Saturday Artisan: Wilde Designs

Meet Beth, our Saturday Artisan. I had a pleasure featuring Beth in the past and this is her 2nd time being featured here. She has a new website: Wilde Designs, check it out!

If you like geeky stuff, you would love her shop!

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

I've been making crafts since I was old enough to figure out how much fun drawing and stringing beads together can be. As I got older, working for myself and selling my work full time became one of my biggest dreams. I'm still a long way from that being my primary income, but it makes me feel good to know that others enjoy my work as much as I enjoy making it.

Over the past few years, I've begun making more and more upcycled pieces using old VHS covers, calendars, and magazine clippings. It's fun learning to make new things and expanding my shop.

What is the story behind your shop name?  

When I first started selling online in 2007, I was on a major Oscar Wilde kick. His wit and humor fit well with how I saw myself and the shop that I wanted to run. I'm a graphic designer by trade, so the two came together, and it's stuck ever since. 

 

Who is your target market?

Geeks and oddballs, for the most part. I certainly have some very normal, very mainstream items in my shop, but a lot of it tends to be more off the wall and geek-centric. It's what I enjoy, and most of the people who come back often tend to share my love of strange.

Which part of creation process that you enjoy the most?

I enjoy seeing the finished product. Nothing compares to knowing that you came up with an idea, put it together, and managed to make it work the way you wanted - or sometimes even better! It keeps me going even when sales are slow.

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

I live in Ponder, TX, which is a tiny town near Denton (which is, in turn, near the Dallas/Fort Worth metroplex). It's a tiny little town, but since it's close to so much, it's a wonderful place to be. Every time I get annoyed with my twenty minute commute to work, I find myself seeing a gorgeous sunset or sunrise and remember why it's worth the extra effort.

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

That is a skill I find I am constantly honing. My methods have changed dramatically over time. My craft room became my son's room, so now my craft supplies are housed in the loft, which also serves as office space for my husband and I. We have three large sets of Expedit shelves from IKEA, and with those and a lot of storage cubes (including some I made myself out of old diaper boxes), everything manages to have a place.

What is your best seller?

The My Other Car is a Police Box bumper stickers, hands down. It's one of the few items I've had to fully restock since moving to my stand alone store. It makes me happy that they do so well because I adore them too.

How does your day go in general?

I get up at 6am (even on weekends, my son keeps to his schedule, silly toddler!), do breakfast with Pike and my husband Wes. Then it's an hour of getting Pike to daycare and me to work, a full nine hours in the office, then an hour of getting Pike and getting back home. I'm lucky that my husband works remotely for his company, so he usually gets dinner going for us before we get home. It's awesome! Then there's family time and, often, after Pike is off to bed at seven, I end up using my "me" time to do shop business.

How do you balance your personal and work life?

With working full time and running a small business, sometimes it feels like I don't very well, but I'm learning. Hopefully I get better all the time at carving out time for everything that I want to do.

What inspires you?

Usually whatever show or movie I'm obsessed with. I find random hits of inspiration in the strangest places - a throwaway line from an episode of Supernatural or a painting a friend did. I haven't found a sure fire formula except to keep sketch pads handy so I can always jot something down.

 

What is your goal for 2014?  

My goal is to increase my sales and just plain get myself out there more. This should definitely be a step in the right direction! I also want to work on my shop organization, move some old items out and some new items in, which will be time consuming but also lots of fun.

Any advice for others running their on-line shop?

Keep going. It will sometimes feel utterly futile or just plain hard or tedious, but if at the end of the day the feeling of someone wanting *your* work makes you feel amazing? Keep working. Keep creating. It won't always click with people, but when it does, it's fantastic.

Where can we find Sarah and her Wilde Designs?

Facebook
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Stay-tuned for tomorrow's giveaway!

 

Featuring fellow Etsian sellers - episode 3 - Televators

Though I have moved to the other side of the world, Etsy and the power of globalization make it easier for me to feel closer to home. I learn that it's such a small world after all when my fellow Canucks knocked on my NatSupplies store door, enjoyed their stay and bought an item or two on their way out.

Who said that videogames are for boys? Who said that playing too much of videogames is just bad and nothing good can come out of it? Researchers have shown that gamers have much better visual skills than most of the population (click here to read more).

The living proof? Meet Janna, owner of Televators. Her artworks are one of a kind. They are not the typical earrings and charms that you can find in most stores. Aren't you curious to know bit more about her and her artworks? I know I was. So here is what she says:

"One look in my Etsy shop, and you’ll know exactly what my inspiration is! It all started when I got my Nintendo 64 for Christmas one year... Not to go into details, but I loved the bright, colourful world of videogames. I’ve always been very artistically inclined; my mother is an art teacher and artist herself, and my grandmother was well-known oil painter. I myself am a full-time student in the Fine Arts program at my local University, and enjoy doing anything art-related, from painting, drawing, and sculpting, to making charms and earrings!

Because my life is so busy with school and a part-time job, I began my Etsy shop as an escape; a side-project to work on when I have the spare time. With my first sales coming in just last month, Etsy is still a very fresh and exciting place to me! I have a wide target audience, as geekdom can have all sorts of age groups. My jewellery can appeal to young kids who like games like Pokemon and older kids in their late teens such as myself, who are finally feeling a comeback in classic gaming and the niche culture of the so-called “nerd”. My creations also appeal to the older generations, nostalgic from the days of Super Nintendos and pixellated adventures. My overall goal with my Etsy shop is to have fun, and connect with people around the world who share my love of the nerdy side of life and aren’t afraid to show it!"

These would be great for Halloween:





You know you want 'em. Go get a pair each at Televators and support a newbie!

The Cellphone Strap with Lobster Clasp used for her charm is from my NatSupplies store. It's one of my popular items and is selling like hotcakes :-) I'm running out of them now but new stock is coming tomorrow.