It’s been about one year since I launched my Etsy shop, and I thought I’d take a moment to reflect. If we are speaking in terms of stats, I made 185 sales and had 34 “5 star” ratings – which I absolutely cannot BELIEVE! That’s about one sale every two days. I have endless gratitude for anyone who has supported me along the way.

I measure and pride my “art journey success” not by how many sales I’ve made, or clicks on my page (or the lack thereof…), but by sharing art that might bring back a memory of a person or place, or provide an opportunity to share something in common with another person.

I mostly believed my “customers” would be friends and family, and I initially opened my shop to provide a more convenient payment option for them, if we’re being real here. Turns out, there was a little more to it.

I wanted to highlight my favorite moment over the past year. I received a review on my Dunkin’ collage from someone I didn’t know. They wrote, “This was purchased as a memorial piece. It was shipped with care and is just amazing quality. I adore it”

I did not expect to have any profound experience opening up an Etsy shop. Quite frankly this whole experience is more of an experiment, if anything. But I felt moved. And still do. I’m touched that something as simple as magazine scraps glued together might create connection or have an impact.

I can’t wait to see what happens this year.