Date joined etsy- 7/5/06
Sales to date - 1153
-Give us some basic info about you: name, where you live, kids/pets, favorite ice cream flavor, etc.My name is Janick, I'm 29yo and I live in Montreal (province of Quebec, Canada). My first language is French, but I've been immersed in the English language since pre-school and kindergarten and summer camps, because where I grew up was a small mainly-English town about an hour North from Montreal. I live my adorable 17lbs cat named Kobe in my new 740 square foot condo! I love very modern things, but I love vintage as well. I also have a cheesy side, sometimes! I like coffee ice cream the best, but I prefer mango sorbet. :)
-Describe an average day in life of "you".
Every day is soooo different!! I do this full-time (with Nea since July 2008, but I was a freelance graphic designer working from home before that since 2003), so I pretty much make up my schedule as I go along. I used to have somewhat of delimited time to do things (for example, pictures in the morning & editing them, listing stuff in the afternoon and making in the evening) but I'm horrible with boundaries, they make my skin crawl! So right now, in the past year especially, I just go along my desires (which can be a good AND bad thing depending on the day!). It's tricky, but for now it's how it is! I'd like to go back to that semi-structure soon, to possibly get a little more done in a day!
-Were you creative growing up/what did you enjoy doing?
I do think I was! I remember making friendship bracelets and even some cross-stitch with my best friend since high school. We were in boarding school, so we had a lot of evenings to fill! I even remember making some seed bead necklaces on fishing string at some point!
-What made you want to start selling on etsy?I started making jewelry in the beginning of 2006. At first it was just fun, for myself, using tigertail string as a basis. And then, I discovered chain... It was like a revelation!! I just couldn't stop, and was making way more jewels than I could wear (add to that that I was already working from home, so not so many occasions to wear them in public). I discovered Etsy on my birthday in July in 2006, and then made a banner and opened shop in August. The internet was a big part of my life since more than half of my life, so I had no fear of it. It just came naturally, basically!
-How long did it take for you to get your first sale on etsy?
I was following many blogs at that point already, so when I posted a few items to my shop, I started immediately emailing blogs about my work. I had guts (lol!) and emailed Design*Sponge ( http://www.designspongeonline.com/ ) first, the biggest blog that talked about handmade that I could find, with not much hope, but still. And then, Grace, the gal behind the blog, loved my Deploy Earrings, and featured me in the next few days! So my first sale(s) took less than a week! I was super thrilled, but really not prepared in the packaging department for around 10 orders in a few days! But it was amazing!!
-Top 5 favorite foods, tv shows, and bands?
Oh, that's hard! I tend to have obsessions, like I'll loooove one thing excessively for a month, and then go on to another for the next period of time. I'll try telling you what I go for these days! :)
Food: sushi, salmon, almond croissants, cilantro, chocolate.
TV Shows: The Mentalist, Hell's Kitchen, Obsessed, The Next Great Artist and a local soap called Virginie (cheesy side!).
Bands: Maroon5, Pierre Lapointe (local), Meaghan Smith, Hootie and the Blowfish, Micheal Bublé (my cheesy side pops up again! hehe)
-Is there anything you'd like to try your hand at doing? Knitting, baking, soap making, wood working, an instrument, etc.Last Fall I took some pottery turning classes and loved it! I'd like to pick it up again next Fall. I'd love to learn weaving, but I'm not sure I have the patience! I LOVE wood, and it would be a dream to be able to create my own pieces of furniture one day! A few crochet skills would be nice, too!
-What would you suggest to new etsy sellers to promote their shops?
To try different things! Stay active in the community, whether that be at craft shows or on blogs or in forums. Be creative, and mostly, love what you are doing (your work as well as what you do to promote yourself). People can feel it when you don't, and so it just wont work!
Here's my blog - http://fonetik.wordpress.com
-3 etsy shops you just LOVE?
Only 3? WOAH! Ok...
http://www.etsy.com/shop/essimar
http://www.etsy.com/shop/PigeonToeCeramics
http://www.etsy.com/shop/hotellemotelle
-One year from now, I hope...
That my online sales from last year will be back! Last year, I made most of my salary online, and not much in consignment. This year, it's the opposite! We all have ups and downs, the important thing is to not give up, try new things and always have hope! :)
--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 :)
