Date joined etsy - 12/7/07
Sales to date - 1088
-Give us some basic info about you: name, where you live, kids/pets, favorite ice cream flavor, etc. My shop name is Marywibis, but that's just a nick name. My little brother couldn't pronounce my real name, Mary Elizabeth so it came out Marywibis. The name stuck just because he sounded so darn cute saying it. I currently live in Durham, NC and am soon to be married to a totally insane, wonderful guy who makes me laugh every day and night. I have two cats. I know I have a problem when I can identify with the insane crazy cat lady on The Simpsons. But in my own defense, my cat is officially, the cutest cat ever. I swear she's half human.
-Describe an average day in life of "you".
It starts with a kettle of water boiling while I check my overnight sales. I relish those early moments sitting with a hot cup of strong coffee re-listing sold items and responding to customer messages. Then I start the day by packaging orders headed out that day. I do everything in my living room floor which constantly has a fine dusting of cornstarch packing peanuts. I've fostered a friendship with my mail lady (solely through bribery) and she swings by my house every day to pick up my bulky packages. My afternoons are spent listing to music while photographing and listing new items and my evenings and nights are when I paint. I pour myself an over-sized glass of wine, listen to This American Life podcasts with my cat sleeping in my lap and paint until late in the night, usually till around midnight. Then my wonderful man gives me a hand massage and pours me more wine. It's pretty much the best life ever.
-Were you creative growing up/what did you enjoy doing?
I was always a painter. When I was just 3 years old my dad had me painting and drawing. We would have family paint nights and all sit around the table painting a still life he'd put together. I have the best parents anyone could ever ask for and they fostered my creativity from the very beginning. In college I remember feeling frustrated, even jealous that I didn't have a difficult childhood. All the very talented artists I studied and admired had life-long struggles dating back to their childhoods. Here I was the happy go lucky, spoiled girl who simply really loved to paint.
-What made you want to start selling on etsy?
I was working as a graphic designer at an advertising agency and really hated the 9-5 desk job. A co-worker introduced me to Etsy as a place to buy great gifts for friends. It took one hour of perusing Etsy for me to realize "Hey--I could do this." 6 months later I had quit my day job and was doing Etsy full time.
-How long did it take for you to get your first sale on etsy?
It's hard to remember, but it was within the first week for sure. I was only listing prints at that time and they were fairly inexpensive.
-Top 5 favorite foods, tv shows, and bands?I adore food. I don't know how I'm not 500lbs. I'm a Pescetarian (a vegetarian who eats seafood) and it's the crab that keeps me from being a true vegetarian. I love crab. It disturbs me how much I enjoy it. I blame my fiance. He's a seafood chef and makes the worlds best seafood dishes. I also think I would die without music. I always have something playing on Pandora or my local college radio station. I'm really into local music and shy away from trendy popular stations. Not because I'm a music snob--I just don't like the massively popular music that regular radio stations play. My standard go-to's are TV on the Radio, Ani Difranco, Broken Social Scene, Andrew Bird, Hayden, Songs: Ohia, Van Morrison, Cold War Kids... well, the list is just too long. But I like music a lot. I'm not really a TV watcher but that's probably just because I need my eyes to focus on what I'm painting.
-Is there anything you'd like to try your hand at doing? Knitting, baking, soap making, wood working, an instrument, etc.
I'm obsessed with trying new crafts and art-forms. I collect hobbies like people collect designer bags. I've delved into soap making, silk painting, marbeling, book making, ceramics and pottery, knitting, cooking, dance, and face painting. I actually worked as a carni at the Raleigh State fair and face painted over 1000 kids. It was a ton of fun. You can see some of my other projects on my website www.maryelizabetharts.com I've always wanted to play the guitar. I tried to so hard and taken several classes, but in the end I'm hopeless. I think my family would also agree that I'm tone def. You do not want to hear me sing.
-What would you suggest to new etsy sellers to promote their shops?
Your photographs ARE your items. Never forget that. No matter how good you know your pieces look in person, if they don't look good in the photographs they will never sell well.
-3 etsy shops you just LOVE?
1. http://www.etsy.com/shop/bcyrjewelry
2. http://www.etsy.com/shop/ShibaNgDesigns
3. http://www.etsy.com/shop/emilywootton (she's my best friend!)
-By December 31, 2010 I hope my number of sold items is
2000. I broke 1,000 this year and I hope to do it again by next year!
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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 :)
