How it started

Hi there and welcome to Crafting on Sunshine!

My name is Fiorella and I am a mama to the sweetest twins, Mia and Benji. I am blessed to be the owner of this small shop, which was partially named after my children--the light of my life. *insert sun emoji here!*

For as long as I can remember, I have had a passion for creating and crafting. When I became an elementary school teacher, I knew I'd be able to share my creativity with my students and that I would enjoy every second of it. About a decade ago, I began crafting with a cricut machine I received for my birthday and decided to open up an Etsy shop to offer custom shirts and decals for others. After the twins joined our family right in the midst of a pandemic, life became busy and it was hard for me to combine my roles as a full-time teacher and mother to two newborns at home. Therefore, I had to make the difficult decision to take a year off of work to be with the twins when they needed me most. 

During this time, I had been brainstorming to find new ideas to shift my small business into creating something useful and memorable for others. I prayed about it and thought about this for weeks before I finally found the inspiration I was looking for--my own children! I had looked down at them wearing their store-bought pacifier clips and I said, “Ah-ha! I know what I want to create!” I remember buying them those pacifier clips off my registry before they were even born because they were so cute and I was afraid they'd sell out before anyone could gift them to us! It was at that moment that I thought: What if I can make them for other babies besides my own? What if there are mamas or soon-to-be mamas out there looking for cute, personalized clips they can’t find anywhere else? All these thoughts crossed my mind and I decided to run with it! Right there and then, I knew God had answered my prayers and was leading me to a new path that would allow me to pour my heart and creativity into a product that would brighten someone else's day.

Thanks to all the support from my family, friends, and followers, I have found more and more ways to incorporate beautifully beaded items for all to enjoy. I have been exploring and experimenting with new products every chance I get and this new adventure of mine just keeps on growing thanks to all of YOU! Seeing my handmade products being put to use just fills my heart with so much joy! Your endless support and encouragement means so much to me and my family and I thank each one of you from the bottom of my heart for being that ray of sunshine in this dream of mine.

Xo, Fiorella