One mother might
look at a handmade puzzle from Hungary and start buying the puzzles to give to her
children or children’s friends as gifts.
When Diane Etelkozi, one of the founders of the Entrepreneur Moms of
Tampa Palms club, saw colorful elephant, butterfly and train puzzles – she saw
a business.
It was a similar
way of thinking that drew Amy Macchiarola of Tampa Palms to join the new club
formed by women who also belong to the Moms Offering Moms Support club of Tampa
Palms.
Macchiarola was
sitting in her home cutting out pretty bows and drawing designs for homemade
cards when it dawned on her she could have her own custom stationery business.
“We all knew each
other from the MOMS Club playgroups and MOMS night out,” Etelkozi
said.“We learned we had business
backgrounds.”
On Nov. 6, the
women will host a Holiday Gift Boutique and Business Bonanza from 10am to 3pm at Club Tampa Palms.
Etelkozi said many of the 30-something stay-at-home
mothers had careers before they decided to have children.For her it’s important to keep at least one
foot in the business world.
“I wanted to keep
my mental sharpness and generate extra money,” she said.“We felt it was important I be at home with
the kids in the early years, but when you quit a full-time job you drop
dramatically in income.”
She sells much of
her PuzzArt puzzles, which she discovered on a
business trip with her husband Andreas several years ago, through her Web site,
www.puzzart.com.
Since she works at
home, she is able to spend time with their two children, Colman, 7, and Lance,
2.
To get her business
going, she took a Web design class and met with the artist from the Fauna Company
in Hungary, the creator of the hand-cut puzzles.
Keeping
her Web site visible means updating her site with safety tips and finding child-friendly
reciprocal links.
“It’s
time-consuming to post with search engines,” she said.
Macchiarola, who is
married to James and has a 3-year-old daughter, Amanda, spends time with her
daughter while creating cards as the owner of Handled With
Care Custom Stationery.
She is able to
handle unusual requests such as s=one made by a man whose aunt had passed
away.He wanted a tribute he had written
reproduced on a mountain scent background to give to loved ones.
Another creative
order was baby announcements that looked like tickets to a Bucs
game with the date as the section, row and seat and the birth time recorded
under ‘kick off’.
The Entrepreneur
Moms of Tampa Palms meet the third Wednesday of the month at 7pm.For
locations and more information, call 495-0971.
TAMPA PALMS - Weary of long workdays and two-hour commutes, all it took to lure Amy Macchiarola from the corporate grind was a formal invitation.
The second-generation IBM worker was doing a favor for a friend when she stumbled across an enjoyable business she could operate from home while catering to customers as far away as Idaho and California.
The 32-year-old resident of Ashington in Tampa Palms combines computer technology with her decades-long interest in ``scrapbooking'' to create customized birth announcements and invitations for weddings, showers, birthday parties, first communions, retirement celebrations and graduations - ``the whole gamut,'' Macchiarola said.
That gamut, from simple to elegant, includes invitations adorned with red gingham or pastel-colored ribbon, on parchment or card stock in a rainbow of colors.
``If you have this idea in your mind, I'll put it on paper for you,'' she said. Or she can tweak an invitation or other stationery a customer might see elsewhere. For those who don't have a clue about what they want, Macchiarola can suggest themes, color schemes and designs. If she lacks appropriate artwork, she or her husband, James, will draw it. ``The possibilities are totally endless,'' she said.
* A birth announcement ``introducing a new bundle of joy'' borrows the colors and designs of the newborn's home nursery, complete with small starfish and sea horses afloat on a sea of lavender and yellow.
* An invitation to a 60th birthday celebration establishes the party's Western theme, highlighted by a black-and- white photo of the honored guest - at about age 5 - wearing a cowboy hat, chaps and holster with six-shooter.
* A custom-cut invitation shaped like a manatee announces a child's birthday bash at Lowry Park Zoo; another designed like a margarita glass, complete with two straws, a lime on the rim and a chili pepper at its base, beckons the recipient to a fiesta- themed cocktail party.
A pricey laser printer is the heart of Macchiarola's home business, but many finishing touches that provide a unique look are affixed to invitations by hand.
Depending upon the card, Macchiarola might embellish it with anything from tulle to suede. ``And there are tons of different ribbon options,'' often with the colorful fabric woven through the face of the invitation, she said.
Cutouts, eyelets, scalloped edges and other unique cuts also are employed, when appropriate. A large oval cutout in the cover of a birth announcement is filled with a colorful photograph of the newborn.
As for Macchiarola's company, Handled With Care Custom Stationery, it was born in February 2002, evolving from a favor: designing and creating invitations for a party she would be unable to attend.
``I had a scrapbook background,'' said the University of South Florida graduate, who employed a puppy dog theme for that first custom invitation. ``As I was doing that, I realized this is a lot of fun.''
Response to her first creative effort fueled the desire. ``Oh, these are so cute and go with our theme so well,'' she recalled her friend saying.
After similar responses from friends and family members who became customers, Macchiarola's hobby grew into a business. In February 2003, she quit her information-technology job, happily shedding 10- hour days and two-hour round-trip commutes four days a week.
Her home-based business consumes about 40 hours a week, but allows more time with family, including daughter Amanda, 2.
In addition to stationery, invitations and envelopes, Macchiarola specializes in ensembles, or coordinated items, including response cards, place cards, maps and party favors for the same event. ``I'm a theme person,'' she said.
Prices start at $1.45 each for a 5-by-7-inch invitation and envelope, and run up to $3.50 for more elaborate work. She also creates menus, programs, business cards, letterheads, postcards, even personalized wrappers to convert candy bars into party favors.
The stay-at-home mom has discovered an additional advantage to her work: ``You get to know people during their happiest times.''
Reporter George Wilkens can be reached at (813) 977-2854, Ext. 22.
