Whew! If you are new here, welcome. If you are not new, welcome again! There have been a lot of changes behind the scenes here at Jasper & Elm this summer...
To start, this June my partner and I welcomed our first baby into our family, a sweet little boy. Having not held a newborn more than five or six times before this, it has been a HUGE change trying to navigate parenthood, but I think we are finally getting the hang of things!
I also recently turned 30 (check out the 90s collection here!) and celebrated with a massive drop of 90s-inspired colors and styles. So many life changes in just three short months!
What am I doing now?!
While we are still navigating this transition to parenthood (my husband recently went back to work after parental leave, leaving us feeling like we are working through yet another life transition!)
I am still working, releasing collections, working on social media growth, and generally keeping busy during nap times and at night! Motherhood has changed how I have to operate this business, but I wouldn't trade it for anything!
Where did Jasper & Elm start?
Jasper & Elm is a concept I originally created with my mom and her small business in Indianapolis, Flower Mama. We started brainstorming names for a candle business we could collaborate on. We both love the name Jasper (and it is one of my favorite stones!) and knew the second half of the name needed to also evoke ideas of nature. Eventually, I settled on Jasper & Elm.
I know, that's not the sexiest origin story for a name. But, such is life.
However, I quickly learned something very important: I HATE MAKING CANDLES. It was weirdly scientific, and while I enjoyed some of the relaxing aspects of creating, it was not a process I found myself eager to do a lot.
Around the same time, I had purchased a set of clay from Amazon and started dabbling in polymer clay earrings. Now that was FUN.
I discovered I had an aptitude for it, and began selling to friends and family (and, let's be real, giving away some of those pairs!). I got my LLC set up, opened an Etsy shop, and started getting serious about creating.
Fast forward almost three years, and here we are! If you had told me back at the start of 2020 that in three years I would be running my own business, caring for my fist child, AND insanely happy...I would have only believed that last one!