The only time it's okay to be Bossy!

I glaceed upon an adorable little felt piggy from Bossy Felt Works around the Holiday time and have finally wrote to the ladies to tell them how much i love their crafts! Bossy's is a three lady cooperative who's crafting lives make me envious. It seems that not only are all of these women incredible talented, but have such a wonderful friendship, and a great supportive family. It's a crafters dream come true!



"On a good day at Bossy's, you'll find Amy, Kari and Mandy all gathered around the kitchen table, accompanied by piles of wool and cups of tea. Their four girls are playing upstairs, or maybe out in the play yard with the two puppies, while the two elder dogs snore under the table."

How long have you been crafting?

There's three of us in Bossy's Feltworks. Mandy and I have been crafting for as long as we can remember, and were both looking for a home based craft business. Amy has been crafting since we tried out making felt balls three years ago.

Did you always craft in this genre?

Amy is a specialist, having come into crafting via needle felting. Mandy and I have tried most craft genres between us. We both went to art school, but stayed more on the crafty side of things. I would say that we three are basically fearless in the face of craft materials. Between us we can figure out how to make what we're thinking of, whether it's for the business, for our girls, or gifts for family.



Who or what inspires you?

First off, we inspire each other. We have bounced thousands of ideas off of each other in the last three years. We work together on Tuesdays and try to surprise each other regularly with a new product. Etsy inspires us immensely. We love seeing what other crafters are creating and reading about sellers in the Storque. Our girls (we have five girls between us) inspire us with their handmade requests. We must also say that a good cup of tea and some chocolate have done as much for our business as anything else!

What challenges have you found while taking your craft into the business world?

We came up with our craft specifically to start a business. Instead of morphing a hobby into a business, we were looking specifically to use wool from Amy's farm to make a product that could be sold at the local farmer's market and on the Internet. With three of us, we were able to not only divide the tasks of starting a business, but also to thoroughly discuss our decisions.

Our greatest challenge is time. We are mothers of small children, and many things in our lives come before crafting.


Other info
We started Bossy's Feltworks in March 2006. We are just about to have our third season as weekly vendors at the Orcas Island Farmer's Market. We joined Etsy in December 2007.

So head over to Bossy's, and check out their gorgeous felt pieces! Say Hello to Kari on Etsy, she's a doll!