In The Beginning....

Welcome to my blog!  This is my very first entry!  I'm a excited but a little nervous too.

My goal is to make this spot interesting so you keep coming back.  I want to get you hooked!  It is also a place to keep my head in the game.  I sometimes get lost in production.  I want to be able to look back and see where I came from...a journal of sorts.  I hope you join me!

So...let's do what Maria suggested in the Sound of Music.  "Let's start at the very beginning".  Because, heck, it is indeed a very good place to start!

Three years ago my sister convinced me that I needed to go to the local Renaissance Festival.  She told me I had dress up as her whole family does and if one does not dress up you will feel like a big loser.  Not wanting to feel like a big loser, I complied.

 I had wanted to make myself a wee little top hat as I had seen in some photos when I googled the "Ren Fest" in MN.  I thought they were adorable and having the "DIY" gene in my blood, I set out to make one myself.

After much googling and youtubing, I made myself a black mini top hat.  It looked like this...

My first hat...I won't be offended if you gasped in horror!

Death warmed over...or a can with a bunch of glue and fabric on it.  It is horrible!  It now resides in a box...somewhere...hidden deep within the bowels of my attic.  It is the thing of which nightmares are made.  Seriously, it is awful!  Needless to say, I did not wear it to the Ren Fest.

It is possibly the worst thing I ever created ever...and that's saying something!  Not sure what possessed me to keep trying.  But I did and I eventually (after 30+ hats) I came up with templates that I liked and techniques that I felt I could  master.  I gave them all away to the neighbor kids and friends.  Then I started to get serious.

I got better fabric and better doodads.  I made more and more and after many visits to Etsy.com admiring other hats that were for sale, I convinced myself that my hats were just as good and figured I'd try selling mine too.

 Etsy's platform is so very easy to follow.  I did however spend a week reading everything I could in their handbook and on the forums.  I can't say that I was "ready" to sell, but I took the plunge anyway!  "Plunge" is a 20cent investment on Etsy...seriously, not a real big risk there!

This is the first hat I ever sold on Etsy...

The first hat I ever sold...I was so happy!

It went to Hawaii to party at a Gala event on the head of Maggie!  I loved that I knew where it was going and what it would be doing!  I felt I was off and running.  Since then, I have created a number of different sizes and shapes and types of templates all in mini form and over 2000 hats sold!  I absolutely love making them!

I wasn't Chiki Bird at first...I was "Something Fancy" for almost a year before I decided I really had something here and wanted to change my name.

My Uncle Bill had called me "Chiki Bird" since my birth and until he passed away.  Always!  It seemed completely appropriate to call myself Chiki Bird.  It seemed doubly appropriate since I adore little birds as well.  Chiki Bird Hat Studio was officially ME!  Thanks Uncle Bill!

I have many customers simply call my Chiki Bird and I love it...it is a great homage to my Uncle.  The guy who taught me to try new things, play honestly, lose gracefully, bet on the ponies and pose for pictures (I was a bit of a ham when I was little).

Uncle Bill...1943. A handsome chap indeed!

So, that is the story of my humble beginnings!  I hope it was of some interest.

I promise that I shall get better as I go along the blogging road.  I just received my book "Blogging for Dummies".  I hope it helps!