Okay, but . . . WHY?
[Note: originally published here on August 4, 2019.]
Wowza. Two weeks in and I'm already a day late on a post. Welp. Let's just assume that part of the process here is learning how to balance things well, and/or schedule ahead. Moving on!
Oh, also, I'll be mentioning a few different companies in this, and out of courtesy, will link to each of them. I'm not expressly endorsing OR recommending against any of them. I'm not paid by any of them. I'm not getting anything from the links. There will be precisely one of them that I technically could get something if I give you a different link, but I didn't include it because it's so not the point of this post. But if you want to know, just contact me and ask!
Pixie Elegance.
Well, it's a unique name, at least. But why Pixie Elegance?
It all started WAY back in the day . . . well, several years ago, at any rate. My oldest was just past a year old, my husband was out of work, we were technically homeless (we had a roof over our heads on a temporary basis while trying to find a new place, so we weren't out on the streets or anything, but only by the grace of God and kindness of friends), I was selling Pampered Chef at the time but wasn't getting nearly enough shows in my rural area, I couldn't find any other work either, and basically, I wanted a new endeavor that might actually help keep my little family going over time.
I enjoy making jewelry, and had actually made the necklace and earrings for my bridesmaids for my wedding two years earlier, and had just a few residual supplies from that. So I used Amazon gift cards that I earned from Swagbucks, and bought a few more supplies. Not a lot because, frankly, there are a LOT of options for jewelry components! So I just got a couple different sizes of beads, some chain, earring hooks, jump rings (a set of various sizes), flat-head jewelry pins, and a case with different kinds of jewelry pliers.
BUT I needed a name to go with this endeavor! So I started thinking through what my personal style of jewelry is. My first thought was that I love Celtic styles a lot. But then I remembered that a lot of Celtic styles include very chunky cross necklaces and such. I don't tend to like chunky styles, but rather, more dainty, simple-yet-elegant things. And yet anything simple, dainty, and elegant doesn't really fit my personality, because I tend to . . . well, I like to think of myself as having a lot of spunk, anyway. It might sometimes be more like "peppy over-exuberance," but whatevs.
At any rate, as I thought it through I basically came to the conclusion that my style can be summed up as "pixie elegance," in that I like fun and spunky things, but the things I actually choose tend to be more dainty and elegant. Although, whenever possible, I like to have hidden little fun details that almost nobody notices, like almost-but-not-quite-matching earrings or little geeky references.
(My other style is something I call "Geek Conglomerate," or, in other words, geeky references all over the place but that have nothing to do with each other - such as mismatched socks, one with Doctor Who logos and the other with a Disney princess, steampunky boots, a shirt with Captain Marvel's ensignia, long flowy brown cardigan that vaguely resembles a Jedi robe, necklace with Wonder Woman's tiara, earrings with Black Widow's ensignia, and an Egyptian hair chain in my hair. For instance. But that one's harder to fit into a business name.)
So, if that was so many years ago (a little over 6 years ago, actually) why haven't I actually made this business yet? Well, I made the logo back then and everything, and then . . . never actually started making the jewelry. I realized I didn't have enough different designs in mind.
Since then, I've started an Etsy shop with my sister (okay, yeah, technically, that link I could get something from you going to, since I'm part owner of the shop), stopped selling Pampered Chef (after several years, which I loved, but I just wasn't doing enough with it anymore), sold Norwex for a little while (I still love that company too, but what I've discovered is that even when I love the products and the companies, I don't love doing direct sales, and once I'm selling something I suddenly tend to shut up about it because I don't want people to feel like I'm trying to force things on them), and eventually started learning other things like soap-making and more jewelry techniques. (More on those and other things I like to make will definitely be in another post. With pictures! I promise I'll eventually get to posting pictures.)
Oh, and lest you be too worried about it, my husband did eventually get a job, we moved into an apartment for a few years, then we were eventually able to buy a house, and last year we switched so that I'm working and he's staying home with our children now.
Whew! Honestly, that's how it all went in my brain, but I'm not even sure I totally explained why I chose "Pixie Elegance" as the name, but I hope it answered some questions for you all. Hey, let me know in comments if you have other things you're wondering about! I'll try to post more about specific projects I've done next time.
Have a great week!
