Hey Nashville! Today
we’d like to introduce you to Anne Baldwin of HandCraftedBy2. Anne has been married for 18 years and has a 10-year
old daughter Ella. She was born in
Kansas, but moved around a lot when she was young so she has lived in Oklahoma,
Wisconsin and eventually settled in Chattanooga, but she’s been in the
Clarksville area since 1990. The “2” in
their business name is best friend Renee Stocks who went to school with Anne’s
husband from elementary all the way through high school.
When it comes to the history of HandCraftedBy2, it all
started with papercrafting - scrapbook pages and hand-stamped cards. Anne’s first project was a vacation scrapbook
back in 2004. She got back into it a few
years later when she met some other moms from her daughter’s daycare that got
together once a month to work on scrapbooks while the kids played. That led to her introduction to “Stampin' Up!”
and card-making. The little mom group
expanded and they did a card exchange for a year or so. She wasn’t proud of her first attempts, but
she got pretty good at it after a while!
Renee was into making jewelry, besides scrapbooking and
cards. When the ladies discovered
Pinterest, they quickly expanded into other crafting genres, trying out
different ideas to see what would sell.
Their painted wine glasses have been their biggest seller besides a
couple of cards that have been a hit.
Although she enjoys creating Pinterest-inspired crafts, Anne
still enjoys making cards and scrapbook pages the most. Unfortunately the ladies are having a hard
time finding a market for them so they are always looking for new ideas on how
to sell. HandCraftedBy2’s painted
glasses are a big hit though and they are also fun to work on.
Anne does all kinds of crafts, but she does NOT sew - she
knows a basic crochet stitch and can cross-stitch, but she does not use a
sewing machine. She got one for
Christmas from her mom a few years back, but it’s only been out of the box once
when her mom came over! She bought a
pattern and some fabric over a year ago to make a nightgown for her daughter–
but it’s been so long that she probably wouldn’t have enough fabric to fit her
growing daughter anymore!
She tries to stay faithful to her original medium of paper
for her crafts as much as possible. Even
when making something not paper related - say reindeer nose candy treats -
she’ll use stamps and paper to create a bag topper. Anne loves bright and bold colors and her
favorite is the color blue.
Like many craft businesses, the leap from hobby to business
came about because of an accumulation of supplies! Between scrapbooking and card making, both
Anne and Renee had tons and TONS of stuff piling up – Anne’s work space went
from a closet, to a corner of the bonus room, to now her own room in the
house! Both ladies had more supplies
than could ever be used in their own scrapbooks so they decided to start
selling scrapbook pages and cards online.
HandCraftedBy2 was born!
HandCraftedBy2 is just getting into the swing of things with
craft shows. In the summer of 2013 they
did one craft fair - a local event in Pleasant View, TN called the Barrel
Festival. Everything else started to
gain speed in 2014. They created a
website, an Etsy shop and started selling on eBay. Renee discovered how to put a Paypal link on
their website so they can now sell items directly from there. The ladies went to a few events in the summer
and fall of 2014 with mixed results. So
far they have attended craft shows in Dover, Clarksville, Pleasant View,
Dickson, Springfield and Hendersonville, TN.
Anne counts crafting as a hobby, a way to use up some of
these supplies she’s purchased and recoup some of the money she’s spent. For Renee, it's more a full-time job. She stays home with a special-needs child, so
she can really use the income.
Anne’s dream is to run a scrapbooking retreat – she and
Renee still go away 3-4 weekends a year with their original group to work on
scrapbooks, cards, or whatever other crafty projects they can think of. They sometimes have a hard time finding a
reasonably priced venue with enough space!
She’d love to have a place just
for scrapbookers-- maybe with a storefront to sell some supplies they just
can't live without!
At this point, HandCraftedBy2 does not offer classes, but occasionally
they post a tutorial on their website. Anne
and Renee are constantly trying/learning new things from Pinterest. :)
And lastly, Anne’s favorite phrase? Cool beans!
Find Anne and Renee here:
