Aileen Fredericks is CEO of Issaquah-based National Etching, a family owned business that has supplied etched glassware, crystal and metal awards and gifts. For more than 20 years, individuals and organizations have turned to National Etching for unique, memorable ways to celebrate special occasions, business milestones and to recognize people's accomplishments through custom awards and prizes.

Fredericks, a former Microsoft employee who left to launch several small businesses, recently launced a specialty gift product line called Edie's Etchings, named after her young daughter.  People who want to turn their children's artwork into family treasures can send Edie's Etchings hand-drawn pictures or photographs which can be used to personalize high-end items such as crystal vases and other useful giftware.

Replicas of the artwork are carved into glass surfaces through a centuries-old transfer process that involves hand-masking the original image and blasting a sand-like material onto the mask to produce a permanent etched duplicate of the design.

One of the benefits to belonging to Startup Sisters, she says, has been access to others who can serve as a sounding board for her ideas.  Since women of all ages represent one of the target  audience's for  Edie's Etchings, she's tapped the sisters' collective input more than once in the development of the product line.

Fredericks and her husband have two children and find the lake and mountain views from their home provide almost as much inspiration for their business as does their family.