Tell us a bit about yourself name, location,
affiliations, personal stuff.
Hello there, we are Scott and Jacqui. We both have lived in the beautiful Pacific Northwest our whole lives and love it here. We met over five years ago, while in Seattle getting our graphic design degrees, and have been inseparable ever since! In fact we are getting married next summer and can’t wait to include lots of handmade items!
We started Slide Sideways because we have always loved working with our hands and making things. Even though graphic design is a creative field we wanted to get away from the computer for part of our day and create using more traditional methods. Our workspace is cluttered with so many found objects and estate/garage sale finds, because we find inspiration in surrounding ourselves with cool old treasures.
Apart from creating things, what do you do?
Slide Sideways has truly become a big part of our life. But we also know that our best ideas have come when we are enjoying all aspects of life, so when we are not working and making new things, you can usually find us roaming around outside. We ride our bikes everywhere, surf as often as possible, watch movies, take pictures, and people watch. Jacqui likes to cook and bake so eating happens often. We like traveling, nature walking, visiting with friends and family, reading, listening to NPR (we love This American Life), going to our local farmers markets and art events, and currently we’re wedding planning. We also do freelance graphic design under Slide Sideways too.
What first made you want to become an artist?
Jacqui: I was never pushed into being anything, but was always encouraged to do what made me happy. I remember being little and all I ever wanted to do was color or make something; there is a picture of me in a high chair with orange and purple marker all over everything including myself! I think art found me young, I just didn’t know it yet.
Scott: I remember when I was a wee youngster, older folks would ask what I wanted to be when I grew up and I would say an artist, not really knowing what that was (I’m still not sure), but I figured it had to do with drawing which I have always had a fondness for, and badabingbadaboom I’m still drawing and I have a pretty girl by my side!
Please describe your creative process how, when, materials, etc.
Ideas are constant. We get inspired by everything around us. Luckily we work really well together and it’s easy to bounce our ideas off each other. We talk about the best way to approach an idea and how it should be applied. We draw things over and over until it comes out right, or keep sewing or screen-printing until we like the final outcome. Sometimes it comes really easy, other times it doesn’t work at all or it sits off to the side for a while until one of us gets that ah ha moment and it works.
It’s really important to us to make a beautiful product, while also keeping the environment in mind. All of our screen-printing is done with environmentally friendly non-toxic water-based ink; we even use biodegradable cleaning products to wash our screens. All the paper we use is 100% recycled with 80% post-consumer content. We also use organic fabrics. Most of our packaging is made from recycled materials and scraps we have on hand, although you probably wouldn’t even know it.
What handmade possession do you most cherish?
Jacqui: My grandmother was a crafty lady herself and lovingly cross-stitched a Christmas stocking for all the grandkids in the family when we were born, a total of 10! Each one has our name and a collage of different images and they’re rather large, so I can only image the time she spent on them! One more thing would be the ring Scott proposed to me with. It was hand carved from wood, and inscribed with our initials. I love it!
Scott: Jacqui made me a messenger bag out of an old sailboat sail. I take it everywhere!
Name your top five books, movies, songs/musical groups, and web sites besides Etsy.
Books
Jacqui:
HISTORIAN by Elizabeth Kostova
Dress Your Family in Corduroy and Denim, by David Sedaris
The Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseini
Into Thin Air, by Jon Krakaur
Hand Job by Mike Perry, this counts right, there’s a lot of type in there.
Scott:
(I do not read very much as far as literary works go, check back with me in twenty years and maybe that will have changed, but here are some great things I have read)
Surfers Journal (technically a magazine)
Craphound (a found imagery ‘zine by Sean Tejaratchi)
Coupe Magazine
I like looking at ‘zines
Movies
Jacqui:
Anything by Wes Anderson
Magnolia
Edward Scissorhands
Me and You and Everyone We Know
Scott:
Bottle Rocket
Life Is Beautiful
War Photographer
PBS (technically a TV channel)
Many 1960’s surf movies
Music
Jacqui:
Neil Young
Fleet Foxes
Bob Dylan
Neko Case
Tommy Guerrero
Scott:
Sonic Youth
Amadou & Mariam
Beck
Nick Drake
Cornelius
Websites
Jacqui:
Design Sponge
Design For Mankind
Fecal Face
This American Life
Inspiration Resource
Scott:
ffffound
grainedit
coolhunting
craigslist
fecalface
What advice would you give to artists who are new to Etsy?
Make what you love not what you think others will like. Seems obvious but sometimes people distract you by saying, “Oh you should make this, everyone would love it.” But if you don’t love it then it will show, if not by final product then by how you sell it.
Be kind to your customers and let them know what’s going on with their package. Also, try new things or a new technique, that way your mind stays fresh and always look ahead and stay positive.
What are your favorite features on Etsy? What new features would you like to see?
Jacqui: I really like making treasuries. Although sometimes I think it may take up more of my time then I intended! I just love looking at how colors and objects go together.
I think a cool new feature would be an Etsy Wedding Registry! Maybe I just have wedding on the brain, but it would be neat to be able to put things you wanted together almost like how the Favorites are listed, so family and friends could easily find it.
Scott: The featured seller section is my favorite, and shopping locally is pretty cool.
How do you promote your work?
The blogging community has been very kind to us, and we feel very grateful. We have our own blog where we share our latest projects and what we are up to. Our Flickr page also seems to bring us lots of new customers. We’ve attended some craft fairs and many local markets, which are always a good time. We hope to do more this coming year. Of course Etsy and other Etsy sellers are awesome to! Without, we wouldn’t be able to do what we are doing so easily.
In ten years I'd like to be...
Jacqui: Still creating, but up on a sunny hill with the ocean in front and a mountain in back. A large garden surrounding a just big enough home for me, Scott and any little ones produced along the way. Oh, and fresh cookies out of the oven and art all over the walls.
Scott: I’ll second that. |
