Date joined etsy -10/21/08
Sales to date - 1069
-Give us some basic info about you: name, where you live, kids/pets, favorite ice cream flavor, etc. My name is Catherine Reece. I live in Dublin, California, an inland suburb of the bay area. For the last ten years I have been living and breathing pottery with my husband Scott. We had a dream to turn my clay creations into a business where we work at home and spend time together as a family. We quit our day jobs and jumped into this business with a lot of faith and hard work. When I am not in my studio I enjoy cooking for my family, being silly with my kids, tending my garden, planning camping trips with my family in our ‘78 Coleman tent trailer and buying handmade on Etsy.
-Describe an average day in life of "you".
An average day for me usually starts with some form of exercise - ugh! I am terrible at exercising but I know it is important. After my husband drops our six year old son at school I look at my to do list for the day and see what needs to be done. My husband and I sell our pottery at art festivals about 22 weekends a year so it keeps us quite busy in our studio located in our garage. I will throw a few flats of mugs or vases for a couple of hours while my husband does the grocery shopping or other errands and takes care of our 3 year old daughter. Later my husband will go into the studio and trim the pieces that are ready to be trimmed and clean the studio. In the afternoons I check on my Etsy store and relist items or answer conversations and print out orders. I like to draw my designs on my pottery in the evening when the kids are sleeping and there is not a lot of distractions.
-Were you creative growing up/what did you enjoy doing?
I have always thought of myself as an artist. As a young child I would sit and draw. It was the only thing I ever wanted to do. I took some art classes in college and experimented with a lot of different mediums. Some years later I discovered clay and I never looked back.
-What made you want to start selling on Etsy?
I wanted to find another outlet for selling besides the weekend art shows. Etsy has been a great filler between our shows and when our weekend sales have been below average. Our customers have been asking for years if we sell online. We just hadn’t found the right online opportunity.
-How long did it take for you to get your first sale on etsy?
It took about 20 days. I so was thrilled at that first sale!
-Top 5 favorite foods, tv shows, and bands? I love black olives! If I had to I could eat just black olives all day.
My husband and I are watching the season of “Six Feet Under” series on Dvd and we love the series Dexter and Big Love.
-Is there anything you'd like to try your hand at doing? Knitting, baking, soap making, wood working, an instrument, etc.
I recently learned to knit. I am still working on my first piece. I also took up sewing and made my kids a book bag. They love it and I had so much fun making them. Its nice to create something other than pottery.
-What would you suggest to new etsy sellers to promote their shops?
Relist, relist,relist! Potential customers will find you easier if are showing yourself and artist will see your items and hopefully put you in their treasuries.
-3 etsy shops you just LOVE?
Utilemud
Louchelab
Elloh
-By December 31, 2010 I hope my number of sold items is... 1500.
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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 :)
