Date joined etsy- 4/7/06
Sales to date - 732
-Give us some basic info about you: name, where you live, kids/pets, favorite ice cream flavor, etc.Hi there! I'm Jennifer Strunge from Baltimore, MD. I live with my good friend Sarah, my boyfriend of 12 years, and two fat and lovely kitties in a little stone house high up on a hill. Favorite Flavor, mint chocolate chip (or orange sherbet if I'm trying to be a bit healthier!)
-Describe an average day in life of "you".
Wake up, go to the gym (if I don't "snooze" the alarm) drink some tea and eat breakfast while checking my email, do some photo editing/Etsy listings, head up to my attic studio and start whatever needs to be done that day! Somedays its eyeball or teeth production, but most days I just work on new monsters or cats one at a time, cutting, ironing sewing for as many hours as I can! Pack up orders to be shipped, make lunch, sew for another hour or two and then head to the post, maybe the thrift store, work an hour or so at a rec. center doing arts & crafts, make dinner, bring a project downstairs to hand-sew or stuff while I watch a movie or hang out with friends, read a bit and pass out! phew!
-Were you creative growing up/what did you enjoy doing?
Yes, I loved making art projects out of trash or bits and pieces of anything I could get my hands on. My mom was a quilter, so we also had a room full of fabric, batting, and other crafty things that she let me delve into at an early age. I loved drawing, sewing, making sculptures, tiny villages for clothespin people, etc!
-What made you want to start selling on Etsy?I had been selling my work on my own website with an online shop set up, but it became difficult to manage and had lots of problems. I had heard about Etsy, and decided to use it temporarily until i could get the kinks worked out of my own shop, but it was so easy to use and I liked it so much that I decided to just keep using it!
-How long did it take for you to get your first sale on Etsy?
My first sale was pretty immediate, but by the time I started on Etsy I already had quite a following and a huge email list. I just changed the link on my website to direct customers to my Etsy shop and sent out an email explaining how easy it was to use!
-Top 5 favorite foods, tv shows, and bands?
Foods: Penne Pasta with Vodka Sauce, Steamed Broccoli, Palak Paneer, Raw Kale Salad, Panang Tofu with Snowpeas!
I don't have T.V. but my favorite ones I've been obsessed with on dvd are: Twin Peaks, Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Freaks & Geeks, 30 Rock, True Blood
My favorite local Baltimore bands: Entrance, Lower Dens, Celebration, Beach House, Arboretum
-Is there anything you'd like to try your hand at doing? Knitting, baking, soap making, wood working, an instrument, etc.I have a child size guitar (my hands are pretty tiny) that I was gifted many Christmases ago…I would love if one day I had enough free time to invest in learning/practicing!
-What would you suggest to new Etsy sellers to promote their shops?
Start an email list or facebook fan page to keep customers up to date on what's new in your shop (though be cautious to not overwhelm them with emails/posts!) Also, get out in the real world too. Much of my early online success stemmed from making connections and talking up my business while selling at craft shows and also by wholesaling/consigning my work to other shops!
-3 etsy shops you just LOVE?
http://www.etsy.com/shop/irisschwarz
http://www.etsy.com/shop/lisacongdon
http://www.etsy.com/shop/RedPrairiePress
-One year from now, I hope…
I'm as happy as I am right now!
--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 :)
