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Featured Seller: daisycakessoap
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Tell us about yourself.
My name is Jean-Marie and I founded Daisycakes Soap in 1999 in New Orleans & Baton Rouge, LA. My family (husband, 3 kids, 3 greyhounds) now live in the awesome town of in Athens, GA!
I’m a social worker by training, and have an undergrad in photography. I’m an Etsy “elder”, too, as I was lucky to find/join the site just 2 short months after it launched in 2005.
Apart from creating, what do you do?
I spend a lot of time with my family. I’m still learning about running a business continually improving it. I like to read, cook, and I get taken for many runs by our dogs.
How do you get your inspiration?
I love when people take a really good idea and turn it into practical reality. I am so inspired by Kiva. Their vision to bring together a micro-lending system where a small business like mine can help support small businesses in places half way around the world was amazing. Not only that, but they brought so many other agencies into the process to make micro-lending viable and thriving.
Not that has much to do with soap making, but I am inspired by people who make visions (like Etsy, too) reality.
What does handmade mean to you?
Handmade means quality to me. Someone put time, energy and thoughtful *intention* into making something that others could enjoy.
Who or what has been most influential in your business development?
Selling on Etsy, when it first started, was a fundamental departure from the kind of selling I had been doing.
It influenced my business model tremendously. prior to 2005, my income had come almost exclusively from farmers and artist markets. When Etsy took off, suddenly half my gross income was coming from online sales! I had to rethink everything–product lines, market and daily scheduling, workshop configuration.
Etsy really pushed me in a way I hadn’t been pushed before;)
How would you describe your creative process?
I experience my creative process as a groove. I’ll spend a week or two in a production groove: reading, experimenting, reading some more and making batch after batch of soap…then I will go back to focusing on the daily tasks that have to get done. I look forward to my grooves.
This past year was fun because I learned more about Photoshop Elements, so I was able to incorporate my own images in my labeling, which was new and fun.
Who is your favorite artist, designer or craftsman?
I am going to cheat here and say my teammates on the The Etsy Full Time Crafter Teame
Do you have and love a handmade thing other than your own creations?
I have a weakness for tie dye and colorful glass
Where do you see yourself in ten years?
10 years older, with Cory and the dogs, with kids out of college, still in my workshop with a wisk in my hand;)
Hopefully by then I will have figured out a way to have Daisycakes support Kiva in a bigger, more meaningful way.
How is your life changed since you started creating?
I’m sorry. I don’t understand this question. I don’t experience it as a before and after–it is just life.
What piece of advise you have for other people?
do what you love–try to make it fly if you can even if that means eating just noodles and eggs for a while.
keep learning. perfect your craft.
spend money on materials/marketing/opportunities when you need to–the money will find it’s way back to you.
keep pessimists at bay. believe in yourself.
risk.
05/06/2011
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Tell us about yourself.
My wife, Andrea, and I live in a cozy little house and we fantasize a lot about getting a puppy. I spend a lot of time drawing portraits for people and listening to podcasts. Andrea and I try to treat every day like an adventure.
Apart from creating, what do you do?
Mainly I just hang out with Andrea and try to make her laugh. When she gets tired I stay up reading comics and playing video games. I’m a big kid at heart but I have had fun embracing homeownership. We spend a lot of time making trips to Ikea, mowing the lawn, collecting artwork and debating what color we should paint the walls. We also enjoy people watching while trekking around downtown.
How do you get your inspiration?
My inspiration comes from film noir, old mystery novels, stencil graffiti (my work is hand drawn but often mistaken for stencil), comic books and pulp novel covers.
What does handmade mean to you?
I like having paint and marker stains on my hands most of the time. I like contributing something genuine and personal for people to hang on their walls.
Who or what has been most influential in your business development?
My friend Kat turned me on to Etsy.com in 2006. I was telling her how I wished there was a decent way to sell art from home. I had tried ebay and it was a nightmare. She told me about etsy, I signed up maybe two days later and had my first sale in about forty minutes.
How would you describe your creative process?
I’ve obsessively drawn faces since I can remember. I have no stress in creating artwork.. drawing is almost meditative for me at this point. I can put on some headphones, listen to some music or a podcast and it pretty much works itself out.
Who is your favorite artist, designer or craftsman?
Frank Miller. His stuff blows me away.
Do you have and love a handmade thing other than your own creations?
My friend Anna painted a Luchador and his lady for me. It’s great.
Where do you see yourself in ten years?
I’m pretty happy with how most everything is right now. Hopefully I’ll have the house figured out. It should be awesome, I’m thinking it’ll look like a Wes Anderson set by then.
How is your life changed since you started creating?
I’ve always drawn, so it’s hard to say how it’s changed. Being successful selling my artwork has been a tremendously positive experience. Knowing my stuff is hanging in so many homes sometimes overwhelms me.
What piece of advise you have for other people?
Conan said it best, “work hard and be kind.”
04/29/2011
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Tell us about yourself.
I’m a full time jeweler, splitting my time between making my jewelry pieces & teaching at my local arts center. I’m based out of Lawrence, Kansas, but escaped briefly to get my degree in photography from the Rhode Island School of Design.
Apart from creating, what do you do?
I teach, as I mentioned above, which is a great way to escape the quiet solitary life of working in my studio. My husband & I also run a real estate business, where we buy junky houses, renovate & then rent them out. We’re fortunate to live in a college town, so there’s always a plethora of ‘project houses’ to work on. My mom started a vineyard several years ago, so I can often be found outside working on grapevines, gardening & playing with my dogs.
How do you get your inspiration?
surprisingly, just by getting new materials…a new stone, or pattern of metal may have a design that just screams to be made. My customers are always a wonderful source…they’re always requesting something new & personalized, which has often led to some of my more popular pieces.
What does handmade mean to you?
knowing the ins & outs of the piece…& truly making as much of it as you can from scratch. I love making something from as raw of a material as you can get- a strip of silver, a simple stone..and then combining it with other elements, be it personalization or custom sizing. I think all handmade pieces should have a unique quality to them & should be quite well made….there’s no factory assembly line to sterilize the piece & take away it’s personality.
Who or what has been most influential in your business development?
Etsy.com
I started on etsy in 2005 as a whim one day, while surfing the net, avoiding my awful desk job. The site was brand new & it looked interesting. I was newly out of art school & floundering for a place in the world. Once I realized I had a good reception to my work on the site (there were only a handful of jewelers at that time), it pushed me to create more & more. That push from my customers really guided me to a wonderful place- being a full time artist, having no ‘boss’ other than my customers, and really letting me explore what I love.
How would you describe your creative process?
it all depends on what I’m going for…if it’s a custom order, I do a lot of photographs & sketches (mostly on the computer, as I’ve regressed in my drawing skills!). I explain the options & give my ideas for how I think something would work best. From there, I just start working with metal. I mostly work in sterling silver, finding it the perfect medium to work with.
If it’s something unique I’m making just on a whim, I play around with my materials, be it wax for casting, or just sheet metal & wire. Not all pieces work well, but the beauty of sterling silver is any mess ups can be melted down & recycled into a cast piece. Stones will often sit on my bench for months at a time until I decide of the perfect way to pair them with metal.
Who is your favorite artist, designer or craftsman?
Damien Hirst…I think he’s an arrogant artist, but his work is fun & playful, even a bit morbid. It really speaks to me.
Do you have and love a handmade thing other than your own creations?
a quilt my mother in law made me for our wedding
Where do you see yourself in ten years?
I’d love to stay on the path I’m going- having successful web business & getting in the occasional catalog (I’m currently in the http://peruvianconnection.com/ magazine, & have been in food network & pregnancy magazine among others). I love working with my customers on a one on one basis & I hope that never changes.
How is your life changed since you started creating?
I’ve learned so much, about business, customer service, and just techniques in general…I never stop learning.
Doing this full time has allowed me a wonderfully flexible schedule & I’m so much happier. I LOVE being able to sleep late in the mornings & create my own schedule…it’s awesome.
What piece of advise you have for other people?
work hard at what you do, and LOVE it. People see the passion in your work. Create often & always learn new techniques.
04/27/2011
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Tell us about yourself.
Hi! My name is Debbie Carlos. I am a photographer based in Chicago, Illinois.
Apart from creating, what do you do?
I am a bit obsessive about food. I spend a lot of time thinking about food, reading about food, making food, photographing food and, of course, eating food.
Other than that, I really enjoy hikes, bird watching, cute animal watching, road tripping and acquiring leafy house plants.
How do you get your inspiration?
Looking at art and seeing what other people create always inspires me.
What does handmade mean to you?
Buying handmade is important to me because it means so much more than just buying something cool (which it also means!) A handmade object connects you to the someone somewhere, who is hopefully doing what they love. Buying handmade means supporting an artist, supporting a small business, and in so doing, fostering community. I think if everyone bought handmade/local, it would save the world.
Who or what has been most influential in your business development?
Without a doubt, it has got to be my friends and family.
How would you describe your creative process?
Having a camera on me at all times is the most helpful part of the creative process. Sometimes there is nothing to take a picture of, but sometimes there is. I make sure to take a lot of photos, even if I don’t feel very strongly about the shot, because I like to leave room to be surprised later.
Who is your favorite artist, designer or craftsman?
If I really had to narrow it down, I would have to say it is Rinko Kawauchi.
Do you have and love a handmade thing other than your own creations?
Of course! I love my awesome custom backpack my friend Lilian ( http://boyfrengirlfren.etsy.com ) made.
Where do you see yourself in ten years?
Doing what I’m doing now but hopefully a little richer. Just a little 
How is your life changed since you started creating?
I think my life has completely changed. I’m happy, I’m doing what I love and what I’m good at and I’ve met some really great people along the way. Its great feeling like I’ve really come into my own.
What piece of advise you have for other people?
Above anything else, I think the most important thing is to be kind and generous to others.
04/27/2011