An Interview with Chris from PalominoMorgan

PalominoMorgan makes adorable stuffed bunnies for your kids to play with…here’s her story…

Tell me a little bit about your background in arts and crafts.When did you first start creating things?

I have always had a very vivid imagination and I was creating things from my earliest memories. My brother and I would make elaborate cities in the dirt driveway with just some rocks and sticks. I don’t remember the rocks. I remember what the cities looked like.

What were the first things you created? and how did your creativity progress from there?
I remember “seeing” my elaborate creations in my head as a kid. A little squeeze bottle was a mighty ship sailing on the sea. In reality it was a squeeze bottle sailing in the ditch that ran across our farm driveway. I still remember watching in horror as my mighty ship got away from me and charged out to sea and I couldn’t catch up with it. I ran in to the house crying my eyes out and trying to explain to my mom that it wasn’t JUST a bottle. As for creating things in a traditional sense, I really loved art class in middle school and high school. In high school I had quite a run on teddy bears going. It wasn’t until a few high school friends saw my Etsy shop that they reminded me they still had their bears I made for them as birthday gifts in high school.I started sewing again in the fall of 2008. I’m not sure what got me to take the sewing machine out of the closet, but I’m very glad I did. It unleashed the flood gates of creativity and has given me a quiet sort of meditation to wind my overactive brain down at the end of the day.

Is this your only business or do you do other things as well?
I have always been a jack of all trades and probably always will be. My Etsy store turned in to a business by accident. I wasn’t expecting too much when I started sewing, but things have snowballed quickly on me and I am working on wrapping my head around the idea of my Etsy shop being a real business. My day job is incredibly different from my Etsy store. I work as a consultant in the dairy industry and that is VERY different than creating toys and handbags.

Do you still dream about making other things? If so, what?
Oh yes. Lots of things planned out in my head. As part of my plan to really embrace my Etsy store as a business and not just a hobby I recently purchased a new sewing machine. It should be arriving any day and I already have a few ideas on how to put it and all of its new features to work. I hope to work on a few art type baby quilts. I was just thinking of designs today and I have a few ideas I can’t wait to get started on.

How did you hear about Etsy?
I had my first child almost a year ago and she was a preemie. We had the cutest knit hat and blanket given to her when she was in the NICU. I don’t know how to knit, but I was determined to give back. I found Etsy while searching for knit preemie hats online. I spent almost a year as a buyer before opening my shop on a whim in the late fall.

Any words of advice to others?
Make sure you are creating with a passion. If you aren’t passionate about your work and your medium, it will come though. On the other hand, if you are compelled to create regardless of how marketable or popular the end product might find yourself in the same boat with me… wondering how sewing for fun after the baby went to bed at night snowballed in to a “real” business.

How will the new law by CPSIA affect you and your shop?
Well, as a parent of a daughter who will be celebrating her first birthday this week I will not stop shopping my favorite Etsy stores. I have been following the CPSIA board and have publicly said that I won’t be closing shop. I am very troubled by some of the commentary and have since tried to bury my head back in the sand. I have faith that the law was never intended to create a Y2K panic in the cottage industry and will be remedied as quickly as possible. I don’t fear the government, but do worry about people with an axe to grind. I guess at this point I’m planning on just flying under the radar and keeping the faith. As my mom would so “you gotta do the footwork.” My footwork is to keep creating and that’s what I plan to do.