There is so much talent here in Australia and yet many people are yet to discover Etsy. If you are not familiar with Etsy, it is a site designed for artists to sell their handmade products and it makes buying handmade so much easier. So I have decided to feature a new artist each Friday and introduce you to some wonderful Australian Etsy sellers.
Fresh ~ Creative ~ Fun ~ Colourful...
That certainly describes my first featured store Odds & Blobs and Jessica's beautiful range of blobs. I have always had a fetish for lovely, colourful goodies and these blobs are so deliously sweet and fun. With Christmas coming up they would make the perfect stocking filler for somebody special.
Here is what Jessica told me about her business earlier this week:
When did you first discover Etsy?
I found Etsy about 7 months ago. I used to spend a lot of time at craftster.org, which is a craft forum and I noticed a lot of people speaking about "etsy". When I went over to the site I was hooked. I had no idea that a there was a website dedicated to handmade crafts! Etsy is just a fantastic community. Everyone there is just so friendly and always willing to give you a hand. I used to think the only place to sell your items was Ebay. I had a lot of trouble selling there because most people dont have any idea about the time and effort goes is to handmade items. They want things at the cheapest price they can get. Everyone at Etsy is talented and very passionate at what they do which is just so refreshing.
What are your inspirations for your ideas?
I love colour which I think is quite easy to tell. I love making things which are useful and quirky. The biggest thing which I had to factor in when I decided to sell on etsy was to make a product which was small. Postage from Australia is very expensive compared to sending stuff from the US, so when I create an item this is one of the main things which I always think about. Postage is something that a lot of people dont want to have to pay to much for, especially if the item is small.
Have you always been creative? How long have you been doing your craft?
I would like to think that I am quite creative. I first started making jewellery and I cant begin to tell you how much money I spent on beads. I just found that the jewellery market was over saturated and I was making nothing from my pieces. I then made up a huge stash of fabric as I used to love making bags but decided not to sell them on Etsy as I was worried about the postage costs. So I thought i would start small and see what would come of it. I then sarted making my little blobs which my shop is full of. I love shopping for different types of paper and the designs are endless!
Tell us about your favourite product that you create.
Definately my blobs! I love all of them and struggle to not keep everything which I make. They are so much fun to make and it gives me an excuse to buy nice paper :) Hopefully I will build up a big customer base so I can keep on making them. Oddnsblobs has grown quite a bit since I first stated. I now have my own little logo and feel a have a unique style. I hope others out there will stop by my store and check it out. If you have anything in mind I am always open to make some just for you or even if you have ideas about how I can make my soon to be empire something better. :)
You can visit Odds & Blobs at http://oddsnblobs.etsy.com
Until next time
xx Bee
