Tell us a bit about yourself name, location,
affiliations, personal stuff.
My name is Allison Cecil and I live in San Diego, California with my super deluxe husband who is a professional lizard wrangler, three Great Danes, one insane cat, one huge tortoise, 4 water turtles, three snakes, one lizard, and a back yard full of wild birds. I grew up here in San Diego and moved away after college to the big city of New York and finally came back about 5 years ago because I wanted to be near my family. I am a proud member of the Vegan Etsy Team. Biggie ups to the Vegan Team! Yo yo!!
Apart from creating things, what do you do?
I work two days a week at a do it yourself dog wash two blocks from our home. It is wonderful since each workday I bring with me a different co-worker/bum sniffer that is carefully chosen from a select group of a certain pool of Great Danes. In my old life I was a graphic designer but with the support of my husband I left my job last summer to pursue Etsy full time. Yay husband, did I mention he is super deluxe?! So, most of my time is taken up with all things Etsy but I try to sneak off to the beach with the dogs, play jokes on my husband, and think about all things crass and unladylike.
What first made you want to become an artist?
Artist? Is that what it’s called? Well let’s see, I have always had a hard time working for someone else because the higher ups were always super scared of my ninja-like reflexes, bionic arm and inability to follow rules. So I think art found me since it seems to be the one thing I fit into. I like being able to carry glass at the pool, run with scissors and stare into the sun. Rules are meant to be broken and making art is where breaking the rules is rewarded. I am happier than I have ever been and it is because I have found my little niche in the world where I can be myself, make stuff, and no one is threatened by my ninja-like reflex and bionic limbs. If that is what an artist is, then count me in!
Please describe your creative process how, when, materials, etc.
My goal for my little shop is to create a store that if it was to exist as a brick and mortar store and I was to walk into it I would poop my pants from excitement. This store would have all the things that I didn’t know I needed but instantly cannot live without. I carry that goal with me each day so I usually start out reviewing what seemed like a completely genius idea at 4 am when I woke up from a dream about the Jonas Brothers and decide to write down the fact that I think that inflatable dog collars would be a great idea.
From there I sit down and think about new projects, how to finish the old ones, and what would Scooby-do. Although right now the majority of my items are plants and vintage pieces, I am moving towards having a really nice balance of handmade items, plants and vintage. Each day I have a goal of creating at least one thing. So I will head out to my usual haunts for goodies and to gather ideas and items that will inspire new creations and/or light a fire under my bum to finish the HUGE pile of projects that really need to get finished. The materials usually include, or are inspired by, vintage items and anything weathered, distressed, weird, scientific, cute or fuzzy. Then at some point, part of the day is spent at the potting bench planting up some pots and taking pictures. Each day seems to be a little different and a variation of the above, but somehow this creative process seems to work for me. Especially since I don’t really think in linear ways, I don’t work in linear ways.
And finally, I usually take a break by sitting down to Oprah and her cavalcade of fake friends. I dream of one day having Oprah choose a monkeys always look item as one of her “favorite things.” I will sell millions, get an operation to sew thumbs on my dogs, and then they can take care of me and I never have to lift a finger again. A girl can dream!
What handmade possession do you most cherish?
I had a quilt that my aunt Debbie made me years and years ago that I used forever and ever until it disintegrated into skin cells and fabric dust. So unfortunately I only have fond memories of it now. Now I cherish the artwork that proliferates from the world famous brother and sister comedy troupe of Munch and Lobo, my niece (5 years old) and nephew (2.5 years). Their motivation is unheralded and their work pure genius. And last, my husband travels for work but the locales are mostly far off deserts and lands where rain has forgotten. He brings back for me little tidbits and goodies he finds on the desert floor. Although these are things he doesn’t make, the creative process and hoops he has to jump though to find something truly unique is something I will always cherish.
Name your top five books, movies, songs/musical groups, and web sites besides Etsy.
Books? Are those things with words printed between the pretty pictures in the front? I have always struggled with reading so all you dyslexics out there I’m giving you a shout out. Holler! I listen to a lot of books on cd, especially while I work. However, the printed books that stick out in my mind that I always go back to are:
Jane Eyre
Anna Karenina (and I’m not just saying that so you think I am smart, it was a really good book that took me a year to read, but totally worth it)
Poetry by Emily Dickenson (she’s in need of some serious Zoloft)
Why Cats Paint: A Theory of Feline Aesthetics
Any Babar Book
Movies
Rize
Dark Days
Born Into Brothels
The Wild Parrots of Telegraph Hill
Best in Show
Musical Groups
Owl City
Rilo Kiley
The Weepies
Beirut
Madonna (don’t laugh, she is a genius)
Websites:
Dooce
Pandora
Kcrw
icanhascheezburger
indiandanerescue
What advice would you give to artists who are new to Etsy?
Challenge yourself to make something new as often as possible and list those new creations instead of relisting old ones. Create something that no one else is doing. You may start out doing something similar and that is ok, but if you keep at it, it will eventually morph into a truly unique style and people will follow. Treat each customer like they are your best friend, grandmother, and a baby chicken all wrapped in one. Be yourself and joke around, but always be polite and don’t crush or eat them.
Customer service is so important! Send an email acknowledging their purchase and letting them know when you will ship it. Then follow up again to let them know it was sent. It will really set you apart and if you leave people with a happy experience it will come back to you in folds (believe me!). Every order I always add a little extra some ‘em some ‘em that is unexpected which people will comment on in the feedback, so I know it is appreciated. And lastly, treat your customers like family! You know, I give them nuggies and tell them their butt looks good in those jeans. You want to make them happy, feel appreciated and show them you care.
What are your favorite features on Etsy? What new features would you like to see?
I am addicted to the Front Page! I love to see what is there and I find new interesting items that either inspire me or make me mad since I didn’t think of it first. The Storque articles are very insightful and full of very valuable information especially the “Quit Your Day Job” articles. These people are accomplishing what most of us dream about. I also love the Featured Seller stories; they are always about such interesting, hot, riveting geniuses.
I would love to be able to calculate shipping by location rather than making an educated guess.
How do you promote your work?
I run a live webcam site where I pimp my Etsy store while I prance around semi-nude and sing camp songs. Actually I have a blog that I update with some regularity and I am pretty sure my mom reads it and she is my biggest fan! So it must be working.
In ten years I'd like to be...
Well honestly, things are pretty perfect now. But my husband (the super deluxe one I was talking about) and I do talk of living on a farm with more animals then I know what to do with that would most certainly include fainting pygmy goats, heirloom chickens that lay golden eggs and a heard of jackalopes.
p.s. I don’t really watch Oprah. |
