Thursday, August 28, 2008

Artist Feature - hdawnparratt

Heather is a 36 year old embroidery machine operator originally from Nova Scotia. She moved to Alberta three years ago with her husband who is in the military. She loves movies, reading, camping, scrapbooking, making cards, and hockey.

Heather recently joined the newly formed Alberta Street Team which is where I met her. :) I interviewed Heather the other day. Here are my answers and her questions. (Click on the photos to view the listing.)

What first interested you in card making, and how long have you been doing it?

The first thing that interested me in card making was running out of pictures to scrapbook and not wanting to slow down in my crafting I decided to start making cards, I have been doing so for about 2.5 years now. :)

What inspires you?

My husband inspires me and gives me wonderful ideas if you can believe that or not, he goes through my stampin up catalogs and advises me on which sets would sell well, he recommended the fish stamps and the golfing stamps, I have sold enough fish cards to have paid for the stamp set. Another thing that inspires me is making people happy and smile from getting one of my handmade cards, I love reading my feedback on Etsy and that pushes me to do better.

Do you have a favourite colour or technique to work with?

One of my favorite colors are earth tones, oranges, reds, and browns, one of my favorite techniques is the embossing with my cuttlebug machine, I love the effect on the paper.

What is your most popular card category?

I would say the most popular category of cards in my shop are friendship and birthday.

Do you enjoy creating in one category of cards in particular?

Friendship cards are my most favorite to do, cause I can use a variety of stamps and dies for that category.

What is your favourite item currently for sale in your shop?

The most favorite item for sale in my shop right now is my bone jour dog card, I love the French card and love that stamp.

Which item are you most surprised hasn't sold yet?

I'm most surprised that my cat paperbag album hasn't sold, I have it reasonably priced and with the way people talk about their pets in chat I'm surprised it is still for sale and it has the most hearts as well.

How much time would you say you spend each day on your crafts?

I spend about an hour a night on my crafts during the week and maybe 3 hours a day on the weekends (I'm addicted).

How did you first discover Etsy?

I discovered Etsy through the Cricut scrapbooking website, I had someone comment on one of my cards saying that I should sell my cards on Etsy. I tried eBay and it wasn't working so I joined that day I was told about Etsy. So happy I did. :)

What do you wish you had known when you started selling?

I wish I had of known more about pricing my cards, when I first started I listed my cards at $1.99 and sold none, I got advice from other sellers to raise my prices, so I started listing them at $3.50 that is when I started to sell.

What advice do you have for new sellers?

Advice I have to new sellers, is to list daily or renew often and not to get your hopes up to join and start selling right away, every store is different and not everyone does well, and I think some sellers are getting depressed as they are not doing as well as they had hoped. I have met some wonderful sellers on Etsy through chat rooms and I enjoy coming home from work and getting in chat and seeing my Etsy friends, I go there to relax and have fun, I try not to worry about sales, if I do I would drive myself mad, if I sell great if not I'm thankful for having found this amazing site. :)

If you enjoyed this Artist Feature, check out the ones I did on jessijewels and CelticKnot!

2 comments:

kathy said...

Heather,
I enjoyed reading this so much! Thank you for sharing this wonderful article!! I could just hear the love of what you are doing in everything you said. There is always something for everyone in your shop.
Your cards and bag albums are so fun and a joy to look at. You keep a very large selection and lots of new cards to choose from all the time which is great. Keep up what your doing because you obviously have the natural talent for it!
shipshegirl

Myrte said...

Hi, I loved this!
Interesting article on a very nice and talented person!