Date joined etsy - 10/26/08
Sales to date - 276
-Give us some basic info about you: name, where you live, kids/pets, favorite ice cream flavor, etc
Multimedia artist, Ingrid Blixt - I live in beautiful Michigan's Upper Peninsula with my husband Nathan and the lovely new addition to our family, little Isabela.
-Describe an average day in life of "you".
Even though I am happy to say I am a full time artist, I manage my studio hours around Isabela's daycare schedule. I do have a lot of exhibits and art fairs and teach workshops so I am very busy but the good part is that I work very well under pressure.
-Were you creative growing up/what did you enjoy doing?
I was born in Romania and moved to US after graduating from college. I also studied at an art high school, so I started studying art early. I think I was creative while growing up but nothing out of the ordinary.
Growing up in Romania Byzantine Art had and still has a major influence in my life and art.
-What made you want to start selling on etsy?
I heard about Etsy from a friend and just thought of trying it out. Immediately I fell in love with the whole artist community and the great exposure that it offers.
-How long did it take for you to get your first sale on etsy?It didn't take too long to have a first sale on Etsy.
First I set up my account and after about a month I started to create my shop, in a few days I had a sale. As you all know, it is so exciting!
Top 5 favorite foods, tv shows, and bands?
I love Greek and Mediterranean foods, tv shows: The Pretender, Twin Peaks and documentaries. Music: Faithless, Gogol Bordello and lots of jazz.
-Is there anything you'd like to try your hand at doing? Knitting, baking, soap making, wood working, an instrument, etc.
I think I need at least 10 more lives to be able to do everything I want to try out: wood working, sculpture, metal work, movie making, composing music, programming and everything that has to do with home improvement (took a first step here and we made our own floor tiles :-))
-What would you suggest to new etsy sellers to promote their shops?Well, here is what I do for my shop: link from my main web site to my etsy shops, try to be featured on blogs and other sites, have the links to my etsy shops on my promotional materials as business cards, footer of email, brochures etc. and be active in the etsy community. Of course, after you manage to get people to look at you shop, you also want them to remember it so good and creative photos of your work will do the job.
-3 etsy shops you just LOVE?
TheBlackSpotBooks (!!!)
mincingmockingbird
NatureMandalas
-By December 31, 2010 I hope my number of sold items is ______.
Well, considering that Etsy sales are a big part of my source of income - I'm not sure what the number might have to be, but I hope it will be enough to keep me going.
--Have a successful etsy shop and want to be a featured seller? Contact me at phletcher@gmail.com
As always, thanks for reading :)
