My name is Kelly and I am the mom of three children and owner of A Crystal Garden LLC. Before the adoption of our third child, I had a "real" job out in the full time business world with quite a few degrees hanging on my wall. Through mergers and acquisitions, our division ended up being closed and I found myself with a big decision to make. Our new daughter was only a few months away from coming home to her forever family so I decided to take a year off to get her settled and help everyone transition into the new normal. That year turned into years!
I grew up going with my mom and aunt to craft shows and began selling Frustration Pencils when I was only 12. My mom sold all kinds of crafts along with doll house miniatures, while my aunt specialized in felt. Crafts have just always been a part of my life so it was natural for me to gravitate towards the craft community.
When my daughter needed a hair bow to match her first Halloween costume, I decided to try and make one. I purchased instructions off of Ebay which also introduced me to making bracelets. In 2006, I began creating bracelets with Swarovski crystals (thus the name A Crystal Garden) along with a few hair bows on the side and selling them on Ebay. I was astonished at how fast the business grew and found myself overwhelmed with trying to get orders out timely. I dropped the jewelry side of the business in 2010 and added The Pooch Patch with hair bows for dogs. I slowly started adding felt items into The Hair Bow Patch around 2012 but the felt side of my business truly blossomed when I opened The Badge Patch in 2014 selling both button and felt badge reels. Early 2015, I opened The Book Nook Patch selling planner paper clips, magnets and pins. In 2018 The Book Nook Patch and The Badge Patch merged into one store making inventory control so much more efficient giving me the ability to always offer all in stock items as any product option.
I want to thank all of my wonderful customers throughout the years. Without each and every one of you, A Crystal Garden would not have grown into more than I could have ever dreamed possible.
