Bella Mia Bows & Things happened out of need for cute and affordable bows and clips for my daughter. I started learning how to make them prior to the birth of my baby girl, fully expecting lots of hair and a need for lots and lots of clips. I definitely counted my chickens before they hatched because my adorable Gabriella was born with not-so-much hair. The irony is grand, isn't it? But, even without the need for hair bows/clips I found I couldn't stop making them. It was addicting--buying ribbon, learning new techniques, putting something beautiful together.
Before I knew it, I had tons of clips and no baby to attach them to =) I couldn't even do the fun trick of slipping them into a crocheted headband, because my feisty baby did not keep it on! So I put the clips down and resigned myself to a life full of people asking how old my "son" was. Even though I wasn't making the clips, I continued to buy ribbon. This should have been my first clue that I was a closet ribbon addict. Patterns, solids, holiday ribbon....if it was on a spool, I wanted it. Trips out of the house almost certainly ended up at the craft store, where my bald baby and I would walk out with bags of ribbon. Then, it happened! The ribbon started taking up more and more space! So, the inevitable happened--I started making clips and bows again in anticipation of my daughter's hair quickly growing in. It really wasn't until her first birthday that there was enough hair to justify using a clip to keep it back. By then, though, I had tons of clips and I had started making them for friends and family.
Then one day, I was on my local NJ board on The Nest and I kept seeing the term
Etsy come up. I sort of knew what Etsy was but I had never really looked into it. I decided to go exploring. Once I discovered what an awesome place Etsy.com was and I showed my husband my newfound happy place, he mentioned maybe putting the clips I had made online and making a little room in the house. With a little prodding from him and a quick trip to the craft closet to see just how many bows/clips I had, I bit the bullet and created a storefront.I came up with the name Bella Mia Bows & Things based on a name I called my daughter in a lullaby I had made up when she was born, Bella Mia (which in Italian means, my beautiful one). Little by little I started filling the shop up with clips and bows made from all that fun ribbon I had bought before and voila
my Etsy shop was born.
I opened my shop in June 2009 and since then I have added more and more inventory including newly added paper products and scrabble tile pendants, as well as different kinds of bows and clips. I sometimes have bow-holder or two and I plan to add more adult-themed clips in the future. I have even made a couple bows for a fellow Etsian's adorable pup. What started out as a little hobby to make some bows for my daughter has grown into a side business, allowing the creative side of me to flourish and grow with it. I am constantly looking for new products to make and add to the shop, as well as looking for fun new ribbons to create with. Not to mention, it has also caused my new addiction to paper.
I hope you have as much fun looking in my shop as I have stocking it. And as a token of my appreciation, I am giving away a set of 4 clippies, made with Valentine's Day in mind!
Please visit me at my shop:
www.bellamiabowsnthings.etsy.comYou can also find me on facebook:
www.facebook.com/bellamiabowsnthingson twitter:
www.twitter.com/bellamiabowsand in the blog-o-sphere at
www.bellamiabowsnthings.blogspot.comThe following set of 4 bows is today’s prize:
Contest is open NOW until 10 pm CST TODAY when comments will be closed. This giveaway is open to US and Canada residents only.
5 ways to enter:
1.) Leave a comment on this post with your favorite item from
Bella Mia Bows & Things Etsy shop.
2.) Tweet about this giveaway with the following phrase: “Check out the @KNETTeam blog! Today’s freebie is from @bellamiabows #day4
http://knetetsyteam.blogspot.com/” and leave us a link to your tweet in the comments section. **MUST LEAVE US LINK TO YOUR SPECIFIC TWEET**
3.) Follow
Bella Mia’s blog and leave us a comment telling us you did.
4.) Post about this giveaway on your blog and leave us a comment with the link to your blog post.
5.) Follow
Bella Mia on Twitter, and leave us a comment with your Twitter username.
That’s a total of 5 chances per person! WAY COOL!
Ready, set, go! Winner will be chosen tonight by random.org and will be announced on this blog and on our
Twitter page. Winner has 24 hours to contact us via e-mail to redeem their prize at
bellamiabowsnthings@gmail.com or via Twitter.
