Even though I have this beautiful website (created by my husband), I’m a little nervous as I attempt my first blog post on Becky’s Baskets. Bringing my hobby out into the jungles of the internet is more than a little scary! I have been making pine needle baskets for about 6 years, but I only started selling them a year ago.
I finished my first basket in 2009 and many more followed, most of which were given away as gifts. Once I had swamped family and friends with baskets, I began to feel guilty about all these baskets (made from costly materials) piling up around the house. My husband encouraged me to start selling them, but I was reluctant. I already had another business and I knew there was no way I wanted to double all of the paperwork and tax issues that I was already tackling. We had more than one heated discussion about the viability and desirability of my starting another business!
Last fall I decided to “test the waters” with a small, local craft show. I paid $25 for a table space in a church basement and brought about 25 pieces. I was surprised and happily overwhelmed by the enthusiasm and interest from the people attending the craft fair. I explained my process, was offered free pine needles, and sold $300 worth of my pine needle work!
I didn’t really know where I wanted to go from there, but my husband jumped right in and created this fantastic website. Now he is prodding me to start blogging and selling online. When I look at all the beautiful work others have done, it is easy to feel intimidated! After much whining and procrastinating on my part, I have decided to try taking it all in baby steps and recording my progress, and failures, here. I hope you are inspired, or at least amused, by my struggle to embrace my creative side and develop as a pine needle artisan!