Grade 7 Anna L. didn’t set out to start a business. She went to an HCOS Connect workshop, learned something new, and came home excited. That’s where Lemon Blossom Designs began.
The workshop was led by CC+ teacher Julia D., who introduced students to the art of resin jewelry making. For Anna, it clicked immediately. She started practicing at home, working with real flowers pressed into resin to create pieces that are as delicate and distinctive as the blooms themselves. Slowly, her skills grew. Her confidence grew with them.
“She enjoyed it so much, she started creating her own at home, slowly building her skills and confidence until she decided to try selling it at a local market.”
That decision to try a local market was a leap of faith, and it paid off. Customers responded. People who had no obligation to be kind about it genuinely wanted to buy what Anna was making. That was the signal she needed. By Grade 6, Lemon Blossom Designs was officially open for business, complete with its own branding and a growing presence at markets across Vancouver Island.
- Budding Business
What started at a single local market has grown into something genuinely impressive. Anna has now sold her jewelry at markets in Parksville, Nanoose Bay, and Nanaimo, and Lemon Blossom Designs is stocked in two local stores across those communities. For a Grade 7 student, that’s a real, functioning business with real customers and real reach.
Anna loves every part of it. She is thrilled by the creative process — dreaming up new designs, experimenting with different flowers and resin combinations, refining her craft with every piece she makes. And she loves the business side too: the thrill of building something, learning how to price, present, and sell, and knowing that other people love her work enough to pay for it.
“She is constantly coming up with new designs and refining her skills while strategically reinvesting in her business.”
Anna’s sights are set on expanding into bigger markets this summer and partnering with more stores to stock her jewelry. The ambition is clear, the groundwork is already laid, and Lemon Blossom Designs is only going to keep growing.
- Where School Meets Storefront
Anna’s story is a vivid example of what home education can look like when it’s working at its best. The journey from workshop participant to business owner didn’t happen despite her education; it happened through it. HCOS gave Anna the flexibility to pursue Lemon Blossom Designs as a genuine part of her learning, weaving together entrepreneurship, financial literacy, and customer service in a way that fits her.
And the connection to HCOS runs deeper than just scheduling flexibility. It was an HCOS Connect workshop that first put resin and flowers in Anna’s hands. And since then, HCOS has invited Anna to come full circle, leading two resin jewelry workshops of her own: one at HCOS Connect and one at Parksville Art Camp, where she has taught other students the same craft that started it all for her.
“Home education gives Anna the flexibility to pursue her business as part of her education. She has learned entrepreneurship, financial literacy and customer service, while doing something she loves.”
There is something special about a student who goes from learner to teacher within the same community that inspired her. Anna L. is in Grade 7, her business is growing, and she is already giving back. Lemon Blossom Designs bloomed in an HCOS workshop, and it’s still blossoming.
