1. Name and a little background information about you and what do you sell in your shop. My name is Jennifer (thus the JollyJennifer ;) I'm 25, single. I have a culinary arts degree but decided that it just wasn't for me. In my shop I sell a variety of items from polymer clay sculptures to my swirl art, all types of jewelry and paper products such as cards, tags, origami boxes, etc.
2. When and how did you get started in your craft? I've always been a crafter-the creative one in the family. I've collected things over the years and dabbled in this and that until I dated a guy and he told me his mom had an etsy shop. I learned more about it and got more serious about my crafts.
3. Could you explain a little how is your creative process? I've mostly been sticking to ACEO size work for now. I start off by sketching a basic design with pencil and then taking a thin marker to make a basic outline. Alternating around the page, I fill it in with swirls. If you watched me you'd think I was a little scattered with my technique, but I think the specific order that I do things in a picture is what makes it so captivating. Making each piece of art takes a lot of time and hurts my hands after not too long, so I take my time.
4. How long have you been selling your craft? I joined Etsy July 2, 2009. 5. Do you have a favorite item from your store and why? It's too hard to pick a favorite. Each new item is my favorite!
6. What do you want to achive from Etsy? It would be amazing to be able to just rely on funds from Etsy, but I don't honestly get that many sales (I usually trade as much as I sell). I hope to return to school soon to get my masters and teaching certificate. While that is my end goal in full time employment, I plan to keep up with Etsy. If nothing else, it's a creative outlet for me that I enjoy. I have plans to use my Etsy funds as a savings account to return to Poland for a vacation. I lived there for a year and a half and I've been dieing to return and see all the friends I miss. On a side note, I also have another shop called Crafting4Causes.etsy.com where I donate all proceeds to good causes each month. My goal is just to help as much as I can with that :)
1. Name, background info and what we sell: My name is Garrick Bernstein. I live on the outskirts of the Big Apple (New York, USA for those not familiar). I am a self-proclaimed mad designtist with a background in finance and a penchant for anything fun. Likes include sports, food, cars, and time with the family. Dislikes include bratwurst. I am a co-founder of www.senioritis.net and the main designer of our work. In our shop you will find colorful inspiration as we remember Famous Seniors of all ages.
2. When and how did we get started:
I started senioritis with my two sisters, Beth and Jillian, in 2006. We couldn’t really find what we were looking for in vintage stores and felt that our pain was being shared by others so we put our heads together and came up with senioritis. Initially our apparel targeted high school and college seniors, with designs based on a graduating class. We eventually moved on to our own designs including apparel with our company mascot Jack and our green with lazy design. Most recently, we expanded our senioritisness (yes I made that word up) to really include seniors of all ages. We have momentarily stepped away from apparel to focus on prints but plan to have some Famous Seniors inspired apparel in 2010.
3. Our creative process explained:
Our creative process starts with research. Research, research, research; the most time consuming part of our Famous Seniors series designs is doing research (my sisters help a lot with this part). I guess we design somewhat backwards. Typically a design will begin with “Oh, that person was really cool/inspirational/motivational/famous; let’s make a design of him/her.” After that the search begins for a quality quote as well as a meaningful contribution that the person made to society. I think the quotes are what make our designs unique. Without a good quote the nicest design still seems to lack something. After finding a quote to our liking I usually block out a design to get a general layout. After that it just seems to flow. Since the majority of our work process is done on the computer with programs like Photoshop and Illustrator we just concentrate on keeping our work well layered so it is easy to edit and make changes (which is inevitable). We prefer to print on a non-glossy cardstock as we feel this weight of paper has some substance and we don’t really like a shiny finish.
4: How long have we been selling:
We just openend our Etsy shop this past November so we are definitely new to the Etsy community. We have been selling our designs through our website,www.senioritis.net, since 2006.
5: Favorite item in our store and why:
If there was only one shop design we could call our favorite it would have to be our Aristotle design. In fact, this design is the basis for our new business cards. The design features a nice shade of yellow and the concrete background gives a rough feel. Aristotle's words are a constant reminder that genius and a touch of madness often travel together.
6: What do we want to achieve from Etsy:
Our biggest goal with Etsy is to gain increased exposure of our work while also showing others that you can always put a unique spin on a common idea. The idea of famous quotes is nothing new but we feel that we bring a unique approach to this concept; as Rodin said, "I invent nothing, I rediscover." We would also like to give back to the Etsy community by helping others when we can.
