Category: home goods

FeYerwerks

~ Bess Paper Goods & Gifts ~ Leave a comment

I first wrote about feYerwerks way back in 2008, and have been watching what Bob has come up with ever since. As I admitted way back then, I’m quite envious of how his brain works, so who better to give us a little insight into his creative process?

Tell us about your work—why do you create what you do?
I mostly create things because I love to. I actully love making the boxes more for the products but there is no money in that right now. I was trained as an Architect and I am in the process of becoming an architect. Most of what I make on Etsy I use in my daily life.

How did you learn your craft?
My dad was a home remodeler so I have been working with tools since I was a kid. I currently build architecture models for a living.

How has your work evolved?
My work is a constant struggle between doing what I want and trying to do what I think others want.

What is your greatest challenge?
My greatest challenge is marketing and sales. I have the ideas. I even have the patents. I would love to have someone else sell the things I make.

What inspires you?
I get inspired by architects and architecture and art.

 How did you discover etsy.com?
I was referred to etsy by a friend, I mostly use it as a portfolio site. Sales have been minimal. I have been on the site since 2008 and I am approching $1,000.00 in sales. My mini URBAN CALENDAR and URBAN CALENDAR have been published in 2 books as a result of being found on Etsy: Creative Calendar Collection, page 236 and Save 7he Date, Section #5, pages 35 and 36.

Where can readers find your work?
Currently my work is not in any other venus other venues but I would love to have some other venues sell my things!
You can check out urbancalendar.blogspot.com for other ides about on how to use the URBAN CALENDAR.

What advice do you have for new etsians?
Treat it as a hobby or partime deal until things pick up.

Paperfection

~ Bess Paper Goods & Gifts ~ 3 Comments

Sisters Tamara and Elzeline are Europe-based paper artists bringing the Japanese art of origami into the 21st century. In addition to their folded paper sculptures, paperfection dabbles in hand-bound books and notebooks, cards and more!


Tell us about your work—why do you create what you do?
For me and my sister, crafting was always our favorite pastime. Every few years we would try something new. Mosaic, drawing, knitting, filting… We tried a lot of different things but now we specialize in paper creations. When I was eighteen, I started the study Japanse Language and Culture. Since then, I’ve been fascinated by the art of origami. For my sister, her love for paper and letter design started during her study of Graphic Design.

How did you learn your craft?
During my study, I spent a year in Japan. There I learned how to make modular origami creations from my Japanese friends and from origami books.

How has your work evolved?
I started with very simple origami techniques. In de last few years, I tried more difficult techniques. The Internet has been my guide: there are so many examples and tutorials available on the net.

What is your greatest challenge?
I’m not as commercial as I would like to be. My challenge is to reach more people with my work. I’m now starting a new webshop for Dutch customers.

What inspires you?
I love themes and colors. I’m inspired by different cultures, different seasons and the beautiful work I see here on Etsy. When I go out shopping, I always come back with some materials which inspire me. Usually, I just start somewhere and the ideas come as I continue working.

Tell us about your etsy business.
My sister discovered Etsy when she was browsing the web. We started in 2008. Beginner mistakes: at that time, our shop was not full enough and even now we find it difficult to keep the shop full. For now, Etsy is a hobby next to our jobs. In the future, we would love to create more and work less.

Where can readers find your work?
We have a blog: paperfectionsartandcraft.blogspot.com/ and we are starting our webshop in the Netherlands at /www.paperfection.nl

What advice do you have for new etsians?
Try to be as commercial as you can. Use Google Ads, make flyers and business cards. Be active on the forum, join groups and make friends.

Now I know my A B Cs

~ Bess Paper Goods & Gifts ~ Leave a comment

I first fell in love with Summerville‘s Alphabetty print when I was thinking about making some new throw pillows for my couch. I’m such a type nerd, why wouldn’t I want letterforms in my living room? I really admire her quirky illustration style and the colors she chooses to print them in. Enjoy her advice, fellow crafters!

Tell us about your work—why do you create what you do?
I specialised in print making at art school, and have always been interested in textiles and sewing, principally in quilt making. It made sense for me to produce fabric designs in small pieces for me and others people to use in their projects.

How did you learn your craft?
I learnt to screen print at school aged about 16. I took this skill with me to art school, then rediscovered it after i had children and decided to take it to another level by offering it for sale.

How has your work evolved?
The technique has evolved slightly – I still draw my designs using pen and paper, but now i tend to use photoshop to help me repeat the designs after scanning them in.

What is your greatest challenge?
Trying to keep off Twitter, haha. I find school holidays a challenge, but both my boys have grown up knowing they have an easily distracted mother, so they’re pretty good at letting me get on with things.

What inspires you?
Living on a farm, the countryside, leaves and flowers, charity (thrift) shops, old ceramics and fabric, good design, colours that clash a little, Elle Decoration UK & Living ETC.

Tell us about your etsy business.
I discovered Etsy after discovering the design blogs Decor8 and DesignSponge – Both Holly and Grace are big advocators of the site, and I was blown away to find it. I spent hours trawling through the work for sale, this must have been around 2006/07. At the time I was making paper collages and opened up an Etsy shop called ‘Lusummers’ selling them. I did this for about a year—juggling little kids with making—but once I started screen printing again, I shut that shop and opened ‘Summersville’. I don’t think I made too many mistakes although I didn’t know too much about photography, I quickly learned that to make good sales I’d have to have some great shots. I was lucky though – with both shops I’d only been open a day before having a sale. Etsy is my main source of income, but I wouldn’t describe it as totally full time. Three quarters maybe.

Where can readers find your work?
Obviously at summersville.etsy.com and I’m working with a web designer to create lusummers.co.uk where I’ll have my own web shop. Although I’ll still be shipping worldwide, I want to attract more UK shoppers as most of my customers are in the States. I also have a few things for sale at internet shops blueberrypark.co.uk and clothkits.co.uk.

What advice do you have for new etsians?
Just one piece of advice: Do awesome, clear images. There are hundreds and hundreds of tutorials out there to help you improve your photographic skills. Get that right and your work will sell itself!

White Earth Studio

~ Bess Paper Goods & Gifts ~ Leave a comment

I stumbled upon one of Nancy’s gorgeous forms in a treasury we were both featured in a couple weeks ago. Only after exploring her shop further did I realize that White Earth Studio was located in my home state—Wisconsin! I love the intricate nature and subtle coloring of her work. Here’s what she has to say for herself:

Tell us about your work—why do you create what you do?
 I love the medium of clay, especially the smooth white porcelain clay body that I use. Since my childhood I have loved to create things. My first memory of clay is of making and decorating mud pies with lilac and dandelion blossoms. I seem to still be using mud and flowers as my inspiration.

How did you learn your craft?
 I learned ceramics in undergraduate class at the University of Hawaii and North Dakota, workshops at Penland School of Craft, NC and Banff Centre of Fine Arts, Banff, Alberta and by doing an apprenticeship in Ceramics with a private full time potter in Washington D.C.

How has your work evolved?
My work has become much more detailed in the past five years. I have been teaching privately in the studio which has allowed me the luxury of working on these time intensive pieces. I think also that the work has evolved along with my practice of meditation. Working on the Thousand Petal Vases particularly feels like a meditation to me.

What is your greatest challenge?
 Marketing! No doubt about it. I’m not techy enough to get things done quickly or without a lot of error and re-doing! I’m also on the shy side and have a bit of trouble with the ego part of marketing.

What inspires you?
All the amazing forms I find in nature, it is endless inspiration…anything from a snowdrift, a pear, a tree fungus or a branch.

Tell us about your business.
I found out about etsy from fellow artists. I opened my etsy shop in May 2009. My full time job is maintaining a ceramic studio. Selling on etsy is an arm of my business, I also sell on Alere Modern, online gallery, and am involved with the developing Shibui Designs, Los Angeles, and their associate Fifth Floor Gallery in Los Angeles. Locally at Cornerstone gallery, Baraboo, WI.

What advice do you have for new etsians?
I would advise new etsians to spend alot of time in the forums. This was really helpful for me in the beginning. Also, join a team to meet people, share questions and marketing ideas.

Cornflower Blue Studio

~ Bess Paper Goods & Gifts ~ 1 Comment

Meet Rachel, proprietor of Cornflower Blue Studio and crocheter extraordinaire! I first fell in love with her coral/barnacle/fungus/seed pod organic soft shape sculptures, which she calls an obsession. A lady after my own heart, she crochets, knits and embroiders her own patterns, some of which she’ll share with you! Enjoy what she has to say about her etsy experience!

Tell us about your work—why do you create what you do?
I consider myself to be an artist and a crafter. I love using craft techniques traditionally associated with women and am a bit obsessed with women of the colonial and pioneer eras. Practicing needlework and crochet techniques is my way of honoring their achievements, sacrifices, and contributions to history. The twist is that I use these techniques in a way that is modern and not always function-based.


 I make soft sculptures, decorative embroideries, hand embroidered notes, and I design patterns, too.

How did you learn your craft?
My mom showed me how to sew and make a lot of things when I was a child. She was always sewing and doing cross stitch, so I learned to love handmade things from her. I taught myself to knit from a kid’s how-to book and took off from there. After that, anything with yarn just made sense to me! The crochet and pattern designing evolved from there.

How has your work evolved?
When I started out on Etsy I was selling hand knit winter accessories, then I added a few artistic embroidery pieces just for fun. All the embroidered pieces sold and that really gave me the confidence to make and design more original art. I started drawing more and finding new techniques. Now I have my own unique style and enjoy filling my shop with colorful pieces!

What is your greatest challenge?
Fitting everything I want to do into the time I have each day! My shop is my full time job, but managing my little family (a husband and three cats) is also my other full time job! I pride myself on being a super efficient household manager, so I’m balancing wanting perfection in my home and in my shop. Sometimes the dishes go unwashed!

What inspires you?
I love the color palette and general vibe of all Wes Anderson movies, especially “The Life Aquatic.” And “The Royal Tenenbaums.” I love them both so much! I play albums by The Decemberists, Joanna Newsom, and Sufjan Stevens because they are full of imagery and have amazing lyrics. The song “Colleen” by Joanna Newsome is one my all time favorites. I browse the nature section of the library quite a bit and read a lot of Emily Dickinson poems. I cannot overstate how much I love Emily Dickinson!

How did you discover etsy.com?
I found Etsy through various craft blogs I was reading and signed up in 2008, although I didn’t really start my business until the fall of 2010. Now it’s my full time job and I’m focusing on growing my little business. As a new Etsian I had a lot to learn about writing product descriptions and using the tags effectively. Lesson learned!

Where can readers find your work?
My work can be seen on my blog and on my Flickr stream. It can be browsed and purchased through my Etsy shop, and my knitting patterns are also available through Ravelry.

What advice do you have for new etsians?
My advice for new Etsians is to read the Seller Handbook. Find all the articles about tagging, photography, marketing, and writing product descriptions. This is stuff that is important for your shop’s success! You won’t be perfect, especially at first, but stick with it and make adjustments as you go. If you have questions or feel lost, find a team to join! There are Etsy teams just for new sellers where you can find support and advice.