From Scrap to Stardom: The Crocheted Clown

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The Crocheted Clown that Started it All.

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When my daughter showed me the latest crochet project she had tackled I glanced at the little clown with little thought.

It was the early 1980s and she had been learning the craft for the past couple of years after one of my beauty shop patrons “Granny” Birdie Alford, had taken my daughter, a new mother, under her wing and began to teach her how to make cute crocheted blankets and hats for her two daughters, my granddaughters.

I smiled the obligatory smile at my daughter as she showed me the toy clown dolls she had crocheted for her children, one afternoon in between appointments in my beauty shop. The other ladies in the shop that day fell in love with the little dolls. I had no idea that I had just encountered the item that would launch me into a whole new business.

A few weeks later several of my patrons had placed requests for the crocheted clowns for their grandchildren for upcoming Christmas gifts. Soon, my daughter was spending all her free-time attempting to keep up with the demand of orders she was receiving for the simple handmade dolls.

The next thing I knew we were booked in a craft show in our hometown. That weekend we made $50. You would have thought it was a million, we were SO excited about our sells, knowing that there would be no end to what we could accomplish in this market.

It would still be a few years before I truly recognized the value of what I had just learned. But learn I did.  And when my husband became to ill to continue on with his business, woodworking and display cabinet making, I was forced to take up the slack. The lessons I had learned with my daughter selling crocheted goods, helped me catapult to the top of this profession. Soon I was booked in shows and festivals 51 out of 52 weekends a year and I had the blisters to prove it.

Now, almost 30 years since it all began, I have taken the time to write my story. My book, “Splinters: The Pain, The Passion, The Point” was released in March of this year and it chronicles my journey from humble beginnings with a crocheted clown to today have clients and customers all over the world. You can learn more about my story on my Web site at www.SplintersBook.com

Most importantly don't overlook your own "crocheted clowns'.

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