Meet the Makers
Best friends for over 20 years, Miss Annie & Miss Tara do everything together, including every facet of running Restrained Grace.
(scroll down to read more!)
A Couple of Dorks
Miss Annie & Miss Tara met in 7th grade, and they've been nerding out together since. In 2008, Miss Annie launched Spiffing Jewelry, offering handmade personalized and nerdy jewelry, which went on to become one of the top 10 jewelry stores on Etsy for over 3 years. In 2011, Miss Tara quit her day job to join Miss Annie, and Spiffing took off.Â
While the girls had a blast and learned a ton running a successful handmade business, they burned out on 80 hour weeks. Suddenly the small business didn't feel so small, and they were spending more time managing employees and putting out fires than making things.Â
Miss Annie
Bisexual, ambiamorous, and oh-so-happily spoken for, Miss Annie does all things with passion. She loves to cook and create craft cocktails, enjoys all kinds of arts and crafts, all things vintage, Star Wars, Disney, Harry Potter and another of other fandoms, and is currently learning how to swordfight. She has a six pound chihuahua named Indy who's practically her child. She's been making jewelry for over 14 years, and making all kinds of things since before she could read.Â
Miss Tara
The bread to Miss Annie's butter, Miss Tara has a passion for cooking, baking, music, animals, and her amazing partner. She possesses many hidden talents, and is incredibly good at just about anything she tries. She loves to travel, and Central America is one of her favorite destinations. She's a big ole nerd, too, with Disney and Harry Potter topping her list. She's been making jewelry for nearly 10 years, and crafting with her mom since she was a wee little thing.
Just an experiment
Restrained Grace was launched as an experiment. Browsing Etsy, Miss Annie couldn't find BDSM themed pieces that she would personally love to wear. She couldn't find high quality, elegant, feminine pieces in leather or day collars.
So after years of hemming and hawing over it, she finally took the plunge and launched a tiny Etsy shop, with some collar tags, some pearls, and a couple of leather collars.Â
It may go without saying that Miss Annie's design sensibilities were well-received, but after a bit of a learning curve, she and Miss Tara leaned in and began to grow RG into what you see today.
Restrained Grace's first logo
Staying Small
Vowing to never again face that overgrown-small-business-burnout, Miss Annie & Miss Tara now run Restrained Grace out of their home. In fact, they chose their home because it's got a great big garage that's been converted into their studio. (And they'll be delighted to show off the space once they've had a chance to clean and organize a bit!)
Their goals are to make a living making beautiful things, connect with their customers on a multitude of levels, provide amazing service, and increase inclusion and diversity in the global BDSM community.Â