The kind folks at Know the Art Scene have featured me in there blog. Please take a moment to visit Kathleen McGiveon's Blog, as she interviews aspiring creators as myself. Kathleen is a visual artist who is compelled to produce large works. She enjoys working with clay because the material allows her to form any shape that plays in her mind...
Below is the interview conducted by Kathleen McGiveon.
December Christmas Special...know hmmills
1. Tell us about yourself?
Oh where to start, by day I have a semi-stressful career in Corporate America, however at night I am the workhorse behind HMMills. My father has always told me that my true calling was to be an artist or designer, so HMMills is my creative outlet. While I am at work I am always thinking about I can work on once I get home. I have little notebooks filled with jewelry and handbag bag doodles. I am constantly drawing out bag shapes or earrings and necklaces. I do a little of everything, I make glass beads to incorporate into my jewelry designs and love to work with sheets of metal and wire and recently I have reactivated my addiction to fabric.
2. Where did you train/learn your practice?
Sewing: I started sewing as a young girl (before the age of 10), making dresses for my Barbie dolls with just a few lessons from my mom. In my twenties my roommate, who was a true seamstress, expanded my sewing skills by making me sew tailored clothes for myself. About a year and a half ago I pulled my sewing machine and serger out of the closet (after ignoring them for years) and made a handbag. Now I can’t stop sewing. (I do hope that Santa upgrades me to an industrial sewing machine this year, although the Viking Husqvarna I received for my birthday last year is very much loved.)
Jewelry: I took basic wire class years ago, but I am mainly self-taught. A few years ago I worked in a bead shop a couple Sundays a month just so that I could hang out with other beaders and taught several wire technique classes. That experience led me to attended classes at an art school for metal-smithing and lampworking to expand my skill set.
3. What are some of your goals as an Etsy Seller?
Sometimes I want to be one of those Etsy Sellers that gets reviewed in the Etsy “Quit Your Day Job” feature. However with that said, I thought I would start small this year:
• I would love to receive 100% positive feedback from all my customers, (so far so good). I want my customers to truly love the item once they receive it. I have been disappointed from some of my online purchases through the years and I never want that for my customers.
• Another goal was to have 50 items available in my shop by June (missed that, because customers kept buying things, LOL) and 100 items in my shop by mid November so that my customers have stuff to look at!
4. What do you think differs your Etsy store from others?
I believe that I am similar to many other Etsy sellers in that we all put in a lot of thought and time into our creations. Therefore, what would make me different, (well, when I do have items in my store,) I think would be the diversity of my items. I love accessories (you don’t want to know how much jewelry, handbags, scarves and shoes I own); I guess what girl doesn’t love them.
5. Are you making any thing special for Christmas?
That’s a good question, one that I have considered in the past, but each time I always decide no. Each season there are trends, which I try to maneuver around, but as for holiday items, I don’t want to limit my items to a specific holiday. (However my mother-in-law would love it if I would make her some Christmas pillows for her sofa.) One trend I couldn’t resist this season is Plaid (which could be consider holiday-ish). I recently purchased a ton of Plaid and tweed fabrics that I intend to use for some of my bags. Last weekend I was experimenting with my Messenger Bag and made a Mini, so I can’t wait to use some of the new Plaid for that design as well.
6. Will you be having any store sales or specials for the holidays?
I am debating between a discount on a second item, a shipping freebie or shipping discount.
7. Will you be packaging any differently for Christmas?
I typically wrap my items in white tissue and teal ribbon. Packing can be tricky during the holidays because of all the different faiths, so I may continue to wrap in white but can see a gold or silver ribbon making an appearance.
8. Do you sell anywhere other than Etsy?
Yes, I sell on 1000 Markets and Zibbet. I also sell at various Street Shows (in NYC) during the summer months.
9. Give your shop a Christmas Jingle!
LOL...I have nothing...
10. What else would you like to say to KathleenMcGiveron.com’s viewers?
Just that this is a great site and that I hope that your readers continue to support it, as well as thank you for the opportunity to talk about me.
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