Miss Malaprop Turns 4 Today!

Today is the 4th birthday of Miss Malaprop! This is the post where it all began, and that image above is from my first “real” post, about pet accessories by Lindsay Designs (now Pattern & Paw).

When I started this blog, four years ago today on August 12, 2006, I had already been designing and selling my handmade goods under the name dismantled designs since 2004, but I’d made the decision that I wanted to expand and move in a new direction. Even at the time I started Miss Malaprop in 2006, I already envisioned plans of an online retail store (like the one I just launched this spring!) and a brick & mortar retail store (hopefully one day soon!). I recently found old notes I wrote around that time for a business plan which included these same ideas. It’s exciting to think back and realize all that I’ve accomplished in the last four years. Just in the last week I’ve received some fantastic press that confirms that. (The Times-Picayune featured me as a “powerhouse artisan” in their WISH fashion insert last Friday, and my shop is included in an article on Venus Zine’s website!)

In August 2006, I had just come back from one of the best vacations ever – Dave and I had flown to Las Vegas, where we rented a motorcycle and took an amazing 1,600 mile journey through Nevada and California to see the MotoGP races at the Laguna Seca speedway near Monterey, California. All this less than a year after Katrina – it was definitely a dose of fresh air and inspiration that we needed at that time. While we’ve been through a lot of personal doubts and emotional struggles in those five years since the storm & federal levee failures, living in this city as it rebuilds, my trips to places outside of NOLA have helped remind me that people elsewhere do care about what happens here, and they also help to remind me what a great network of friends I have here and what an amazing city this is, and why it’s worth fighting for.

In January 2007 I was inspired to enter Etsy’s Upcycling Contest, and I crafted an outfit out of some FEMA blue tarp. I won 3rd place, which meant some amazing press and a big spike in traffic for my blog. It also meant I had a chance to go to San Francisco later that year to participate in the Bazaar Bizarre at Maker Faire. (My mom was wonderful and came along for the ride and we got to explore San Francisco together!) Looking back now, that feels like just the beginning… here are a few other highlights from the past 4 years:

• Stitch in Austin
• visit to Etsy Labs in NYC for the Trashion trunk show
• participated in 3 Worn Again fashion shows as a designer (2007, 2008, 2009), won 2 honorable mentions, and became a WA judge in 2010!
• skydiving!!
• Noisician Coalition!
• swimming with dolphins in Cozumel!
• began selling other people’s handmade goods in addition to my own in June 2009 at local events. Expanded to the online store in March 2010. Up next – conquering the world! (hah!)

I’m probably leaving out a ton of things that I can’t remember right now too… I’ve met SO MANY fantastic people through my blog, both online and in real life, and it’s such an honor to have met all of you. For all of you who read my blog, have bought something from me, or have supported me in any other way over the last few years, believe me, I am forever indebted to you. Many of the incredible things that I’ve achieved never would have happened without this blog, as silly as that sounds. It’s given me a space to meet people and express myself. Seriously, THANK YOU SO MUCH to all of you! I feel blessed.

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