{sponsor feature: Everyday Keepsakes}

This giveaway is now closed.

Today’s sponsored feature & giveaway post is from Meredith of Everyday Keepsakes. Meredith designs beautiful jewelry keepsakes, and their “signature style of unique wax seal jewelry will set you apart from the crowd.” There’s a super generous giveaway at the end, too! xo.

My name is Meredith Fenwick and after leaving work after my first son was looking for a way to make an income while staying home. I found digital scrapbooking and fell in love and thought I’d give it a whirl. That was the beginning of my graphic design career. A few years later I had my second son and wanted to get away from the computer and do something with my hands. I always loved jewelry so decided to give that a go while still maintaining the graphic design career. I started with Swarovski and gemstone jewelry and after some time of selling on Etsy felt like I really wasn’t going anywhere with it. That is when I started to make my monogram pieces. The wax seal charm was not a new idea, but in my quest to make it my own as much as I could, I realized I could combine my graphic design abilities with the jewelry making and started designing all of my own stamps for my pendants. My first set was the Flirty Monogram pendant and that is still my bestseller and one of my favorites.

I started my business by making some jewelry pieces, photographing them and opening an Etsy store. I’m not much of a planner and could only sit on my hands for about a week before I started listing items. I already had a bit of a customer base from my scrapbooking business and those wonderful women were some of my first customers.

Every time I get an order I feel like I’ve accomplished something. When I get an amazing email or note from a customer, it just makes my day.

I have a few friends who are working on starting businesses right now and I LOVE that. I LOVE that women (and men too I guess) can be creative and just reach out to each other and start a business. I’d say my best piece of advice to give someone is to be confident in yourself. You will have good days and bad days and probably make mistakes, but it’s a learning process and will only build you up as a business owner.

My biggest struggle, as most independent business owners, is time management. With the internet and the way that marketing works now it’s hard to turn it off. I never really take a day off. I am always checking emails, working on ideas, that sort of thing. I am starting to learn to delegate but I am still a one-woman business and have a hard time figuring out how to hand off responsibilities to others as well as trusting that they would be able to do it as well as I would (since as it turns out I’m a bit of a control-freak about that).

Other people might be inspired by me because I am your average Mom. I help out with the school PTO sometimes, I hang out at the bus stop every morning with the neighbors, I go to Zumba three nights a week when I can, try to carve out time for my husband in all of the chaos and I am also building a business. If I can do it, you can do it. :]

Leave a comment below for a chance to win $50 shop credit!

Meredith is graciously offering one reader the chance to win $50 towards an item in her shop. Simply sign your name below and you’re entered.

♥ This giveaway will end in a few days; I’ll announce the winner here and email them directly.