Happy Monday everyone!
I want to you all to meet one talented lady, Kamryn Kay & check out her amazing giveaway!
My shoppe is nearing it's 2nd anniversary coming up at the end of May. Let me tell you it's been quite the learning experience! I opened my shop in 2009 and had very little idea about what it would be like to have an online shop. I pretty much thought that I would be able to list a whole bunch of stuff and it would just magically sell itself. I mean Etsy is great but no where in their title does it say magical mystical money maker, I learned that the hard way. After the first year of having literally zero sales and feeling the pains of disappointment and failure, I decided that it might be a good idea to read the operator's manual and subscribed to the Etsy Success emails. It was an extremely beneficial move. I got tons of info on how to take good images, insights on what the buyer is thinking, how to make "sales" and "specials" work, the importance of marketing to your specific clientele, how to prep for the holidays, the strategy behind listing and re-listing regularly, how to keep accurate business records, and on and on... I began to understand that Etsy is really a tool that requires skillful honing, patience, dedication, and time. Slowly my following has grown into a source of supplemental income and given me the opportunity to connect with people across the country.
What is your creative process?
My creative process is inspired by nature and the materials I use. Since I work with recycled materials I am ever on the hunt for new and unusual finds to incorporate into my handbags and earrings. I am especial drawn to natural prints, natural materials such as wood, fibers, or stones, I love vintage beads and fabrics, and draw great enjoyment from playing with color. Since repurposed materials inherently speak of time and place I think that is also very important to me. Like if you could trace any given item back to it's source where would it take you. So I guess you could say i let the materials be my guide.
What has been your biggest crafting disaster?
Oh boy! My biggest crafting disaster has to be a sculpture piece I made my junior year at MIAD and this is more based on the ridiculous process I used to make it rather than the actual final product. Essentially what I wanted to do was bend wood veneer into the shape of a female figure, a.k.a. ask a natural element to do something completely outside its given properties. Step one, I made a full body cast of one of my class mates then backed it with a plaster mother mold for support. It weighed several hundred pounds and had to be busted up with a sledge hammer for disposal at the end of the year. Step two create a paper pattern from the mold to use for laying out the wood veneer. Step three cut hundreds of 2 x 2 inch pieces of wood veneer, punch holes in the corners and fasten them together with brass fasteners. Step four mold the veneer by spraying the mold with release spray then slather the assembled veneer with resin and place it into the mold. Then place a layer of release plastic. Encase the whole thing with heavy plastic sheeting and seal off the edges with poster putty type stuff. Then hook it up to a vacuum compressor to suck all the air out and pull the wood down into the mold. Then place several hundred pounds of hot rocks that you've been boiling in water on a kitchen stove in the middle of the art department, into the cavity of the mold to help soften the wood and weigh it down. Then tuck it in with several layers of blankets to keep it warm over night.......Crazy? Not quite crazy enough, then I decided to crochet itty bitty copper electrical filament into a net to suspend it with. I titled the piece "Thrown Stones," a lesson on how to choose your battles wisely.
What are your current projects?
Well, I'm always working on the bags and try to do 20-30 of them a week but right now I'm developing a line of earrings and leather wallets, which I'm really excited about. I'm also finishing up a commission for 11 mosaic benches for the Johnsonville Company that will be installed the first week in June. It's been a busy couple of months.
Any advice for those who want to start their own shop?
Subscribe to and read the Etsy Success blog. I found oodles of helpful information there and it really helped me to understand how to use Etsy as a tool and that an Etsy customer is a different breed of shopper. Consider how your shop will be viewed aesthetically as a whole, it should all be very cohesive, from your banner, to your name, to your products, to how you stage your images, to your descriptions. Write an artist statement- who are you, what are you about, what's your perspective? An Etsy shopper wants to buy something they can relate to and really sings to them, tell them what makes you and your creations so great! Be prepared to try lots of different things before you find what will work best for you, as frustrating as it may be. Determine who your clientele is and cater to them. Make sure you're at the top of the stack-list and re-list regularly! One of my favorite quotes, all you moms out there will love this..."Just keep swimming!" (Dori, Finding Nemo)
Find more of Kamryn here:
Kamryn is giving away one of her lovely items from her shop!
If you are the winner, you get to pick from your favorite wristlet or earrings from Permanent Baggage.
To enter:
*Leave a comment with your email address & what item you would like to win.
For extra entries:
*Tweet about this giveaway & comment saying so
*Go to Permanent Baggage's Facebook page & like & comment saying so *Become a fan of my blog & comment saying so
*Blog about this giveaway & comment saying so
