Dreamy Couples... Katy and Cody

A couple of years ago I tried a weekly feature of a dreamy artsy couple that was tons of fun to do.  I would love to bring that feature back and meet new couples working in different areas of arts and maybe check back in with some couples from the past.

Kicking off this feature is my sweet friend Katy Seals and her darling beau Cody Wright. Since Katy is the first to do a studio day this year it only makes sense that she would be the first to bring back this feature.  Katy and Cody both met in Norman, Oklahoma where they both currently reside.  I've known Katy for forever and I could not wait to meet Cody.  When I did it was like meeting an old friend. The two were simply made for each other.  They are both kind and giving people who I wish lived next door to me. I would make art with Katy all day and listen to Cody's music.

Many of you know Katy as a visual artist. Cody's art form that he brings to the table is music. He is a super talented musician who is in a band called Porch Mice. Together Katy and Cody form the best honky tonk duo since Brooks and Dunn.

1. Katy and Cody! Even your names are dreamy! How did you two meet?  Was it love at first site?

K: I feel it was 100% extreme tween girl crush the fist couple times we met. I remember seeing Cody around town and it was simialr to the scene in Fast Times at Ridgemont High where Phoebe Cates gets out of the pool, but the boy version; he was super dreamy and interesting. We officially met at our favorite social club (formally known as Bill and Dee's, Norman, Oklahoma). Cody used to host karaoke at the bar and one night I mustered up the liquid courage to ask him to dance to a country song that was playing (seems really embarrassing looking back on it). I promptly walked up to him and propositioned a two step, to which his reply was "I'm too sweaty". This was during the dead of winter. Months later, Cody approached me while with friends at the same location and formally introduced himself and we started cracking a few jokes. This interaction led to cell phone exchanges, which led to long winded text messaging, which led to me falling in love. I remember hanging out with him and trying to NOT black out from anxiety and excitement, I feel the same way about him still.

  

Jarerrell, Texas 1995 1

Jarerrell, Texas 1995 ll

 

C: During the time Katy and I met, I was collecting eviction notices by the month and had deemed myself utterly unfit to date for a multitude of reasons. For supplemental income, I hosted karaoke on Friday nights at a bar, which had become my second home over the preceding few years. This was my spot, my tree house of sorts, where, perched quietly behind a computer monitor, I clicked the buttons necessary for drunk folks to shine for three minutes at time - gaggles of giggling birthday girls, lonely, crooning cowboys, soulful, middle-age divorcees, and so on. Anyway, as per routine, I was perched behind the monitor one Friday night, aloof as ever, clicking the necessary buttons when, to my sweet surprise, a girl with big, dark eyes and bigger, darker hair blew in with a crew of riff raffs. "What is she doing in my tree house with those three stripes shaved in the side of her head," I wondered and kept wondering. I needed to know...her...her story, but the appropriate opportunity didn't immediately present itself (not even when I declined her request to dance - I was too sweaty, or just not ready, to be honest). Now, it's never been my practice to approach attractive strangers, especially a wild looking girl surrounded by a group of wild looking friends, but curiosity and the thought that she might vanish as easily as she appeared left me little choice, so I said, "Hello, my name is Cody." While I can't say it was "love" at first sight, or that I even believe in such a thing, I have to say that a deep intrigue promptly set in. She stole my attention and hasn't give it back yet.

Photo credit from Porch Mice Facebook Page

2.  Katy, you are an artist and many readers may have seen your studio day documentation so they are aware of your love of creating large scale underwear.  What else do you make?

K: My first love is printmaking and I really have been enjoying making reduction screen prints for a while now. I also enjoy relief and plain ole drawing too. 

Photo credit from Katyseals.com

3.  Cody tell me about your band. What kind of music do you perform? What instruments do you play?

C: This is probably the place where Katy's and my aesthetics intersect the most - an appreciation for honky tonk culture. The first song I remember hearing on the radio is Dwight Yoakam's "Honky Tonk Man," which I heard in my grandpa's pickup while riding on his lap, pretending to drive down the dirt roads to his house, if that tells you how young I was. So, Porch Mice is like the grandson of honky tonk men, I guess. I'm a huge fan of Hank, Lefty, Buck, and Ernest Tubb, and those grandfathers of country music, so I'm trying to keep it minimal - simple and direct like them.  It's honky tonk boy, who was raised in town because the farm got sold. I play guitar and do the hollering.

4. Do you guys notice any changes in your work since you started dating?  Do you both feel like you have been introduced to new artistic mediums?

K: I knew I met my match when we both explained how we had given up on keeping up with recent trends in music and started listening to 90's country. Cody reminded me a lot of music and themes that have become relevant to my work. During graduate school I took Cody to see my studio and thought it was going to impress him to some extent. (I had just finished a bouquet of 57 real hot dogs dipped in polyurethane)  He walked around looking at all my finished pieces and accoutrements  and said "your work is gross". I was delighted, I love asking him for critiques and suggestions. He has also been incredibly supportive and encouraging of me taking time to make prints and to stay connected to our printmaking community. I am always inspired by Cody's work ethic and drive, even though our mediums differ he sets the bar at dedication. 

Photo Credit KatySeals.com

C: I knew nothing about printmaking before Katy, so I have definitely learned more about the technical aspects of her medium, but what interests me most is her creative process and diligence, watching her ideas from conception to final product. She works hard and strikes a beautiful balance of taking her work seriously without being pretentious about it, which isn't always the case with artists. It's very attractive to me that she is creative and disciplined, but also self-aware. Art making, by nature, is a self-involved act, so for us to be able to allow one another the space and time needed to explore individual pursuits is as important as sharing those processes and products. From the beginning, we understood how important our work is to who we are, as well as the requisites that go along with it, so it's just something we unconsciously built room for in the relationship: "You work. I work. We work." Also, Katy comes from a family and community of artists and musicians, so this stuff is normal to her and them. So, although we are all very supportive and encouraging, none of what we do is weird or exceptional to each other, which is an attitude and dynamic I enjoy immensely. It's just what we do; it's how things are. As for changes in my work, I'm inclined to say that it has improved and can be attributed it to the stability she has brought to my life. It's much easier to concentrate on music when I'm not worried by the concerns she helps soothe.  

      

Photo credit from Porch Mice Facebook Page

5.  What does the future hold for you two? Okay, that is a loaded question... lets narrow it down artistically... any plans for collaboration?  

K: This summer we came up with an idea to cover all the old classic country duets and dress in dated Porter Wagner/ Loretta Lynn style garb. Listed out all the songs that would be in the set list and even toyed around with the idea of making these into video pieces. Then we both remembered how tone deaf I am. It's the thought that counts right?! 

C: I have a collection of poems that I've wanted to assemble in some sort of book for a while now. I'm not sure to what end, but I am trying to sucker Katy into helping me put it together. Maybe I can sweet talk her.

Aaaauugh! They are the dreeeeaaaammiest!  You can find Katy's art work here and listen to Cody's band Porch Mice here.  Thanks to both of you for sharing your story!

If you are part of a pretty dreamy artsy duo and you would like to share your own story get in touch!  See more couples from the past here.

Catch Up

This is what my desk currently looks like.  See that tiny little space where my scissors are? That's the tiny little space I'm working in.  Yesterday I was thisclose to stopping what I was doing and cleaning it all up but I knew if I stopped I would not get back to the making part. I have several markets this month and I feel like I'm in a race with the clock to get lots of new things made.  

Here are some pics of my in-progress work to see while I also catch you up on... my running routine.  The last time I wrote about it I hated its guts.  Lots of folks were quick to give me great advice or share a "hang in there" which was awesome and made me feel motivated to keep at it. Someone told me to run really slow even if it felt too slow.  I liked the idea of being given permission to do something slowly so yesterday and today that is exactly what I did. I didn't mind that the people passing me were running harder and faster. I was running and that was all that mattered.  And I didn't hate it. And I honestly am not dreading it.  Tomorrow I will do it again and I will run soooo slow. I will run like I am being chased by an actual zombie. Not the new kinds of zombies that seem to have the kind of strength and endurance that makes no sense because they are... a zombie.  I will run like I am in the original Night of the Living Dead.

 Also there is the budgeting issues.  I think we are doing well. You may have read the post about my first big mess up when I ordered an expensive glass of wine at my book club and my bill ended up being more than my week's allowance!  It's now a month later and I attended book club where we luckily met at a cheaper restaurant and I ate like I had never eaten before (french fries are now a luxury item) and I drank the cheapest beer I could order.  My bill was right where I wanted it!  It has been a challenge to stay on budget but I am pretty good at being frugal.  The hardest part is clothes shopping. My friend Courtney once went a whole year without buying clothes.  I think about that a lot. She loves clothes as much as I do so that was a huge commitment to make. You can read about her reasons here. I haven't bought a single dress since all of this has started. The grey area for me with the budget has been arts and craft supplies. I need them to help grow my business but I'm not sure if the money for them should come from my paltry allowance or from our "community jar."  Right now I waiver back and forth. I suppose I could just discuss it with my husband but I don't know if I'll like his answer!  Lets hope my next market goes well. Fingers crossed.

I want to end this with this beautiful painting I just discovered in my friend Julie's etsy shop, Joyful Studio.  It's titled Feeling Druzy and I love it because druzy jewelry is my eye candy crush right now and everything about this painting reminds me of so many gorgeous pieces. Check it out here and just so you know my birthday is in November. ( ;

It's work time for me now. I have some exciting scheduled posts coming up this week so check back in to see what's happening. Here's a hint... it's pretty dreamy!

Happy Tuesday.

Dreamy Sunday

You guys!! I had the dreamiest day yesterday! My friend Robyn found a Makers Mini Conference hosted by Lillstreet Art Center, Dabble and Renegade. It was all about turning your "making" into a career.  It began with a panel that included Marco of Alapash Meaningful Terrariums, Katie Mills of Lady Faye Jewelry and Nora Renick-Rinehart of Fiberista Nora.  Each of the panelists are navigating their way in the world a little differently so it was nice to have a few different perspectives on how to grow your business.  I got to speak with Marco after and was blown away by the wonderful advice he gave and how willing he was to share.  I could not have been more grateful.

I failed to get a pic of the actual panel talk. I was too engrossed! This is the before.

The Lillstreet Loft was a dreamy building.

Later that afternoon Robyn and I stuck around for a handmade paper ornament workshop hosted by Esther Ramirez of Essimar. She was the absolute sweetest and the craft we made was fun and exactly what I need to make me feel more refreshed for my own studio work.

We started by painting kraft paper so that our ornaments would be even more personalized with handmade papers.

This was a pic I took of one of Esther's ornaments.

I loved being able to throw down paint without having to think too deeply about composition.  I knew I would be cutting this up into pieces so I focused the most on having a lot of interest happening in every space of the page.  I was also thinking a lot about Bugle boy clothing from the 90s because why not?!

Once that was finished we cut out scallops and glued to a newspaper ball we had formed earlier.

And finished!

The class was fun because we got to chat with a lot of people who are also interested in growing their business and it felt like many of us were in the same boat. It's comforting to find other people who are still trying to figure things out and make their own way in the world. 

Another awesome thing was that I got to meet a pretty neat gal whose blog I have been following for a couple of years.  Sarah of Westervin was there helping run the show. She's so sweet and her blog has always been a favorite. I'm excited for her as she seems to be working at a very dreamy place.  

I still feel like I'm floating in the clouds. Yesterday was just what I needed and I am grateful to Robyn for letting me tag along.  Today I did my grocery shopping early and now I have the whole day to craft and get ready for an upcoming show.

I hope you all had a wonderful weekend! 

A Day in the Life of Maria-Thérèse Sommar

Today I am doing something a little different for this segment of A Day in the Life...  Four years ago I tried doing this very same thing where I asked someone to document a day in their life.  After I did one post I evidently abandoned the project.  I was in the middle of grad school at the time so I am sure life got in the way and I didn't keep it up. The gal who documented her day was someone whose blog I have been reading ever since I started my own blog. We have been keeping up with each other for years and though we have never met in person I feel like if we did it would feel as if we had always known each other.

Maria-Thérèse Sommar runs the blog and business afiori.  She is a photographer and creative spirit from Harnosand, Sweden and lives a pretty magical life. I would like to show the documentation that Maria-Thérèse shared with us in August of 2009 and the end with a follow-up interview we recently did.  Here goes!

I wake up and then I snooze for about an hour. I can't really think or speak before I have my breakfast. Black coffee, a sandwich, some fruit. 

Then I take a look at what I worked on the night before, answer e-mails, check my Etsy shop, my bloglist, my statistics, read comments from my readers and so on



The first few hours I tend to do practical stuff but sometimes I start to create things right away. Today I cut a lot of paper and started to make new mixed paper books. Then a coffee break, then finished the books. I eat lunch late, or dinner early depending how you look at it. Anything vegetarian / vegan, for instance pasta with tomato / olive sauce and halloumi. 

I go for a walk, buy groceries and mail packages. I like to go for walks and listen to music, if I want to be alone, or I go for a walk around town if I don't mind being around people. On this particular walk I listened to Björk, Josh Groban, Lily Allen, Karin Bengtsdotter Olsson and Janis Joplin. I met a lot of dogs. 
I take photographs of new items for my shop afiori.etsy.com and then I keep working on my photography, writing or whatever else my inspiration tells me to do. I work according to my inspiration because I feel it's really the only way and I get more things done if I don't try to force myself.

Today I pondered my next project while eating chocolate ice cream. Then I did a photo shoot with a theatre / masquerade theme. (My model won't work unless you give her chocolate.)
At night (summer nights are freakishly light where I live, in Härnösand, Sweden) I upload and edit photos for my Etsy shop and start to create listings, which takes too much time, if you ask me. Then I update my blog, see what's happening on the internet and continue to work on whatever I've been doing during the day. I also like to watch a good film. 
Before I go to bed I renew listings in my shop, have tea, write and read a bit. Around 1 a.m. I start to think about going to bed and if I'm lucky I fall asleep within an hour or so.

Now for a follow-up in 2013.  Maria-Thérèse answered a few questions about how her days have changed or stayed the same since she last did this post.

Hi! How fun to be at A Beautiful Party again!

When you last interviewed me back in 2009, I had only run my business for a few months and was very busy creating art and selling it via my online shops and then through exibitions. I published my first poetry book and exhibited my art a lot. Since then, I have worked much more as a hired photographer, writer and translator. I've shot a lot of weddings, parties and events and regularly write articles and take photos for a business website. I also do translation work for a literary agency now and then and I've taught a couple of photography courses. I'm still entirely self-employed.

So, my business has become a much wider representation of what I can do. I get to meet a lot of people now and the work is very varied. It's great that more people know about me and I like working as a hired photographer / writer, but sometimes I have too little time or focus to work on my own art. While it's wonderful when I'm busy working, it is sometimes necessary to have less to do so that I find my own ideas again and can prepare for the future, since my own work has to be the core of my business. Recently I've been working on a few series of photographs just for me and I also went to Rome for a week and wrote new poetry. I'm not making a lot of notebooks to sell at the moment, but I always keep a travel journal so I made one for myself before I left and I love working with actual paper. Oh, and I've changed my last name, from Andersson to Sommar [summer] which was my grandmother's maiden name.

Still eating chocolate ice cream, listening to a lot of the same music but also finding new inspiration such as Emilie Autumn's music and poetry which I just stumbled upon a couple of weeks ago and find brilliant.

I live in the same place but my studio is now part of my livingroom and I turned my former studio into a bedroom to get better sleeping habits (didn't work). I finally have a huge computer screen and better equipment which makes work easier. Falling asleep and waking up even later, I'm afraid, making that cup of morning coffee equally important. Other than that, I think my routine is very similar, except I meet more people now, have become more outgoing in general and tend to sit in a café for a while in the afternoon before I really start to work.

I'm thrilled to be able to catch up with Maria-Thérèse! Be sure to check out her blog so you can stay up-to-date with her many adventures!  Thank you!

Room Switch

I seem to have a gene that runs through my family where the women get tired of something in their home and take it upon themselves to make huge changes completely alone.  My mom once switched her bedroom with the guest bedroom one weekend while Dad was out of town. Surprise!  My aunt is also very in to changing things up and moving all the furniture alone.  

I have been wanting to switch out our bedrooms for a while now. Our room was in the front of the house and unfortunately we have a few neighbors who are college students and they have not quite figured out that the world does not revolve around them.  They like to blast their music so loud I may as well have the stereo at my own home and they love to stand outside at 3 a.m. and shout wooooooooooooooooooo!!!!  College!!!! 

It's the one thing I hate about our house. Most of our neighbors are not this obnoxious but really it only takes one house full of drunk boys to scream in the middle of the night to make you consider moving to the woods.

The back room is much smaller than the other two rooms in the house so I worried the move wouldn't work. I also thought that room would be best as a future nursery since it is farthest from the noise.  But I'm not pregnant yet so I figured we need the sleep more than future baby currently does.  It was two o'clock in the afternoon and my husband was at work and I finally decided to just do it.  It was only two beds that needed to be switched and maybe a dresser. That couldn't be so bad!

I immediately realized how incredibly heavy a mattress is and how awkward a box spring can be.  After pulling these things off the bed I was sure there was no way I could accomplish this task solo.  My husband ended up stopping by the house early and though I was worried he would be mad at what I had done I was also relieved because I thought he would help.  He wasn't mad... but he also assured me I could do it all alone and he headed back to work.  Ugh. What have I done?

I struggled like crazy getting the mattresses switched.  They were jammed in the hallway and I tugged and pushed and pulled and finally got them in place.  The dresser from the original bedroom would not fit in new bedroom so I had to make a smaller dresser work.

I finally got things in order and felt very proud of what I had accomplished all alone.  The bedroom is complete but the guest bedroom is a whole other story.  We like how small and cosy the room is.  We also like that the inedible back to school party will not keep us up all night.

I wish I had pictures of the original bedroom.  I feel like they're around here somewhere but I cannot find them.  The very first picture looks very similar to the original room because the layout of windows is identical.

Now what room can I completely redo?

Work It Out

For the past month I have been using a phone app that has helped me start running. My friend Janey and I have been meeting almost daily at 6:00 a.m. and increase our running time each week. Yesterday we started week four and it was obviously the hardest yet.  The set goes like this: Warm up for 5 minutes, jog 3 minutes, walk 1.5 minutes, jog five minutes, walk 2.5 minutes and repeat with a 5 minute cool down at the end. I made it through most of it. I had to walk some of the last five minutes but I mostly did it all. I have to admit... I hate it! I truly hate it! I really want to be one of those people who discovers running and it changes everything. My sister is this way. She has really taken off with it and even trains others. She loves it. I hate it. But I have to work out. It seems irresponsible not too. I'm going to eat chocolate chip cookies no matter what so I might as well work out and burn them off. Yesterday after my workout I literally felt like I couldn't move for most of the day. I also took an allergy pill and it completely drained me of what little energy I had left.  I finally got up some energy to start styling and taking photos of my new products and I got one item down and then... I broke my camera! It was a tragedy! I blame the running...

I managed to get this cake box photographed but I'm still a bit weary of putting it in my etsy shop because I'm not quite sure how to ship it. Any suggestions?

I took a picture of this box with my iphone but have to accept that I should not fill my shop with iphone pics so I put off the picture taking. My husband and I both need a camera so we did some quick research and ordered a fairly inexpensive one. We will definitely be pinching pennies harder than before for a while but what's done is done.

Meanwhile I have been KILLING it in the kitchen thanks to recipes I found on pinterest.  Monday night we had Mexican pizzas just like Taco Bell makes only with actual meat and way less sodium (I am not hating on Taco Bell, it is my cheap drive-thru go to, but seriously, what is in the meat?)  Find the super easy recipe here.

Last night I made one pot thai peanut past and oh man!  It was amazing. I'll admit I did not have a ton of hope for this turning out great but it was mega good.  You can find that recipe here.  I think next time I will go a little lighter on the peanut butter. Two tablespoons made it such a heavy dish.  I used pad thai style rice noodles so I followed the advice of one commenter and let my veggies simmer for about five minutes and then tossed in the noodles and simmered for about ten minutes. Ahhhmaaaazing!

This dish was yummy but also felt like it was probably high in calories. And we may or may not have gotten ice cream after... So despite hating working out and feeling like a lump on a log the whole day after running, I reluctantly put my work out clothes back on and hit the treadmill.  Last night Janey and I prayed for rain this morning. We didn't get rain but she overslept so we didn't run.  I can't say I'm sad. I hit the treadmill and walked for a couple of miles and now I will spend all day dreading tomorrow morning. But I'm going to do it. I promise I will.

If you're looking for a good playlist while working out here is what I listened to. It helped me not completely hate the experience of running.

Air War -- Crystal Castles
Bang Bang Bang -- Mark Ronson
Dancing on My Own -- Robyn
Girls -- Santigold
Got Money -- Lil Wayne
Helena Beat -- Foster the People
Midnight City -- M83
On to the Next One -- Jay Z
Shimmy Shimmy Ya -- ODB

NowI'm off to do some non-camera related things!  If you didn't see  my interview with Robyn Wells from earlier be sure to check it out!

Etsy Love!

Every week I like to pick an Etsy shop that I love and do a mini interview with the shop owner. Today I'm talking with my friend Robyn Wells. She makes all kinds of fun and creative things.  You can find more about Robyn at her blog here and see her shop here. Click on the images for more info.

Your shop has a variety of items. Do you feel like there is a natural transition from one item to the next in your creation process or are you simply exploring different venues of making?

I used to really struggle with the diversity of items I make and sell. "Should I cut back and focus on one thing or the other?" Back in the early days of Etsy I would participate in shop critiques and admin often recommended people start separate shops for their different types of items. I really didn't want to have to manage two or more shops. Plus, I love working in a large variety of mediums and it would break my heart if I couldn't do certain things. I want to it all! But then this amazing thing happened. Completely unsolicited, people started telling me about how even though I make a variety of items that I had my own unique style and that my work was recognizable as my own across the board. It was exactly what I needed to hear because I remember chasing that elusive "Unique Style" from high school art classes through college and it wasn't until I was out of school and started making work for myself that it just happened on it's own. I have to admit a bit of jealousy towards makers who focus entirely on just one thing, but my variety is just part of what makes me who I am. I want to paint, I want to design, I want to graffiti, I want to photograph, make books, spin yarn and the list goes on.  And the truth is that when I'm shopping online or at craft shows, or even being around the company of others, I enjoy makers who are also Jack of all trades. 

What is your favorite thing to make? What is your favorite item you sell? Will these be two different answers?? ( :

My favorite thing to make is whatever I can work on when inspiration strikes, and where I lose all sense of time and my surroundings. AND if I have the time to just dive in. I feel pretty tortured because I work a 9-5 job and often the inspiration strikes while I'm at work. I will think about it all day long but by the time I get home, I have no more energy or I've just thought it to death and it has lost steam. 

I have to admit, I still get excited and thrilled by every single sale. I know my stuff isn't for everyone, but one of the glories of having an online shop is each unique item I make is perfect for someone out there and eventually they will find it. Instead of having to change my items, my style, my joy, to suit the market, I make what I love and the market finds me. But, back to the original question, of all the items I sell, the ones that hold a special place in my heart when they sell are original pieces of artwork. The very first piece I sold on Etsy was an original art piece. Sometimes people ask how I can bear to separate from the pieces I make. When I make things to sell, I make them knowing that their purpose is for someone else. I do love all the things I make, but I can photograph and document them to remember them. What makes me sad is when a piece I really love just sits and doesn't sell. 

What made you decide to join etsy?

I remember hearing a buzz about Etsy when it was first coming out. Everyone was saying "it's going to be like ebay but for handmade items", which now we know it isn't really at all like ebay.. I remember thinking "I HAVE GOT TO DO THIS" but at the same time I had a lot of hesitations because I had never made items that actually sold before. I made plenty of items that I wanted to sell, but then they would just sit there. It was a dream of mine since I was a kid that I would be able to sell the things I make. Etsy was a dream come true for me. I didn't set up an etsy account immediately because I wanted to watch and see how it worked out. A few months after it opened I created an account to make my first purchase and see how it worked from the buyers perspective. Shortly thereafter I set up a shop. I didn't list any items for almost another year though while I developed products and ideas. Still, things were so simple back then. With so few shops, if you took advantage you could easily have a spotlight directly on you. I feel like there are so many well known makers out there now that got their start in the early days of Etsy. Now, there are soooo many shops, there are so many rules, and every shop is soooo polished. If I was just finding out about Etsy now I might be too intimidated to jump in. 

How long have you been on etsy? Have you noticed a lot of changes over the years?

I just counted it up and realized I have been on Etsy for 7 years! That is crazy. I don't think they use this system anymore, but each shop used to have a number and I was pretty proud of the fact that my shop number was around 5,000. Now there are probably 500,000 active shops. 

You sometimes sell your items at arts/crafts market. Do you like the process of selling in person?

I actually prefer to sell online, or wholesale and consign. A dream of mine would even be to license my work. I heard something recently about how people who blog and are active online are often shy people, and being online allows these people to shine. It never occurred to me before, but I think it is absolutely true. Doing craft shows is definitely out of my comfort zone and sometimes I like to push myself. I'm the type of person who purposefully did not pursue a fine arts degree because I knew I would have to have a solo show to graduate. For the record I graduated with a Bachelors in Art. But here I am, an adult who finally had a solo art show, represents myself at craft shows and has many more goals for my future. I am growing on my own and at my own pace.

Any advice for anyone thinking about signing up for an etsy shop?

Do it! The number one thing I hear from people is that they want to start a shop but they don't think they are ready or that they are good enough. My advice would be to just leap and do it. Once you have a shop you will always be evolving and developing it anyway, might as well start somewhere.
I LOVE Etsy! I may not be the bravest and most confident person at promoting my own work, but I have no problem singing the praises of Etsy. I always encourage people to start up shops and even offer to help them and give advice. I think it is a great stepping stone to getting your work out there, and it costs mere pennies to do so. Etsy has led me to great opportunities including working with individuals and companies, selling my work in stores and making new friends in real life! 

Thank you so much, Robyn! Be sure to check out her shop for tons more goodies!