp with the world! So we are participating in way more craft shows than we have in the past and we can't wait to see everyone who comes out.
AS IF THAT WASN'T EXCITING ENOUGH... about a month after leaving my full time job, my husband and I found out that we are expecting our first child!!! So with this amazing opportunity and dream job, I also get to work from home while caring for our little one, who happens to be due right after show season is over. My husband and I cannot wait for our DAUGHTER to be our own Elizabeth and Comp official hat model!
WE ARE HAVING A GIRL!!!
Here's to a great year and MANY MANY MANY new beginnings.
Ok, love you, BYE!