Oh hey friends! It’s been a minute – almost a year exactly – since I’ve posted here. In spite of (or perhaps the cause of) my quietness on the blog, life has been BUSY! Let’s take a minute to catch up on what I’ve been doing over the last 11 months to grow my business, and a little look into my personal life too.
Made by Rachel has been trucking along, and through time, new products, and the support of my wonderful customers, the shop has been growing. It’s been exciting to see that my efforts are paying off. Here are some highlights:
Working with The Conifer Collective, my IRL college friend Audry, to collaborate on a collection of yarn-themed stickers. Audry is an indie yarn dyer and introduced me to the world of hand-dyed yarn and fiber art – she even showed me her yarn-dying process, which was fascinating! I officially discovered a new obsession in beautiful yarns. (More on that later!) Leveraging my hand-lettering and illustration skills, Audry’s yarn expertise, and our mutual love of a good pun, Audry and I came up with several sticker designs. Some feature her signature colorways, which are only available in her shop, and you can pick up the punny ones in mine as well. Definitely take a peek at Audry’s site or her Instagram page, even if you’re not interested in yarnie stickers, just to look at her amazing dying work!
Selling live and in person at markets! I had no idea just how fun this would be, nor how much I had missed interacting with people. I’ve been doing about one market a month, and it has been wonderful to connect with other makers and honestly just be out and about. Not to mention – markets have been fantastic for my business. On Etsy, or anywhere online to be honest, it can be easy to get lost in the sea of options. At markets, my products get undivided attention by people who visit my booth, and I can talk with people and explain the benefits. I have several more lined up for the rest of the summer, and I will miss them when market season is done!
An entirely new product! Made by Rachel isn’t just stickers anymore! Remember when I mentioned my new obsession with yarn? This is the outcome. I’ve thought for awhile that macrame rainbows are such pretty pieces of decor and wanted to make my own. After trying it out with a kit I bought, I was sold! It took a solid few months of practice and some product testing at markets, and now these are up in my shop! Honestly, I’m so excited about how my fiber rainbow vision came to life, that it warrants its own post, so stay tuned for that. In the meantime, check them out in my shop – I have so many beautiful color options to choose from, and you can get either a keychain or a loop for hanging.
And last, but not least, literally today I began selling wholesale! I’ve fulfilled some wholesale orders on Etsy, and what’s different here is that I’ve listed my products on wholesale sites that are specifically for other retailers and businesses. I’m currently selling on Tundra, and I am in the process of activating an account on Faire. At first look, it might sound shady to sell my stickers to someone else, who will turn around and sell them themselves, but wholesaling is where it’s at! The buyer purchases in bulk at a discount, so I get a big order and exposure to their customers, who likely would not have found me otherwise. Like I said, this is literally the first day of my official venture into wholesale, so as I continue and learn more, I’ll definitely share here!
That about sums up the big Made by Rachel updates. On a personal note, I got a new full-time Product Management job last August that has been a great fit. It’s primarily remote, and I’m actually going into the office for the first time next week to finally meet my coworkers in person! Oh, and we are closing on a house next week (!!!!)! More to come there after the close is official and we start moving in. So all of that said, while life has been CRAZY busy, I’m happy to be back on the blog!
madebyrachelblog.com 
Ah! All of this is so exciting!!
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