Tell us a bit about yourself name, location,
affiliations, personal stuff.
My name is Jennifer and I live and work out of my home office in Issaquah, Washington (about 20 minutes east of Seattle). I have lived in this area my entire life and absolutely love it (even the rain!). I live with my husband and our 3 year old border collie mix named Missy. I am the oldest of 6 kids (one sister, four brothers) and I love to spend time with my family, especially now that we are all getting older.
Apart from creating things, what do you do?
I love to cook, bake, entertain, decorate my home and spend time with my husband, friends and family. We try to take Missy out to play Frisbee and take her on as many walks as possible to keep her indoor energy at a minimum. I have a weakness for home décor and I’m always looking for new ways to spruce up my home each season. I love experimenting in the kitchen. I do not often follow recipes so meals around here are never exactly the same. For the most part, I’m a pretty low key person who likes home and family and relaxing with a glass of wine and my husband after a long day.
What first made you want to become an artist?
I have always been creative and I have always been entrepreneurial, so it wasn’t something that just happened one day. When I first joined Etsy, I tried selling beaded jewelry that I was making after my friends and I took a couple classes. As we all know, jewelry is an incredibly competitive market and I decided to change my focus to stationery, which is something I had been making for fun for a number of years.
Please describe your creative process how, when, materials, etc.
I spend practically my entire day in front of the computer customizing designs for clients and fighting with my printers. Sometimes I am lucky and get to take a break and sit on the couch with my sketchpad to design something new. It takes quite a bit of time to complete a new design as I usually sketch it first scan it into my computer and clean it up in Illustrator. Despite the amount of time it takes, designing is definitely the part of the process I love the most.
What handmade possession do you most cherish?
I have two ripple band rings from Elizabeth Scott Designs (esdesigns) that I love and wear every day and, don’t laugh, but I love my sponge holder from khphillips… it keeps my sponge from getting slimy in the bottom of the sink!
Name your top five books, movies, songs/musical groups, and web sites besides Etsy.
Books:
I haven’t had as much time recently to read as I would like, but I have always enjoyed books with a bit of mystery. These are a couple of my favorites:
The Da Vinci Code
Angels and Demons
The Spy Wore Red
Movies:
The Dark Knight
Tommy Boy (family favorite… frequently quoted at family dinners)
Knocked Up
The Bourne Trilogy
The Incredibles
Music:
Jack Johnson
Dixie Chicks
Paramore
Nirvana
Boyz II Men (there’s always a special place in my heart for these guys)
Websites:
Facebook
Flickr
People
Paper Source
Pottery Barn
What advice would you give to artists who are new to Etsy?
Make sure you truly love what you do because if / when you get so busy that you don’t know which way is up, you have to, at the very least, know that you are spending ALL of your time doing something that you truly enjoy. Also, never stop learning… seek out ways to educate yourself on new trends in your craft and other things that may help enhance your business.
What are your favorite features on Etsy? What new features would you like to see?
I love checking out the treasuries. It’s always interesting to see the different items people group together.
I would love to see an Etsy registry for wedding, baby, and general gift giving.
How do you promote your work?
I try to let my own shop and photos do the talking and promoting for Pink Lily Press. Etsy has definitely provided a platform for business owners that is unparalleled in the web world and I am very grateful for the opportunity it has provided me. I also do a small amount of advertising on wedding related websites and I truly believe good customer service will lead to referral business, and that is priceless.
In ten years I'd like to be...
Hopefully running a successful business (maybe with an employee or two to help out with the work load), working in a big, well equipped home office and a keeping an eye on a few kids running around the back yard. |
