So, many of you will have seen on Facebook that I have finally opened my very own shop ... well, not a shop with real doors, cash register and fully stocked shelves, but nevertheless a shop - a little arty ETSY shop.
While in Denmark I came across these lovely whimsical witches and fell in love instantly - I brought one home with me, and had no expectations on how it would turn out once I started reproducing it. But as with the fondant, give me a piece of Polymer Clay and this is what happens ...
I have really enjoyed making these and I am very proud of them. They look amazing when they hang - and they look amazing when they stand. Jack, Anna & Maia all like them standing, but I must say I prefer them hanging - since they are on their broom they should be flying through the air.
I'm hoping I can get Bob to hang the branches from which they will be hanging today - and then I'll take a photo for you to see what that looks like!
So the store is open should you need a little witch or three, or more for Halloween - www.bmdesignshop.etsy.com
I have also had a chat with our new local Bakery "The Three Sisters" for them to display my witches after Thankgiving . They are very happy to, so hopefully I get to sell a few there too!
My plan is to expand this - I have Angels in my head for Christmas - and would love to get started on those but just need to spend this week mass producing witches and then hopefully next weekend I can spend some time on designing some cute Angels.
Other than that - I have Aunty Dom helping me doing a poster for my Gingerbread Houses and hope to sell a few of them too. Not through ETSY as there is no way those can be shipped, but I'm thinking a few Ottawa families would like a cute BMDesign Gingerbread House for Christmas.
So - I had promised myself that this year I would not "just" be a Mum but also find a way to get myself "out there" again, and the way this has come about is what I believe the word "Serendipity" is all about. The kids started school on September 6th and I came home feeling very blue, not knowing what to do with myself. Within the next few days I made a very difficult decision that I'd give my cakes one year to see where it would take me. I really do not want to do the cakes anymore - I feel it's just done but I also knew that this would be the easiest and best way for me to get something started really fast. I got my blog designer to start on a new blog for me - to put out my art and promote myself a bit more than I can do here.
I'm sure to some of you it seems silly that opening my own shop should make me this happy - after all it is "just" a virtual store, but ever since we lived in Holland 13 years ago I have dreamt of opening a shop, but never knew quite how or what to sell. Most of you will know that I do all sorts of arts and crafts - and love doing it, but these witches ... it is the first time I feel I can actually sell what I've made with pride and a knowledge that they are as close to perfect as a flying witch should be. I feel they are so good, that if I was to walk into a store I would walk out having bought at least three of them - and THAT is high praise for me!
I finished these witches and showed them to a wonderful online network of Danish Women. There were rave reviews and I was even asked if I would sell these ... and a little seed was planted in my head ... and from then on it has just snowballed ... and last night, just before midnight I finally opened my own store.
In that first week of going back to school I went from going back to being a Cake Designer to finishing witches, to designing new blog, to talking and networking - I even had one day where I was desperately trying to find craft fairs where I could sell these witches, angels and Gingerbread Houses (that idea is still floating around and hasn't quite been killed yet!) and now, after two weeks of school I will be spending the weekend making more witches for my first customers. 
The new blog is still underway - I am working with the same designer as I used here, but she's a busy girl and it all takes time. I will update you with the info once I have it.
And now ... they are off .....
