Artist of the MONTH: Jayna Janelle (JJCrochet)

This month I have the pleasure of featuring Jayna Janelle and her Etsy shop, JJCrochet. JJCrochet is a wonderful shop that specializes in hand-crochet accessories for women, men and children, with items such as hats, boleros, slippers, headbands and much more.

Janya tells me her story begins in August 2003 the summer before her freshman year of high school and "Like most freshman girls, I spent my summer months crocheting. Okay, so maybe I was a little weird."
By the end of the summer, she had hats piled on dressers, overflowing in shopping bags, and stored in bins under her bed. Having already given her friends as many hats as they could ever wear, she knew something had to be done.
So one day, at the age of 14, she announced to her parents that she wanted to start a crochet business. Two days later, her mom came home with bags full of yarn and three days later, her dad handed her the hosting for a domain name he purchased for her, www.JJCrochet.com (the “JJ” comes from her name: Jayna Janelle which to her kind of rhymed with crochet).
Since the day she decided to turn her craft into a business and of the helping hands of her parents, Jayna has been audited twice by the IRS (at 16 years old), spent days at outdoor craft fairs huddled in booths in 25 degree weather, even getting lost trying to drive to craft shows by herself.
Looking back Jayna tells me, "She wouldn’t trade the experience for anything".

Now a freshman in college (majoring in what else, but entrepreneurship!), she has found that she is more inspired than ever. Her new friends, new places, new environments, and new ideas all go into the hats she crochets. The only problem she seems to face now a days, is forcing herself to study instead of giving into my passion.
Jayna is surrounded by supportive friends and roommates who completely understand all the yarn stashed in their dorm room.
"One great thing about living on a college campus is that there are models for JJCrochet hats right down the hall!", says Jayna.
She has recently started designing and selling crochet patterns, and loves her newest design: 'Versatile Newsboy Cap/Hat' with a flower which is available in her Etsy Shop – www.JJCrochet.Etsy.com.

Jayna says, "I am thankful that instead of having to work at a grocery store like my peers, I got the opportunity to do what I love most: crochet. While I don’t see myself toting my wares around to craft shows or selling my hats online for the rest of my life, one thing is certain: I will never, ever stop crocheting. I mean c’mon – it’s supposed to lower your blood pressure, right?"

Well that is a great story and the reason why we should always follow our dreams, even if it is for a moment, because you never know what can happen...
Thank You Jayna!
Look for next months Artist of the MONTH!!