I started SquiggleDot Designs out of some unusual circumstances. I was fresh out of college with my degree in Recreational Management (whole other story about that later), when my dog, Zelda, started hopping around on three legs. We took her to the vet and found out she has a knee cap that would slip out of place. Not a cheap surgery :(
As a newlywed, with no savings to speak of, we turned to our trusty credit card. Our pup had to get her leg fixed and there was no time to waste. "No problem" I though, "We'll just pay it off with the paychecks I get from the job I get after she has her surgery". Well, as it turned out, Zelda had other ideas. She was far too smart for her own good and did not like having staples in her leg, so every chance she got, out they went. Every time that happened, another rush to the vet to get her leg closed back up. Every time we rushed her to the vet, we were slapped with another bill.
Nothing seemed to deter her. She found a way to press her leg on a wall to get her knee around the cone of shame. She found if she rolled just right on the floor, she could get the bandage off. She was an evil genius. The only thing that would even come close was having someone physically watch her for all her waking hours.
So for 6 months of recovery, I was stuck at home. Without a job. Watching the devil dog, Zelda. With no money.
Then, and idea hit. Why don't I fall back on the graphic designing I dabbled in in high school? And I love to scrapbook... I could design scrapbook elements! Thus SquiggleDot Designs was born.
Now it's 2 years later, Zelda is healed (even after her second knee surgery for the other one), I have my day job as a graphic designer, and SquiggleDot Designs lives on! Zelda's surgery is paid for, so most of the proceeds from the shop go to help pay for foster kittens and toward my future house.