Eight Boards Farm offers variety of goods

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This week's featured shop is Eight Boards Farm owned by Bob and Laura Curtin of Palm Bay, Florida. Eight Boards Farm specializes in "whimsy, country and Victorian all rolled into one." They sell a variety items including hand-painted wooden barn quilts, American Girl doll clothing, vintage and homemade items.

How did you find Etsy?
 

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 I had heard the word “Etsy” tossed around a number of times before I decided in autumn of last year to see what the fuss was all about. I was excited to find a possible venue for selling my homemade painted wooden barn quilts and felt it was a prayer answered. I learned to make barn quilts in our vacation home in Kentucky, but there wasn’t a market in our home town of Florida for this craft! I continued to pray and paint and when Etsy opened the door I jumped right through it! In addition to the barn quilts, I added vintage and other hand crafted items created by my husband and me. It has actually been a lot of fun!

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When you began creating, how did it enrich your life? Do you recall the inspiration for your first creation?

I think I was born to sew and craft! I was sixth of eight children and my Great Aunt Vera, a stern German woman who immigrated from Hungary to America through Ellis Island, would come over weekly and mend all of our clothing. My earliest memories are of helping her thread the needle because her eyesight was bad! I was chosen as her little helper and soon advanced to winding bobbins and oiling the machine. 

I was occasionally given a sock that could not be darned anymore and I devoured that sock and spit it out into a designer doll dress. It’s amazing how one can design an elegant doll ball gown out of a plain old sock! Believe it or not, my Great Aunt Vera darned all our socks and I still have her wooden darning egg.

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Both my Great Aunt and my mom fostered my desire to design and create and thanks to their nurturing I have learned a considerable number of handicrafts. I still have a few on my list to learn like tatting. And I have yet to knit a passable sock.

For me, crafting is a way to express my soul and spirit - my designs seem to spring out of a place that only God and I can access. I continue to enjoy adding to my needlework skills and am presently designing doll dresses to sell on Etsy. It seems I have come full circle! With a lot of prayer and thought, I decided to open up another store on Etsy called “Laura’s Bits of Lace” which will feature American Girl doll clothes.

Where can members find your creations on other social media venues? Facebook?  Pinterest? Twitter? Wanelo?

Presently, I am learning marketing skills as well as understanding search engine optimization. I enjoy the challenge! While I am a member of other social media websites, I am only marketing what I make on Etsy. I am thankful to God for giving me both the talent to create, but the ability to share what I make on this website. Thank you for featuring me this week! I am truly honored!

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