Today we’d like to introduce you to Ashley Helms.
Hi Ashley, please kick things off for us with an introduction to yourself and your story.
About 10 years ago, I started vending at small local pop-culture events with my friend, Mary. At the time, she wanted to start an event-based cafe hobby group where we could create a safe space for people to relax during a busy convention day. I was interested in becoming more involved with local anime, gaming, and pop-culture communities and selling crafts. We had a small group of friends that were also interested in the idea- and so, Café au Lait: Butler and Maid Cafe was born!
I remember when we signed up for our first event- we made cupcakes, dressed up, and primarily focused on talking to our community and gaining interest. We did bring a few arts and crafts to sell- Mary had some small jewelry and hair bows that she regularly crafted, and I created stickers and Valentine’s cards just for the event. My mom had helped me purchase my first set of prints and a small hand-crank sticker machine to start. I sold about $120 worth of art and miscellaneous little toys I was collecting, but it was enough to pay back my mom and half the table cost! From there, I kept reinvesting the money I made to grow my inventory while Mary and I learned about vending and running panels in the convention and market scene.
I always had a tough time finding my place in the Café group, but I was always comfortable behind the table and helping with things from the background. It wasn’t until I got engaged in 2017 that I started finding my niche in what I enjoyed doing. I learned a lot about event set-up from being my wedding planner, and I even fell in love with floral crafting after hand-making all the bouquets, accessories, decor, and such with my bridesmaids. I spent the next few years honing that craft and fell into creating unique floral accessories, collaborating with one good friend in photography, and another in fur-suit costume making, and started experimenting with different styles. I was finally establishing myself as a small business with a niche I love and was able to use that skill for the Café as well. 2021 was a low-key year while I was pregnant, and I had my son one week before Thanksgiving day! I took an extended break for the holidays while I navigated new mom-hood and got back on the grind in February 2022. My husband chose a new job that allowed me to be a stay-at-home mom for our son so I could have more time to work on building my floral business. Learning to be a parent, managing career changes, and running a small business has been challenging, but I’m grateful for everything he does for our family daily. Without his support and push for us to reach our goals, I couldn’t do what I do.
The past year has been a fantastic experience- we have learned many things and met many amazing people in the geeky, alternative, pop-culture scene. Café au Lait has established a few wonderful and dedicated members, and we have seen reoccurring faces at events which is always so exciting for us. We’ve been evolving our set-up, testing new ideas, focusing on in-person events, and crafting new things. All this has led to blossoming relationships with local event planners, small businesses, and other groups in the community, which we couldn’t be more thankful for! I expanded into making terrariums and repurposing decommissioned video game systems which I fell in love with. I’m proud of how much we’ve grown- as a collective and as individuals finding themselves. I am so excited to see how Café au Lait and my little floral business grow from here! It’s been 10 years, but we’re only getting started.
Can you talk to us about the challenges and lessons you’ve learned along the way? Has it been easy or smooth in retrospect?
The first few years were rocky- we were young- transportation and self-funding were a few small issues we faced. In the beginning, I wasn’t driving yet. Once I had gotten a vehicle, and after we both had jobs, it started getting easier to branch out. Over the next few years, we had become ingrained in our community- recognizing familiar faces, falling into routines, planning independent events, joining bigger events over time, and forming our identity as a group and individual talents.
We were finally starting to find our routine around the beginning of the pandemic, which was lucky timing. To dedicate more time to floral and in-person events, I changed my hours at my day job. The pandemic greatly affected businesses, with it being travel agencies, and they had to resort to cost-cutting measures. Unfortunately, because of this, I was quickly let go from the company when they terminated all part-time employees. My new-found unemployment became a blessing in disguise, which I hadn’t realized at the time. I focused on building my brand online until Mary and I could get back to doing events. I always struggled with managing my social media and Etsy shop, so I used the downtime to work on those things.
While I was pregnant in 2021, Mary and I did a couple of events here and there, with some extra help, as they began to pop up again- but later in my second trimester, I was advised to slow down due to physical and blood sugar issues. By the third, I had to be pushed in a wheelchair for any extended time out, so markets, Café duties, my online presence, and even creative liberties took a back seat. I did my best to bounce back after the new year, but I couldn’t help but feel a little behind after all that time. I feel like I’ve come a long way since February and finally got back into the groove!
Appreciate you sharing that. What else should we know about what you do?
Creating elaborate artificial floral accessories and decor is my muse! I adore head-turning floral statements, and my local community knows me best for my elaborate accessories and nature-reclaimed gaming console house decor. I have so much fun creating different styles, from “bobble” type desktop terrariums, to subtle bottled terrarium earrings and flower crowns that are carefully themed! I like to save decommissioned video game systems and do my best to use as much of the hardware and casing as possible to give them new life- and keep them out of the trash.
Every terrarium and headpiece is meticulously crafted and detail-oriented, taking about 5-8 hours each, and I usually can only recreate the same style once. I create pieces that anyone can enjoy- some may be heavy on the funky floral side, while others will have a more abandoned setting, utilizing an overgrown mossy style with simple leaves and vines. Essentially, each piece has its own story and aesthetic or theme!
My work is delicate but also nostalgic, comforting, and can be personally relatable. One of my favorite things is being told stories of people’s favorite childhood memories or individual interests when they see a piece they connect with. I always strive to be a safe space for people and urge them to be themselves, so it’s fulfilling to provide that feeling through my craft.
Do you have any memories from childhood that you can share with us?
My favorite childhood memory is the innocence of playing my favorite video games on my childhood Playstation 2. The feeling of bundling up under a warm blanket pile in the middle of my bedroom floor- in the dark at 1 AM, with just the TV reflecting off my face. Sometimes my best friend would be over, and we’d spend the night giggling insanely over the Sims and trying not to wake my parents snoring in the next room.
Pricing:
- Terrarium Jewelry $10-25
- Misc Floral Accessories $5-50
- Mini and Bobble Terrariums $25-50
- Large Head Pieces $100-350
- Video Game Terrariums $100-300
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.etsy.com/shop/Ashcatdragonbat?ref=shop_sugg
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/ashcatdragonbat/
- Other: https://www.tiktok.com/@ashcatdragonbat
Image Credits
Ashley (myself- foreground, red shirt); Mary (red hat); Maid Bunny (Black hat)
