Introduce Yourself!

[Former_Member]

It occurred to me that providing a space for new members to introduce themselves would be a good idea...then it occurred to me that even members who have been a part of this group might like to say a bit about themselves.

So, a brief intro, preferably with a link to your About page (if you've got one). Feel free to post one or two other links here for people to explore, a Blog, Facebook page or Twitter etc.

I'll start:

I graduated from the University of Hertfordshire in 1996 with a BA Hons in Design Representation (Modelmaking). Coming from a family of 'sew and sews', 'knitwits' and modelmakers, I seem to have picked up a few skills here and there. I am also a Live Roleplayer, a trained Montessori Directress and a Reiki Teacher Practitioner (with the UKRF) but of late, aside from a few Reiki clients and an interest in personal development and Tai Chi, I'm mostly busy being a mum and getting involved in Steampunk. My creative impulse has re-awakened and now I'm doing the cliche: making stuff on my dining room table out of bits and bobs and inspirations.

http://www.etsy.com/shop/TheNavigatrix/about/
http://thenavigatrixatetsy.blogspot.co.uk

Glad to make your acquaintance!

[KimberlyAndertDesign]

Here's my story.... started sewing at age 8. I thought I wanted to be a fashion designer, so off to design school I went. I discovered what a backstabbing mess the fashion world is, and dropped out! I have spent most of my life perfecting my skills, taking classes whenever and wherever something appealed to me. I worked in the drudgery of the real world, and sewed for people on the side. Dreadful! So many brides that wanted $10,000.00 dresses, on their budget of $250.00 (no exaggerating here, believe me). I finally got fed up with that, and decided to make something beautiful, just for the joy of it. Turns out there was a real live segment of the population that totally got my work-wearable artists! I got accepted to my first wearable art show in 2005-the Bernina Fashion Show it was called then. I did their show 3 times before they stopped putting it on. Since then, I've done many wearable art runway shows, as well as multi-media art shows, art fairs, live demo's, fashion shows, etc. My joy has always been sewing and costume history, so I have been so delighted to find Steampunk! Even got my hubby (who is an artist as well) into it too. We have been having fun creating costumes and accoutrements for ourselves.

On the personal side, we have 7 dogs, 15 cats, and care for a feral colony of cats in our neighborhood. We fostered for many years, until we just got too full up here at home. There is so much more room in my heart for animals than there is in my house or my budget! We have been redoing our old house for years, and it will probably never be done. It seems that the art part is just crowding out all the "normal" living space! But the fact is, the art is our normal-couldn't live without constantly creating something. If you want to see some of my other work, you can look at my website-
http://kandertdesign.weebly.com/ comments and new friends always welcome!
P.S. for Sally- my mother is from Bedford. I haven't been home to England since I was 5-a VERY long time. Strange, but I have spent my entire life missing it.....

[Former_Member]

Great idea Sally!
I apologize-I have been really busy performing as this is peak performance season and I have a ton of projects I'm working on. Let me introduce myself.

My name is Kelebek Beyaz (means White Butterfly in Turkish). I am a scientist by day and a professional belly dancer and designer by night. I work 30 hours a week in a cancer lab studying potential vaccines that could be used in the future and I teach Belly dance 3 days a week.

I started making my Kreations a few years ago for myself and my troupe mates and decided to take the business to another level. I go to craft shows, belly dancing events, and sell online. I started knitting and doing needlepoint around 10 and started sewing as a teenager. My family was very poor when I was growing up so we made alot of our own clothes.

I won't go too much into the personal except to say that I have a supportive husband who is the MAN and fraternal twin 10 year old girls who are the air I breath.

[Former_Member]

Hello, I am Jane~Marie and I am so glad life finally gave me a chance. I grew up very poor and sick. I used a lot of paper and graphite growing up. Art became my outlet. I was 12 when my whole life changed. For one, my health began improving, my mom got a better job, and I found myself and what I wanted to with life. Did a whole report on self employment and found out everyone expected me to have an idea past 'working for myself'.

Spent the next 13 years taking classes, doing practice business plans, ect...
Then 5 years ago I meet the most awesome guy, who has a 40 year old studio. I started cleaning and asking questions and next thing I know I make everything from fine jewellery to cos play accessories. I opened my Etsy shop back in March to mark my apprenticeship turned to journey man.

It couldn't have happened at a better time. I found my perfect husband who supports me in everything and we have an awesome baby boy. I am most happy that I now have something to pass on to him.

P.S. I will say that being crafty with a kid is quite trying at times. I cant wait for him to start helping.

[NomadicKnits]

Hello to you all, I am delighted to be among such fine artisans as yourselves. This team seems to me to have some of the most interesting and beautiful shops. I look forward to making your acquaintances.

I love long journeys, creating wearable things with my hands (usually for hands as well it seems *wink*) purring kittens, and baked goods.

I dream of returning to times long past, riding horses and space travel.

Pleased to meet you all.

[Former_Member]

Welcome Jane and Nomadicknits! This is an absolutely fabulous team to be part of. It was the first team I joined on etsy and the one I'm most active in. If you have any questions, feel free to ask Georgina, Sally-Ann, or myself.

xx

[Former_Member]

Lovely stories guys :D

Right, well I live in Kent (I know it says London on my shops. I just think London's a more recognisable place for international sellers, and technically I'm in zone 5 so I'd say that counts) with my boyfriend. We've got a little 2 bed maisonette and I'm lucky enough that the second bedroom is a room to do as I like in. I call it "the creative room". My family all take the micky saying it sounds so much more high-brow than it really is. But saying "studio" doesn't sound right, it's a room I'm creative in... therefore...? yeah.

Growing up I tried to do the sensible option, even though all I wanted to do was create. I did Speech and Language Therapy and it was the most opressive, gruelling 3 years of my life. While it did give me many skills I realised that I had to follow the creative path. So on the other side of graduation after a string of rewarding 1:1 special needs jobs in education I now work as a classroom assistant with gorgeous year 1s. It's very chilled and leaves me time and energy to do what I love.

That's generally the plan, I've no desire to become a teacher.

Etsy seems a good idea, I've seen people try to start too big, renting a shop only to close within 3 months due to no sales. This way we can set up shop and if it doesn't work we're in no real deep water.

One problem I've had is finding the "product". I've tried my hand at most things, oh how I wish I could dress make, but the numbers are impossible for me. I started doing fascinators not out of any love for them or anything just they seemed like a decent enough product. It's taken a while for me to find myself but i think I'll be moving away from weddingy and moving towards costumy. Less customers I imagine but it's more me.

The dolls. Well, that's something that really crept up on me. It's definitely "the product", it's very very special to me in a way that's hard to describe, and funnily enough now that I look back I was always meant to do it.

I've got an intense imagination, a raging determination and a tempestuous passion for creating.

And that's me.

Oh the team? Yeah, I was looking at teams and wanted to create one which was very much about the people behind the shops and not just about promotion. Yes I've got the aritary "favourite the shop above" and "promotion thread" and "new listings" discussions but my favourite is "anything else chat". I've really gotten to know Kelebek and Sally-Ann and hope to get to know more of you.

Oh and I like chatting, and I'm a bit long-winded.

:D xx

[Former_Member]

Georgina - ".....moving away from weddingy and moving towards costumy. Less customers I imagine but it's more me."

The studio I work in is all geared for costumes and sometimes we get custom wedding requests. If you gear toward attending conventions, I think you would do just fine and probably get repeat customers out of it.

[Former_Member]

Thanks Jane, I just have very grand ideas that would look more at home in a florence and the machine videos than at a wedding. So I'll just see where it takes me. xx

[Former_Member]

Just a reminder to all new members, feel free to let us know a bit about yourself here :)

[Former_Member]

So.... would you believe it I've opened a new shop. I guess I like to be organised with my shops rather than having one big mixed bag. So if you're wondering I'm Nevermore Dolls, Unusual Fascinators AND now this.

Anyhoo this shop is my favourite right off the bat, this is a shop where I make things that I like and would want and put them up for sale to see if you'd like them too. So lots of cosplay, film and game reference, geeky things, steampunk things. So yeah.

Me again.

[Former_Member]

http://www.etsy.com/shop/TaylorMadeAccesories/about/

Not the newest of members, but haven't been that active in the group yet. UI hope to change that :-)

I'm a native or the Pacific North West and have been active in theatre almost all my life. From acting, to tech work, to costuming, to directing, I've pretty much done it all.

Currently I'm in a burlesque troupe called the John Henry's Broadway Revue which has been going strong for over 8 years. I joined it a little over 3 years ago and love every minute of it.

https://www.facebook.com/BroadwayRevue

Most of the items in my store are burlesque inspired, and I hope to soon branch out a bit more into garters, eye-patches, and other fun things. Here's my facebook page as well:

https://www.facebook.com/TaylorMadeAccessories

and just for the heck of it, the link to my photography page:

https://www.facebook.com/TaylorMadePhotographyHT

[Former_Member]

Wow! Love it all - burlesque, accessories and photography! I wish I'd done the creative path sooner and done things like you have, unfortunately I did Speech and Language Therapy at uni which zapped every molecule of creativity out of me for 3 years. I now work in a primary school which allows me the time to explore new avenues, I think I'm going a little mad with it having 3 different etsy shops, but there we go. Lovely to see you active!

xx

[Former_Member]

Taylor, thankyou for the links - I do like your photography though personally, I'm more a fan of more abstract subjects. As for the burlesque items, wow! I'm not involved in burlesque at all though I think some of my items are probably suitable - I'd love to hear what you think?

Georgina/Georgiana!! - I think it's great that you are able to separate the different aspects of your work. It may be a bit more work but in the long run I'm sure it will be better than trying to put everything in together. Go for it!

OK, who would like to be next to introduce themselves? We're all eager to hear from you!

[Former_Member]

Georgiana - thanks! I love being able to be so varied in my interests. Some of your stuff is fantastic too!

Sally-Ann - Some of your stuff would be great for Burlesque costumes and pin-up photo shoots. It's funny how steampunk and burlesque tend to overlap. I absolutely LOVE the mustache and top hat brooches! So fun!

[Former_Member]

Hmm...I'd never considered 'Pin-up photo shoot' as a tag before!!! Thanks :)

[Former_Member]

I use pin-up as a tag quite a bit, not sure how many other people search for it but I've found myself using it a lot when looking for new burlesque stuff :-)

[Former_Member]

That's a good idea for a thread actually - tagging, because it can be tricky sometimes. xx

[NomadicKnits]

Thought I'd give this thread a bump for anyone who hasn't done so and wants to can introduce themselves! We're having ever so much fun, and would love for more to join in! Feel free to jump into any of our conversations, take us in a random direction, we don't mind!

[Former_Member]

Yaay! Please do, I absolutely love hearing EVERYONE'S stories here, who you are, what you like, what inspires you. Please do feel free to share and get involved. xx

[Former_Member]

Hello teammates! My nickname is Toozoo or you can call me Kristina. I love almost ALL types of art, creations....from sweetness to fetish! I love white to a full spectrum of colors. I love to travel and meet others from different cultures. I am an open minded person who never finished their college degree in psy, I am an activist for many causes and I am passionate about upcycling, recycling and eco-friendly packing. What I have been doing the past year is organic tie dying and upcycling garments in twisted, braided and sensual designs. One of my favorite sayings is "There is nothing Worth More than This Day." I wonderful to meet you all and I look forward to being an active team member~

[NomadicKnits]

Hi Toozoo, welcome to the team! My name is also Kristina AND I too went to school for psychology!! I did finish, but I'm not doing anything with it....hehheh. Looking forward to getting to know you better!

[Former_Member]

Welcome Toozoo! I like your cat logo and where you're coming from. Have a good browse around the threads and weave yourself in ;)

[Former_Member]

Hello,
I'm Dani, I am a former graphic artist turned mixed media artist. I love to create with my hands, jewelry, sculpting, effects makeup, painting. If I can touch it I can make it into something unusual and fun! I have been selling here and there on etsy but mainly make things for myself. I am a huge fan of the horror movie genre, I like anything 80's punk (REAL PUNK) not the stuff they try to pass off as punk today Grrrrrr! lol I have a blog as well if you'd like to keep track of my weirdness please by all means stalk me! =) www.restlessartist.com
I look forward to getting to know you all! Best of luck with your shops!

[Former_Member]

Hi Dani

Welcome to the group! This is a really awesome group. We are encouraging, supportive, and just a great group of people.

If you have any questions, please feel free to ask myself, Sally-Ann, Kristin, or our wonderful leader Georgina.

xx
Kelebek