Date joined etsy- 1/20/09
Sales to date - 3354
-Give us some basic info about you: name, where you live, kids/pets, favorite ice cream flavor, etc.I'm a 27 year old pixie and I live with my filmmaker boyfriend, Kevin, and his son, Simon in Kansas City MO. I have a russian blue kitty names Jaqk who I talk to telepathically. I am kind of a crazed artist, making things all the time in many different mediums, often more abstract mediums like music, web, etc. I made an iphone app called the Cat Translator, and you can see a lot more about my life on www.jillmckeever.net and www.craftressing.com.
-Describe an average day in life of "you".
An average day for me consists of rolling out of bed at 8 or 9, going straight to the laptop and answering convos, emails, printing shipping labels, etc. while still halfway in dreamworld. Then Jaqk demands some kitty food and I get myself some tea and breakfast also, then head downstairs to my studio at about 10am. I make things until about 3pm then wander back up to find my boyfriend who is usually glued to his computer screen editing his documentary. I try to convince him to go out to eat with me because we live down the street from a ton of great restaurants. Then I spend the rest of the day thinking, conceptualizing, designing on my computer. I have a crew of 2 strange ladies who come in to help me some afternoons, and in that case I will work with them in my studio until about 6pm, then go upstairs and order supplies and call it a night. I try to stop myself from working over 60-hour weeks, and both Kev and I force ourselves to "have weekends" because we both love our jobs so much its easy to forget to take breaks. On the weekends I party as much as possible. I gotta get that out of my system so I can have self control the rest of the week.
-Were you creative growing up/what did you enjoy doing?
I have definitely always been creative. Art and crafts drew me in at a really young age. I also loved music and dance. I played violin and did all kinds of dance from hip hop to ballet. I think people should always look to their childhood if they have any question of what it is they should be doing as an adult.
-What made you want to start selling on etsy?
I didn't know Etsy existed until late 2008, and I knew INSTANTLY that it would work for me. I was really excited, and only wished I had known about it earlier. It just makes sense for me and the kind of thing that I create. My work doesn't take well to craft fairs!
-How long did it take for you to get your first sale on etsy?
I think it was a month or so before I had an Etsy sale but at that time I only had one or two items listed. I opened my shop before I really had any of my products finished lol
-Top 5 favorite foods, tv shows, and bands?Favorite foods for me are anything cooked with herbs or flowers as their predominant flavors. Like lavender cookies, rose anything, dishes with fresh basil, rosemary ice cream, etc.
I do not have a TV or desire to watch one except I LOVE Flight of the Conchords!
Favorite bands include kraftwerk, goldfrapp, talking heads, rasputina, and pink floyd.
-Is there anything you'd like to try your hand at doing? Knitting, baking, soap making, wood working, an instrument, etc.
No, I am too impatient. If theres anything creative I want to do, I go for it right away. I've explored worlds of dance, music, video, photography, poetry, animation, sound design, perfumery, sculpture, metalsmithing, and graphic design, and if I get another whim I'll take it right away.
-What would you suggest to new etsy sellers to promote their shops?
Etsy admins WILL find you and promote you if you make your shop the best it can be. But don't take that for granted. If your items are really unique and your photos are good, that itself is the best thing you can do. upload the photos to flickr and anywhere on the web you can think of and people will follow the trail back to your shop if they like what they see!
-3 etsy shops you just LOVE?
swanbones, JungleTribe, and labellefairy
-One year from now, I hope...
I have a lot of products in my mind that I want to put in my shop, several of which are in the works now. I can't wait to have them done. I have begun wholesaling some of my products but I hope to have more that I can sell this way so I can be found in boutiques because the post office is starting to hate me! haha So one year from now I hope to shift just a little away from Etsy and towards the retail market. But I do still plan to keep it small. A large account would be stressful for me!
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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 :)
