Prairie Wife of the Week October 24, 2014 #giveaway

Posted October 24, 2014 by Prairie Wife - 9 comments

It always amazes me how many self proclaimed “stay at home moms” are in truth so much more than that. TallGirlJ does the accounting and payroll for her father’s business, Cheeleo now has a flourishing cookie business, Lindsey helps run her and her husband’s ice cream store, and Erin took her passion for photography and turned it into a thriving business. This week’s Prairie Wife of the Week is another woman who does it all to help support her family. What started out as a simple cute accessory for her daughter has now turned into a full fledged business on Etsy, Lucy’s Bows and Arrows. One where she has all the creative control, and can simply take a break for a week if she has more pressing things to do…now that’s what I call genius! And just in case you thought that was a lot, Rachel has turned her family’s love of reading into an amazing blog to support other families as they try and raise children who love to read. Rachel’s strong work ethic, love for her family, and seemingly endless creativity and energy make her the perfect Prairie Wife of the Week!

Don’t forget to stop by the end of the interview to enter to win a headband for that sweet little girl in your life! In honor of our one year anniversary Rachel has agreed to giveaway one of her darling headbands to on lucky reader. All you HAVE to do is a leave a comment at the end of the post to enter to win. Earn more points by following us on social media, and please be honest we will be checking.

As a special treat for our readers Rachel has offered all of our readers 15% off at her Etsy shop! Simply enter the code PRAIRIE15 when it’s time to check out.

Prairie Wife (PW): First tell us a little bit about your family.

Rachel (R): My husband and I live with our daughter Lucy in Kansas City, Missouri. My husband is a pastor in a historic city-center neighborhood of Kansas City. I have the joy of staying home with our daughter.

PW: You have a business on Etsy called Lucy’s Bows and Arrows, can you tell us a little bit about what you sell?

R: I sell handmade and unique headbands for babies and children. Lucy’s Bows really has two categories of headbands…basic colors and designs (pink, gray, navy, chambray) that will go with anything and then headbands that are more unique…and may be just the thing for a special outfit, photo session, or event.

PW: What led you to decide to go into business?

R: Lucy’s Bows actually kind of started accident…there were 2 main reasons, practicality & because I enjoy making things. Practicality, because I realized I was spending a ridiculous amount of money on fabric for headbands for our daughter Lucy. It quickly became obvious that I needed to “share” our fabric/headband stash with the world, or beg my husband’s forgiveness for all the craft store purchases. And then of course, I just really enjoy the making and designing aspect.

PW: Can you walk us through your design process?

R:  When I first started making headbands for Lucy, I very specifically wanted to make my own design…tailor made to what I wanted: comfy, cute, versatile, and resilient headbands. Lucy is very active, so she’s been a great test market…I’ve tweaked and changed the design a lot since those very first headbands.

I love fun colors, bright designs, and unique prints…I’m especially drawn to modern fabric designers.

But as I mentioned earlier, there’s lots of lovely basic colors too…super soft fabrics in shades of pink, gray (gray on Lucy is one of my favorite things!), cream, and navy. Recently, I made a bow out of chambray…I’ve yet to find an outfit in Lucy’s closet it doesn’t match!

PW: Any tips for our readers that have contemplated starting to sell a product on Etsy?

R: If you are thinking about selling something on Etsy…you absolutely should do it! I experienced a ton of fear and stress about opening the shop. But since I found the courage to actually do it, its been so exciting and a great help for my family. Just sell something unique that you enjoy making and that you feel passionate about! One thing that helped me, I purposefully didn’t look at shops that sell similar products…I didn’t want to feel disheartened or tempted to copy or change my product in anyway based on someone else’s successful product…I was/am confident that my product is worthwhile and unique and didn’t want fear, discouragement, or even jealousy to take over!

PW: You also have a blog called LucysNarnia.com, what was your inspiration?

R: My husband and I are very passionate about books, reading, and raising our children to be readers…which is what the blog is about, “A Book-Loving Mom’s Journey to Raise Readers.”

But more specifically, the name Lucy’s Narnia really evolved from two ideas…First, of course, the fictional Lucy who discovered the world of Narnia in C.S. Lewis’ books The Chronicles of Narnia. And then, secondly, our daughter–Lucy’s Narnia…the idea that she (and all of us!) can access imaginative and spell-binding worlds through what she/we read. Quality literature contains the power to open our minds and heart to so many ideas and worlds. When we read engaging stories we enter into a different world, our own Narnia. That’s our wish for our daughter Lucy–that she experience and cherish all the good things that reading and books give us…her own personal Narnia.

PW: What are your business/blog goals for the next three years?

R: Honestly, the goals are very small! I want both–the blog and the business–to continue to help our family and other families. For the blog, I really just want to inspire parents to read to their children and families to read together. The blog is profitable and worthwhile to me, even if it only ever reached a couple of families and inspired them to read books together as a family. My heart soars every time a mom tells me that she’s using one of the book lists from the blog to help her pick books for her family. I really love that!

PW: How do you keep the balance between all of your roles?

R: Balance is super difficult, especially when I spend a lot of time making headbands and my husband has a job that’s very personable and takes a lot of time. But there’s one thing we’ve found to be very vital for our family…we strive to keep one day a week just for family. He doesn’t do anything relating to his job and I don’t do anything with headbands. It’s difficult to make this happen…he’s off work that day, and it’s really easy to go work on headbands since he’s available to take care of Lucy. But true rest as a family is so important! I really can’t recommend this enough! Even if its just a half day. Out of necessity, it doesn’t always happen every week…but the goal is there, one day…just family. That day keeps us sane.

PW: Any last Prairie Wife Words of Wisdom?

R: I truly believe, and I’ve seen the evidence in the lives of many families and children, that reading together and sharing stories together as a family is one of the most important things that we can do for our children. Quality stories have the ability to tie us & bond us together with adventures, love, hardships, victories, etc. etc., all without leaving the safety of our cozy living rooms. There are lots of wonderful stories out there, that the whole family can enjoy…Honey for a Child’s Heart is an engaging book and a wonderful resource to help you find the perfect books for your family. Plus, there’s tons of very specific book lists on the internet to help you get started.

Enter to win a headband for that sweet little girl in your life! In honor of our one year anniversary Rachel has agreed to giveaway one of her darling headbands to on lucky reader. All you HAVE to do is a leave a comment at the end of the post to enter to win. Earn more points by following us on social media, and please be honest we will be checking.

As a special treat for our readers Rachel has offered all of our readers 15% off at her Etsy shop! Simply enter the code PRAIRIE15 when it’s time to check out.

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Categories: Prairie Wife of the Week

Tags: , blogging, books for kids, Etsy, headbands, Lucy's Bows and Arrows, Prairie Wife of the Week, reading, small buisness