Mila & Belle

I am so excited for today's post because I am sharing with you Lacey's Etsy shop. This reason I am excited is because Lacey and I are in real life friends. We knew each other back before all this facebook, instagramming stuff started. I have known Lacey since during my last two summers of high school, like I am talking WAY back. We both lived in Tokyo and our fathers served in the military, hers in the Army, mine in the Air Force and to make some money during the summer, we worked at the US Embassy doing whatever summer hires were asked to do. Like shredding, lots of shredding of files, answering phone calls, running errands.
Look who we met one summer (that is Colin Powell by the way)

Back to Lacey's Etsy shop - I wanted to feature her and her handmade products in the form of an interview.

1. What is the name of your Etsy shop?

My shop is Mila & Belle. 

2. How did you come up with that name?

It's named after my two daughters, Mila and Annabelle. I started out making a few tees and onesies for them shortly after Annabelle was born, and I didn't even really think about turning it into a business until after using the onesies for a school project. I was taking a Sales class and we had to make a fictional sales call and I decided to make my own company to make a sales call to a small children clothing chain. The name stayed, I continued making onesies, and I opened up my shop a couple months later!

3. What do you sell?

My main sellers are onesies, but I also sell embroidery hoop art, hand towels, and I'm getting started on children's tees and pillows.

4. Where does your inspiration come from?

My inspiration comes from everywhere! A lot of it comes from my girls. The colors and patterns they like, their favorite animals... Mila is definitely my little helper. She'll make suggestions or will have requests that end up being really cute ideas. Like her unicorn cat. She told me one day that she wanted a unicorn cat so I made her one on a hoop, and eventually I made another to sell and a few tees. I get inspired by my environment - the weather, colors of the seasons, wildlife. And my customers really inspire me too. I love it when someone contacts me and asks me if I can do something totally different than anything listed in my shop. It really opens me up to other ideas. At this point, I feel like I have too many ideas and not enough time to bring them all to life! 

5. Any coworkers or other employees who work at Mila & Belle?

At the moment,  it's just me behind Mila & Belle. And my girls try to help. They help me come up with ideas and they keep each other entertained. I love that they've taken an interest to my work too. Annabelle will try to help and will take needles out of my fingers so she can embroider. Mila tries to give me business advice - what I should sell, where I should set up shop... My dream has always been to open my own brick and mortar, but I have no idea where we will be moving to next and what will work in that location so those dreams are put on hold until we are actually settled somewhere. Hopefully I can fulfill that dream! 

And here are my links:

instagram: instagram.com/milaandbelle

etsy: www.etsy.com/shop/MilaandBelle

blog: www.milaandbelle.blogspot.com

facebook: facebook.com/milaandbelle

Lacey makes state onesie (see the Oklahoma one above) and are one of the most popular items in her shop. The unicorn cat is one of her favorites because it was her daughter Mila's idea. The hot air balloon hoop was featured in a Norwegian magazine! The time capsule hoop was a customer's custom order. The family had just remodeled their home and made the time capsule at the completion of the remodel. Finally, who doesn't love a buffalo stripe onesie?

A handmade item from Mila & Belle is the perfect gift for for a baby shower, to commemorate a special time in your life or just have a cute cat unicorn hanging up on your wall. 

Now go buy from Lacey's shop and support my friend :-)