Saturday Artisan: Andrea Designs

Meet Andrea, our Saturday Artisan! She is a talented artist and a proud owner of Andrea Designs. She is wonderful person that I am thankful to get a chance to work with. As the Master Guild of Crazy Train Riders, she actively promotes her team members. Truly, not only her creations are beautiful but her heart is so kind.

Let's get to know her, shall we?  

Tell us a bit about yourself and what arts/ crafts that you make?

I was born and raised in Lima-Peru, South-America. My medium is fiber, I love to knit and crochet, I learned when I was in High School, I didn't do much after that, when I started collage, my dad bought a knitting machine to my mom, she didn't learn but I did, I loved it, I became a knitting machine instructor working for one of the Singer stores in Lima, I learned to make dresses, pants, baby clothing etc.

When I got married and came to United States (25 years ago), I didn't bring the knitting machine with me. I was working as a supervisor in a Call Center in Texas, and I started to think about to have my own business. I thought to start making sweaters or scarves in a knitting machine, I got the knitting machine and my journey to buy yarn started. I begun checking online where I could get the yarn, I was looking for specific fiber, I bought some yarn, but I didn't get the results I was expecting. I visited other online stores, started buying beautiful yarn that I fall in love, however I couldn't use them in the knitting machine because they were very thick. Again, I start using the two needles like when I was in High School.
I use fine yarns as Peruvian and American alpaca, Italian and French acrylic, French angora. I transform the fiber in wearable art as scarves, shawls, hats, ponchos, shoulder warmers, jackets, love to combine different textures and fiber that is soft to the skin, light, comfortable, elegant and breath taking. My goal is reached when my customer is happy with the product she has chosen and tells me she was asked... .WHERE DID YOU GET THAT? IT IS SO BEAUTIFUL.!.. I am in the Master Knitter Program to become a Master Knitter.


I am a proud member of The Artisan Group, a elite close-knit community of over 800 talented world- wide artisans, that gifts a collective sampling of handcrafted products to celebrities and members of the press at gift lounges, my products had participated in the 2012 CMA, at 2013 GBK's Annual Pre-Emmy Celebrity Gift Lounge 2013 here is a link http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JxhYL8_Fajw where my display was shown, it is the scarf, this year my products will participate in the GBK's MTV Movie awards lounge gifting to the Press.

What is the story behind your shop name?  

It is my first name.

Who is your target market?

My target market is women of all ages, my items are liked by women and girls, also I have some male customers.

 

Which part of creation process that you enjoy the most?

 All of them, what in general inspired me is the color, type of fiber, or sometimes I have an idea in my head, I will draw what I want to do, that way I won't forget, and I will look for the materials, also I enjoy the process, if I am not satisfied with the result, I will start all over again, I want to provide a perfect item.

For us who love to travel, could you share a bit about your beautiful town/ city? 

I live in Batesville, Indiana, we move here in April 2010, my husband was born here, we moved from El Paso, Tx, he was working in a Fort over there, he wanted, when he will retire to go back to his birth town, what we did. This town is about 6200 people, west 70 miles from Indianapolis, east 50 miles from Cincinnati, OH, south about 50 miles from Kentucky, it is a farm community, it has the 4 seasons, right now is the white season snow the whole winter, the hardest winter in about 20 years, spring, summer and fall are beautiful, everything is green, during fall the leaves turn red, it is an amazing and beautiful view like a postcard, it's a beautiful place.

Could you share on how your organize your products, we all can use a little tips here and there in this department?

I organized the yarn in plastic drawers with labels, I put them by color and fiber. The same with my beads.

What is your best seller?

 I have two best seller a scarf and a pair of fingerless gloves. They vary in color. I sell them a lot in person.

How does your day go in general?

In the morning coming down to my studio, is located in the basement of the house about 900 sq. feet, this is a new house so it has a lot of light, I have all my equipment like knitting and sewing machines, couple of tables and chairs, other knitting tools and a lot of yarn and beads, paper to create my own cards, printer and my computer, check and answer emails, check my studio for messages, prepare the post for the next rider, make collections, work in my creations, take photos, edit photos, post new items in the website.

You can find Andrea at:

Facebook
Blog
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Pinterest
Amazine
Polyvore

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