Custom Horse Stall Sign with Western Riding Theme Engraved Horse name plaque Western Style handcrafted Name Plate gift for cowgirl or cowboy

Hi, my name is Melissa, and I am so excited to meet you!

My day gig is working as a Taxation Analyst for a large corporation. However, my newfound passion is cutting and engraving wood to make beautiful pieces. Being creative is a great release after a long day at work. Several of my friends have been working on creative hobbies in their spare time and they have inspired me to finally begin releasing my creative juices as well.

I purchased a Cricut machine on Amazon Prime Day in October 2022. However, I didn't end up even opening the box until late January 2023. I had no idea how to use it and was intimidated by Design Space. After watching tons of YouTube videos and taking free beginner Cricut classes, I became more comfortable using my Cricut and began crafting away.

As I learned more, I began to wish that I could make more things and craft with different materials. At the time, I didn't even know that laser engravers were a thing. I would tell my husband what types of things I wanted to make and he suggested I get a laser engraver and showed me a YouTube video. From then on, I was hooked. I watched so many videos and finally purchased one of my own. It stayed in its box for months as, again, I was intimidated by it. Finally, I worked up the courage to open the box, and begin playing around with it and here we are today.

To give you some history about myself, I have lived in 6 different states including Idaho, North Carolina, Maryland, Illinois, and Washington, and I now reside in Oregon. My dad was in the Navy, however, after North Carolina our moves were no longer due to the Navy. When people ask me where I am from, I say that I am from Central Illinois because I've lived there the longest - from 3rd grade through college.

In Illinois, we had a small farm. We farmed about a hundred acres of alfalfa, we had horses, several cows, and an odd assortment of other creatures including; a goat named Billy, a goose named Snow White, a lamb named Pearl, a few chickens, and a boatload of barn cats. I also had the pleasure of growing up with Golden Retrievers and raising several litters of precious Golden Retriever puppies.

As a kid, my favorite things to do were to ride my horses and to help my dad build things around the farm. My dad built almost everything we used. He was a hard-core, 100% DIYer, and I was right there alongside him helping him out. This is how I learned to love building things out of wood.

I currently live in the suburbs of Portland Oregon with my husband and toddler. Our little one is the sweetest, cutest, smartest, most wonderful baby boy. He is growing so fast. This is one of the main reasons, I wanted to open an Etsy shop and start selling my crafts. I want to be able to spend more time with him since he will be grown up in the blink of an eye I'm afraid.

We have 2 dogs and a cat. Our good ol' dog, Ted, is old and grumpy and also very naughty. If there is something to be gotten into, he for sure will get into it. He is a pug/chihuahua mix (chug) and is very haggard-looking. Our newest dog is a Doberman/German Shepard mix. She is super smart, super sweet, and super energetic. She lets our toddler sit on her and take her toys from her without complaint. They are great friends. Our cat, Rocket is a flame point siamese. He is very pretty and cool but is also very spiteful. If we do anything to make him displeased, he will potty outside of the litter box on purpose or rip something up with his razor-sharp claws. I guess that's a cat for you though.

My parents are also "growing up" faster than I would like. I want them to be able to hang out with their only grandson more and I would love to be able to hang out with them more. The gift of time is the greatest gift my Etsy shop could give me. I look forward to a time when I am no longer constrained by a 9 to 5 schedule. Where I can design and make crafts on my timeline.

I hope that you can relate to me in some way or another and that you love my crafts as much as I love making them. Please feel free to join me on my adventures via Instagram/Facebook/TikTok, where I will share behind-the-scenes new product previews, sneak peeks of your product before it ships, and occasional discount codes. Also, please email me with any questions or custom requests.

Email: mbcraftworks2023@gmail.com