Date joined etsy - 6/11/07
Sales to date - 336
-Give us some basic info about you: name, where you live, kids/pets, favorite ice cream flavor, etc.Names Sarah and I'm currently living in snowy downtown Toronto in Canada. No pets but I have a cell phone named cherry pie, a few cactus and a raccoon that lays outside my window in the warmer months :)
-Describe an average day in life of "you"
This is more of an average work day. I love sleep so it takes me a while to officially wake up. After I'm finally showered, coffeed and somewhat alert, I'll package up any orders I may have to some music or a movie off the laptop. When I'm ready I pack up my computer and packages (if any) and head out. I live off a street with various cafes, pubs, and a couple libraries that offer free wifi so I'll hang out there for a couple hours working (no internet at home). If I get home after that I'll chill out until I'm ready to pull out the clay. Most of the actual raw clay part of my craft is done at night. so once it hits the oven I'm getting ready for bed.
-Were you creative growing up/what did you enjoy doing?
Art was always my thing growing up. My parents have all sorts of mediums in their house to experiment with. From a very young age I've had the opportunity to woodwork, paint ceramics, sew, use every colour acrylic, as well as the simpler things like play with plastercine... I still come across tiny random hairy plastercine figures from time to time.
-What made you want to start selling on etsy?
I've always wanted to have my own business. When I was 10 or so I ran a restaurant out of my parents dining room called "the fast and free", I had a massage company called "april showers" in my bedroom (dirty minds be still), sold handmade lottery tickets for prizes of candy and ran a carnival with my cousin in the basement providing wheely chair rides...
As soon as I found Etsy I knew I would be selling there. Its in my blood, haha
-How long did it take for you to get your first sale on etsy?
My first official sale came 25 days after my first listing and was a batch of beach glass. Considering all my other listings were monsters, voodoo dolls, pillows and such, I personally don't count it as the first first.
-Top 5 favorite foods,
-cheese
-bakery bread
-timbits
-the veggie turnover from the pump
-coke bottle candies (without the sugar coating)
tv shows,
-jim hensons the storyteller
-the tribe
-star trek
-californication
-heroes
and bands?
I did songs cause of some unknown reason
-mars volta, the widow
-bright eyes, road to joy
-cursive, driftwood: a fairytale
-modest mouse, missed the boat
-broken spindles, inward
-Is there anything you'd like to try your hand at doing? Knitting, baking, soap making, wood working, etc.
I would love to master soap making. Its not as easy as I thought it would be when I started. Every year around Christmas time I bring out all the supplies again. Despite my intentions of making truffle soap, I end up with weird little gross looking, great smelling brown blobs. I will get it one day though... I'm determined
-What would you suggest to new etsy sellers to promote their shops?
know who your customer is!!! Most important thing you can do. Maybe even create a customer profile outlining their gender, the places they like to go, other things they might buy, hobbies they enjoy, etc. If you know who they are you can start to figure out where they take in most of their advertising.
-3 etsy shops you just LOVE?
stoopidgerl - her photography skills and consistency is tops. its like unicorn barf with a smile.
louiseblack- beauitful and dark
yellena- incredible work and i want them all
-By New Years Eve 2011 I hope my number of sold items is 600.
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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 :)
