Introduce Yourself: Hi! I am a stay at home mom, or as I like to put it, a Domestic Engineer, and I live Lashburn, Sask, a small town near Lloydminster. I have a teenage daughter and an 11 year old son who has Autism Spectrum Disorder.
How did you get started ? I started making candles when my son was small because I wanted to help supplement my husband's income and I wanted to be able to stay at home at the same time. I started making soap about 3 years ago because I was always fascinated by the whole process of it and how all all the ingredients benefit our lives. I also love knowing how much people love what I make and knowing that I made it myself, with my own two hands. Where can people find you online? Everywhere! lol! website: www.northerndlights.ca Facebook: www.facebook.com/northerndlights Instagram: www.instagram.com/northerndlights Twitter: www.twitter.com/northerndlights What do you like about selling on Etsy? I really love that I don't have to do all the maintenance and work like I do with having my own website, and also that Etsy has a good traffic base already established, so it is easier for my product to be seen through Etsy. What brought you to Etsy? The fact that it is mostly all handmade products. And that it is so easy to work with Is there anything else you would like to share with us about your shop or yourself? I love creating! I am always willing to try new things, and to make something by request. If there is something that people want and I don't have it in my shop, please let me know and I will do my best to make it for them!
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Introduce Yourself: Hello, I am Lila Kallstrom, an artist and art teacher from Martensville, Saskatchewan. Although I have worked in many mediums, I really enjoy watercolors and producing small paintings. I began using techniques called atmospheric watercolors and was able to produce the backgrounds easily. The viewer imagines the full details of a picture, which I create from images in nature, mostly from my imagination. I then decided to mount them on paper bags as a way of getting art in the hands of the user. I found bright handmade paper bags online from Thailand. Since I have visited Thailand and wanted to help the people there, I order all my bags from this county. I also enjoy working with wood. I have refinished wooden antique chairs for many years and re-stained the wood. Also I stain forest and nature scenes on wooden Adirondack chairs. I also have done wall murals on cedar wood panels. Nature inspires me and appears in my work or in the materials I like to work with. You will therefor find some Saskatchewan plants from my surroundings in my art, such as Saskatoon berries, or evergreen trees. What is the name of your shop and how long have you been open? The name of my shop is The Gift of The GAB - Gift Art Bag (which is bag spelled backwards). My Etsy shop has been open since 2012 when I originally was selling my refinished antique chairs called Rare Chairs. I later changed to selling my gift bags so renamed the shop. How did you get started and how long have you been doing your craft? I have been doing my craft since Christmas in 2013. My first watercolors were mounted on white paper gift bags and recycled brown paper bags for a craft show. The next show was in the spring, called Collectively Green close to Earth day. At this time I decided to work with handmade paper bags instead of reusing brown paper bags. Where can people find you online? I can be found on facebook page called Lila Kallstrom - Artist I am also the administrator of a facebook group called The Martensville Art & Skill Collective. What do you like about selling on Etsy? The main reason I like selling on Etsy is because I can reach foreign markets that I never would have been able to otherwise. It is easy to ship my items and I have relatives in the U.S. that I have been able to sell to. Also, Etsy is very helpful in terms of the blogs, tips and advice given. Even the idea of joining teams helps you feel supported and collaborative as a website rather than selling something all alone. What brought me to Etsy was being invited and a general interest in handmade unique products online. I used to look on Ebay but I found Etsy much more interesting. I liked that they surveyed your interested first. What's been your best Etsy experience? My best Etsy experience was going in a pop-up market recently in Saskatoon. Etsy Canada sponsored a radio interview of some of the sellers so I was able to do a quick demonstration of my technique on local TV. This generated interest in my art, and in the vendors at the show in general. It brought out many people to the show which was near to our local farmer's market. It was an excellent venue, and I was also close to a store which I sell my art in. The store owner was happy to support Etsy sellers, and my work, having seen the Etsy market show and all the people it brought in to the area. It was a win-win situation for the other vendors who did not know about Etsy. Another Etsy seller also featured one of my red gift bags on a "Redy for Christmas" list. This way of featuring items together was also a great experience and brought many views to my shop. Is there anything else you would like to share with us about your shop or yourself? I would like to add that partnering up with vendors sounds exciting to me. I think someone who is a vendor could surely use my unique gift bags. Possibly a wedding invitation or party host can use my gift bags or my art with a theme. So, I would really like to expand my shop by working with someone else. I have enjoyed the Etsy sellers and the Etsy marketplace. It is a great way to have an online shop with lots of help in setting up an expert retail experience.
How did you get started and how long have you been doing your craft? I have always been "a doodler" but I started intentionally drawing in January 2015. I made myself a vision board for the year and included some of my doodles. From there, friends started requesting custom drawings and as I built my portfolio I decided to sell black and white doodles in my Etsy store.
What do you like about selling on Etsy? I love selling on Etsy because it connects me to so many other wonderful customers! I think it's fantastic that my art can be sold to every corner of the world! I believe that colouring is therapeutic and calming and I love knowing that I'm helping to spread that feeling around.
Is there anything else you would like to share with us about your shop or yourself? I'm excited for the opportunity to share my art with the world through my Etsy store. I love thinking of all the happy colourists, scratching away at their papers, filling in the shapes that I drew. Thanks for reading, and happy colouring!
Introduce Yourself: Fusing my love of clay and painting, I create hand glazed artwork on pottery and ceramics that is both functional and eye-catching. My name is Isabelle Rowell, I am a potter-ceramist and painter and I use only food safe glazes as I believe it is best when art can actually be used every day. I also create more traditional artworks by painting acrylic on canvas and wood. The challenge of creating artworks on pottery and ceramic is that you never know exactly how it will turn out until the kilning is finished. Misfire occasionally happen and when they do, I upcycle the remnants into jewellery pendants or home decor items like blind tassels. All my pieces are one-of-a-kind and each is made with details and a touch of humour. What is the name of your shop? The current name for my shop is 3 Teal Dragonflies Creations. The business name exists since 2008 (registered). How long has your Etsy shop been open? In this iteration, my shop has been opened in February 2012. Since end of 2015, 3 teal Dragonflies is now dedicated to Ceramic, Pottery and everything home and kitchen. I am slowly working on two others shop in order to get my other products out. I design all my branding myself (banners, business cards, logo etc.) It practices my graphic artist talents. The two other shops (empty at the moment) are named : Freed Dragonflies and Dragonflies Song. Freed Dragonflies will contain all my paintings and some template or package to help people create their own branding as well. I am well advanced with this one. I will have a lot of little things that I hope will help my fellow artists, not just art. I am at developing a product that I keep for myself at the moment. It is planned to be release in 2016, all being well. Dragonflies Song will contain my jewellery and purely decorative for the body. I am developing some tattoo drawing that people could potentially print out and bring to their preferred parlour. I am at testing all I have already made because I found out some of my necklace could potentially contain less solid material and fall apart when wear. Not a good idea, so I pull everything off. I’d be really glad some real jewellery people will want my bead and pendant instead of me having to work in an area I am not comfortable with. How long have you been doing your craft? Since birth? Seriously, I don’t know where I can put the line that say before I was not an artisan/artist? In painting, I earn my first reward when I was 7. I guess they really liked my painting because it never came back. So I have an original somewhere in France, whether it is still on display, I don’t know. I began doing pottery around the age of 10 or 11. It was a hobby most of my youth, even though through their great wisdom, mom and dad kept me busy in sport and music activities, even theater. If it comes with my first sales and customers base? It was 22 years ago. I still only was able to work on my art only a couple of days a week, but it was the first year I actually have to declare revenue coming from art and since then to keep track of expense and revenue. And then I moved to Saskatchewan 10 years ago, life became busy and my art fell somewhat by the wayside. For about five of those years, I just wanted to *fit in* . I still created, though. Only, when I made something, it was to give it away. I have been back at art on a fuller time since 2010. Although I still have butterflies calling myself an “artist”, I have to admit it is who I am. How did you get started? All my career choices had been made to accommodate my art talent or used them, so there is no clear cut of when I started. My life is balancing act between fulfilling my artistic ambitions and “working for a living”. Everything I ever learned outside the studio helps me with my art business, not just the studio time! I am thankful for all these office positions I held. They allowed me to learn keeping my own book, market; draw my own logo and business cards, research for new products and shipping. From my first diploma (that was as a drafting person) through years as webmaster, support and computer graphic or multimedia down to communication and radio journalism, I accumulate enough skills to be a one woman show. I made it to university, still hobbying on painting, earning awards and I built (at the time) solid community participation with other artists. I also had enough customers to not need usual night shift to cover my education expenses. Where can people find you online? For the moment, I am having a Facebook page under my first shop name: 3 Teal Dragonflies. What do you like about selling on Etsy? Exposure: It provides me an affordable international exposure and facilitated sales outside my locality. Time management: Such a blessing that I can update my products at 2 am in the morning or while on a trip to Edmonton for other purposes, or during my lunch hours IF and WHEN I have a contract that is not art. Community: Although I would prefer face to face local involvement, being able to encourage other artists is really important for me. Etsy allows me to do that in spite of being geographically distant. At least with Etsy, I can distribute hearts around, encourage on forum, help other artists, do treasuries, leave comments with the one we since connected on Facebook and instagram. I just love to see people doing what they are the best to do and Etsy empower me to do something for other people that might otherwise feel isolated. Inclusivity: On Etsy, we have one color, one culture, one language: we are artists and artisans. Period. Using my skills: There is no better way to show a potential customer that you can do what you are ask for than showing it to them rather than telling them. What brought you to Etsy? I tried a few time prior to open a shop and dabbed in different platforms. Originally, I wanted to find an indirect way to show up that I work well and build a portfolio. My first shop was in 2008; I deleted it. I tried different venues. I mostly wanted to have a place that will not financially drain me by the month but rather at usage. It took me 4 years to get back to Etsy after I left the first time. It more comes from the fact that it is a way for the customer to get to know me for what I do. What's been your best Etsy experience? So far? It ought to be the skull. Long story short, I created an Acadian French thematic skull... It was sold in a matter of hours! And that is when I realised how Etsy and social media can be powerful. The key to selling is not a one size fit all 1-2-3 big kept secret recipe you can buy from me (or anyone else) at $19.99 a month: the key to selling is being seen. Acquire your skills, have something you are passionate and competent at, put it out there and have as many people possible to see it and you will find a niche and sell. No other magic hocus pocus. It takes just one person, the right person to see your pieces. This would have taken years in conventional setting! For the skull: I had not even had the time to translate the description yet, in French nor in Spanish. From the minute it went online, I had 6 offers in convo, 8 on Facebook. Not all 15 of them ended up in other products sold because many people wanted that specific original or a copy of it. I do not do copy and of course I had only one original. The momentum it created gave me enough revenue to pay myself a retreat I was contemplating for a while and that in turn made me better at doing art. I mean, I am thankful for every single interaction I have on Etsy, even if it does not result in a sale: people are so supportive. They challenge you to be at your best too! Numerous times, I sold when I least expected it, items I was told will never sell. Is there anything else you would like to share with us about your shop or yourself? Since moving out here, I have not really had the freedom to create exactly what I wanted. I am now looking forward moving back into doing more of my own clay and ceramic works to paint on. It has been on my mind a lot and I have space now. I have my own molds and kiln (out of storage). That will allow me more flexibility to customize the products I offer and to cater to a wider range of people in a more timely fashion.
Introduce Yourself: Hello! My name is Wanda Fraser and I live in Regina Saskatchewan. My daughter Kyla and I are the creators of LaraBella Jewelry Design. We are a mother and daughter team who values artistic creativity and individuality. We strive to offer high quality unique products women will love to wear. Kyla leads a very busy life as a full time primary school teacher and a part time designer and creator with LaraBella. LaraBella is my full time job and I do it all: jewelry design and creation, photography, marketing, shipping, and administration. We both love what we do. Working out of a home studio we are always looking to offer the best in new artistic designs along with an exceptional customer experience. What is the name of your shop? We are called LaraBella Jewelry Design. About two years ago my daughter Kyla and I decided to open an online jewelry store on Etsy. We both agreed that we wanted a descriptive name, one that would clearly communicate the products we were selling. We also wanted the name to be meaningful by paying tribute to something or someone we hold dear. For weeks we exchanged ideas back and forth via email, phone calls and text. Kyla settled on the name Laurel, as in the laurel leaf. This leaf symbolizes many things: creative inspiration, eternal youth, immortality and victorious achievements just to name a few. I certainly loved the symbolism. I however, was hoping to use the name Sarah to pay homage to my grandmother who courageously uprooted her life (and family) from their home in Ireland in hopes to start a new and better life in Canada. And so we combined the names Laurel and Sarah to Lara. We then added the word Bella (which is Italian for beautiful) as homage to all women and to recognize that every woman possesses her own unique beauty. How long have you been doing your craft? After retiring from a communications role in the corporate world, I was looking for a way to leverage my life long passion of artistic creativity (such as photography and design) into a business. “LaraBella Jewelry Design” has allowed me to blend together my creative abilities and business skills into a labour of love. How did you get started? I took an early retirement in 2013 but knew I did not want to actually retire. My goal was to start my own business doing something I loved. Kyla suggested I look at opening a shop on Etsy and so it began. Together with Kyla, and a business plan in hand we took the leap. We opened our shop on October 13, 2014 with only 20 items on our virtual shelves. A little over a year later we have over 135 items and have successfully expanded our revenue stream to include selling at local markets. Our most recent event, the Holiday Bazaart at the MacKenzie Art Gallery in Regina, was one of the highlights of our first season.
What do you like about selling on Etsy? I believe Etsy is like no other e-commerce site on-line today. As a seller I feel that am part of a larger community with the ability to sell my products worldwide. I also feel that, as a seller, I am not alone within my selling community. The support one can get by joining any of the many Etsy seller teams is absolutely invaluable. Etsy itself supports me by offering a plethora of valuable learning tools, and with the many informative and helpful articles available on their site. I also enjoy the control I have when creating my personal storefront. The use of my own photography and graphics allows me to build my brand and show the world who I am as a seller. What brought you to Etsy? Etsy was a good fit for me. It allows sellers a more personal approach to selling online and it was relatively easy to get started. Etsy was fairly new to Canada when I first started building my business but it was definitely on the lips of everyone I knew. Without a doubt Etsy was where I wanted my online business to be. What's been your best Etsy experience? In September 2015 LaraBella Jewelry Design participated in the Etsy Made in Canada Event. I loved the opportunity to meet many of the other local sellers and to meet face to face with our customers. Knowing that this event was also happening on the same day in cities all across Canada gave me the feeling of being part of something big. It was a great feeling. Another great Etsy experience for me was when I made my first overseas sale. This sale was to a young lady on the other side of the globe (Hong Kong). Communicating in different languages (and different time zones) certainly had its challenges. This young lady has since become a repeat customer so I do believe we did all right! Is there anything else you would like to share with us about your shop or yourself? Personally I have always believed it’s important to give back to the community whenever possible. That’s why LaraBella is proud to sponsor ShelterBox Canada by donating 5% from the profit of each sale to this remarkable organization. ShelterBox Canada responds to disasters around the world and provides emergency shelter and lifesaving supplies to help families trying to survive in the immediate aftermath of a disaster. If you would like to learn more about ShelterBox Canada we invite you to click on the following link: http://www.shelterboxcanada.org At LaraBella we know that life is about creating yourself. Let our unique line of jewelry reflect who you are.
Introduce Yourself: I am Vicki Gauthier of Prince Albert, SK and I make functional pottery for people to use in their home. I use handmade pottery myself at home as often as I can and I want others to know how great a handmade piece of art can be in everyday use. What's Your Shop's Name? Penny Lane Pottery What do you make/sell? How do you make it? I make functional pottery like bowls, mugs, plates, honey pots, wine cups and wine goblets. I make all of my pottery on a pottery wheel and fire the dried pots in a kiln in my home studio. I also mix my own glazes and decorate each pot before the final firing. How long has your Etsy shop been open? I opened my shop in December 2012. How long have you been doing your craft? I have been making pottery since 1997 when I moved to Prince Albert, SK. How did you get started? I got started in pottery by taking classes at the Prince Albert Arts Centre. The three hours of my first class went by in an instant and I was hooked by the new skill I was learning. I was fascinated by the entire process of preparing the clay for throwing, learning to centre the clay on the wheel, making a pot, drying and firing the pot in a kiln. The decorating and glazing process was so creative and artistic and something that I had never been exposed to before. I was thrilled at what a magical transformation a glazed pot goes through in the final firing in the kiln...spectacular results!!! Where can people find you online? Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/PennyLanePottery Twitter: https://twitter.com/vixbug @vixbug Instagram: @penny_lane_pottery Pintrest: https://www.pinterest.com/vgaut/ What do you like about selling on Etsy? I love selling on Etsy because my pottery has been shipped across Canada, the U.S. and even to Singapore! Selling pottery in person at art sales is also a great experience since I'm able to interact directly with my customers. But selling on Etsy exposes my pottery to so many more potential customers and people are really excited when they've made a purchase, they can't wait for their purchase to arrive. What brought you to Etsy? Someone I met at an art sale introduced me to Etsy as an online platform for selling. When I investigated what it would take to get my shop up and running...I knew it was a good fit as another selling venue for my business. What's been your best Etsy experience? Etsy has been a fantastic addition to my business. Every selling experience has been great. My most challenging and most fun sale was to a woman living in South Africa who was travelling in France and shipping 2 bowls to the neighbour of the bride - her niece (living in Boston). Thankfully the bowls arrived just before the wedding, all in one piece, and the bride loved the gift! Is there anything else you would like to share with us about your shop or yourself? My Etsy shop is a great venue for selling my pottery outside of Saskatchewan. I sell in person at the Evergreen Artisan Market in Prince Albert every year and I will be selling at Sundog Arts and Entertainment Faire in Saskatoon this year too. While these are great venues and my local customers come to see me at these sales, Etsy provides a great platform for expanding my customer base.
Introduce Yourself: My name is Erika Folnovic. I am a UofR graduate with a degree in Arts Education and Visual Art. Fibre art and watercolour/ink illustrating are my main two areas of expertise. In fibre I make custom/monster fabric portraits, soft sculpture (puppets, stuffed animals, etc), and others as I find time to explore. In 2014, I illustrated my first children's book called "Jamie and the Monster Bookroom" by Kerry Simpson. Find more info about it here on our publisher's website: http://www.driverworks.ca/Jamie-and-the-Monster-Bookroom.php Before that I have had illustrations published in: "The Too Tall Boy" by Kay Niedermayer, "Letters to Jennifer From Maudie and Oliver" by Sharon Gray, "Every Bite Affects the World" by Catherine Verrall and Friends, and "Is it Easy Being Green?: Eco Art Initiatives for You and Your Classroom" an article I authored for Canadian Art Teacher. My work is mainly geared towards the young and young at heart and my designs are playful and cute. What's Your Shop's Name? ErikaFolnovic What do you make/sell? How do you make it? In my shop, at the moment, I only have my fibre work available in four main areas: Fabric Banners (pennant/bunting banners), Erika's Little Monsters (embroidery hoop portraits), Puppets, and Custom Products (of Fabric Banners and Little Monsters). All my products are handmade by me and use recycled materials where possible. How long has your Etsy shop been open? I started my shop in October 2014, but didn't post any items until December 2014. How long have you been doing your craft? I had a brief stint making jewellery and doing the festival circuit in Regina for 3 years before I went back to my first love, fibre art, and did that for another 2 years before deciding to only sell my work on Etsy and in shops (I have work available at Paper Umbrella and the Mackenzie Art Gallery shop in Regina). How did you get started? I have been making fibre work since my mom taught me to use a sewing machine as a young kid. From making small purses to hand sewing embroidered designs on pillows to applique work, I have always loved the tactile nature of fibre work. I didn't really think about it as an art form until I was in university and started looking at and researching artists working in soft sculpture and other textiles. What do you like about selling on Etsy? I really love connecting with customers that wouldn't be a usual part of the old festival circuit model I was running. What brought you to Etsy? I was becoming increasingly exhausted from the festival circuit after 5 years of travelling, setting-up tents, displaying products, tearing down, and starting all over again. Etsy gives me the freedom to work and sell from home and reach a really wide audience. What's been your best Etsy experience? All the custom orders I've made have been wonderful experiences. I love the process of bringing a family to life in fabric. I take a lot of time and consideration to replicate the people or animals with the small details that make them unique. Before selling on Etsy, I never really promoted custom work but I am really enjoying it! It's a fun challenge for me. Is there anything else you would like to share with us about your shop or yourself? I am an educator, as well as, an artist. I work with programs at the Mackenzie Art Gallery, Regina Public School Board, Conservatory of Performing Arts, and others throughout Regina.
I am starting an initiative in Regina called the Art Supply Exchange and we are seeking second hand art supplies until our shop launch on September 25th. If you know anyone who is getting rid of any old art supplies please send them our way: https://www.facebook.com/artsupplyexchange OR http://artsupplyexchange.blogspot.ca/ Introduce Yourself: My name is Lindsay Buhay. I am originially from Prince Albert but have been in Saskatoon since 2008. I always thought I wasn't crafty at all. I can't sew, draw, paint or do pottery. But greatly admired people who could. As I got older I began to try new things and discovered I am crafty after all. I am constantly trying new things. Some I fail at and some work out. Sometimes the opposite of what I thought going into the project. I have discovered a new love for making things and I look forward to never running out of the things to try and possibly fail at. What's Your Shop's Name? My stores name is Spa Stuff. Simple and describes exactly what I want to portray. To me a Spa is anything we can do to pamper ourselves and take some much needed me time. What do you make/sell? How do you make it? I make yummy smelling things for your bath. Bath salts, Milk Baths, Bath Teas all scented with herbs and oils. I have recently started to experiment with Sugar Scrubs, Body Butters and lotion bars. I am continually trying new things and hope to have a wider variety in my store soon.
How did you get started? I got started making sugar scrubs and some bath salts for myself and gift for Christmas. They starting to become more popular and so it just snowballed until now I find myself trying to turn it into a business instead of a hobby. Where can people find you online? My facebook is https://www.facebook.com/LindsaysSpaStuff Instagram is https://instagram.com/lindsaysspastuff/ What do you like about selling on Etsy? Even though I haven't gotten any sales yet I like the sense of team. It has allowed me to reconnect with a friend from the past and I have learned so much by reading the boards. Everyone wants everyone to succeed and its a great environment to learn in.
Is there anything else you would like to share with us about your shop or yourself? Just that I value feedback. Please check out my shop and feel free to offer suggestions to improve. I love learning from other people and their shops.
Thanks for giving me this opportunity! Introduce yourself: Hello! I am Wayne Balion from Saskatoon. I have a degree in Computer Engineering, my day job is web development/programming, and my craft is cross stitching. My awesome wife is very supportive of my craft, primarily assisting me at the various expos and shows that we attend to sell my products. What's your shop's name? StitchedPixelsEmbr What do you make/sell? How do you make it? I cross stitch video game and pop culture characters. I sell framed pieces that I’ve completed, as well as selling cross stitching starter packs, cross stitch patterns, and necklaces. I design all of the patterns myself and aim to stay as accurate to the original designs as possible. All of my finished pieces are hand-sewn and can take 20+ hours to complete. The starter packs are also hand-assembled and include everything (except scissors) for anyone to pick up and start cross stitching. I sew all of my designs at least once to verify my colour selections before selling them (either as a pattern or starter pack). How long has your Etsy shop been open? My shop has been open since May 2012 but has been more active in the last year or so. My early years had very few products available which I have been able to expand in recent years. How long have you been doing your craft? Hard to say… I want to say about 22 years, as I learned at a young age. I have been doing the current style/designs since 2012. How did you get started? I started cross stitching as a kid, either learning from summer camp or my grandmother (hard to remember… it was a long time ago). My early work was all traditional Ukrainian designs due to my heritage. I had a bit of a hiatus through high school but picked it up again near the end of my university degree. The idea to cross stitch video game characters came to me while I was working on sewing house rules for web comic artist Danielle Corsetto (Girls With Slingshots). Thinking of how video game sprite pixels would translate well to cross stitches, I designed my first pattern, Charizard, the same day I delivered the house rules to Danielle. After completing Charizard, I continued making Pokemon characters before branching out into other video game characters, mainly from Nintendo games. Where can people find you online? Website: http://www.stitchedpixels.ca Instagram: http://instagram.com/StitchedPixels Facebook: http://facebook.com/StitchedPixels Twitter: http://twitter.com/StitchedPixels What do you like about selling on Etsy? Etsy is a great place to have your products found on a global scale. I often thought about selling directly through my website but I find that people search for my kind of work a lot on Etsy. There is also the community of like-minded crafters that you can ask questions and/or get help with problems if needed. Even though I haven’t directly met anyone yet, I look forward to meeting other members of the Etsy Saskatchewan team! What brought you to Etsy? Trying to find an online marketplace for my items, Etsy came to mind and since it was (almost) free, I gave it a shot. What's been your best Etsy experience? Selling my items across the world. The first time I got an order from Australia, I nearly jumped in surprise. In retrospect, I shouldn’t have been as surprised as it was a digital download of one of my patterns, but still very cool. Is there anything else you would like to share with us about your shop or yourself? I take commission requests, as there are such a variety of game characters I could make and sometimes I have a hard time choosing. Also, I can do custom starter packs for any of my patterns. Each month Etsy Team Saskatchewan will be featuring a different member, who will tell us a little bit about themselves and their shop. We love to promote and support each other and this is a great way to show everyone what you are all about and how creative Saskatchewan Etsy sellers are! If you are interested in having your shop featured, you can sign up in the team forums. You will also be given the Etsy Saskatchewan Featured Member badge to put on your website or blog. Now let's meet our first Featured Member.... Elisa from Playing By EarIntroduce yourself: My name is Elisa from Swift Current. I'm in my twenties and I have a passion for creating. I live with my amazing husband who encourages me and has encouraged me to take my creations public to share with others. So I opened up a shop on Etsy so I can share my creations with everyone! So far I specialize in handmade earrings, though I have plans to expand to necklaces, bracelets and rings, as well as handmade sewing creations as well as crocheted creations. What's your shop's name? My shop's name is PlayingByEar What do you make/sell? How do you make it? As of right now I solely make earrings, however I plan on expanding in the future. I use a variety of techniques to make my creations though the two that I use the most for earrings are beading and wire wrapping. I also sew and crochet so I hope to be able to expand my shop to include some of those creations as well! How long has your Etsy shop been open? My Etsy shop is still new seeing as I only opened it in November of 2014, though I didn't do much with it until January of 2015. How long have you been doing your craft? I have been creating things for as long as I can remember! More specifically, I have been making my earrings since I was in grade 8, so that would be 9 years ago. I took a break from creating when I went to Bible School and my time was more restricted, but it has been around 9 years since I started! How did you get started? I got a DIY necklace kit for my birthday in grade 8 and when I got around to putting it together I found that I really enjoyed it! I then went out to buy supplies to start making earrings and it took off from there! Where can people find you online? Right now, other than on Etsy, you can find me on Facebook and Pinterest What do you like about selling on Etsy? I love the community aspect of Etsy. You are selling alongside people who are as passionate about their creations as you are about yours and that's wonderful! It's also encouraging that these people can do what they love and find success from it! The teams are also a wonderful thing because you can use it to tell people about your shop as well as to help others and support them by checking out their shops as well! What brought you to Etsy? My cousin runs a shop on Etsy which has done really well so that's where I knew about Etsy from though I hadn't thought about joining Etsy myself until my husband encouraged me to try it out! What's been your best Etsy experience? My best Etsy experience was getting my first sale! I had been open for a couple of months and it had started off slower than I had hoped. When I saw that order notification it was a wave of excitement that ran through me. It was like a little bit of reassurance that I wasn't wasting my time and a lot of motivation to keep pressing on even when things got slow. It has certainly helped me to keep going with my shop and to keep up the work because it is something that I enjoy! Is there anything else you would like to share with us about your shop or yourself? One feature that I offer is customization! If there is something that you see in my shop that you like but you wish was in another color then send me a message! If there is a couple items that you like certain aspects of them but wish that you could combine two items into one, let me know and I will see what I can do! I will do my best to create something perfect for you! |
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