My name is Anna Pereni and I'm 28 years old. I'm from Romania and I came to UK 6 years ago. I never thought I was going to stay for too long, as i came to support my sister when she decided to come study here, now she's graduated and moved to another country, however I'm still here and not planning to leave any time soon.
I love sewing. I loved it since I was about 5 and I used to sew clothes by hand for my sister's dolls. The irony is, I've always been a tomboy and I didn't like playing with dolls, I'd rather play football with my brothers. I thought being girlish was somehow ridiculous for me, but I did like nice clothes.
As I grew older, I realized that I'm different than most of the girls I knew and I liked that. I didn't like to be typical. I like to be unique. I liked the same in clothes. I never liked to wear anything that you could see on anyone else, so I had to ''personalize'' my clothes. I didn't have a sewing machine so I couldn't make major alterations, but I could still add buttons or different patches of fabrics on my clothes.
I bought my first sewing machine when I came to UK. After a few years of working in hospitality I decided I got tired of being exploited by other people and I thought I could actually try and work for myself for a change.
It wasn't easy, I couldn't just quit my job and start a business from nothing, so I had to take it slow. Working full time, slow became slower and I just let the dust sit over the sewing machine. Until the company that I was working for shut down and I haf been laid off.
While trying to find a job, I started sewing again and opened a little shop online. I made a few things, had a couple sales but nothing serious, than I got into working full time again and the shop just sat there, for almost a year, with 2 sales and about 20 items listed.
A few months ago I quit my last job and I said this is it! I had enough! I had enough of giving the best of me to people that will never appreciate it. So I decided to do what I love. I love sewing. I love all kinds of crafting and, getting more into it, I realized that there are so many things I can make with a piece of fabric and some thread.. I realized that was it for me, the feeling of accomplishment comes from every little thing I create out of nothing. From every piece of fabric that I tak, cut and sew into something beautiful that someone is gonna wear and feel special. I love to finish a project and be surprised by the fact that I m capable of sewing an idea into a real, tangible thing. I love the idea that my ideas are unique and I'm always gonna make things different. I love my talent, and, as ''modest'' as it sounds, I don't wanna hide it from the world.
Of course, is not all that easy. Competition is tough and sometimes the pressure takes my self-confidence to minus. Like every business, there are times of struggle. especially that I'm just barely starting on this road. But then, there are days when I have a custom order that seems impossible, because I 've never done that thing before; and when, in the end, I exceed mine and the customer's expectations, there is nothing that could make me feel better.
The name of my ''brand'' has a story aswell. I have a quite unique and weird middle name, that I've kept secret pretty much all my life: Crisanta. So when I opened my shop, I decided that it's uniqueness would be the perfect representation for my business. So after some thought, I mixed Anna and Crisanta into Crisanna and all of a sudden I became proud of my middle name .:)
I'm not a brand, not yet. Maybe I will never be, but as long as I get to do what I love in my own time and pace, I am accomplished.
I sell in person every two weeks in Sutton Coldfield, The Parade. I have my shop on Etsy and a FB page and currently working on a website. I can always take custom orders.
You can find my shop on Etsy here : https://www.etsy.com/uk/shop/CrisannaBoutique?ref=seller-platform-mcnav
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/CrisannaBoutique-304284960000835/
Email: perenianna@gmail.com
