Friday, February 13, 2009

in the cafe spotlight: blinkingmouse

Featured Etsian: blinkingmouse
Shop link: blinkingmouse.etsy.com

Ask for the Stars Bracelet (by blinkingmouse)

Give us the basics:

My Etsy shop is called ‘Pretty Little Love Objects’ and can be found at http://www.blinkingmouse.etsy.com/. I make individual, original pieces of jewellery that people can buy and treasure for many years. My mission is to put the romance back into gift giving (even if you’re just giving a little treat to yourself) so all my jewellery follows imaginative designs and uses quality supplies so that anyone receiving a Pretty Little Love Object gets a happy little gift getting moment in their day. I also make some paper items like cards, bookmarks and I even have a fancy dress mask up at the moment.

What’s your favourite smell?
I love strong scents like tobacco flower perfume but I also love lighter smells like jasmine (I’m a Body Shop perfume kind of girl).

How long have you been doing your craft?
I’ve been making jewellery in some form for about 5 years now but I’ve only been selling seriously for about a year. I started out making my own stretch bracelets in college, then moved on to making fun presents for friends and family when money was running short before realizing that I needed to make all year round because I had so many ideas.

Who/What inspires you in your craft?
I love fashion magazines photo shoots so I look in magazines like Marie Claire and Glamour to spot fun trends. I also read a massive amount of bead magazines like Bead Style and Bead and Button which leads you down the wayward path of buying more supplies. I never run short of ideas, just time.

Eat Cake, Live Happy Three Card Set (by blinkingmouse)

What do you like least about your craft?
Crimp findings! Whoever invented those little jewellery endings that need you to hold cord or ribbon in place while keeping your fingers out of the way of crimping pliers is the devil.

What advice would you give Etsy sellers just starting out?
Although I’ve been going for a year now when you look at my sales you can see that I’m still really just starting out. I’d advise that you don’t give up, small businesses take a while to grow. Take every decent, free marketing opportunity offered to you and try to think of your own marketing initiatives as they’ll be more in your control.

How do you discover new things on Etsy?
I love the front page treasury spot as it lets you find new artists really easily, I’ve bought a lot of spontaneous presents from people who were featured on the front page. If I’m looking for something specific I’ll try to use the search function but as we all know that can throw up a lot of unrelated craft so I mostly use the search feature when looking for supplies.

Everybody Loves A Sailor Earrings (by blinkingmouse)

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