Jaclyn Elizabeth

Before I hop into this post, I thought I'd talk about why I'm starting a new series and give you some info on it.

When I became pregnant with Tessa, I realized that being a Mom doesn't just entitle you to unconditional love like you've never felt before and a holiday once a year, you immediately belong to a community. Once every one knew I was pregnant, other Mom's started to come out of the woodwork, giving me advice, words of compassion and support, funny stories and sometimes scary stories, and I felt this very strong camaraderie towards other Mom's. And so, was born my new blog series; once a week I hope to feature an Etsy Mom and her story, I hope you'll enjoy them as much as me.

I'd actually gotten a few entries for the first post that I'll be saving for later, but I wanted to start with this one just because I really enjoyed her story and how she told it, that I had to leave it in her words instead of writing my own narrative of it. I also felt it was the perfect one to start with because of why she started her online shop; for the love of her child.

Personalized Etched Wine Glasse

The name of my shop is "Jaclyn Elizabeth" and I just opened on April 7th, right now I feature etched
glassware but I have many plans for things to come!

Here is a little bit about myself and my family!
I have been in the Real Estate industry for almost 11 years now and for the
past few years I have worked from home so I can stay at home with my 5 year
old daughter, Jaclyn. I love to sew, embroider, create with vinyl, etch
glass, bake and do just about any craft I can find!
Before I was married I was worried that it was not possible for me to have
children due to some complications when I was younger. I always put that in
the back of my mind so I would not have to face the fact that I might never
be a Mom, which was the one thing I wanted the most in life. I lost my
mother when I was 7 years old so having children and being a mommy, since I
really didn't have one, was very important to me. In 2005 things were
going great, I had just landed my dream job and was about to fly out to
complete the training for my new job. Than the day before I was scheduled
to leave I received a call, my father had suddenly past away. I was so
lost, I had just lost the only parent I really ever knew. I somehow managed
to make it the arrangements, attend the funeral and keep it together to
attend the next session of my training class and start my new job (which
really didn't seem that important anymore). Then, the good news I needed!
I was pregnant!! A few months later I realized that I got pregnant one
month (probably to the day) after my father passed away, so I have always
believed that she was sent to me by my dad. My husband and I have tried for
the last 3 years to get pregnant again but with no luck. I became very
depressed over not being able to get pregnant again but I finally realized
that Jaclyn is the most wonderful gift I could ever receive and that is
nothing to be depressed or sad about. Everything I do is for her or
inspired by her, which led me to opening my shop on Etsy!

2 Personalized Champagne Flutes

For the last two years Jaclyn has been in half day pre-school, I choose half
day so I could still have the afternoons with her. Over the past couple of
months I have been getting everything ready for kindergarten next year,
filling out the registration forms, she took her readiness test and we have
both been getting really excited! Well then it dawned on me, her tuition
was about to double and that was nothing to be excited about! My husband
and I made the decision before she was school age that we wanted her to go
to Catholic school and we would do whatever it took to make sure that was
the type of education she received. After years of my husband telling me
"why don't you sell the things you make" I decided that maybe it was time
(again, tuition doubling!). My husband and I agreed that everything I make
from my shop will go to her education and I would still be a full time
Realtor (which is what I am doing now). I let my daughter name the shop,
since after all it was really for her. Of course you ask a 5 year old what
to call "her" shop and the answer is...her name which is how we came up with
"Jaclyn Elizabeth" for the name.

While I was creating some examples for the shop I was about to open I
realized something, and it was big! I didn't want to do real estate
anymore, I wanted to make things all day! So after a lot of thought and
prayer I have decided to leave the real estate industry sometime later this
year and create full time. I have plans for 2 more shops and a website (I
don't think just etching glass will pay the bills!) So I'm going all in,
leaving behind an industry that I really do enjoy and have been a part of
for over 10 years and I'm really scared but also really excited. This is my
true passion, not just something I really enjoy and I know that creating all
day will give me true satisfaction in my life. I recently thought back to
some of the things I have made for my daughter, her friends, my friends and
family and remembered the joy and fulfillment it gave me to see how happy I
could make others with something I made which really helped me make my
decision.

Since I have worked from home for so many years I'm pretty good at balancing
a home business and family so I hope that this transition will be easy as
far as work and family, but I know some changes will need to be made. It
helps that in a few months Jaclyn will be in school until 2:30p instead of
11:00am! It should give me the time I need to put into my current and
future shops.