It’s been more than a year since I last updated the blog. I guess the pandemic really did bring about certain changes that I wasn’t prepared for.
First, the bazaars we had lined up in the first quarter of 2020 were all cancelled. At that time, I didn’t think too much of it. It was more of an “Okay, this will blow over by next quarter” for me (clearly I was wrong!) and with free time on my hands, I thought, why not just set up the business that I have always been thinking of?
And so I did. I registered Happy Hands Can on 18 February 2020.
I started by uploading some of the products I made during my free time up on our Instagram for sale. Then I began putting together my workshops for corporates and home parties and sent out emails with hopes for the new company. I had a couple of positive responses and some plans in place, but alas, the new virus started to pick up speed in spreading. Everything started to fall apart.
But before I could react to it, home-based learning (HBL) began. It was a good distraction for me. I enjoyed the HBL days a lot. The husband was working from home, the children were home. We were together 24/7, doing everything together – working, studying, eating, gaming – and actually enjoy being around one another.
When they all returned to work and school, I was left alone at home again. And that’s when it started to hit me. Was it a good idea to start the business? What am I gonna do if I have no bazaars to go to to promote the business and sell all the products that I had just brought in with my savings before bazaars were cancelled?
I ended up just ignoring the business altogether as I was a loss of what to do. So for another few months, the business was the big white elephant living in my mind.
After much encouragement from my husband, I decided to step out of my comfort zone of bazaars and dive into the online world. I spent my alone time putting the website together, taking photos of products we have, putting together new products and uploading them. Finally, I was starting to gain momentum and had something to look forward to.
And with the help of fellow mommy bloggers, who helped promote my business through their social media and/or purchase products from me as gifts to their loved ones, I managed to make some sales over the year end holidays, which greatly boosted my confidence. For this, I’m forever grateful to Angie, May, Summer, Natasha and LY.
My family, relatives and friends have all been really supportive as well! Whether it is to purchase something for themselves or to gift others, I truly appreciate everyone’s support!
And on that note, a special shout out to my elder sister and little brother + sister-in-law!
The elder sister gave me the opportunity to make the gifts for teachers and staff for Teacher’s Day and the little brother + sister-in-law gave me the opportunity to be part of their wedding by creating additional wedding favors for all their guests! Also, thank you mommy and papa, for bringing it up to the couple!
Without help from those nearest and closest to me, I wouldn’t have been able to stay afloat. So, thank you. Thank you each and everyone of you who have helped Happy Hands Can in whatever way possible.
I’m still eagerly awaiting the return of bazaars, but I’m also beginning to enjoy just churning out products for the business. It’s running at a loss (for now only, I hope!), as I’m constantly buying materials to create something, but it really makes me happy when an idea I thought of is materialized! For this, I’m eternally thankful for the husband. He’s slogging away for the family from sunrise to sunset, whilst I stay home with the children to play. And he still has to be the pillar of support for days when I’m down in the dumps!
Hopefully, 2022 will be a better year and things will start to look up!
To end this long post, let me just share what Happy Hands Can is all about and what we have in our online shop.
A Walk with Klay is all about the journey our in-house clay artist, WK, takes with all his works – from immortalizing our furbabies, capturing their personality and characteristics in the form of a sculpture, to tableware, ring holders, accessories and many more.
Our Crochet Collection consists of handicrafts mainly handmade by our senior crafters. They will receive 100% profit made from the sale of their handicraft.
Creative fun awaits with our DIY Kits! A therapeutic way to destress.
Our fabric collection are also handmade by our senior crafters and carries a large variety of products, ranging from hand sanitizer holders to cup holders, hair accessories to bags and pouches.
Our laser engraving and cuts collection ranges from earrings, necklaces to personalized keychains and photos.
Xuan’s Creative Space is a series of handicrafts by a little girl who loves arts and crafts. She likes to explore the use of various materials to create anything that comes to mind – from accessories to handicrafts and more. The possibility is endless!
Xuan is currently embarking on a journey to help the animals. Along with the rest of Happy Hands Can team, for every animal related product listed here that is sold, a portion of the proceeds will go towards Xuan’s goal of sponsoring an animal. Once Xuan has reached her targeted amount, she will make the donation and unveil the animal that she has sponsored!
And last but not least…
Our workshops – which are all currently held online. This is the reason Happy Hands Can came about. I wanted to bring our workshops to people and see everyone having fun while creating their own little piece of art!
And in case you’re wondering, our December holiday online workshops are available for booking now!
All in all, this sums up Happy Hands Can best – Handicrafts made with love, made in Singapore by local crafters, or ignite the artist in you and do-it-yourself, it will all be uniquely yours to keep.
