Jordandene

Jordandené, created by Jordan Dené, has taken the world by storm! If you're a fan of geekery themed clothing and accessories, then you've more than likely come across some of her work.With her items' edgy look, trademark font, and beautiful designs, they are hard to miss.

Jordan Dené first started her handmade journey in 2011 by opening an Etsy shop. After a move to the Big Apple she started to feel an itch for a creative outlet. The combination of nannying part-time and artists surrounding her created the perfect chemistry to jump start her need to express herself. As she learned that she loved to run her tiny business, she decided to made Jordandené her full-time job.

The cherry on top of Jordandené's grungy look is the metallic ink that can be seen on many of the items. To make it better, Jordan Dené's favorite pieces to create - the iconic screen printed products - are printed with eco-friendly ink. Don't forget the fairy dust, too. "Everything is better when it sparkles," says the shop owner.

Designing and creating clothes can be traced back to her very roots. She learned how to sew from her grandmother and 4H classes in elementary school. Everything else she learned through exploring online classes, books, and making use of friends.

When asked why it's important to shop handmade and small business, Jordan Dené hits the nail on the head when she says, "Shopping handmade is the only way for handmade products to exist. If we want to keep having the lovely world of high-quality, unique, story-driven products, we have to support the people who make them."

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Indie Odyssey

Indie Odyssey started out as a true hobby shop on Etsy in 2009, with random new items added at odd intervals. Its creator, Shannon, was living in England at the time and was creating her necklaces, earrings, and button badges in her home. In 2011, however, her life had changed gears. She had moved back to Canada and began focusing more on her creations.

Shannon has always been blessed with creativity and with many inspiring ideas coming to her, she couldn't help but make them come to life. Once she started creating again, her friends and acquaintances took notice. After filling their requests, she began to receive even more orders from people who heard about her creations through the grapevine. She knew then that she needed to start investing more time into Indie Odyssey.

Shannon loves to create Indie Odyssey's items with resin, because the numerous possibilities. She taught herself how to use resin by experimenting and perfecting her techniques. Now she can add colors and textures to her resin, as well as cast it into different shapes.

"I think it is very important to shop homemade as you are supporting the little guy...not a huge corporation," says Shannon. She likes to imagine that the money she is spending goes to supporting the families of those who's blood, sweat, and tears went into the work. Plus, the quality and uniqueness of the work is a beautiful bonus, as well!

Indie Odyssey's series of cameos are some of Shannon's favorite creations. She says she loves making them and she puts a lot of herself into each one. She makes sure they are up to her standard of high quality by taking a good deal of time creating the frames, hand painting the details, and adding the perfect embellishments. 


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Heart and Soles

"I know when I buy handmade, it was made with love," Amy from Heart and Soles said when asked why she thinks it is important to shop handmade. If a customer is going to spend money on a gift or on themselves, it is important for the item they get in return to be special. Amy wants her customers to know that when they receive their item from her and her husband, it was made with them in mind. She goes on to say that she would rather purchase handmade items herself because she would rather know her money goes directly into the pockets of the creators. It would put food on the table or help cloth children rather than go to a big box store.

The shoes purchased from Heart and Soles goes further to show Amy's desire to give her customers something special. Every item Amy and her husband create is a custom order and a reflection of their amazing customers. It was through custom creations that Heart and Soles came to be, allowing custom works to be the fuel to their success. After finding no items for Regular Show, a favorite of her nephew, Amy began to search for inspiration. She poured through Pinterest and YouTube and she found a video on how to paint shoes. She turned to her husband, who was talented at sketching and drawing, and after some convincing he drew a design from Regular Show on a pair of shoes. Amy painted them and proudly posted their creation onto Facebook, where her family and friends saw them and wanted designs of their own.

However, suddenly taking orders for custom shoes after one pair can have its drawbacks. Amy and her husband had to learn their trade by trial and error. "To this day, I'm not always sure what I'm doing. I just kind of do what feels right," she comments. She admits that when she feels she's being stumped by a pair, she turns to her husband who knows the basics of art. He had some learning to do as well; he had to figure out how to adjust his style of drawing and adjust it to the canvas of shoes. For him, however, it seems enough to be drawing with a purpose. He has been able to transfer his skills of doodling in the margins during schools to sketching on personalized shoes for money. And while her husband puts all he has into every shoe with his pencil, Amy turns to her paints in order to pour herself into the creation as well. She sees a blank surface of shoes and revels in the possibility for her to paint in the endless spectrum of colors available.

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Fiction Fingers

Around Christmas 2013, a little faith and a lot of yarn went towards the opening of Fiction Fingers. It was during this time that Fiction Fingers mastermind, Sarah, made some Pokémon finger puppets for her son. "I used to only crochet once a year around Christmas time but then something strange happened. Suddenly things that didn't used to make sense to me became clear and I found myself able to do all kinds of magical things with yarn and a crochet hook," she explains on her Etsy profile. Her husband was so impressed with her work, that he took a couple of her finger puppets to work with him to show off to his co-workers. Before Sarah knew it, people began asking for puppets of their own! 

After seeing the reaction to her puppets, Sarah's husband insisted and encouraged her to market her crochet creations. Sarah says that it was her husband's faith in her creations that motivated her to open her own shop. The fact that her creative outlet is also a second income to help with finances is a relief to this stay-at-home mom. 

Sarah learned how to crochet when she was in middle school and her mother taught her the basics. However, she didn't get excited about it until she had her son and she suddenly felt the urge to make him things. To expand her skills beyond the basics, she turned to Google and YouTube and began teaching herself. Even now, she says she is still learning new techniques and she loves trying out new ways to sculpt with yarn. In order to sculpt her creations correctly, Sarah has to use a certain type of yarn for each project. Caron Simply Soft yarn is her favorite brand to use due to its rich colors and gently fibers.

Sarah feels that her Pikachu puppet, seen below, best represents her work. She admits that it will always have a special place in her heart due to the fact that it was the creation that started her on her path to opening Fiction Fingers on Etsy. Although she has created many things that she has fallen in love with, she wouldn't have kept crocheting if she hadn't made the Pikachu puppet and realized the possibilities before her.

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A Cup of Nostalgia

As a handmade shop owner and a huge fan of handmade items,  I would like to start shedding more light on other handmade shops. Through Little Wonderland, I've made several amazing connections with other shop owners and have seen some amazing products. An example of this is the five star Etsy shop A Cup of Nostalgia. 

Jennifer Hess started her handmade shop on Christmas day of 2013. Her son was born with unfortunate circumstances, which forced her to become a stay-at-home mom. She had always had an income, so not working for an entire year in combination with a new child and recently purchasing a new home motivated her to try something new. She took a chance and posted five coffee mugs she had decorated as Christmas presents. They were a rave on Instagram and soon began selling quickly on Etsy. Before she knew it, she had became a popular mug shop with nearly 700 sales in a year!

Her favorite items to make are the fully painted mugs, rather than the handwritten ones, since she loves painting. She began by trying the Sharpie method popular on Pinterest, but learned after a couple mugs that the writing and painting won't last. It took her months of trial and error - speaking with other successful mug shops, researching, reading blogs, etc - to learn which paints last, how long to bake, how long to dry, and everything else. However, she admits that she is now comfortable with the tools of her trade. 

 

Jennifer's believes her "Don't let the muggles get you down" mug best describes her. She says she loves quirky art work with small details and is fascinated with silhouettes will fully painted backgrounds. She admits that everything she paints and sales has a little bit of her in it. All the items in her shop has a personal tie to her in some way.

When asked why she thinks it is important to shop handmade, she replied, "Because you're directly helping family's like mine out. I can't even begin to describe the gratitude I have for every single person who has purchased a mug from me this past year. They helped put extra food on our table, pay a couple bills here and there, and even gave me a life outside of my home where I can interact with amazing people all over the world." 

Please be sure to check out her other work (she does customs!) and show Jennifer and A Cup of Nostalgia love on her social media:

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