feature + giveaway: a girl named katie

I had the pleasure of welcoming Katie of A Girl Named Katie as my sponsor feature this month. Katie is a true inspiration of a gal who is living her dream. She started her own business and just married her high school sweetheart a few weeks ago. We had the pleasure of giving away one of her bags at the Maiedae Mixer in June :) You'll have to go check out her shop to see all her amazing products for yourself! Visit her Facebook and Blog to keep up with all her latest updates and inspiration! And be sure to enter to win $50 worth of shop credit below!

TELL ME A LITTLE BIT ABOUT YOURSELF?

I am 21 and just got married to my incredible, attractive, and supportive best friend. Together we live on part of his family's dairy farm and work full time jobs at local small businesses. My daytime job is pretty cool. I work at a fabric shop that buys designer fabrics from New York. I do a little bit of everything there, but primarily I cut, pack, and ship orders all over the country. When I return home I am busy designing, sewing, and shipping orders.

HOW DID A GIRL NAMED KATIE START?

I started my handbag line a year after I graduated high school. I skipped college and went right to work on my dream since I took several pre-college classes before I graduated high school in fashion design and illustration through local colleges. My grandmother and mother taught me how to sew when I was 6 years old. At first, I entered my projects in our local county fair to try to win prize money, which thrilled me to no end as a child (don't let me fool you, it still does!) From there, I grew up as an entrepreneur and always loved trying to run my own business, whether it was a restaurant in the basement called Katie's Kitchen where I was well-known for my pretend toy food or my own in-home cleaning service I ran for my parents who played along and paid me an hourly $1 rate for my chores. So when I was in 7th grade I decided I was going to be a fashion designer and have not stopped chasing that dream since.

 In my senior year of high school I made my first handbag for my mom as a gift in the same ruffle style I feature in my shop. I began playing around with more styles as I tried to sew up some of my stash. I made several ruffled make up bags which I sold to friends, family, and coworkers. I continuously worked on creating a better product and a more cohesive look. And finally I decided it was time to make A Girl Named Katie official. I make all of my products by hand right here in America!

WHAT IS CURRENTLY ON YOUR WISH LIST? 

Currently I am working towards making more products and getting my name out there. I would love to travel to the west coast to sell my products. Unfortunately there are not a lot of Indie Craft Fairs on the east coast. (If you know of any, let me know! =] ) I recently purchased myself my big ticket wish list item: a Bernina 350 which I completely paid off in a couple weeks with all of my holiday mustache orders! I was super excited and I am loving this new machine! So my next wish list item is a trip to the west coast for a craft fair or small business conference!

WHAT INSPIRES YOUR WORK?

I am inspired by a mixture of vintage era's from the 20's to the early 60's. I love feminine styles, a 1950's color palette, and a pop of color or an unexpected print. Ultimately I would love to design clothing, but I have been having so much fun with handbags!

FINAL THOUGHTS?

I have been very lucky to have support and loving friends that have helped me grow my business. My beautiful friend, Char from Char Photography, shot my recent lookbook and several others have listened to my dreams and given me their words of wisdom and encouragement. I love supporting small businesses and working with other local businesses. I try to only purchase items from other small business, not only in my everyday life but also for my business. It can be a challenge but it is very satisfying! Maybe you will try it, too!

GIVEAWAY

Katie is generous enough to give away $50 of shop credit to one lucky winner! All you have to do is enter below to win. Giveaway is open until Friday, July 26th. Winner will be contacted via email to redeem their prize.

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Thank you, Katie, for partnering with me this past month! I thoroughly enjoyed getting to know you more! Are you interested in sponsoring Jenny Highsmith? For a limited time, enter code JULY25 for 25% off any ad size! Ends Friday, July 26th.