In fall of 2009 I had a few free months between day jobs. I had quit my job as a Business Analyst for a direct sales company because I wasn't reaching my creative potential. During that time I reawakened my love for sewing. I went through my mother's stash of fabric and made Christmas aprons for friends and families. I also made a baby gift set including quilt, nursing pillow, and stuffed dog for my sister's yet-to-be-born son. I had so much fun I thought... why not sell these online? If nothing else it would feed my own fabric stash so I could make more items. I started a Etsy shop as Jenn Bass and posted my aprons for sale.
Several months later, after a new day job and got engaged, I realized all my wonderful branding for Jenn Bass would need to change with my married name. During a lull in my wedding planning I was invited to a start-up craft fair. I thought: "This was my big break! But... I need new branding!" I also knew I wanted to bring my mother, Jeanine, along with me on this adventure.
Within days we were working on expanding our inventory, preparing our booth space, working on marketing materials, making a web site and moving the Jenn Bass Etsy store to our new Creative Tradition store. It was so exciting! Unfortunately the craft fair was a disappointment for us. We had 2 sales, the first of which was my fiance who wanted to support me and provide us a test of our invoice and packaging process.
We kept going with our online store and within a few more days we had our first sale! It was one of the historic colonial Barbie dress sets my mother and I had made years and years ago. They were so beautiful but they never sold at the holiday boutiques we went to. Now, the Barbie dresses are our number one seller!
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