The Velvet Collective

I will be doing a clearance sale in store by appointment only starting at the end of this week. Please message me to schedule a time.

After a lot of thought, I’ve made the difficult decision to close The Velvet Collective’s retail storefront to the public.

Recent circumstances made it clear that this location was no longer the right fit for the future of my business. While this wasn’t the outcome I had hoped for, I’ve chosen to focus my energy on building something even better instead of remaining in an environment that no longer aligns with the vision I have for The Velvet Collective.

This is not the end of my business—it’s simply a new chapter.

Over the coming months, I’ll be creating a dedicated studio where I’ll continue hosting my Whatnot shows, shipping orders, creating artwork, working on taxidermy, and expanding everything that makes The Velvet Collective what it is. My passion for oddities, education, and creating unique experiences hasn’t changed one bit.

As for whether The Velvet Collective will have another retail storefront someday… I honestly don’t know yet. Right now, I’m giving myself the space to build intentionally instead of rushing into another location. If and when the right opportunity comes along, you’ll all be the first to know.

To every single person who has supported this dream—whether you’ve shopped in the store, joined a Whatnot show, stopped by an event, or simply shared my work—thank you. You helped turn an idea into something real, and I will never take that for granted.

The Velvet Collective isn’t closing.

It’s evolving.

Here’s to new beginnings, bigger dreams, and continuing to make the world just a little weirder. 🖤

new babies! snakes and opossums and beavers oh my!

message for pricing 🖤🦝

Spent our day in griffin at Griffin Pride! We had soooo much fun. 🏳️‍🌈

we will be closed today for an event, see you tomorrow!

It seems as though some posts have been made to slander my business. While I won’t be stooping to the level of unprofessionalism and immaturity others have, I will be taking a second to defend myself against false allegations.

The local business owner who has made this post about me has claimed many things and here are the defenses:

Claim 1: I stole their business name and ideas. The owner and I have had many conversations and bragged to others about how I didn’t even KNOW the name of their business when I planned to open mine. It was purely a coincidence to have a similar business name. It was originally going to be my mother’s fabric shop, until she relocated, hence why I have since taken over.

Claim 2: You can sell taxidermy without a license. This is just not true. As a shop that sells live animals, you should absolutely be more knowledgeable about DNR laws. Shame on you.

Claim 3: I stole money/profit from them.
The owner of the shop watched me grow my business selling taxidermy, specifically wet specimens. When she saw my success, she decided to piggyback off of that and offer those things in her shop. I informed her about taxidermy sale laws and offered her a spot as a vendor in my store. She agreed and we settled on an 80/20 commissions split. My vendors are paid monthly…hence why you haven’t been paid for June yet. I have all of her sales written down and documented.

Claim 4: her partner never yelled at me.
There was an incident where a deer specimen was left outside overnight due to an attempted robbery of their store. I was escorted by police to keep me safe and was unable to retrieve the deer. This was extremely unfortunate and made for a very uncomfortable experience for shoppers and the upstairs shop and I addressed that and deeply apologized. When I went upstairs to apologize to them, the owner stopped me and apologized to me in advance for what her partner was about to say to me. She stood right next to me as he cussed me up and down and screamed in my face. I simply nodded, apologized, and walked downstairs. She came with me and hugged me while I sobbed after her partner had just verbally abused me. She apologized on his behalf and made excuses about his behavior. It was extremely traumatizing.

Claim 5: I owe her money for utilities. We never agreed to split any utilities. She offered me her WiFi password out of kindness (I thought?) and never asked me for payment. It wasn’t until I was getting her mail in my mailbox stating she was 3 months behind when she started asking me for help paying it. I agreed, and then before I had the chance, she had changed the password. So I just got my own WiFi…

It is unfortunate when people you trust turn their back on you, but in business, this is something I have prepared for. There are many things that can be said about others but instead of investing energy into negativity, jealousy, and lying, myself and the people around me will continue to uplift one another and not post “tea time” on our business page.

Thank you to all who support and we love you! 🖤🦇

-Braylin

The life of a taxidermist: a story told in pictures…

See you in Atlanta and Savannah 🦇🦝🖤😏

So excited to announce we will be there! So beyond proud and excited. 🦋

MWAHAHAHAHAHA