1) Tell us about yourself, your shop and what brought you to the Etsy community...
I'm a "Jill-of-all-trades," have never been able to find just a single thing to pursue..call it short attention span; call it a hunger for many new experiences. I write poetry and essays, I have done stage-managing for community theater, produced & hosted my own cable-access TV show, written, produced, and hosted a video documentary about a slice of California history, and acted with a comedy improvisation troupe.
I have an Associate Degree in Liberal Arts--(that's the 'dabbler's' degree for people who can't make up their minds!), and I hold a certificate in landscaping and in general TV broadcasting. Here I am, staring down 62 years, and still trying to decide 'what I want to be when I grow up.' I like the t-shirt slogan: "Growing old is inevitable; growing up is optional."
Tell us about your shop and what brought you to the Etsy community...
Well, long story. Nutshell version: I was trying to sell for a couple of years on E-Bay. I made several sales, but nothing worth bragging about. My initial focus was on 'garage sale' type items, trying to clear some items I was no longer using to gain space in my house, and get a bit of extra cash in the process. In that mix were some items from my parent's estate--a wide ranging mix of things from costume jewelry to anitque cameras and glassware. Some sold, most did not. Then, when E-Bay decided to change to "Fee-Bay," I began searching for a more cost-effictive venue, and found Etsy.
My shop on Etsy is still pretty much a "virtual department store," with many of those same item types, but I now also offer my ceramic items, which are simply chosen from among the things we are pouring anyway for our wholesale bisque business, and which I paint and offer as finished goods.
2) Walk us through a typical day in your life.
Ummm... that's a tough one. I am very "allergic" to rigid schedules, and pretty much never do anything twice at the same time or in the same sequence. We do work on our wholesale ceramics Mon.-Thurs. with our joint venture partners, and are finished about noon. Then, I can tend to listing, promoting, blogging, household chores, errands, or whatever with the rest of my day. I tend to be a night owl; pretty much don't get anything useful done before noon...
(At the risk of angering those who work at 9-5 jobs, I pretty much do what I want, when and if I want...supposedly one of the 'benefits' of being self-employed. To me, it matters not if I work on something at 9 a.m. or 9 p.m. or midnight...as long as it is finished on time is all that matters.)
Lately, I'm spending an inordinate amount of time in front of the computer, trying very hard to work at promoting my shop in various online venues. That takes extra time, of course, as I am careful to include 'social' content as well, so I'm not "spamming" the venue with exclusively "come to my shop and buy stuff" types of posts (there are 2 or 3 of those types in my Twitter feed..and I find them annoying, so I don't want to emulate that practice!)
I also write 3 public blogs, and one on a membership site (free to join). In addition, I do proof reading and editing. My current project is re-writing a student handbook for the dojo at which I am studying self-defense.
3) Name your top 3:
Books...
Hmm... hard to narrow it down that far...I love all kinds of books, but of all time fave books, I'd have to say The Source by James Michener; and from there, I have to go to genres rather than specific books. I enjoy historical novels in general, (of which the above is one); mysteries and" who-dunnits," a la Arthur Upfield's ("Detective Napoleon Bonaparte" series --set in 1930' -40's Australia) and Lillian Jackson Braun's ("The Cat Who..." series), and fantasy such as Piers Anthony's "Xanth" series, and Anne McCaffrey's"Dragons of Pern" series. There are oh, so many more. I've loved reading since childhood.
Movies OR TV shows...
As for TV shows, again, it's types rather than specific, or there would be such a long list! Hubby and I like SciFi (we are big-time Trekkies!), History, Paranormal ("Ghost Hunters--T.A.P.S", e.g.) and Discovery Channel shows..such as Mythbusters. My all-time favorite movie, for its fascinating blend of drama, romance, and a bit of paranormal and sci-fi has to be "Somewhere In Time" with Christopher Reeve.
4) Where do you hope your shop will be in 1 year?
(Well, hoping actually, for sooner than that!)...My husband is disabled, and for the past 10 years, I have been running smack-dab into (so-called illegal and non-existent) age discrimination in trying to find work outside the home, so our income is pretty limited. Therefore, I would love to be able to make a much more significant income with my Etsy shop as the source.
5) What is one of your favorite shops on Etsy?
Wow.. another tough-choice question. There are sooooo many from which to choose.... ummm.. can I get back to you on that??? ;-) Lets see--how about 2? CarriersCozyCottage, and ChatNoir77 -- (but I don't believe/am unsure if they are "Rats" ... is that a requirement?)
6) What projects are you currently working on?
Let me see... Trying to find my desk under the stacks of papers. .... Seriously, though...that's an ongoing task... LOL. I guess I need to focus on products for ..what's next up?? Easter?? (Valentines Day, at this point, is 'over with' sales-wise, I think..it's too near to be making more items.) I intensely dislike the commercial 'rushing-of-the-seasons' seen in the brick & mortar stores, so I always find myself scrambling at the 11th hour to make things to offer for any given holiday...or find existing items that could be made to fit the category.
I suppose my next current 'project' is the need to re-do some of my photos, as they are old, and taken with the old camera I used to have, and the backgrounds are not so hot, either. Now, I have a better set-up, and can do more uniform backdrops. So....since I write photo how-to articles in my blog, it would behoove me to have my shop photos look as if I know what I'm talking about.
7) If you could have 1 super power, what would it be and why?
At last--an easy question! I would hypnotize all the world's populations into eternal peaceful co-existence, and forever end all wars, and to go along with that, an even distribution of wealth, that would be unable to go out of balance, so there would be no more poverty and struggling anywhere, and everyone could simply go about their lives, and focus on whatever life path they might choose, be it philosophy, mathematics, craftsmanship, geological, archeological or space exploration,and so forth.
Such a fun interview! I love all of the facets of your personality...it's what makes us individuals, of course. I grew up across the Lake from Mackinac Island and tried out to be an extra in Somewhere in Time. The enduring popularity of that movie always amazes me. Maybe because they didn't pick me as an extra. :) Thanks for the great read.
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