Getting to Know Sweet Pea

I realize I have an “Our Story” page where you can learn a little about me and my business, but I thought maybe with this being a new adventure I should properly introduce myself and my business in more detail.  I want you all to trust me and the product that I’m providing you.  I want you to feel confident in my experience and learn about the road that led me and my business to where we are today.

My early artistic endeavors

Me as a little Sweet Pea, showing off my drawing skills.

I have loved art since I can remember.  I grew up in a highly creative household as an only child.  My artistic adventures were always encouraged, except for that time I drew on the walls playing Carmen San Diego (sorry mom!).  A dear friend of the family is an amazing artist.  I remember him nurturing my artistic side and gushing about how talented I was.  My little heart wanted to burst with pride that such a talented adult thought my little cat drawings were good!

I loved art so much that I chose it as my college major.  I didn’t ever dream that I’d be able to be a full-time artist, so I chose Art Education as my path.  In retrospect, I’m not sure classically trained art was ever my strong suit.  Don’t get me wrong, I know I’m a decent artist, but I feel like crafting and creating are more my jam.  Also, as much as I love working with kids and seeing them grow as little artists, my very short tenure in teaching didn’t fill me with much confidence.  Finding an actual art teaching position is HARD.  Think about it, there’s only one of those teachers per building and in a lot of cases only one per several buildings.  I became a preschool teacher to pay the bills (barely, wow are they underpaid!) and quickly realized that it wasn’t the right fit for me.

The birth of Sweet Pea and my love of leatherworking

I took on a corporate job doing data entry, which wasn’t the most exciting, but I loved the company I worked for and the people I worked with.  It was a really great opportunity and it allowed me to get some real grown-up business experience.  I learned so much about running a business in that position. One thing I got a ton of experience with was Microsoft office and it has truly come in handy while running my own business. 

While I was at that job, when my biggest Pea wasn’t quite two, we decided to take on leatherworking as a hobby.  Ok, my husband convinced me to let him drop a bunch of money for his birthday on a new hobby I was hesitant about.  He did so much research and got everything he’d need to get started.  It seems like a weird hobby to just randomly pick up, but he did have an end goal.  We’ve been involved in Belegarth’s medieval combat society since we were teenagers.  And, please, before you ask, no it’s not like the movie Role Models.  We do dress up in medieval/fantasy attire and combatants do use foam weapons that are tested for safety, but that’s where the similarity ends.  It is a full contact sport with armor and hundreds of people on the field.  I’m actually too intimidated to get onto a national field, there are way too many big ex-military guys in steel-toed boots for this non-combatant!

Anyway, I digress.  A lot of the combatants in Belegarth wear leather armor.  It can get pricey to purchase, especially if you want something specific.  My husband decided if he could learn to make his own, it would be customized and a fraction of the price.  So, we got this pile of leatherworking supplies home and he jumped right in learning and trying things out.  Intrigued, I asked if I could try a little.  I tested out some stamps, eventually making a simple mask and learned to do a little leather carving.  I was hooked.  I loved the medium instantly.  There is a definite learning curve and precision involved, but it was somehow also forgiving and versatile.  I loved how working with leather laid out so many possibilities, I could make so many things with it!!

The Etsy plunge

Before I even started leathercrafting, I began eyeing up Etsy.  I had heard about it and got myself an account and promptly let it sit idle for a year.  I was terrified to put myself out there.  With my new hobby and a pile of arts and crafts accumulating, I decided it was time to take the bull by the horns.  My mom was also selling her refurbished furniture at a local flea market and had offered to let me put some things in her booth.  We decided that our business should be named after a really big part of both our lives, our little Sweet Pea, thus Sweet Pea Crafts and Collectibles was born.

My Etsy shop was so eclectic back then.  I laugh to think about the horrible pictures and lack of niche.  I don’t even know how I got some of the sales I received, those people really took a leap of faith for me.  One of my first customers was a dear friend who purchased several of her Christmas gifts from my shop and I am so grateful to her.  Those first few Etsy sales are SO hard.  No one wants to trust a new shop with no sales.  But, perseverance paid off.  I definitely spun my wheels for a while doing things that were, quite frankly, a waste of time and effort.  I would “fix” my shop, then have to go back through and “fix” it again when I learned something new.  It was all part of my business growing up, I suppose.  Over time I realized that my focus was definitely shifting to leather.  I changed the name to Sweet Pea Leather and haven’t looked back.  My mom still sells her furniture, but wanted me to take the name (because she’s amazing like that). 

When my second Pea was born, I decided giving my entire paycheck to childcare wasn’t all that exciting.  It was a terrifying leap of faith and a very difficult thing to do, but I left my corporate job and all of my wonderful co-workers. I also ended up taking a lot of time off of my Etsy shop to settle into being a stay-at-home mom with two littles.  It was a difficult adjustment, at that time in my life I really just needed to take that break and sort through the chaos.  I still had a few things posted, but I wasn’t serious about it at all. 

Taking it to the next level

I wasn’t serious, until I was approached by a fashion magazine to possibly feature my belts.  They didn’t end up in the magazine and I didn’t become an overnight sensation, but it was definitely the kick in the pants I needed.  I realized my shop needed help, I needed to get my tools out and organized, I needed to make my Etsy website more professional, I needed to take it seriously again.  After some research I stumbled across the Handmade Academy and took their courses for a year.  I learned SO much and it really helped me take my business to the next level.  Ever since then I’ve been growing and cultivating this baby. 

Today my Peas are both in school and they are much more mature than they were when I left my full-time job.  I’m finding more and more time to nurture my little business.  I’m just now to a point where I can actually do something full-time.  I briefly considered getting a job outside of the home, but realized that meant I couldn’t be there for drop-off and pickup every morning and afternoon.  I couldn’t spend every holiday, snow day, spring or summer breaks with my Peas.  It would be stable, but I’d be missing out.  Running my own crafting business from home is hard, but it gives me such a sense of accomplishment.  I still have a long road ahead of me to take Sweet Pea where I want it to go, but the journey is part of the fun, right?

Thank you for joining me today, and as always, life’s better with leather!

jess

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