Happy 10th Anniversary, atelierniSHASHA!

 Yay, today marks my Etsy shop’s 10th anniversary! 

Happy anniversary, atelierniSHASHA!

Wow, 10 years! I never could imagine myself sticking to one thing this long, but hey, I wouldn’t be able to do it without the love and support from you guys - my loving doll and crafting community, my family, friends, and the universe. Thank you so much for everything, you all!

The pattern that boosted my doll clothes-making and pattern-making confidence haha!
Tutorial here...

When I bravely opened atelierniSHASHA on September 1, 2011, thanks to the first-ever romper I made, my mind was brimming with questions on one side, nevertheless balanced by the overarching passion to recreate fashions on the miniature scale, on the other. It was super exciting because finally, I’d get to be crafting again, something that I have enjoyed spending my free time as a child. I have always loved to build things, but more specifically, the miniature kind. My dolls were my muse, and I would make their clothes, design their rooms, and build miniature room things to decorate. I remember being so happy when one of my childhood friends, TJ, gave me this miniature TV in the mid-80s. It was made of plastic and it was yellow-green in color. I thought it was so cool to have pieces like that for my decorating ventures haha! I’ve always loved miniatures, and opening a miniature fashions store is like a dream come true!

Vending my first few creations, circa 2011

Some years after opening the shop, I quit my job for many reasons but one of them was to experience what it's like to run an official craft-based business. It felt like starting adulthood all over again, but everything was worth it. I have learned so much about myself through this craft. Surely, I am not as financially successful, but the rewards of understanding the why’s in my ongoing existence are so much more than that.

Typical messy craft day, circa 2015

After 10 years and many light bulbs lighting here and there, I am starting to learn that making sense of these ideas is the best way to live this life. I have lived mostly just drifting from one emotion to another, which I thought was the worst thing I did. I thought that spending so much time wandering around, trying so many things, was a waste of time. But, nope. Not at all. Now, I realized how exciting it is to finally look back and reflect on the lessons I collected.

Working lunch, home-based crafter-mom edition

While I was so overwhelmed with so many questions 10 years ago when I opened the shop, right now, I could say, I am much calmer. Perhaps, experience really is the best teacher. My questions now aren’t bugging me much, instead, they keep me excited, my eyes as bright as the sun. Of course, I will encounter hurdles along the way, but I have now built systems to help ease through some rocky parts of the journey. After all, we really aren’t alone in any journey. We can’t do things alone. We may accomplish one thing with only our two hands, our brain in our head, our own body, but the things we use and are around to help us in the process, are made by other people, built by nature, provided by the universe. This was one of my biggest lessons in those 10 years. I really thought I was alone and almighty at that.

Much calmer me this year :D

Since the pandemic hit us last year, my doll clothes-making business went south because of unstable postal services. There is not much left for me to do but to continue with what I can still offer, and that is designing new patterns and offering them to a new set of clientele. I used to serve the collectors, but now it’s more the crafters - people who think like me. And despite the sudden change of course in my business, it was a blessing in disguise. 

For this year, I am super excited to do lots of new things, and offer different options over at the shop. And I hope you continue the journey with me as you’ve always had. Thank you so much in advance for that, dolling!

For this anniversary month of September, I’ll mostly be spending my time creating new doll clothes. I may not be able to offer them yet at the shop, but I surely will share every step I make with you guys. As I said earlier, I will also be reflecting more often now so this blog will get busier, too. I really hope to chat more with you here…

Now, let’s see what I can offer as a token of my gratitude for all that you guys have given me through these 10 years…

I have set weekly weekend discount coupons for the whole of September, and I will be announcing them every Friday, just in time for planning a little crafting project for the weekend. 

I am also giving away a whole year’s access to all my patterns, old and new, to three lucky winners. I will be announcing the details of the giveaway sometime in the middle of the month. Please stay tuned for that if you are eyeing the prize.

I am also giving one lucky winner a 10-hour coaching session on building an entire outfit from scratch. This session can be chopped into an hour or two per week, depending on the time availability of the winner. I will provide coaching on acquiring the materials and tools to make the outfit for a doll, create the patterns myself and send it to the lucky winner, coach the winner throughout the entire sewing process, provide tips and tricks, and help complete an outfit for the winner that he/she will treasure forever. This will probably be done using Zoom, or Facebook video chat, but of course, that depends on what’s best to use for both the winner and me. That can be discussed once the winner is revealed.

So, are you excited about these little giveaways? Please let me know in the comments below what you think, okay? There are probably more ideas out there, but I am so happy that a few lovely ladies have suggested some of these before. I think these will be perfect to celebrate the past 10 years full of wonderful living with you guys!

Thank you so much again and I hope to hear from you soon!

Love lots from the Philippine islands,

shasha