Date joined etsy -9/3/08
Sales to date - 715
-Basic info:My birth name is Roxana Villa, I live in the city of Woodland Hills up in the Santa Monica Mountains of California with my husband and teenage daughter. I adore living here among the native oaks and resident fauna. BTW, I have gotten my family on Etsy too! This is my husbands shop: http://www.etsy.com/shop/spalenka and this is my daughter and mothers shop:
http://www.etsy.com/shop/twoknit
-Day in life of "you":
When my daughter is in school my day begins at 6am. I drive her to school, usually listening to a book on tape, if we are not chatting away. On the way home I tend to do my errands, if I'm super organized! Once home I begin computer related activity: e-mail, blog, FB, twitter, etc. Then I shift to working in the studio on perfume, this includes formulation, restocking, packing orders, etc. If I did not do errands like the post office and market in the morning I will do them at the end of the day. At about 6pm I begin preparing dinner for the three of us. In the evening sometimes we will watch a film together or each go off to work on our different projects. My husband and I are both artists and make our income from our art and tend to work 24/7. Bedtime is between 10pm-11pm with either a bath and or some reading before drifting off to dreamland. Then the cycle begins again.
-Were you creative growing up/what did you enjoy doing?
According to my mother I was constantly drawing as a tot. I remember being very creative and not really interested in much except for making art and enjoying life. The creative activity I was most often involved in was drawing. I loved traveling as a child and still do.
-What made you want to start selling on etsy?The first time I heard about Etsy was when a friend sent me an article from the newspaper. Then I started hearing other niche perfumers mention it. It was Lori of HeartworksByLori who really inspired me to finally take the plunge. I did it because I needed to get some of my new products online ASAP. I had been invited to be a speaker at Sniffapalooza in NYC and decided to debut a new line of solid perfumes. In order to put them on my existing website I would need to re-do the entire site. In the meantime I decided to open the Etsy shop so that the attendees would have access to the new line immediately. It never occurred to me that I would be tapping into a whole new niche market on Etsy.
-How long did it take for you to get your first sale on etsy?
I made my first sale the day I uploaded my items.
-Top 5 favorite foods, tv shows, and bands?
I love many Argentine dishes from when I was a child, like: Empanadas, Alfajores and Dulce de Leche. I also love grilled trout, roasted chicken with mashed potatoes, and fresh garden salads with goat cheese. Hard to pick just five, I love food, especially good gourmet food!
Although we don't have TV hookup, we do have a TV and I adore LOST and Fringe. My music preference is somewhat eclectic I like Loreena McKennitt, Donna DeLory, Lisa Gerrard, Lenka and I ADORE Merry Christmas Mr. Lawrence by Ryuichi Sakamoto: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YwkuS9FlB7M&feature=player_embedded
-Is there anything you'd like to try your hand at doing? Knitting, baking, soap making, wood working, an instrument, etc.
Lately I have had an interest in Bee-keeping to help the bees in their plight and also have access to my own honey and beeswax.
-What would you suggest to new etsy sellers to promote their shops?1. Really good, clear photos of your items.
2. Get in touch with who you are and what's important to you so that all your marketing and promotion come from that source. This helps keep you going when things get slow and ties into creating "your" brand. My husband teaches this in a workshop he calls Artist As Brand: http://www.artistasbrand.com/
3. I suggest not relying on Etsy to feature you, instead use social media and connect with people who believe in your work. These people can help you brainstorm on unique ways to get your work out into the world. Blogs and features, like this, are really helpful.
-3 etsy shops you just LOVE?
My all time two favorite shops, which I drool over, are Larimeloom and Treehouse28. I wish the economy would recover so that I could shop here!
I love vintage and shabby chic style like Sadie Olive has in her shop, I also love her aesthetic: same with TwoArtDirectors.
I'd like items from this shop: and a perfume sign from Diane:
Sorry, I went over, there are so many great shops and artists on Etsy!
-One year from now, I hope my number of sold items is... 3000 AND I intend to have website done and be in department store, boutiques and featured in print magazines.
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Have an etsy shop with over 300 sales and want to be a featured seller? Contact me at phletcher@gmail.com
As always, thanks for reading :)
