Date joined etsy - 1/24/07
Sales to date - 1148
-Give us some basic info about you: name, where you live, kids/pets, favorite ice cream flavor, etc.My name is Jody Sternhagen and I am the creator of Apple Noggin, a t-shirt, jewelry, and accessories line. I live in the magical land of Sheboygan, Wisconsin. I have a radical boyfriend who can grow more facial hair than you can shake a stick at, two parakeets, and three small dogs. My all time favorite ice cream flavor is mint chip. In summer I will live for weeks off of mint chip alone.
-Describe an average day in life of "you".
Wake up at about 10am to 12pm depending on how late I stayed up crafting the previous night.
Let my dogs outside to make peepees and doodoo browns. What like you don't say weird things to your pets?
Have some cereal or cold pizza while checking my email.
Jot down a list of things I want/need to do that day.
Lock myself away in my craft room and make felt pins for orders I need to ship.
Realize I'm missing some sort of button or color of embroidery floss that I need for an order I want to ship that day and run around to different local craft stores trying to find said item.
Package orders and walk to the post office to ship.
Come home and work on producing items. It might be cutting out felt pins or barrettes, making jewelry, designing a t-shirt, bedazzling nerd glasses, who knows? I like to live on the edge.
Then I'll randomly work on things like ordering blank tees and other supplies, editing photos, designing promotional items such as business cards, you know all the boring stuff. Can I go daydream new ideas now and plan my cuteness take over of the world?
-Were you creative growing up/what did you enjoy doing?
I was extremely creative as a kid. I think everyone starts out super duper creative and then a whole bunch of people stifle your creativity and tell you to "grow up and mature, and stop daydreaming and do your homework, and act how you're supposed to act, and dress how you're supposed to dress". When I was a kid I made up bizarre games with my brother and sister, like heater vent fishing. It's where you lower a headband covered in duct tape down a heater vent from upstairs on a long string. You catch all sorts of neat things that fell (or were chucked) down the heater vent through the years. We even caught a little yellow plastic fish! I also loved creating art. My mom was always doing projects with us. One of my favorites was a huge cardboard play set we all made together that featured the characters of our favorite stories. I was in charge of the little red hen. I remember making some flowers on the board and my brother telling me I didn't make them right because I drew the stems on them and if you were looking at them from above them you wouldn't see the stems. I was 5 years old and I thought, "they are my flowers, I can make them however I want, go back to your billy goats gruff". That's still my attitude today.
-What made you want to start selling on etsy?
I've wanted to own a business ever since I can remember. I was constantly starting up little business ventures where I'd hire my little sister as secretary. I began selling on ebay at some point. Ebay changed and handmade didn't do well on there anymore. My sister-n-law had already made the switch to Etsy and I thought I should at least give it a try. I'm so glad I did!
-How long did it take for you to get your first sale on etsy?
It took me a little over a month before my first sale. It felt like even longer. I drastically reduced all my prices. I definitely wasn't paying myself anything at that point, I don't think I even covered my supply costs!
-Top 5 favorite foods, tv shows, and bands?
foods - hummus, pasta with fried zuccini, tofu rice, pizza, chocolate milkshakes
tv shows - How Clean is Your House (British version only), Dexter, Sopranos and that's about it. I don't have a t.v. and I don't watch a lot of it.
bands - Bjork, The Yeah Yeah Yeahs, Bright Eyes, Gogol Bordello, Justin Timberlake!
-Is there anything you'd like to try your hand at doing? Knitting, baking, soap making, wood working, etc.
YES! There are so many mediums I'd love to try. I have a pottery kiln sitting out in my garage that I've never got around to using yet. I'd love to learn how to create clothing patterns and sew from patterns. I want to make those little glass beads with a blow torch. I just really want a reason to own a blow torch.
-What would you suggest to new etsy sellers to promote their shops?
The internet basics: Flickr, twitter, myspace, facebook, blog. Also you should always have business cards on you. There has been so many times people have complimented something I was wearing that I made and showed interest but I didn't have cards on me! If you have the opportunity do some craft shows and hand out cards and get to meet potential customers in person. Try to find blogs to link to your shop or feature some of your items.
-3 etsy shops you just LOVE?
magicbeanbuyer
boopsiedaisy
imyourpresent
-By New Years Eve 2011 I'd like to have _____ amount of sales.
a buttload
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Have a successful etsy shop and want to be a featured seller? Contact me at phletcher@gmail.com
As always, thanks for reading :)
