Enjoy the interview!1. Please tell us about the items in your Etsy shop. What do you make? How did you learn your craft? What is involved in your creative process?
I sell a wide variety of jewelry designs using everything from acrylic beads to gemstones and everything in between. I’m self taught for the most part, although I’ve taken some classes in the basics. Gosh, my creative process is a 24/7 thing… I draw on life, nature, events, childhood memories - you name it. I’ll jot down notes or throw together certain components for future projects when something flashes through my mind and eventually it becomes a reality!
2. To which Etsy Teams do you belong?
Etsybloggers, of course! BEST (Boosting Etsy Shops Team), Treasury Team for Tutti, Captains’ Quarters, Etsy Blog Team, Etsy Success, and Handmadeology
3. Tell us two (or more) other interesting things about you.
I love science and anything that makes me stretch my imagination, and I tend to be a bit of a nerd/geek at times. I currently have 7 grandchildren under the age of 6 thanks to my three children, and they are all the light of my life! My favorite getaway would be to a cabin in the mountains for a long weekend of hiking, skipping stones on a lake, hot dogs over a camp fire or hot chocolate in front of a fireplace, lots of nature photography, and maybe some fly fishing!
4. What is your biggest challenge related to your Etsy shop?
Hands down, it’s finding the time to do everything I need (and want) to do to be able to compete in the handmade market – creating, promoting, learning new techniques, and taking care of the business end of the business is pretty overwhelming at times, but I tend to be a workaholic, so for me it works!
5. What advice do you have for other folks selling or buying on Etsy?
My advice to sellers would be to put yourself on the other side of the listing. A photo and a few words are often all a buyer has to go on and you want to give them the best possible information you can. Buying something sight unseen takes a leap of faith and the more accurate and detailed your listings are, the more likely your customer is to be satisfied with their decision to purchase from you. For the people buying on Etsy, please put yourself in the crafter’s shoes – many of us put our heart and soul into our work, not to mention the time we spend buying our supplies and doing the bookkeeping and trying to keep costs down while we keep quality up. You can shop for bargains or you can shop for quality, and occasionally you’ll be lucky and find both… don’t be afraid to ask questions to make sure that what you’re buying is going to meet your expectations.
6. If you had a gift certificate to Etsy for any one item you wanted, what would you buy?
You should have put a dollar limit on the gift certificate! LOL – I’d love to have this dragon sculpture from metalbymartin - I can just imagine how beautifully it would patina over the years… sigh… I love it!
7. Which one song describes your life the best? Why?
There was a song back in the early 70’s that started out as a commercial for Coca-cola and ended up morphing into a real hit song. It’s called “I’d like to teach the world to sing” and its message is about peace and mankind working together to achieve a wonderful world. I’ve always hoped for that, so that song is kind of like my life’s vision.
8. Where else can we find out more about you and/or your creations?
Posted for the EtsyBloggers team by: Mama's Magic StudioSee EtsyBloggers team membership requirements here: etsybloggers.comGot a blog? Love Etsy? Check us out!
