What is PrayerMade Crafts?

Over a year ago, I started crocheting again.  In my youth up until about my mid-30’s I crocheted a lot of things, then I stopped as it began to die out, craft stores sold less and less variety of yarn.  I realized a year and a half ago that Michael’s yarn section tripled, and after doing a search on things made from yarn, Google was kind enough to drop ads for things created with yarn into every website I visited.  They do that well, and in this case, it worked!  Instead of buying things made from yarn, I got patterns, and dish cloths and wash cloths intrigued me.  I had a lot of time on my hands, as I travel a lot and sitting in an airplane for 10 hours forces you to be creative with your time.

I started with dishcloths and worked hard at using different patterns, different colors, different yarns, so each one was different.  It occurred to me after a trip to Guam that I had far more than I could give away at Christmas, so I thought about selling them.  I determined that while they could be sold at a profit, it wasn’t enough to go through the headache of selling, either online or at a craft fair.

All the advice out there tells a person to find a niche and stick with it, and maybe they’re right.  Then again, this isn’t my primary source of income, and I can’t churn out the same product ad infinitum and stay interested.  I had boxes of material from years ago, so I picked out 2 yards of fabric and figured out how to make placemats the way I wanted them, instead of the options I found at the store.  It’s not as easy as I’d thought, but as I’ve finished each style of placemat, they’ve brought a smile of delight to my face. 

It didn’t take long before I decided to sell what I was making, the question came down to how.  Craft shows can be fun, but very intensive, and how to handle needing to take a break, etc., how to handle business trips that come up at the last minute, meant those are a difficult option.  Not having one specific thing that I make is also an issue for juried shows.  When looking at online options, it didn’t take long before realizing that Etsy was a glorified eBay, and out to make as much money off of other people’s labors as possible.  After a lot of research and educating myself, I determined that opening my own online store is worth a try, so here I am.

Once I decided to sell, I needed a name.  At first, I went with my personal name, but online, that’s risky.  So, I thought about who I am, and what I wanted to identify myself with.  My faith is a huge part of who I am.  Everything important about me has to do with my faith.  So, I wanted that identity.  At first, I wasn’t sure...these days faith can be more political than anything.  I did what I always do, I prayed about it, and even as I did I determined I wasn’t political with it, so it didn’t matter.  I pray a lot throughout the day.  Big things, of course, but mostly little things.  Someone I see on the sidewalk, a clerk at a store, someone so happy they can barely contain themselves, someone who looks like their best friend just betrayed them.  Because of that, the name PrayerMade seemed appropriate, and saying a prayer for each customer is something I’d do anyway.

I’d like to welcome you to my online store, and I hope you like what you see.  I hope you tell others who might be interested.  Let me know what you think, and I hope you have a blessed day!