About
Howdy Campers!
Hi, I am Jessica, the Happy Camper & Maker behind Happy Camper Handmade! Happy Camper Handmade is the home of my new blog and the link to my handmade gift shop Happy Camper Crafts.
Since Happy Camper Handmade is so new, let me tell you a little bit about Happy Camper Crafts! HCC unofficially started when I was in the 3rd grade and discovered a joy in creating things, specifically gifts for others! The handcrafted calendar I made for my teacher that year has really stuck with me!
I continued making gifts for people (still do) and somewhere along the lines people started saying "you should sell this!" Before long friends and family were asking to buy what I made for themselves or to give to others!
Starting Somewhere
Inspired by the land that I love and grew up in (and lived in until September 2019), the Finger Lakes Region of New York State, my Etsy shop focused only on wine glass charms. I absolutely loved making them and would do the occasional small craft show or farmer's market. Aside from selling to friends and family I also had them listed in my Etsy shop, however it was on vacation mode more than it wasn’t! So, while my business was not much more than a hobby, my love for creating things and curating gifts never stopped. It was not until 2019 that I finally added something other than wine glass charms to my Etsy Shop. After getting married in September 2019, which also included a move to the Hudson Valley area of New York, the desire to make my craft business more than just a hobby began to ignite. I started brainstorming (or daydreaming) of additional products I'd like to make and even signed up for a Holiday Craft Show that year!
As 2020 rolled in I started making plans that involved a lot of craft fairs and markets. I really wanted to connect to my new community, and I thought this would be a great way to do so. However, the universe had other plans as we all well know, and things did not go as planned! Despite that, I kept working to add new items to my shop, connected with the Maker Community on the social sites and really started dreaming!
Crafts for campers
The name Happy Camper Crafts (named by my Brother) is inspired by my love of summer camp! I have been a camper, volunteer and summer staff member at a beautiful camp located in the Finger Lakes since the late 90's. It is even where my husband and I got married in 2019! Having a non-profit background in my career, loving to create and loving camp I decided in 2020 that a portion of Happy Camper Crafts annual sales would go toward sending kids to summer camp. I am deeply passionate about the power of camp in a kid’s life (anyone's life really) and if I can do just a little to help kids get to camp, well then, I will! If you have a camp that is near and dear to your heart, I'd love to hear about it...send me a message!
daydreamer
I am a daydreamer through and through, which means I have so many ideas running through my mind of what Happy Camper Crafts could be! The first step was to create a website that broadened the scope of my handmade business (yay, did that!)
With the slight tweak in name Happy Camper Handmade instead of Crafts, it expands the opportunities for creativity. It bums me out when I hear people lament they are not creative, malarkey, I say! Creativity is beyond knowing your way around a paint brush or craft store aisle. Creativity is creating, making, imagining and I believe we all have the ability to do just that!
Thanks for stopping by, now let's find where happy meets crafty!
Shine on!
Jessica