How Paper Rituals Really Started

I wasn’t sure I was ever going to be ready to write a blog.

For the past few months, I felt completely knocked off track. I lost my Etsy account, everything changed very quickly, and for a while, I didn’t even feel ready to start again.

But here we are.

So, this is my first official blog post.

Hi, I’m Amy. I’m 30 years old, and I have two kids. I think I started this whole journey of trying to find something for myself about 12 years ago. I never really knew exactly what I wanted to do, but I always knew it would be something creative.

At one point, I wanted to be a beauty blogger because I love makeup. It has always been one of my passions. Then I started ShantiCo, which was going to be bracelets and soaps. After that, I bought my first Cricut in 2020 and would lock myself away trying to chase the dream of selling handmade items.

The truth is, I wasn’t really enjoying it. I loved the idea of creating something, but it didn’t feel right at the time, so I moved away from it and went to work in a dementia care home. I stayed there for a few years, and then in January 2025, I left. That is where the journey of Paper Rituals really started.

I taught myself how to use Canva, researched the best printer, and bought another Cricut. My original idea was to create journals and trackers, so I made a Mounjaro one because I thought it would sell.

It didn’t.

Then I made a dark romance journal and a fantasy one. I wasted so much money, paper and materials trying to get everything right, but I just couldn’t get it to where I wanted it to be. So, back to the drawing board I went.

I love reading, especially mafia romance. If you know, you know. So I thought, why not try stickers and bookmarks?

I took what I thought were amazing photos. They were not amazing, but I uploaded them anyway. It took about four months of learning, changing photos, trying again, changing things again, and slowly figuring it all out before I finally got a sale.

And once I got one, I started getting multiple orders daily. Bedtime became 12 am, my desk was covered in orders, and I’m pretty sure the postman hated me.

January and February were going so well. I really thought, finally, something good was happening.

And then, bam.

Etsy suspended my account. Everything I had worked for was gone overnight. My heart broke. I locked myself away, rushed to open a website I had no idea how to build, and honestly, I thought it was over.

Everything I had worked for felt like it had disappeared.

But now, three and a half months later, I can see that maybe it was a blessing in disguise.

The people who come to my website now are honestly some of the nicest people. I love packing your orders. I love seeing what style of reading you enjoy. And most of all, I love seeing the videos and pictures you post and tag me in.

It means so, so much to me.

Every buyer. Every message. Every single follower.

So, from the bottom of my heart, thank you.