Interview With Mother Daughter Team Nichole and Francis

Tell us a little about yourselves:

(Mom) Hello everyone! I am Frances Reyes alias "Mom." I am 53 years of age and began my homeschooling journey almost 24 years ago while carrying my first child. The Lord was so gracious to bless me with two wonderful children, Nicole 23 (my business partner), and Christopher 21. I love crocheting, sewing, gardening, cooking, reading and collecting books, and watching old movies but my most favorite of all things is to be by the sea.

(Nicole) Hello! I'm Nicole Reyes, Frances' daughter and co-owner of Nicole & Mom's Creations. I had the wonderful privilege of being homeschooled through the 12th grade, and loved every minute of it! My interests vary from crocheting, drawing, watching old black and white movies, and of course what girl doesn't love to shop! Karate is my passion. I have been in the martial arts for almost 10 years and earned my 2nd degree black belt in 2011. Currently, I run my own school from home and compete professionally. My ultimate goal is to make the U.S. National Team someday.

How did you begin working in your craft and how did it develop into a business?(Mom) It's funny to think back on how I got started at my craft. Crocheting was something I taught myself to do as a child, just like sewing. It was just one of those things on a list I wanted to learn and it never occured to me that one day the skill would develop into a business!

(Nicole) My mom started the business several years back. I hadn't picked up a crochet hook yet and was anxious to learn when we did our first craft fair together.
I love it now!



Boyfriend Tie in Silver and Gray






 

What is one of your favorite homeschool memories?(Mom) I think my most favorite homeschool memory was the freedom of providing my children with the avenues to discover what they enjoyed learning, and to develop those things into useful skills.

What did you like best about being homeschooled?(Nicole) It was a true blessing that the Lord placed it in my mother's heart to educate my brother and I at home. Some of my fondest memories were simply being with her and spending time learning. We have an amazing relationship and being homeschooled all those years made our friendship blossom!



Bandana Scarf With Fringe



What is one thing that you liked least about being homeschooled?(Nicole) MATH!

What advice would you give to other homeschool families who are also trying to run a home business?(Mom) My best advice for any family trying to start or run a home business is to enjoy the process of learning and being together. That might mean cultivating more than one business at a time. For example we run our crocheting business, a dojo and a bookstore all from home.

Crochet Flower Bookmark

What advice would you give to other homeschool students who would like to start their own business?(Nicole) It's very rewarding being your own boss. Find something you love or are interested in learning and try turning it into a business. You never know what might happen!



Scarf Shawl in Shimmery Champagne



Where do you find inspiration for your pieces?(Mom) Being a bit of a rebel at heart, I try to create pieces that go against the flow of fashion. In other words I try to create pieces that you can't find anywhere else. I want buyers to feel like they have on something unique.

(Nicole) My inspiration comes simply from the joy of creating and watching others enjoy the finished product. Crocheting is very relaxing for me especially when I'm a bit stressed!

What is your favorite item in your shop right now?(Mom) I would have to say that currently my most favorite piece is my "Crochet Red Purse."

(Nicole) The bandana scarves are my favorite. Everyone loves them!



Crochet Purse in Red or Beige You Choose the Color



Do you have specific goals for your business?(Nicole & Mom) Creating unique, quality items is our main goal. We love to see our customers come back for more!

Do you have any other websites that you would like to share? ie, Facebook, Twitter, Blog, Online Shop...(Nicole & Mom) Visit our Etsy shop at www.etsy.com/shop/NicoleandMom. You can also follow us on Facebook and Twitter!

Team Member Interview With Kari of EarthyMamaGoods

Tell us a little about yourself.My life has had many twists and turns and I feel like I've finally landed where I belong. Right now I'm mothering two little girls and my son is off at college. I spend my days creating. During the summer months I spend a fair amount of time working in our gardens and helping to create life there. During the winter months you'll find me spending more time indoors and creating art there. My life is very seasonal and at any given moment you'll see it governed by natural seasons as well as the seasons of life.



Gnome and Toadstool Needlefelted Playscape



How did you begin working in your craft and how did it develop into a business?I've always created - ever since I was a child, really. One of my first projects was hand sewing an outfit for my little sister's favorite stuffed rabbit. Our dog had chewed the rabbit's dress and I sewed a replacement to cheer up my sister.

As for how I developed it into a business, it's really simple. One day I decided that I was done creating just for myself and my children and opened the etsy shop.



Autumn Acorn Wool Felted Waldorf Crown




What is one of your favorite homeschool memories thus far?
I'm really not keen on picking favorites of anything, but I can say that I am absolutely thrilled when I see the look of joy on my children's faces when they grasp a concept or discover something new. My goal is to help them always retain that love of learning.

What advise would you give to other homeschool families who are also trying to run a home business?
Practice balance. If you must, instill rules or schedules to ensure that the business doesn't take over your life.







Set of Five Counting Manipulatives

     

Where do you find inspiration for your pieces?Literature, nature, my children. Honestly, a better question might be, "Where DON'T you find inspiration?"

What is your favorite item in your shop right now? Seriously, I don't think I could pick a favorite. Some items I really enjoyed creating and others were part of a much more challenging creative process. I don't know if all artists are like me, but I don't know that I'm ever satisfied with my work.

Life's Triad Maiden Mother and Crone Goddess

Do you have specific goals for your business or for your homeschooling? Would you share some of those with us?
My goal for my business is to always love the work. If it ever stops being a joy then I know it's time for me to stop. While I enjoy the bit of extra income it brings in, I really began the business as a creative outlet. There just weren't enough shelves in our home to house my creations. As for our homeschooling, my only goal is to help my children learn to love learning. To help them retain that passion for learning is what drives us.

Custom Wee Mouse in Altoids Tin

Do you have any other websites that you would like to share? ie, Facebook, Twitter, Blog, Shop...
You can find me on Twitter at twitter.com/MooMamaKari
 on Facebook at www.facebook.com/pages/Moo-Said-the-Mamas-Urban-Homestead/188640327836258
, and my blog can be found at moosaidthemama.blogspot.com/ .

I do spend probably more time than I ought to on Pinterest and folks can find me there at pinterest.com/karimoomama/ .

Team Member Interview With Adrey of AnACreate

Tell us a little about yourself.

  Hi, I'm Audrey, and I'm the supermom of a classically-homeschooling, hobby-farming, craft-loving, large family! We live on 2 acres and have crammed every possible thing onto it! After all, our home is  our school, and we see chores and responsibility, rather like the dad in Calvin & Hobbes, as character builders. J We have dairy goats, chickens, rabbits, geese, cats, and dogs to name a few animals. We also grow much of our own food and have several large gadens and an ordhard. We have 6 children from ages 1 to 13. We love our school years with them.

How did you begin working in your craft and how did it develop into a business?

The Etsy shop(s) we operate grew out of a desire to teach our kids how to run a business.  From the large gardens we mentioned above, we sell excess produce at our local farmer’s market.  One of our daughters started making reusable shopping bags to sell at the market, and another daughter started making aprons.  One of our sons grew zucchini to make into zucchini bread and sell at the market.  We wanted each child to learn about running a business as soon as they were old enough to understand rudimentary math and economics.  An added benefit was learning more math skills as they made change at farmer’s market.  But farmer’s market only runs for 5 months of the year and so we encouraged them to look for other places to peddle their wares…and the Etsy shop(s) were born.

1974 Calendar Bag

We try to do “unit celebrations” with the curriculum we study, and a few of these have really been memorable.  For example, when we were studying Victorian times, we hosted a Victorian Tea Party.  We made authentic food for the era, everyone came in costume, and we made Victorian crafts before tea and played parlor games after tea.  I made everyone’s silhouette for them to take home with them.  (You can see these in the background.)

 

What advise would you give to other homeschool families who are also trying to run a home business?

I’m not sure what advice to give others about running a home business because our Etsy shop(s) are a twist on that.  We put pretty high priority on our kids running their Etsy shop(s) because it is one of the most concrete examples of real life training we are giving them.  They will have to make an income some day!  We give them time every day to maintain their shops and consider the time very educationally spent!



Carrot Apron



Where do you find inspiration for your pieces?

Our daughter who makes the reusable shopping bags haunts antique stores for antique tea towels which she upcycles into her bags.  With added ribbon handles, they are fantastic!  Our apron-making daughter loves to find exciting, inspirational fabrics on the internet.  She has also opened a photography Etsy shop, and her inspiration for her photographs is found in nature. 

What is your favorite item in your shop right now?

My favorite reusable shopping bag is this one: https://www.etsy.com/listing/89976782/1974-calendar-bag-repurposed-tea-towel

And my favorite apron is this one:  https://www.etsy.com/listing/90702499/potatoes-have-never-been-so-funto-wear

And my favorite photograph is this one:  https://www.etsy.com/listing/94628209/signed-zebra-musings-framed-8x10

 



Reusable Shopping Bag



Do you have specific goals for your business or for your homeschooling? Would you share some of those with us?

Our goal for our children’s Etsy shops is for them to gain real-world, practical experience in running a business.  Without getting political, I think it will be very important for children of the future to know how to make money with as much debt as our generation is leaving their generation. 

A personal goal is to start my own Etsy shop!  I would love to sell vintage item and supplies, and hand sewn items.  (After all, I was the one who taught my daughters to sew!)

This year in our homeschool, we have several new beginnings: we are starting our 4 year history cycle over again, our oldest will start high school studies, and two of our youngest start 1st grade, so our plans for the year revolve around these things. For example, this time through history, we will focus on art and architecture. Last time through we focused on music and geography and next time through we will focus on timelines and inventions. This adds new interest to repetitve material. In general though, our goal in homeschooling our children is to teach them to learn...because then they will be unstoppable! Yes, we will be working ourselves out of a job, but that will give us more time to do things like run our own Etsy shop!

Do you have any other websites that you would like to share? ie, Facebook, Twitter, Blog, Shop...

I would love it if everyone reading this interview took time to check out our children’s 3 shops:

www.shutterdot.etsy.com

www.anacreate.etsy.com

www.bewitchyourself.etsy.com  (I haven’t mentioned this one yet, this shop belongs to our photography daughter who also loves to craft things from clay.  She has the neatest idea for personalizing clay figures…you should see what you would look like as a princess, witch, or mermaid!)