Date joined etsy -10/26/07
Sales to date - 1379
-Give us some basic info about you: name, where you live, kids/pets, favorite ice cream flavor, etc.My name is Mariève, born and raised in Winnipeg, Manitoba (Canada) in a french-canadian family. I live with my fiancé and our beagle, a short walk away from a river where we often go canoeing in the Spring, when the water's actually high enough to paddle. I love dark chocolate, the smell of lilacs, the cry of the loon, the soft kiss of a child, the fiery colors of a setting sun. Our house and my workroom are a mess because I usually choose to go for a walk rather than clean up and I like to use the excuse that I create better from chaos, though frankly, how efficient can you be sometimes when you spend an hour looking for your stash of sand paper?
-Describe an average day in life of "you".
Though I've spent the last few years going to bed extremely late... or maybe we should say early ? (between 3 and 7am)... and getting up at noon, I've been trying to turn things around and live a more light-friendly routine. Though I'm still not a morning person, the rest remains more or less the same. I juggle life between my online shop and my part time job at a library, trying to fit as much quality time with family and the great outdoors in my not so spare time. Sometimes I'll even make time to read a book.
-Were you creative growing up/what did you enjoy doing?
I've always been a creative bug, experimenting since early childhood with different medias like paper, thread and polymer clay. I wrote stories, I made masks and paper doll accessories, I made loads of friendship bracelets and you would often find me woodburning freehanded images on pieces of driftwood under the sun with a strong magnifying glass. And I was always reading and going on camping trips with my dad, collecting rocks and leaves and swimming for hours in lakes even when they were well below 65 F.
-What made you want to start selling on etsy?
I saw an ad for it in Craft magazine (back when it was still in paper format) and thought I'd give it a whirl. I started as a buyer then opened my own shop. The low listing fees, ease of use, and the friendly community put it ahead of anything else I'd ever seen.
-How long did it take for you to get your first sale on etsy?
I listed my first items a little over a month after I opened my seller account and made my first sales within two days.
-Top 5 favorite foods, tv shows, and bands?Food: I hate cooking (thank God my beau's a great and usually willing cook), but I love eating, especially pasta. I eat fruits and veggies like nobody's business and I would probably live on cheese if it wasn't for the fact that I've become lactose intolerant.
Television: I'm a big sucker for So you think you can dance and the Amazing race, but don't like other reality shows. We've set our PVR to record Law & Order, Simpsons and Big Bang Theory, which we'll usually watch before going to bed. I never watch tv during the day and I spent all of my summers without tv growing up so it's still weird for me to watch television in summer.
Music: I'm really disconnected with contemporary anglophone music artists and bands as I never listen to the radio and don't watch music shows. I sometimes put on a little bit of Simon & Garfunkel, Cat Stevens or Bobby McFerrin. They were all before my time, but I'm a big fan. I also listen to a few francophone artists which I absolutely love: Daniel Bélanger, Pierre Lapointe, Ariane Moffat, Michel Rivard, Stéphanie Lapointe... Though I most often listen to audio books when I work at home, or just work in silence with my thoughts running about in my head.
-Is there anything you'd like to try your hand at doing? Knitting, baking, soap making, wood working, an instrument, etc.
I would love to get into bookmaking, take metalsmith classes and get equipped to work with silver clay. I'd really like to learn more about welding, woodworking, electronics and, well, basically all crafts and trades. I've already tried my hand at a lot of things though and have come to accept that I'm hopeless with a sewing machine, but I can handsew and knit. I can bake, but I'm more of fan of eating. And I can play a few wind instruments, but I've gotten really rusty.
-What would you suggest to new etsy sellers to promote their shops?
Start by reviewing your shop. Make sure it's cohesive and don't underestimate the importance of details. Are all your pictures the best they could be? Are they showing your items under different angles and different light? Be clear in your descriptions, accurate in your tags, establish rock solid shop policies, and, as much as possible, include international shipping fees from the get go. Answer your convos promptly, list and relist regularly, make connections with other sellers, add to your favorites, give out business cards, be proud of your work and talk about it!
-3 etsy shops you just LOVE?
I have MANY favorites, but here are three of my top shops with flawless work and service:
http://www.etsy.com/shop/JenniferJoyCreative
http://www.etsy.com/shop/Kreativlink
http://www.etsy.com/shop/SRNdesigns
-One year from now, I hope my number of sold items is...
2000?
--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 :)
