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I plan on getting back to the basics with my blogging. I am going to write more tips and tutorials. I won't be writing the follow-up tutorials I promised on the Facebook Store Front but I will be adding a feature that is very important to me. For now, I would like to re-visit the story of Cheryls Purple Cow both for my benefit and for yours.
Many of the people that I meet through my shops have been crafting all their lives. They learned crafting at a young age and have been creative all their lives. That is NOT my story. My story goes like this:
Most children get A’s and B’s in art class. If you didn’t participate you could actually get a C or D. I failed art class. I found the whole process of creating something bothersome. I just could not and would not do it. I preferred structure and organization. Math class was my favorite.
When I started working I favored jobs that were math oriented with attention to the details. I worked in banks mainly. The last job that I held was working for the department of motor vehicles titling and registering vehicles.
My life started changing in 2004. I remember having "episodes" of sudden inappropriate emotion or rage most of my life. But they lasted a few minutes and happened every few years. I was under a lot of stress starting in the summer of 2004. My "episodes" became more frequent and lasted longer. It was during this time that I started having a compulsion to create things.
On Tuesday November 23, 2005 I was on my cell phone listening to my boss explain that I was no longer needed when I received an important call from my doctors office on the land-line. I asked my boss to hold for just a second and listened to my doctors office as they gave me the diagnosis that changed my life, Right Temporal Lobe Epilepsy.I started taking my anti-seizure medication and as my seizures decreased, the need to create grew. And the more I created the better I got and the better I got the stronger the need to create became. That is the reason I attribute my newfound "gift" of creativity to my epilepsy.
I started trying different crafts and techniques to see what I really wanted to focus on. I tried most of the crafts available when I started beading and making jewelry. And working with beads and making jewelry is what gives me the most pleasure. My favorite is Awareness Ribbon jewelry. I think it is important to raise awareness regarding medical conditions like Epilepsy and Cancer. At first I was giving most of my pieces to my family and friends. They urged me to start a business and sell my creations. It took a while for me to get used to the idea that I could make something worth selling, but I came around.
I made several pieces and was ready to open up a shop on Etsy. There was only one thing holding me back, a business name. The name had to hold special significance to me.
Purple is the color for epilepsy and it has always been my favorite color. but I needed a little more than that. I had one word, but I still couldn't figure out the name.
One day out of the blue, I remembered a gift I received in Junior High from my best friend Dee Dee. She gave me a purple cow with a poem attached:
"I never saw a purple cow;
and I never hope to see one.
But I can tell you anyhow,
I'd rather see than be one."
I had completely forgotten about that purple cow. Now I had a name, Cheryls Purple Cow. The purple cow represents something unusual, extraordinary, remarkable. It is something that we all would like to have or even see just once.
My best friend Dee Dee was never ordinary and neither was I. We are both still purple cows. I never realized how wonderful it was to be different. I even located her through the Internet and found out that she has Lupus. The Awareness Ribbon for both Epilepsy and Lupus is purple. Strange coincidence?
Now you know a little bit more about me and how Cheryls Purple Cow was born.
I know that my story is not the only interesting story. I want to invite you to share your story too. All you have to do to send me an email at cherylspurplecow@yahoo.com with a brief background and I will send you the interview questions. I will include any links and pictures that you provide in the feature. This is one of the easiest ways to promote your product and your shop.
I used pictures from the following HandmadeInVegas Team Etsy shops in this post:
bearbottombear
Hidden Light Photos
loveandluckshop
StuffimalCreations
Please click on the pictures of the items to be taken to the listing page.
Click on the shop name to be taken to the shop.
Click here to read more!
