Covid helped me grow

My family has been crafting for many generations. Growing up in a religious household I was taught how to sew at a young age, and if I was bored, I would help my mother with her projects. Not all projects turn out good, but you won’t know until you try right?

I have always been drawn to the “weird stuff”. I used my make creepy dolls that my mother would throw away or hide at first, but after a while, she adjusted. Now I run a small Etsy shop that we opened up right before the pandemic fiasco. Starting out doing the trending items, but as we all know that is what everyone was doing. Getting bored with that, I started creating the weird things that we like and enjoy, and those are the things that we sell now. What started out as just decals and shirts, has turned into a creative outlet for me. There is no niche in the shop, just a little bit of everything with a weird twist.

The reason my shop is called Conflicted Creations, is because most of the items I offer are of a conflicting nature. I celebrate that, and I know there are people like me out there that feel passionate about the same ideas as me.

I like to take something basic and turn it into something scary or weird. My most success with this was around the winter holidays. I took Christmas themed bobbleheads and I transformed them into Black Metal themed bobbleheads. If you don’t know what black metal is, it is a genre of metal where the following as well as most of the singers will have “corpse paint” on. That was my goal for, to make the winter holidays into a dark metal theme. I had to restock 3 times during the holidays, because I kept selling out. Metal music is my second outlet to crafting, so why not merge the two worlds?

Mini stash jars are my second best selling original item. These I made because the jars I had gotten for a project were too small, so I repurposed them. I sculpt clay around the jars, then paint and finish them. They are definitely a unique item I love making. The phallis themed jars were made as a joke as well, and now they are my highest viewed items in my shop. They are not for everyone, but they are great for a gag gift and I think they’re cute.

Unique plushies have always been my go to through out my life for gifts. I dabble in leather, vegan leather, socks, repurposed porcelain dolls, and so much more. I hand cut out each pattern, and often handsew the dolls. I have a variety of different types of dolls and plushies that I have worked on that have been considered “too weird” by “normal” people. I have also sold quite a few of these plushies and they have received great feedback.

Last year was horrible but great for a majority of people, including me. I had more time to myself to create and share my work, and benefit from it. I was able to have the funds to purchase the items I needed to start my small business. I am grateful that last year happened and that I was able to get some kind of passion back in my life. 

I hear it all the time that my family does not approve of the items that I sell. It makes me happy and I am going to keep doing it and having fun in my life. I am so grateful for my life and everything I have accomplished in the past couple years, and that is a new thing for me. Crafting full time is what I strive for, even though it may be a long way down the road, I will enjoy what life has given me, and grow my business.

You can find something weird here:

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