Esty Customized Hand-Crafted Designs - The Finishing Touch for Your Room

I am always amazed at how genetics works. And how family characteristics and talents are passed down from generation to generation. Now that we can easily check out our DNA through ancestry.com many people can trace their genealogy back for generations. Pretty cool.

I am a creative soul. I have always felt blessed to be able to work in careers that use my artistic talents. I can vividly remember my first-grade teacher pulling me up to her desk at the front of the classroom so that she could watch me draw my family portrait. Apparently, she did not believe that a five-year-old (yes, I skipped kindergarten could use crayons to the ability I did in creating my version of the 6 people in my household. But I proved her wrong.

Although my mother "cannot draw a straight line" (her words not mine), I do know that she gave me my wonderful sense of color that I use every day in my career as an interior designer. But what I find more interesting is how my two daughters have gotten this creative gene and used it in their own lives.

Neither of my girls thought that they had any raw talent for drawing like I did growing up. But they both have creative talents far beyond mine in many other ways. My youngest Kelsey, is now an architect. Her combination of creativity and analytical mind make this the perfect profession for her. It sounds stereotypical, but from a young age she was always building Lego cities and she excelled in school. My oldest Jackie, a creative soul in her own right, initially used this talent in her career in marketing and event planning.

But recently Jackie has embarked on a new journey of discovering more hidden creative talents that actually come a little closer my realm. As a new homeowner, on a very limited budget, Jackie found ways to stretch her dollar and decorate her home using reclaimed items she found on the side of the road. Other people's trash truly became her treasure as she delved headlong into "designing on a dime!" But now that her home interior design is pretty much complete, and she is getting married in the fall, Jackie decided that she could continue with these projects and use them as income to help subsidize her wedding budget.

Thus began her journey to start her own micro-business with the help of an on-line storefront called Etsy. Etsy is an online marketplace where people can buy, sell, and make unique items, craft supplies, home decor, jewelry, and just about anything else. It's a great place to buy personalized or custom items, find local goods from all over the world, and support small business owners. Everything sold on Etsy has to be made/added to in some way by the shop owner - so you're guaranteed to find something different on there that you won't find on other sites.

Etsy offers the ability to search for that "perfect something" where it needs to be specific and unique. I have even purchased items for my interior design projects from Etsy, as well. For instance, I was looking for a mirror to go above a very small sink in a Powder Room I was designing. I needed a really specific and unusual size and I also wanted some cool carving details on the frame. Knowing that I would not find this within my standard resources, I turned to Etsy. All you do is set your search parameters and start shopping. You are even able to ask questions of the "vendors", and in many cases personalize the items you are purchasing. Perhaps one of my favorite features is how you can get a quote on the shipping before you purchase! Some people are skeptical of this marketplace, and I will admit there is a ton of strange stuff on the site, too. But more often than not I find what I am looking for and it is a good value, to boot!

My daughter’s Etsy Shop: https://www.etsy.com/shop/WoodandWatercolors

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Photo by Vladimir Proskurovskiy on Unsplash