Teri Keys is a mother, military wife, quilter, and Etsy shop owner.  She runs the stunning shop Teri’s Treasure and shares her life on her blog (there’s a great video on there of her husbands company).  When the founder of  the Homefront Team put in a call for help, she was right there to jump in.  Always there for support, to share in triumphs and sorrows, a quick quip, and a friendly cybersmile, she keeps us inline.  Teri has pride in her husband, who graduated yesterday from Drill School, her beautiful daughters, her mother and her craft.   

How long have you been quilting and sewing?I hand quilted my first quilt when I was about 8 years old, it was a corny panel with “country ducks” on it. At the time I thought it was cute but now, makes me cringe thinking of having that up in my house! haha I have been crafting all my life but I did my first quilt when I was 23 years old, red white and blue, log cabin blocks. From there, I have learned more and more about quilting and almost 7 years later, love the products I am putting out.

What inspires you to create your items? My main inspiration is amazing fabrics. I go into a quilt shop and gaze at all the amazing fabrics, I have to walk through them over and over before I decide what I like. After picking out the fabrics, I then see what I will be making. Its like the fabrics tell me what to make.

Do you have any major influences? My mother is my biggest influence. She has taught me amazing techniques, she sends me patterns. She has showed me the basics of quilts all the way to the up to date techniques quilters are doing now. I come from a HUGE line of crafters and quilters. My aunts are amazing quilters. I have one aunt that has met the president because of her work, a published author of craft books and owns a shop. I feel it is in my blood to do what I do.

When did you decide to start your own business and what prompted you to do so? My family and had just moved from Fort Wainwright, Alaska and we had been hit hard financially. It was a hard time for us and we had thought about me getting a job and it killed me to imagine leaving my 2 year old (at the time) at a day care. After a lot of prayer, it hit me to try to sell my quilts and quilted items online. I was going to have my own website but ran across Etsy and thought it was perfect for what I wanted to do.

How did you find ETSY? Has it been beneficial for your business – good /bad? I was researching websites that I wanted to “rent” a site to sell my products and ran across Etsy as a search through Google. I had never heard of it before so I started checking it out. I thought it was amazing how it was a community within itself and would bring in outsiders to my shop. It has been very beneficial to my business. Joining the Homefront Street Team through Etsy has been so helpful for my business and personal life.

How did you come up with the name of your store? I went through a huge list of names and decided on Teri’s Treasures but when I tried it on Etsy, someone already had that name so I had to settle with TerisTreasure.

Do you sell outside of ETSY? If so, where? NO

Do you work outside of your business? I don’t have an official job outside of my business but I feel staying at home with your children is a FULLTIME JOB! It is the most rewarding job you could ever have and an honor to be able to stay at home with my girls and watch them grow up! You have to weigh the pros and cons of having more money in your pocket or being able to watch your girls doing amazing things! I pick watching my girls. You will be rewarded in a different way then money, that is so much more to me!

How do you juggle being a military spouse and running your own business? Well I don’t feel like being a military spouse and running my own business is very hard. I feel my work keeps me focused on the normal day to day things of our lives and the military world. I still am working on finding a happy medium of being a stay at home mom, military wife and running my business… if you have any ideas, convo me! haha I just feel pulled in a lot of different directions during the day and have to make my priorities.

How did your spouse/family react to you starting your own business? My 8 year old daughter, Alyssa, was so excited for me! She started drawing patterns for quilts and things, totally supportive! My husband backed me up 100% and is so proud of me. I just want to be a Etsy Success story so I can let my family see that their support was worth it!

What are your hobbies? Well quilting is my hobby, or shopping at the quilt shop for fabrics to quilt. As you can see, I turned my hobby into a profession.

What is the best and worst thing that has happened after starting your business? I love the fact that I am helping financially with my family. I have the best of both worlds, I get to stay at home with my girls and make money doing what I love to do. Those are the best things to me!

Is there anything you would change? honestly, there are times I am like, I wish things were like this or that but when you stop.. step back and look at the whole picture, I wouldn’t change a thing! I am so blessed to have such an amazing husband and girls!

If you had one wish what would it be? As far as my business is concerned, I wish that I would have more buyers, I don’t sell as much as I would like but I feel that comes with a lot of time and always changing up my designs, trying new things and fabric.

What is your goal for the next 6 months? To have a more successful shop. I define success as having 1 sale a week, no matter how big or small.