Jewelry is probably the biggest category on Etsy. The more the compeition, the harder you have to try to stand out from the crowd. Jamie at MySweetMoe is putting her foot in the door. She has simple, fun designs that are good for all ages. She appeals to a mass audience of jewelry lovers. One of her staples that I absolutely love is the free shipping. I hate going to a shop, being okay with the price, and then suddenly the shipping as almost as much if not MORE than the item. Jamie decided to offer free shipping so you actually know what you’re paying and don’t need to pull out the calculator. MySweetMoe designs are perfect for all ages at prices that wont break the bank.

Background Info:

My name is Jamie and I am a Libra. I am 31 and live in Naperville, IL. I opened my jewelry shop this past July. I just love to make jewelry and this past spring I had to leave my job due to some health problems so I started making it much more to pass the time. It is something I really enjoy doing and came across Etsy one night and the rest is history I guess you could say. I love cute jewelry, but I am not a wealthy person and sometimes I can’t afford the cute things I find so I wanted to make a shop with cute things that are both quality as well as affordable for any budget.

The Interview:

1. How did you come up with your shop name?
Coming up with my shop name, My Sweet Moe, was pretty simple for me. Moe is the nickname I have for my boyfriend..I have called him my sweet Moe for over 2 years so I named it after him. :-)

2. When did you start making jewelry?
I have made jewelry occasionally just for myself since high school, but I started making it regularly this past spring when I had to leave my job.

3. Shipping rates continue to go up, is there any reason in particular you offer free U.S. shipping?
That is just from my own personal experience with online shopping. So many times I see something I love and I think, oh, that is a good deal, and then I get to the shipping and it is so high..in all honesty, sometimes I think the rates are a little more than they would need to be. When I started my shop, I just remembered that and didn’t want there to be a question for potential customers. When they see, something in my shop, the price they see is the price it is, no extra cost later..if that makes sense.

4. How often do you update your Etsy shop?
In the beginning, I tried to update it every day or every other day, but circumstances came up that led me to have to take a break. I am able to get back to it now so I am updating more often. I like to keep it fresh and add new things often, but, unfortunately, life doesn’t always cooperate as we would like.

5. What is the best thing about making your own jewelry?
I think the best thing for me is the creativity. I like to play around with designs and experiment with different colors and beads. A lot of times in the mall, for instance, it seems like all the jewelry is similar in every store and sometimes I like to be different.

6. Are you interested in any other crafts?
I very much am. I have been trying to learn to crochet for the past few months, but don’t have the hang of it just yet. It is something my grandmother did for as long as I can remember, crocheting beautful afghans and baby booties. She taught my aunt and several of my cousins, but I am quite a bit younger than them. She tried to teach me when I was young, but I didn’t get very far because of my age and by the time I was old enough to understand better, her eyesight had gotten bad and she could no longer teach me. The older I get, the stronger my desire to learn gets so I am working on that. I guess it is in my blood you could say. :-) I have also started making rosaries recently and have a few one decade ones in my shop now. I made a lot of those for Christmas gifts this year for the kids at the Catholic school and I have thought about maybe opening a rosary shop in the future as well.

7. What was your New Year’s resolution?
My New Year’s resolution was to overhaul my diet. All through college, I was a bit of a junk food junkie and now that I am over 30, I feel like I need to change those habits. Potato chips and peanut butter are the biggest source of my bad eating so I have cut them out the past week and have been forcing more vegetables and apples into my diet. It is time for me to stop eating like I am still 20. I think it’s not uncommon for people to struggle with changing to a healthy diet at first, but that is a resolution that I am trying very hard to keep. I have learned the hard way that it is very easy to take your health for granted until you lose it and then you realize what a gift good health is. While I have health problems that are out of my control, I have become aware that I was one of those people who completely took my good health for granted and so now, things that I can control like my bad habit of eating things that will eventually just clog up my arteries I am trying to change because when I am healthy again, I want to be in all ways.