Introduce yourself!

[NaturelMistik]

Hello and welcome to everyone who has joined so far! Use this thread to tell us a bit about yourself, if you feel so inclined.

About me: I am a single mom to one fab daughter, an OCD dog, a very old cat and a fish. I have been making things since I was young and really enjoy the creative process. Having my own craft/art business has been a dream of mine since my teens - it just took me awhile to get my ducks in a row and actually do it!

OK, your turn!

[RebeccasSoapDeli]

Hi, I'm Rebecca. I make and sell handmade cold process soaps, lotions and solid sugar cube scrubs. I sold on the City Market for about 4 years, but stopped selling about 2 years ago on the market for a variety of reasons. I am recently divorced and a single mom of a teen boy.

[DistinctivelyDharlee]

Hi My name is actually Debbie, and I have two Etsy shops. The other shop, NameThatBling, is the one I would really like to promote as I have a definite interest in wire name writing. I have another friend who may or may not be interested in this team and lives in Roanoke County. TristanInspired. I think there are also some people around the Blacksburg area who may be interested.

Anyway, thanks for the invitation!

~D

[FrederickAvenue]

Hi! I'm Beth. I've been weaving off and on since 1978. I love to weave and create. Sometimes I get bored with the one-dimensional aspect and turn to sewing or other crafting. Recently, I've been exploring sewing with my handwoven cloth. I've lived in Roanoke since 1984. I work outside the home so it's hard for me to devote a lot of time to my crafts. At this point, my main goal is to sell enough so that I can continue to buy supplies worry-free.

Thank so much for the invitation!

Beth

[EchoDecoModern]

Hello, I'm Eli, I sell recycled and retro items, illustrations, handmade hemp necklaces, and a few other things. Also my girlfriend makes earrings and other items in my shop. Check us out! I also do graphic design in real life.

[Former_Member]

Hello! My name is Kristin and I'm a crochet designer. I mostly sell my hats but I can make just about anything. I actually a meteorologist by education. I started crocheting when I was very young but I started selling my crochet items because I've been unemployed for a couple years.

My shop really took off last December and I'm looking forward to this fall! It's actually kind of nice that things slow down for the summer.

I didn't realize how many crafters were here in roanoke!

[NaturelMistik]

Hello to all the new folks and thank you for joining! I tend to be on in the evenings and/or mornings, so it may take a few hours for me to respond to posts. I think this is the start of something wonderful!

Vicky

[Former_Member]

Hi! I'm Whitney and I'm a photographer. My passion is nature and travel, so that's what is in my shop.

Nice to meet you all!

[Former_Member]

Hello everyone! My name is Katey and I am fairly new to etsy! I have not sold at a booth yet but I would really like to get into selling more of my creations around the Roanoke area! My items are a little more on the dark side, I tend to make a lot of accessories but I am playing around with altering clothing. I would love to make some crafty friends on here and meet some fellow etsy sellers! Thanks!

[Former_Member]

Hi! I'm Austin! I make mostly earrings though I eventually might delve into window earring racks on a more local level since they'd be insane to ship. I try to make fun, flirty, and sometimes large earrings that sometimes don't make it to be sold as I keep them all to myself. Feel free to shop! :) Thanks for the invite to join in y'alls fun!

[Former_Member]

Hello! I'm an artist and educator that has moved down to Roanoke from New Hampshire over a year ago. It's been a wonderful change, we love it down here. However, I lost my connections to the shops I use to sell my stuff in, in New Hampshire, and have also had a hard time finding places to teach art. I'll teach anything to anyone! I have a Bachelors degree in Interdisciplinary Art and Masters in Art Education. The only thing I love more than arts and crafts is learning and helping others learn!

Not to worry, good things come to those who create, and my new studio space is giving me lots of room and inspiration to do just that. I'd love to make more connections in the area, find places to sell, people to share my artsy-ness with and ways to be more artfully active in the community.

Thanks for inviting me to the group! Please talk and contact me!

[Former_Member]

Hello All,

It's good to see the local support and hope this can be a place where we share our ideas, tips or just to rant.

I already know a few of you from the local art scene so it's good to see you all in here.

Well, the long story short is my name is David Robinson aka (D.Rob) I'm married to my biggest fan and best friend and without my wife Lynda I would have never gotten back in to the arts. She has encouraged me to do what I love and has always told me the truth about my art whether I like to hear it or not. (She says she is Jane Public and has a good idea of what people like and don't like, at least from a women's perspective)
I was borned and raised in Roanoke County and for the past 6-7 years have been selling my art (paintings mostly) onilne. I created a local artshow we did for about 4-5 years but it took too much out of me to continue, it was rather time comsuming.

I have seen sites come and go and I can honestly say that if Etsy doesn't start raising thier prices, it will only grow each year. Having sold my work on-line for years now I can say I have run in to just about every possible scenario there is, so if you're up against it and don't know what to do, shoot me an email and I will be happy to help.

Lastly, I hope you all check in on this group and participate as much as possible b/c I know personally there is some amazing talent in here and I'm glad to be part of it.

Talk to you soon...
Dave

[Former_Member]

Hello, my name is Lily and I keep the shop with my business partner Raymond. I have been sewing for almost 15 years now and love it so much. I am currently going to school to get a costume design degree. I just love making costumes. The chainmail in my shop is actually by Raymond. He has been doing chainmail for about 9 years now. I also make a variety of jewelry and accessories.

Both Raymond and I are glad that there are other local people in the Roanoke, Salem, and Vinton area. I hope that there will be another meeting so that we may meet you all. :)

[Former_Member]

Hello,

I am Roxy, I am originally from England moved to Roanoke 13 yrs ago. I currently work a full time job and then a fun part time job, along with starting to make my own jewelry business.

I feel like my entire life has revolved around form of art from dance, theatre, painting to fashion design and over the past 5 yrs I have found my passion in making jewelry.

Most of my pieces are simple and one of kind, perfect for everyday use but as I learn more I am moving into more detailed special occasion pieces. I currently sell my work at Plantagenet Rose, West Village and also have some items on display at the The Grainery in Rocky Mount.

I am excited to be a part of the group and think its a great way to connect with local artists for support and ideas.

Thank you for the invite.

[Former_Member]

Greetings all - I am Kim and I am a lampwork artist. I make glass beads. Focals and Pandora size beads are my favorites at the moment. But that can always change. I work as an architect by day and squeeze in a bit of torch time when I can. Recently that has been hard to come by. I also love photography and animals - I volunteer at the Roanoke Valley SPCA weekly as one of their photographers for the adoptable animals.

This is a wonderfully diverse group. Glad to be a part of it.

[Former_Member]

hello everyone!

My name is Shelley and I'm a teacher in Roanoke County. I'm very new to etsy--only 3 sales!--but I'm excited for the adventure to grow :) Thanks for inviting me to join! We sure do have a lot of talent in the Roanoke Valley...

[Former_Member]

Hi all,
I'm Trena, married mom to a 5 year old little boy and a little girl due in several weeks. I do all kinds of crafty things (I knit, crochet, sew, generally craft) but I am currently mainly selling wetbags and other cloth diapering/baby things in my shop. I joke that I have a shop on Etsy so I can sell just enough to be able to justify buying more fabric :)

My husband & I have lived in Roanoke for 7 years--he is from the Covington area and I am originally from Idaho. I am so excited to get to know other creative people from around the area-- thank you so much for the invite!!

[NaturelMistik]

Woo hoo! Welcome to all the new folks! It is so interesting to read how all of you came to crafting/sewing/jewelry/painting/et al. I am looking forward to us being able to meet and share our creativity. :-)

[MorningMistDesigns]

Hello everyone
My name is Nancy and I live in Floyd. I have lived in this wonderful community for about 6 years. Before that I lived in the snowy mountains of Maine. I have been doing floral work many years but my passion is making
Victorian Santa's. I do craft shows from July to Dec and sell some things
here on Etsy. I enjoy meeting new people and fellow crafters.

[GoodGirlGoneBadge]

Good morning! My name in Katie, mom to 3 (2,4,5) little girls, wife to a Franklin County teacher. We are originally from the Philadelphia area, but moved to Bedford 7 years ago. Love it here!

[Former_Member]

I realize I'm coming a little late to this discussion, but I figured I'd introduce myself anyways. My name is Chad, and I'm a glass blower. You probably couldn't tell that from my store because I don't have much listed, but I'm working on that. You can see some of my stuff at www.cosmoglassworks.com though. Hopefully I'll get some stuff listed here soon. Been doing a lot of work with galleries recently so they are taking all my finished products before I can list them.

[Former_Member]

Hey Chad--I think I know you. I'm pretty sure that we were in the same Intro to Design class at Virginia Western a year ago fall. Great to see you around!!

Trena

[Former_Member]

Hello everyone! I'm Jeana...married mommy of 2 little divas! I love all things wedding. I'm a certified wedding consultant and just started a local wedding blog that will offer brides not only local inspiration but also local vendors. I love crafts especially something I can use Swarovski crystals, beautiful paper and ribbon to create.

[Former_Member]

Hi, I am Julie. I am an artist who uses oils, pastels, acrylics and pencils! I love it all. I recently joined the League of Roanoke artists so I could meet more artists and creative people. Thanks for the invite to this team! (Here I hope to meet a variety of creative people) I worked for a major bank until August 2011, for 34 years. At that time, they displaced my whole dept, so now I have time for my art (which I have always done...just on the side). Once an artist, always an artist. Been at it since I was 5. I opened an Esty shop in March this year and within 12 hours sold a painting. That was the first and only one so far on here.

I am divorced, with a grown daughter and son. Each has a son. I am from Salem and love it here. I have traveled to Europe, Mexico, and Canada, but love the blue ridge mountains.

Since I no longer work at the bank...where most of my customers came from, I need to find places to display and sell my work. So any help with that would be appreciated. You can see my Facebook page (which has more examples of my work than Etsy) at:

https://www.facebook.com/JulieBrughRiffeyArtwork

Stop by and check it out!
Thanks, Julie

[Former_Member]

Hey everyone!

My name is Ashley and I work in the IT Department at VMI in Lexington. I've been on Etsy for about a year, but, I travel a lot and work over 40 hours a week so I wasn't sure if I wanted to take that full on leap. I've had booths at festivals before, but, I wasn't allowed to sell online in my city until I had a license and I wasn't sure if I was ready to take care of the tax side of things just yet. I finally got my business license about a month ago and I FINALLY put some Redneck Wineglasses in my store. They sold out in 2 days. So, now I'm left with nothing again. I'm hoping to have time to get some more stuff in there soon. We're currently turning our storage room into a craft room for me so all of my craft stuff is packed up and in limbo right now.

I started out just making jewelry. Then I joined a knitting club and LOVE knitting. I also just bought a sewing machine, so, I'm hoping to get into sewing soon as well and learn how to crochet! I also make redneck wineglasses (candle stick glued to a mason jar, super cute). I'm basically just trying to learn and do as much as I can and share it with the world :). If you'd like to know more, I finally started a blog:

http://ashleydsworld.blogspot.com

Thanks everyone :),

Ashley D. Hamilton

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