We were lucky to catch up with Grace Simmons recently and have shared our conversation below.

Grace, thanks for joining us, excited to have you contributing your stories and insights. So, naming is such a challenge. How did you come up with the name of your brand?

My company is named Mabel Grace Crafts and although it’s a simple name there was a lot of thought behind it. My name is Grace and my dog’s name is Mabel, so this seems fairly straight forward. The words both have five letters which help make branding look balanced as well as the repeated long “A” sound for subtle cohesion.

I chose the word “crafts” because I didn’t want to limit myself to one medium. I make jewelry out of several materials, I sew, draw and experiment all of the time. Often people associate the word “crafts” with arts & crafts. This tends to conjure images of popsicle stick picture frames, finger painting, and pinecones glued with pompoms. I personally know several people who chose the word “art” or “studio” instead of “craft” because of the childish connotation that crafts has on a product and/or brand.

I, perhaps foolishly, wanted to change that. I want to remind the public of artisans who spend their lives perfecting their craft, woodworkers, painters, ceramicists, whatever medium. Art tells a story, connects us, and heals us; the craft is the means to deliver.

Great, appreciate you sharing that with us. Before we ask you to share more of your insights, can you take a moment to introduce yourself and how you got to where you are today to our readers

I have been a crafter since childhood and have always wanted to ”have a business” with my sister. That has ranged from selling friendship bracelets to kids on our schoolbus, to felt flower headbands, to thrifted and repurposed coffee mugs. When I was 29 I decided to actually take this dream and myself seriously. Little did I know that three months later the world would be turned upside down because of the pandemic. With this came a burst of small creative businesses like mine and now three years later, my life has changed quite a bit. I now have a 1.5 year old which has been one of the driving forces to shifting from polymer clay to gemstone and digital art. I need to be able to pick-up and put-down whatever I am working on quickly to be able to tend to my son.

I think what I am most proud of is the fact that I haven’t given up. Continually putting yourself out to the world and hoping for positive feedback is exhausting. The products that I am most proud of are my most recent chicken earrings and pet portrait blankets. Animals and nature are very common themes in my work and I try to educate as I share.

Where do you think you get most of your clients from?

Currently the best source of new clients for me is to attend markets as a vendor. While the internet is vast and the potential reach is enormous it is easy to be missed. Markets allow people to touch the products, which I feel is an important factor especially when selling jewelry. Many people who attend markets are also prepared to purchase, whether it be for themselves or as gifts.

Learning and unlearning are both critical parts of growth – can you share a story of a time when you had to unlearn a lesson?

A lesson that I had to unlearn was “give the people what they want.” While it makes sense to create what your customers are demanding, when you don’t have consistent sales or repeat customers, you don’t actually have the data for what they want. When starting out especially, I suggest to create whatever you want and whatever you enjoy making.

At a point in my journey, “stained glass” polymer clay jewelery was very hot and so I create a collection in that style. It was a huge flop. This lead to comparing myself to other makers, and as we know, comparison is the thief of joy. Why was there stuff selling and not mine? Everyone is saying how much they love it, but no one is buying. What is going on? What did I do wrong?

It took two years for me to give up making and guessing what my customer wanted. I decided to make what I wanted, what I enjoyed making most, because even if it didn’t sell, I still got to enjoy the process. There is a lot of advice that says, “be true to yourself and good things follow” and other flowery and idealistic sayings that after three years of struggles make you jaded. If this is you, I’m sorry, I know how you feel. Try reframing and saying “f this- I’m doing what I want and if you don’t like it, I’m not for you.” People are drawn to authenticity so be yourself even though it’s sometimes terrifying.

Contact Info:

• Website: www.mabelgracecrafts.com
• Instagram: @mabelgracecrafts
• Other: Faire & Spoonflower

Image Credits
All my images