Get To Know - My Country Closet

By Michelle of Evie's Tool Emporium

What is your etsy shop name?
MyCountryCloset

How did you come up with that name?
I live in a rural part of East TN, and my inventory is all related to clothing, such as patterns, cloth and trims.

What sort of crafting supplies do you sell?
All types of patterns, womens, mens, kids, craft and doll patterns. Fabrics and trims as available. I have tons of each, so it's just the process of adding them to my shop.

Favorite website aside from etsy?
Facebook, where I stay in touch with my family..4 adult children, 9 grandchildren, plus siblings and extended family. I have a link to my etsy stores on FB.

Do you craft yourself? If so, what do you like to make?
I've been crafting and sewing since I was 9 yrs. old. I've made just about everything in types of clothing, decorator linens, toys, dolls clothing, coats, costumes, etc. I've also been crocheting just as long; scarves, bags, afghans, pillows, doll clothes, and more. My grandmother taught me how to crochet and I learned how to sew by trial and error. I also make miniatures, and tried about every other hand craft technique.

Please tell us one thing that nobody would know about you?
I have terrible hand-eye coordination; I was always the last one chosen for teams!

What is your favorite thing to make for dinner?
Salads, all styles, and with everything included except for the recipe card. I have a great Greek salad I make often, and I'm always looking for new recipes.

What goals do you have for your shop over the next year?
To get the hundreds of items I have for sale written up, photographed and posted. I'm determined to destash this year !

If you sell on other venues, where else can we find your items?
I sell as Sews4you on ebay for all items not acceptable for etsy.
Sews4you

I also have another etsy shop here:
FeedsackCrafts

I have a few blogs to promote my products and teach sewing techniques.
sews4you-peggyspretties
sews4you

Get To Know - Tradewinds Studios

By Michelle of Evie's Tool Emporium

What is your Etsy shop name?
Tradewinds Studios - it covers all three of my Etsy shops.

How did you come up with that name?
I decided 'where ever the wind takes me', thus Tradewinds. And it looks like I've landed in New Mexico.

What sort of crafting supplies do you sell?
I make and sell stone cabochons.

Favorite website(s) aside from Etsy?
There are websites other than Etsy??! Oh. let's see . . . Facebook is fun, but I want to share this. It's Astronomy Picture of the Day. Nifty and informative.
http://apod.nasa.gov/apod/astropix.html

Do you craft yourself? If so, what do you like to make?
In addition to lapidary, I also crochet.

Please tell us one thing that nobody would know about you.
I own a 10 inch Dobsonian telescope - and 4 smaller ones.

What is your favorite thing to make for dinner?
Green Chile.

What goals do you have for your shop over the next year?
I'd like to expand now that have established the shop. Sell more, of course, and I love to make custom orders for people.

If you sell on other venues, where else can we find your items?
My website is http://www.tradewinds-studios.com/ and I have a page where you can see jewelry made with my cabs.

Get To Know - Feille

By Michelle of Evie's Tool Emporium

What is your Etsy shop name?
My Etsy shop name is Feille.

How did you come up with that name?
I love leaves and flowers, and intended to use the woud "feuille", the french word for leaf. I accidentally left out the "u" when choosing my Etsy username, and the rest is history!

What sort of crafting supplies do you sell?
I sell handmade fabric buttons, and embellished and decorated fabric as well.

Favorite website(s) aside from Etsy?
Flickr : Flickr
My Flickr Stream : 4turners
Ravelry : Ravelry

Do you craft yourself? If so, what do you like to make?
I am Jane of all crafts! There isn't almost anything I haven't tried. I do have a handmade shop on etsy that features crochet, fabric and leather items . It's where all my forays into other crafts end up! The shop is here: embellishedlife.

Please tell us one thing that nobody would know about you.
I secretly would love to be the next Martha Stewart, or the next best thing, work for her. To craft all day and come up with new ideas for a living would be a dream come true!

What is your favorite thing to make for dinner?
Homemade chicken soup with dumplings and sweet potatoes.

What goals do you have for your shop over the next year?
My goals for the next year are to keep adding more gorgeous fabrics; to introduce some tutorials for my customers; keep on experimenting with buttons; venture into more aggressive and targeted advertising; maybe start a blog; and last but not least, sell more and reduce my inventory!

If you sell on other venues, where else can we find your items?
Artfire: embellishedlife
My own site (fabric only for now) : embellishedlifedesigns
Ravelry (crochet patterns) : embellishedlife-designs

I would just like to say thanks to all the Etsy suppliers! Even though I am a seller, I also buy supplies for my handmade items and am always excited by the sheer beauty of what's available!

Get To Know - Findings Leslietsy

By Michelle of Evie's Tool Emporium

What is your Etsy shop name?
My supply shop is Findings
My original work is on The Creative Block

How did you come up with that name?
Both names are descriptive but slightly punny: Findings of course refers to jewelry components, but also to other interesting stuff I find and list.
The Creative Block is a place to create, but it also refers to that dead spot every creator experiences from time to time.

What sort of crafting supplies do you sell?
Mostly jewelry supplies--findings, of course, lots of vintage, both new and used, gemstone beads (in assortments and for eurostyle/pandora), some sterling (especially chains at great prices), quite a few Jewish, Buddhist, and Wiccan items. I sell only things that I would use myself.

Favorite website(s) aside from Etsy?
Couchsurfing
Facebook

Do you craft yourself? If so, what do you like to make?
These days I mostly make jewelry, for both humans and ball-jointed dolls, but that's partly a function of mobility limitations and a house that seems to be an ongoing construction project. I knit and crochet in the car and sometimes at meetings, etc. where I can't work on jewelry. I also love to sew, often my own designs, often using recycled fabric, but at the moment cutting space is limited.

Please tell us one thing that nobody would know about you.
Actually a fair number of people, but not too many on Etsy, know that I'm the mom of 5 kids (now adults) adopted from foster care at ages between 8 and 14 -- and now also have 5 grands, ranging in age from 23 to 6 months, 4 of whom are girls.

What is your favorite thing to make for dinner?
Anything quick, simple, healthy, and delicious.

What goals do you have for your shop over the next year?
Amazingly to me, Findings has been largely self-supporting since around the end of its first year, and making enough to pay for a lot of my personal supplies since then. I'd like to cultivate more bulk and repeat orders, to maintain the level of personal attention my customers talk about in feedback, and, of course, to turn more stock over faster. Findings is at around 950 sales - I know we'll reach 1000, but would love to hit 1500 or even 2000 in the next year. I'm also working on being well enough organized so that we can travel and someone else can pack and mail orders.

If you sell on other venues, where else can we find your items?
Other than etsy, I sell only at a few Art/Craft fairs and one local coffee shop, which turns out to be the best venue, especially for my handmade items, that I've ever had.

I do post works in progress and occasional items not listed on Etsy on my blog, Those Blue Remembered Hills and each shop has a Facebook fan page, on which Findings has a monthly drawing entered by posting a photo showing something you've made with anything from the shop.

In addition to all of the above, I belong to several etsy teams besides this one. The newest is Couchsurfing (not sure if it's etsyCouchSurfing or CouchSurfingetsy), + a CouchSurfing team for Etsy sellers. I highly recommend these--with CouchSurfing you can travel all over the world visiting friends you haven't met yet, and what better than having them also be Etsians?

Get To Know - Patterns And Such

By Michelle of Evie's Tool Emporium

What is your Etsy shop name?
My Etsy supplies shop is called Patterns And Such and can be found at PatternsAndSuch.etsy.com

How did you come up with that name?
It started with my sister giving me her collection of plastic canvas patterns as well as some knitting pattern booklets. I was also reorganizing my sewing/craft room and had supplies to destash. We knew the shop name couldn't just say 'patterns' in the name, thus we have 'patterns' and 'such'!

What sort of crafting supplies do you sell?
We *always* have patterns! As for other crafting supplies, we have a great assortment and it changes often. Currently you'll find sew-in labels and knitting needle holders among other things.

Favorite website(s) aside from Etsy?
I love http://www.ravelry.com/ for my knitting (and hopefully crochet once I learn that).
And e-Guiding.com has lots of resources for Girl Guide and Girl Scout leaders and I imagine much of it can also be used by teachers, home schoolers and others who work with children. I also volunteer on the website by formatting the information that is submitted to be added.

Do you craft yourself? If so, what do you like to make?
Yes I do! I will try most anything and will be learning to crochet for my 2011 New Year resolution.
My standards are knitting and sewing.
Last year I learned the art of fair isle knitting and the year before that I learned to knit socks. I designed a Work Sock Cup Cozy that was featured in Canadian House & Home magazine in December 2010.
My sewing recently has been in making purses as I was designing a purse pattern that is now available in my shop - www.etsy.com/listing/56896606 - I've called it the 'ennadoolf' after my handmade shop name. I also love sewing Barbie clothes and various other projects.

Please tell us one thing that nobody would know about you.
Hm, that's a tough one...I don't think anyone knows that I love licorice allsorts. And I do. MMmmm

What goals do you have for your shop over the next year?
To take advantage of as many sunny days as possible to photograph new patterns and supplies so that I can continue adding to my shop as often as I can - I like keeping lots of variety for your shopping enjoyment.

If you sell on other venues, where else can we find your items?
Visit my handmade shop - ennadoolf.etsy.com - for Quality Gifts for Men, Women, Teens and Children.
Visit my vintage shop - VintageAndSuch.etsy.com - for Vintage Military, Housewares, Collectibles & Treasures - and I've recently been adding vintage knitting patterns there as well.