09/16/2024
This is a heavy but must needed post for me to make. It has taken me a few days to word this for fear that I may say the wrong thing but here it goes. I have worked hard over the past 14 years creating keepsake stuffed animals for you out of your loved ones items. It has brought me so much joy knowing you will have a piece of your loved one to hang onto during the dark and stormy days as well as the days you find joy in their memories. I have created over 12,000 stuffed animals over 14 years and each one has held a special place in my heart, and each of those stuffed animal keepsakes have also worn my heart and created a grieving place for your loved ones. As an empath, I have held on to your sorrows and at times, gone through the grieving process with you. When I say I make each one with everything in me, I do. Thank you for allowing me to create such beautiful and meaningful keepsakes. I remember a bear I created for a little girl who lost her Dad too soon. She called her Memory bear “Daddy Bear” and she took it everywhere. First day of school, on the bus, to friends house and everywhere she could. Her Mom sent me many photos of her and her Daddy Bear. It meant so much to me knowing she had her Dad right by her side because of a keepsake I created. This “Job” of creating keepsakes is not one I take lightly. I put my all into each and everyone but I know the amount of love and lost there is with each one.
When I took my business to social media I never knew the amount of love I would receive when sharing your stuffed animals and the stories of the loved ones behind them but being on social media is hard. I was posting my ups, downs and making content to have my shop be seen. I began creating keepsakes for people ALL over the world! Counties I haven't even heard from I was shipping to. It was an honor. Even making several stuffed animals for celebrities and because of that I was featured in People Mag. But with posting on social media there are the ups and there are the downs.
Last fall I created a video of a MAMA shirt made from a baby's first outfits. It was the ONLY order and video I had made of this shirt and it had been in shop for several years. This video of mine went viral and the next video and the next which was exciting but then orders started coming in at a fast pace. Orders for a MAMA shirt that had never seen any traction or any orders at ALL. A pace that was too much for me and my employee. So we closed orders and I worked around the clock to get these completed. When we realized we could not turn them around as fast as we could we emailed everyone letting them know I could not get them out in the time we stated. Then a shipment of shirts was delayed at Christmas. I was, on average, getting 25 to 30 orders done a day so we figured our turn around time based on my daily work load. I was still posting on social media about the shirts I was making then out of the blue started getting rude emails from people stating I shouldn’t be posting if they were not available on my website. This was the first time we had received this kind of rude and disrespectful response. What happened next was a complete mental shut down for me. I went into survival mode and just stopped posting on all social media. I put my head down and worked hard to get each shirt made. My mental health last fall/winter was terrible. I went months without eating well, sleeping and stopped talking to friends and I do not wish this on anyone. I was not myself. I was missing family events and told my sons I couldn’t read them bedtime books, play board games and legos because I was too busy working on orders all day and night. It was heartbreaking but I wanted to get the orders out so I did what I thought was best. The only thing that got me through this was my boys telling me it was ok and volunteering what little time I had at their schools. It made me feel human and not the machine I had become. Slowly as orders were filled I was feeling better about the shop and the viral mess it had become. I regret not staying on social media and letting everyone know how hard I was working. But in reality I just had to focus on the orders.
Did you know each letter on the shirt is hand cut? They are a lot of work but worth every moment when you get a letter from a MAMA stating how much she loves her shirt and how she gets to wear her baby with her everytime she wears it. Our children are growing so fast! It’s nice to have a piece of them as a baby with us always. When the shirts went viral we removed all animals from the website so I could focus on just working on the shirts.
Until recently I had an employee that worked on all customer service. Six years we have worked together. Side by side through it all. They were my backbone of customer service so I could focus on sewing and filling orders. Until recently, I thought all emails were being responded to daily while they were working. It turns out that emails have gone unanswered. I know my employee was going through alot at the time. Yes, this is my fault as an owner as I should have been checking that the job was being done correctly and I accept responsibility for this. Since I have found this out I have been going through emails and getting orders out that should have been done long ago. It’s a mess but I am working through each and every email and thankfully, those who I have had contact with have been great and I have been able to create their keepsakes.
I have what is a problem bin and this bin was full of about 20 orders that I was awaiting responses for to get their orders completed. Now, that bin is down to 10 and I am still reaching out to those ten to get them their orders. If you have any questions feel free to email [email protected] or if you have an email that went unanswered please reach out again and I will get to it within 24 hours.
This has been my baby for 14 years and I have been struggling for a year to close it. I closed the website officially weeks ago but am still here working hard on orders. I get up at 4 am and start working. I have under 35 orders here left to finish. Any orders that have not been shipped to me yet will be completed until I stop receiving them. If you need to send your order in or have a gift card that has not been used yet email me.
I am a hard working Mom of three and will do everything I can to get this set straight. My work is important and I love creating the keepsakes but going viral was overwhelming and worked me into the ground. Each order has meant the world to me but it’s time to close the door.
Again, I am truly sorry if there was an email missed and for my lack of transparency.
Thank you!
