About Squimp's Werkshoppe

Heya!! I'm Em, the one-person chaos machine behind Squimp's Werkshoppe! Everything you see here is made by my two hands, with graphics crafted by my lovely husband, and the whole operation occasionally supervised by our dogs.

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A little about me: I'm a 20 something year old goblin who is unapologetically non-binary, androgynous, and bisexual! I'm also proudly neurodivergent with ADHD to boot. Running Squimp's keeps my brain happy, my hands busy, and my hyperfocus pointed at something I actually love. It's basically the best thing that ever happened to my productivity, and it gives me those warm fuzzies that I keep coming back to!

hey look, it's me!

hi, my name is Gemma

the dogs in question

hi, my name is Willow

✦ The Man Behind the Graphics (purple guy reference :O!!!)✦

While I am the sole creator of the items in this werkshoppe, the one thing that I was never good at was graphics. That's where my husband comes in and saves the day!

Meet Cory! He's my hype man, my sounding board, and my (completely unpaid) professional graphic designer. While my hands are busy crafting every physical product, Cory is the genius behind everything you see. The logo? Him. The frog backgrounds on the site? Him. The Facebook graphics, the Mail Club reveals, the packaging, the business cards? All him.

Squimp's Werkshoppe wouldn't look half as good without him. He takes my chaotic creative visions and makes them actually look cohesive! Trust me, without him... I'm not sure that my website or socials would make sense...

He also jumps in to make some perlers when I've got too much on my plate, and pokes holes in product backings so I don't have to, aka he does some of the unglamorous but deeply appreciated work. ♡

This shop is as much a reflection of him as it is of me, and he's a huge part of the team!

this is the man!!!

✦ Boredom and a dream! ✦

As for how it all started, I was unemployed, bored out of my mind, and the pandemic was happening, so I couldn't do anything. I decided to pick up perler beads, something that I used to do back in the day. I just... started creating! Literally anything I could. Things from video games, random designs, you name it! Since I was bored, I posted them to my Facebook, just to show off how cool they look to be honest. But, something happened... people really liked them!! I got some of my friends reaching out, asking for some. That's when the spark hit. The "woah, people want this stuff?" itch. It never went away.

my first perler!

✦ The Story of Squimp's Werkshoppe ✦

Squimp's Werkshoppe has been around since 2020, but it didn't always go by that name!

It actually started as Muffin's Crafts, named after my gamer tag at the time. I operated this way for about 2 years, when I got stuck in a cycle of BIG life changes, and a severe lack of motivation. I never stopped thinking about my shop though. When I met and moved in with my now husband, I always told him I wanted to start again, I wanted to create! I'm the happiest when I'm working with my hands, and I needed to get back to doing the things I loved! After getting medicated (WHICH WAS THE BEST THING TO EVER HAPPEN TO ME OMG!), I knew I wanted to open up shop again. That's when Squimp's Werkshoppe came into the mix!

my first logo!

✦ From there, it just... kept growing! ✦

Flat perlers turned into 3D standees, 3D standees turned into actual 3D figures (like my bees) because I wanted to push myself! Then, I wanted to put my own flair on everything, so I taught myself to hand sew... suddenly I was making keychains and pins too!!! One thing always led to another.

One Christmas, I was gifted an iPad, and that opened up a whole new world. I just drew and drew and drew! Funny enough, stickers and prints didn't come into the picture until Squimp's actually opened... but the practice paid off! Now they're a staple in everything I do!!

These days, if I have an idea... I just make it. No gatekeeping my own brain anymore.

my first market i've ever done!

first handsewn project

first perler standee

first try at a keychain

✦ But Wait... Who is Squimp? ✦

Okay, real talk... I should probably address this. I am not Squimp.

Squimp is my mascot! A little guy. Born out of my love for all things silly, he is actually inspired by my plush frogs! This sounds goofy, but I give my plushies personalities and names, and he is based off my two frogs; Timothy and Tadpole! Honestly, it was just a fun idea to have a small little guy run a store!

Funniest part is, he just... appeared one day. No grand origin story, no elaborate planning other than the plushie inspiration. He simply showed up and claimed the throne, as frogs do. The name had already taken over my entire online presence, so it only made sense that eventually a frog would materialize to go with it.

So, behind the scenes, I'm the one crafting, posting, and designing everything. Me, Em, the hooman. But, let's just pretend that Squimp is doing everything here. After all, it is HIS werkshoppe! 🐸

this is squimp!

✦ Everything is Made With Love (Literally!!!) ✦

One thing I'm proud of? No mass production here, not even a little bit!! Every single item in this shop is handcrafted by me, start to finish, right here in the werkshoppe. (my room haha)

That means every keychain and pin is hand sewn, and put together by hand. Every sticker sheet is printed, cut, and checked by me personally. Even the packaging is put together by hand. Printed out, cut, folded, and packed with care before it ever makes its way to you.

It's a lot of work, honestly. But, I wouldn't have it any other way. When you order from Squimp's, you're not getting something pulled off a shelf... you're getting something that had my full attention and a little piece of my heart in it. ♡ No matter how big my store gets, no matter how many orders I have, everything will ALWAYS have my touch. When I opened Squimp's, I took a little commitment to never have anything mass produced. I plan on sticking by that.

✦ Anyway, that's enough about me ✦

Go look at the cute stuff!! Every order means someone out there wanted a little piece of something I made with my own hands, and that never gets old. Thank you so much for supporting a small, handmade, one-goblin operation. It genuinely means the entire world.

If you want something custom, have a question, or just wanna chat, shoot me a DM or an email. I don't bite. (The dogs might, but they're not in charge here.) Happy browsing!

ദ്ദി(˵ •̀ ᴗ - ˵ ) ✧ -Em, Cory, and Squimp!