Dancing Mooney - My first date with Etsy!

My VERY first Etsy Artisan I ever purchased from is Dancing Mooney. I still have the little hand painted card with a butterfly in purples and blues with a brass button on it that says "Believe."
I bet she didn't know that!

I have watched Dancing Mooney evolve over time and I have to say she is one hard working and even more so, hard thinking gal. She is constantly trying to create balance in her shop, cater to her customers and come out with very reasonably priced high quality products that just make you FEEL GOOD.


We have never personally met but have become good friends and talk to each other about ideas and likes an so forth. What do you get with Dancing Mooney? You get one of the sweetest and classiest ladies running an on-line gift shop there is, who will go out of her way to make sure YOU are happy. This shows in the pride she has in her work. And it is always quality over quantity. No mass production of anything here. I have a bit of everything from her...soaps, to salts.. earrings and necklaces and even her art which she often does in collages. We are kindred spirits who love butterflies. :) I had to splash as many photos as I could on here today, as it is a bit dreary here and she always has so much beautiful color in her store. I hope you enjoy her as much as I have and still do and don't be afraid to ask her about what is coming up next, she is always cooking up new ideas and that is where you get them from....your customers. So here is here interview....

Why do you do what you do?
It's always been my dream to have a gift shop, and when I found Etsy I was hooked. It's been a process trying to decide where I want to put the focus on my shop because I love creating so many things, but what it really boils down to, is that I love creating items that make women feel beautiful, both inside and out. Be it a new piece of jewelry that makes you feel pretty, a fresh bar of soap that cleanses the body and refreshes the mind, or a piece of art that inspires your creative soul. My simple slogan has always been {Mind . Body . Soul} and I think that pretty much sums up how I feel about my work. I hope that women feel pampered when they get their packages in the mail, because doing a little something for yourself now and then is a treat, and I think we all deserve it.

What inspires you?
Gosh, I am inspired by so many things... Music, nature, color, food, fashion, gardening, girlfriends, you name it... inspiration is everywhere. Sometimes I am in the mood to make something poppy and bright, while other days I may keep it more earthy and neutral, but my ideas are really all over the place. It's hard to contain them sometimes, and it's been fun watching the true persona of DancingMooney evolve over the years.

What is your favorite thing to make?
I go back and forth. Well, I go round and round, how's that? Primarily I make soap and jewelry as often as I can, but sometimes I feel the need to get out my paints and get my hands dirty, and that's when making new collages comes to play. I don't know why I can't just focus on one thing, I drive my self crazy about it... but in the long run, I've narrowed it down, and I've spent a great deal of time trying to create balance in my shop.

What are your future wishes for your shop?
I feel like I am just now getting to the point that DancingMooney is finding her true self, and it's a constant work in progress. My goal for this year is to really spend some time developing my jewelry line and creating a more cohesive boutique feel in my shop. My intention was never to be a bath and body shop or a jewelry store... my goal has always been to be more of a gift shop, or a boutique. It's been hard trying to decide which way to go next, but I feel like I'm really starting to find balance within my variety and even though we are just now approaching spring, I am already thinking about fall and getting ready for the holidays. It's amazing as a small business owner how much forward thinking you have to do, and it's a skill I've had to learn, but my goals for this year are really just to keep moving forward, and see what happens next...





Just a few more pictures before I have to go. Coming up is Moaning Minnie and my Golf/Nascar/Autism showdown. (I did finally get some good photos with Moaning Minnie's hats....and now I realized I have a lot of cropping, editing etc to do. lol!)