Musings on an Etsy shop

Long time readers will know that in the recent past I used to run a little Etsy shop.  It was also called Second Fiddle, you can check it out over here.  I originally started it with the intention of selling handmade things, but with vet school and real life getting in the way, I ended up selling mainly vintage.  It was never hugely successful but then I never really wanted or needed it to be, I wanted a bit of extra cash to spend on presents and craft things and the satisfaction of knowing that somewhere out there someone is wearing something I sold them.



Now that vet school is done and real life can begin in earnest, I'd planned to restart the shop, selling handmade things this time the way I'd always intended.  I knocked up a few items as prototypes, to see what would sell, but now I've got a job and time is tight, I'm finding my interest in selling has waned. 



One of my friends, Frances of Lapin Gris Crafts has had some success selling at crafts fairs, so I've been pondering trying some next year.  To be honest though, the more I think about it, the more I want to just focus on crafting for me.  I really want to learn how to make clothes and master the art of refashioning, I love making presents for people and I'm really enjoying the sudden arrival of multiple babies in my life, baby crafting is both adorable and super fast!  What little time I have to craft, I want to be focusing on making things for myself, friends and family, not random strangers over the internet.  I really admire people who sew or knit for a living and find the whole process of setting up your own craft business really fascinating but if I'm honest with myself, it's not one of my life goals any more.  I used to dream of being a vet 4 days a week and running a successful Etsy shop 1 day a week but it would take far more than 1 day a week of work to make that dream a reality. 



At the point I'm at now, I want to settle down and make peace with what I have in life.  I feel like I've spent the past 10 years of my life desperate for the next phase to begin; at school desperate to go to uni, at uni desperate to start vet school, at vet school desperate to have a job.  Now I have a job and I'm desperate for the next phase to start, to be able to move back to Edinburgh and buy a house and get married and just generally take life a bit more slowly.  It's silliness, I'm going to wake up one day 50 years old and wonder where my life went! 



So I'm shutting up shop for the foreseeable future.  Maybe at some point I'll get back into selling, if I can't work as a vet for whatever reason, but for the moment I want to concentrate on crafting for myself, friends and family ♥