Solid Art Collective

• Tell me a bit about yourself

My name is dRE and I live in Fort Collins, Colorado. My Husband and I will be celebrating our 10th year as a common law couple in April (we’ll get married one of these years lol) and have a beautiful & vivacious 12 year old black cat, Automatic.

• What is the name of your Shop?

Solid Art Collective, named after my multimedia LLC. Can be found via my website (currently under redesign) solidartcollective.

• Please describe your creative process

I really love crocheting – it’s a major form of relaxation that keeps my creativity alive during a break from painting & collaging. Yarns of choice are a high quality acrylic that is supersoft and fully washable/dryable, allowing all my items to retain their memory and purpose. I’m able to play with colors like I did through my artwork, developing cool color schemes and refining form & function.

• Where do your ideas come from?

Modern Affordable Utility is my inspiration. So is living in beautiful Colorado where we have fun but freezing Winters. Being able to create my own designs in a new medium all the while keeping the customer’s budget in mind is an exciting reward. I recently developed a new line of efficient neckwarmers called NUFFLRZ – a variation of the beautiful & intricately designed neckwarmers or cowls already on Etsy. I kept NUFFLRZ’ pattern simple & efficient to make them available for a reasonable price. It’s also fun to let buyers customize their NUFFLRZ by choosing 1 or 2 combined colors from the NUFFLRZ palette. NUFFLRZ are only $15 each and I include FREE U.S. & Canada shipping. They are perfect for bikers, cyclists, skiers, snowboarders, runners, anyone in the family & even pets!

• How did you get into your craft?

Like most knitters & crocheters, my Grandmother taught me when I was 5 or 6. I didn’t pick up crocheting again until 30 years later out of the desire make a new area rug for my living room. It blossomed from there and now Solid Art Collective is a Vendor for an online natural & organic baby boutique launching soon – www.MonkeyHugz.com and it also led me to finally use my Etsy account, opening my shop in Summer ‘08.

• Apart from creating things, what do you do?

I’m a Graphic Designer and my clients include a handful of small businesses & non-profits, Artists, Etsy Sellers and a marketing consultant. I’ve been a designer for 8+ years and a Visual Artist with a semi-lucrative career of 12+ years. Solid Art Collective, LLC has created art fundraisers, managed a 9 Artist Collective and produced 4 major multimedia events.

• How do you promote your work?

With Etsy, I’ve found that the Promotions section in the Forum is helpful; so is Twitter, Facebook, Ning and having a website and blog. I’m new to blogging but have made some great connections and love to promote other Etsy Sellers and trade Etsy minis. Supporting & motivating each other to succeed is key!

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