Featured Seller .:TippyToesknits:.

Good morning everyone – and happy almost weekend J

I’m Stacey (SNMAC) and my little Etsy storefront is TippyToesKnits.

.:About Me:.

My husband and I have a fabulous monster at home – he is 2 and a little firecracker (he has a redheaded mother – his temperment was predetermined).  I am getting ready to have another little monster in a few months.  If she is anything like her brother (or her mother…) I think we’re in for an interesting ride.  I work full time in Autism research, which has consumed my entire professional career – going on 13 years now.  I love my job(s) – although I constantly find myself struggling to discover the best balance.  Toss in knitting and life can get awfully busy. 

.:About my Shop:.

TippyToesKnits started out as a simple hobby, as most crafty endeavors do.  I made little things for baby showers and birthday gifts.  That was the extent of it (besides a bazillion hats and scarves and mittens for myself and my husband)  Somewhere along the line I started getting requests to make things for other people to bring as gifts to showers and it all snowballed from there.  I started with a few basic designs and have continued to design more patterns and experiement with colours and textures as time goes by. 

How long have you been on Etsy?
I have been on Etsy since November 2008.  I made my first two sales that December and then went on a long hiatus after I had my son in January 2009.   Well, a hiatus from selling – but certainly not from buying (which is a whole other blog post entirely!)  I returned to the land of sellers in the summer of 2009.

If you had 1 wish about your Etsy shop?
To continue to be successful.  In the land of dreams, I could make knitting more of my full time job than my *after work job*.  However, in the land of reality (the land where I don't have 12 hands that move at the speed of light) – I wish to keep making sales, keep designing cute stuff and keep maintaining the balance of work/second work/mommyhood/wifehood/rest of life. 

What are you working on next for the shop?
A few new styles of hats and probably some new mittens for the winter.  With a baby girl on the way, I’ve got a lot of new ideas – now that I will have a new little model.

What are your three favorite items in your shop?

My newest addition - The Lolly

The Royal

The L'Amour and S'Mittens Set

 

What was the last thing you purchased from Etsy?
Lobster Lover Ruffle Diaper Cover from RaeGun

What was your last non-Etsy related creative pursuit?

As the due date of our newest addition approaches, I’ve been investing a lot of energy into redesigning Monster’s nursery to suit a little girl.  For WB'ers - keep your eyes open for a nursery post soon!!

Please use WEDDINGBELLS2011 for 10% off your order and visit me at my often neglected blog www.tippytoesknits.blogspot.com or on Facebook!

Featured Seller: Owly Handmade.

Hi, my name is Julie and my shop is Owly Handmade. I am a WAHM to a beautiful, (almost) 6 month old little boy. My husband and I are professional graphic designers. Between baby and design contracts, it's amazing that I find any time to sew - it's even more amazing that I find time to sleep! About the Shop. Owly Handmade is a collective of myself and a couple of girlfriends. I sew the bibs, strap covers and run the shop. The item that started it all was, making a bib for my drooly little boy. After much experimentation with different types of fabric, layering, and learning some embroidery - the drooly baby teething bib was born! How long have you been on Etsy? I have been on Etsy a while - but just opened the shop in February. If you had 1 wish...about your Etsy shop. Only Success. I'm sure it is everyone's dream to be wildly successful at something they care about and enjoy doing. What are you working on next for the shop? In the future we plan to carry more momma items - that was always the intention - but baby would prefer if I fed, changed and played with him instead. ;) I am currently drawing patterns and working on prototypes - I'm really excited to share the new items I'm working on. What are your three favorite items in your shop?

The drooly baby teething bib

Multicoloured Owl Baby carrier strap covers

The orange ruffled diaper cover

What was the last thing you purchased from Etsy? Jewelery from our very own BuySomeLove. What was your last non-Etsy related creative pursuit? As a designer, I'm changing gears all the time, which is good because I always have fresh ideas. My husband and I are doing the design work for Wrong Way to Hope a film about young adults and cancer. The subject is a little heavy but my husband is a survivor and one of my girls is in the film. The film makers are currently on tour promoting the film - we are very excited for our local screening! Come check it out if you can. We made some awesome swag too lol ;) Like many of the other shops, please use WEDDINGBELLS10 for 10% off your order. Please come check us out on Facebook

Featured Seller - Cheeky Monkey Boutique

Hello! I'm Sarah (AKA. MrsKertcher2B on WB), creator of CheekyMonkeyBoutique (and SewDarnChic, but that'll come tomorrow!)


What's the story behind your Etsy shop?


Well, I've been selling on Etsy since June 12th, 2010, but that certainly wasn't the start of my crafty business ventures. I've been crafting and creating ever since I was a child, but my real passion was always sewing. Some of my first creations were coats for my dog (some of which she still wears today!), and fleece teddy bears with cute clothing accessories that my best friend and I would make in her basement and sell at craft fairs. I then migrated into clothing and accessories for myself. I'm a fashion school drop out (much to my parents dismay!) and actually stopped sewing for many years while I travelled and worked away from home, but I constantly found myself saying "I could make that!" or "If I only had my sewing machine!" So, after moving back home, marrying my husband, buying a home, and inheriting my Dad's Dad's rickety old sewing machine, I was back in my glory!

Cheeky Monkey Boutique was created after I had my first child. I discovered very quickly that losing soothers sucked, and all the soother saving products available in stores didn't suit my need. The soother leashes that I found either had velcro that my son would very easily pop off the soother, or they had wimpy clasps that he could pull off of his clothing. So, I decided to create something that addressed this issue. After overwhelming feedback from Mom's at my play groups, I decided to start selling on Etsy. The "Soother Saver" as it was originally called, was the first item that I ever listed! The rest of my product line fell in place from a combination of personal need, and custom client requests.

                                                                                                                My very first Etsy listing was the Paul Frank Soother Saver!


What's YOUR story?
I am a Mom of two wonderful kids. An almost 3 year old son, and a 1.5 year old daughter. My daughter was born with a congenital heart defect which was diagnosed at 5 weeks old. She spent her first Christmas in the hospital (3 months old) having open heart surgery to repair the issues, and she's thriving and doing amazingly well now! I'm a part time B.Management degree student, as well as a part time Early Childhood Education student. My husband and I also own an HVAC contracting business. I'm am a very community minded person, and I take any opportunity that I can to give back. Aside from sewing and crafting, I love to spend time creating in the kitchen, gardening (although I rarely find time to do this). I enjoy all sports, especially baseball. There's not a lot that I don't like actually! Except spiders... I hate spiders!

What advice would you give someone looking to open an Etsy shop?

Know your market. Etsy is such a vast market place, and often it's swamped with similar items. Do your research before opening your shop to get a better idea of if it's something that's going to work for you or not. Although it's a long and drawn out process, make sure your pictures rock! The online market place is a great thing, but because buyers don't get the luxury of being able to touch and manipulate your product, be sure to give good photos so you're not leaving your buyer suprised when something arrives. In addition to good photos, make sure your descriptions of your items are detailed. Try to answer any questions that a buyer might have about your products so that they have less work to do. My last piece of advise, as with all things in life would be to make sure that you love what you do!

Name something you care about that most people don't.In relation to my etsy shop? I guess perhaps ironing! I swear my high school sewing teacher drove this into me! I press all my seams, and I make sure all my items are sewn "correctly" even though those small details are never seen by anyone, they drive me crazy if they're not done!

Name something you don't like that most people do.
Meat... I've been a vegetarian since I was a kid. A strange choice really since everyone in my family loves and eats meat! I guess I'm just a little strange! :)

What are your three favorite items in your shop?

my safari print wet bag

 

My reusable sandwich bag

My crayon wallet

What are you working on next for the shop?

Well, I've got a lot of "in progress" items, some of which are chalk board place mats, kids wallets, more wet bags, and just overall more selection of the current items I've got in stock.

As with many other WB etsy sellers, any WB member can use coupon code "WeddingBells10" to receive 10% off thier entire order!  

As I've mentioned above, I love to design and create, and therefore I welcome all custom orders! If you've got an idea of something you'd like to see, convo me and I'd be happy to try to work out the details of making it for you!

Also, don't forget to join my facebook page to stay up to date with the latest happenings!

CheekyMonkeyBoutique on Facebook

CheekyMonkeyBoutique on Etsy