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We are John and Tracy Seekins. We have been married for 18 years and been through our life ups and life downs. Over the last year we have become Full Time RVers. We live and travel in our camper, as well as create all of our art and jewelry there.

John creates all of our sculpture, paintings, woodburnings and other art as it strikes him to do so. He has a creative hand and an eye for detail. He is on a constant search to create the perfect item. He strives to achieve beauty and detail in all that he does. John has been drawing/sketching since he was 9 years old. Creating art has always been his love. Only recently, within the last 6 months, did he begin creating sculpture and paintings. Most days you will find him at the table with all his art items around him creating something new and wonderful.

I, Tracy, craft all of the jewelry items. I have been crafting since I was about 10. I have used many different mediums of crafting including but not limited to plastic canvas, crocheting, card weaving, jewelry making, and much more. I decided to focus on jewelry because it brings me the greatest amount of satisfaction when I see the completed product. Not often do I create two items that are the same. I like variety and creating unique items. Though, when I find something I like a lot I have been known to create a few similar items so that I can have a pair and then sell some too.

Our Shop is “Jinxy’s Fine Gifts”. I named it Jinxy’s with the original intention that it would be for my jewelry. Jinx is a cute little nickname I got when I was 16 and I have always loved it and used it. I quickly realized I wanted to include John’s art in my shop but we already had people who loved the shop so I didn’t want to change the name. So we added the Fine Gifts to envelope the entire store.

As I said we are Full Time RVers but we also do workamping. What that means is we do a few hours a week of work for the campground in exchange for our rent and utilities. So usually on the weekends we are working but the rest of the week you can find us busily creating arts and crafts in our camper.

John gets a lot of his inspiration for paintings from places we have been or things we have seen along our journey of life. Lazy Days, one of his paintings, is actually a combination of two different campgrounds we stayed at.

John’s sculptures come from somewhere deep within. He often just throws a lump of clay on the table and stares at it until something starts to form in his mind. Then he will begin to work the clay and quite often it becomes something much different than he originally thought it would.

I myself just see the jewelry create itself right in front of me. If it could do it without the help of my hands, sometimes I imagine that it might. It just becomes what it wanted to be. I created a necklace just recently that I was sure was finished but apparently it wanted more beads because I finished it three times before it finally felt and looked finished.

We opened our etsy shop during Memorial Day weekend 2008, so we are still very new, however promoting is a vital part of running any business. I spend at least an hour a day in the forums on etsy learning, chatting and promoting. I have business cards on order for handing out locally. I wear my own jewelry and I am often asked about it. I also provide links to our shop on every site that I belong to online and in my signiture line in my email. This week I plan to completely overhaul my myspace page to promote my Etsy Shop and my newly published poetry book, “Poems for the Soul” published through lulu.com.

All in all John and I enjoy creating our art and jewelry. We love what we do and we love to share what we do with others. We hope that this will become a good income for our family but even if it doesn’t we won’t give up and we won’t stop because we derive great joy from creating.

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• Tell me a bit about yourself

My name is Sara Czukal. I’m originally from Northeast Ohio. I’m a Sophomore at The Columbus College of Art and Design, where I’m majoring in Industrial Design. I recently joined etsy (May) and have fallen in love with the creative etsy community.

• What is the name of your Shop?

My shop is “CzukART”

• Please describe your creative process

Sometimes a single word can inspire a series of art pieces. My sketchbook is full of ideas. I make sure to take it everywhere I go so that when an idea strikes me I can jot it down or draw it out. From there I elaborate on the idea. I draw it over and over making improvements. I take notes on construction, materials and color possibilities. By the time I’m finished sketching I have lots of designs to choose from.
Also, I love to work really late at night! It’s not unusual for me to still be working a project at 5AM

• Where do your ideas come from?

Mostly I’m inspired by the little things. The thickness of the paint, or the movement of the fabric I’m using. The materials I use give my artwork life and inspire new projects.

• How did you get into your craft?

I’ve always had a strong interest in art and the desire to learn new techniques. I started taking my art seriously around my Junior year of high school. My teacher at the time saw I had potential and urged me to apply to art schools. Now, I can’t function without my art. If I’m not creating something, I’m just not myself.

• Apart from creating things, what do you do?

I’m a full time student the Columbus College of Art and Design. Aside from school work I love playing the guitar, gardening and listening to The Beatles!

• How do you promote your work?

I try to promote myself through forums, and word of mouth. I also have a Blog where I write about the projects I’m working on in my studio.

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I hope that you enjoy the selection of the week!!!

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Hi my name is Michelle Button and I live in the small city of Swift Current, Saskatchewan. I’m affiliated with the Fall Into Christmas Show, which is a big craft show held in 3 different cities. One in Saskatchewan and the other 2 in Alberta. I’m also affiliated to a new little shop downtown (The girl next door) where my stuff can be seen. My Etsy Shop is “Buttons’N Such”.

I am a 30yr old stay at home mother of three, 22mts, 3 & 9. I went to Fashion Design School right after high school and then ended up having a little girl so wasn’t able to keep with the program for my last year. I have worked mostly in retail with fashion. In my last job I did the buying for the stores Teen department and really enjoyed that. I have always been artsy fartsy, doing sewing and crafts with my grandma during the summer when I was little. After having my first kid I did a lot of sewing projects, like my sisters bridesmaid dress and clothes for my girl. I also made lots of jewellery for her too. I luv dolling up the kids in stuff that’s “Just Like Mommy”. I stopped doing project for awhile until my other 2 kids showed up, then I started again. I started up a home based business called Buttons ‘N Such where I go to craft shows and do home parties. I heard about etsy and joined up for fun in the beginning of January and called my shop buttonsnsuch also. I have included vintage clothing to my shop which I really enjoy. There’s just something that intrigues me about vintage and the stories behind each piece. My sop name came to me from my last name and I also luved and wanted to work with vintage buttons. I thought it was perfect and I needed something to do besides the kids, so my projects get made during nap time and at night. I have taken over our spare bed room and bombarded the recreation room. I luv to work with nature and recycled products. I use a lot of drift wood, recycled leather, vintage fabric and items,
recycled metal, paper, etc. I get a lot of inspiration from fashion, my children and nature. I have a hard time staying on track because I’ll start a new project and my mind starts to wonder into different ideas, so I stop and start that. Its never ending. I have a scrap book that I sketch ideas and drawings in as they come so I don’t forget. You lose a lot of your memory after 3 kids. I do a lot aside from what is in my shop which can be seen at my flickr account. Aside from crafting the kids are my number one. I luv spending time with them. During the summer we live out at the lake and spend most of our time at the beach but aside from the kids, which leaves no time, I enjoy shopping, snowboarding, walking, going to garage sales, relaxing, and visiting friends.
As far as promoting my shop I use the forums every once and awhile, my flickr account and have pics on my facebook account. I’m pretty computer illiterate so can’t do a whole bunch.

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My name is Inci (pronounce as “In-gee”), which means “Pearl” in Turkish. I am originally from dream city Istanbul, TURKEY.
I started to correspond with a Japanese girl named Tomoko-san as a part of my English studies when I was still a middle school student. Through her letters, I took an enormous interest in Japan, the Japanese language and the Japanese culture and I started to learn the Japanese language from a Japanese teacher as a hobby in Istanbul. Through my private Japanese lessons, I fell in love with the country and the culture and then when I took a Japanese-speaking tour guide license, my love for Japan and the Japanese language turned into a way of life. In the mean time, I made several trips to Japan and made a lot of friends over there. I had worked as a tour guide for 10 years and then I married to a Turkish-born American citizen and I moved to Oklahoma City, USA 3 and half years ago.
So far the Japanese language was my passion, but in the US I gained another passion: patchwork quilting. And it’s also thanks to a Japanese lady named Midori-san living in Oklahoma City and she is coincidentally a friend of one of my Japanese friends in Japan.
Patchwork quilting is a new passion for me. I didn’t attend any courses to learn it. Midori-san was my first teacher. She kindly taught me the basic steps about patchwork. Right now, my knowledge about quilting comes from mostly the books and magazines in Japanese language which I can read easily. I like the self-teaching approach in learning things. And my husband thinks that I am quite good at teaching myself stuff. I am hoping to make further progress in quilting in the future.
I like hand piecing, hand appliqué and hand quilting on cotton fabrics. I don’t know how to machine sew and I don’t have a sewing machine, but I am not sorry for that. I like the rustic feel of hand quilted quilts and I find the time spent in hand quilting to be soothing. The motion of stitching is very calming to me and during these quiet moments I can get in touch with my thoughts easily.
Apart from creating things, I’m a housewife now.
I’m trying to promote my work on flickr and several Blogs. And I tell about my Etsy Shop “Pearlsquiltedcrafts” to all of my acquiantances. That’s it.

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• Tell me a bit about yourself

I’m Vivian Low, a Chinese from Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. I’m a simple person, all I wanted is I could create more bags and others will love them as how I love them as well. I don’t have a strong design based background, I studied accountings. Many people had asked me how an accountings person could be a bag maker? Well, partly because I love crafting more than accountings and I create bags for my sister at the beginning. She is a bags lover but she hates sewing, I have become a sewing tool for her for making bags. And since then, I fall in love with this craft and involve myself quite into it.

• What is the name of your Shop?

I have a little online shop in Etsy called “Cottonbud Design”. This name has given by my sister five years ago when I started to make bags. Meaning being bags are a intimate buddy to ladies and most of my bags are made from cotton, hence came out the name “Cottonbud Design”. I like this name and has using it since then.

• Please describe your creative process

I’m a yarn and fabric person, I collected tons of them and never been choosy when come to crafting materials. As long as the materials is environmental friendly and can be transforming to pretty design, I’ll love to have them. I mix and match all sorts of materials and techniques in my creation. Since I have a full time office job, I only be able to involve in crafty activities during my free time at night or during weekends. I love to spend my times crafting at home, it gives me pleasure and satisfaction every time I finished making a bag.

• Where do your ideas come from?

My inspiration mostly come from the fabric itself. I love to hold, touch and feel the fabric to visualize what sort of bag it will make into and how the design will be. The colour and texture give me endless ideas, I just love to look at the fabric and start my crafty imagination.

• How did you get into your craft?

I can say that I’m quite a self-thought crafter. I only started to learn sewing from a short sewing course five years ago when I wanted to make bag. And then come knitting and crocheting thru books and internet. I never tired to learn new crafty techniques and wish to learn every of them if I could.

• Apart from creating things, what do you do?

I have a full time job as a Accounts Executive, it’s such a boring job. Besides creating bags, I love to cook as well. However, times is always not enough for me, I can’t be able to involved in all sorts of crafty activities that I like at the same times. How I wish I could be able to quit my full time job and get my self more times in creating.

• How do you promote your work?

I promote thru my own Blog, Etsy forum, flickr, facebook and also other blogger’s Blog. My sister also playing a very important role in promoting my bags as well, she is my bag’s live model. Most of my bag’s prototype will go to her, and her friends and colleagues will ask when they see her carrying the bags and this is how she introduce Cottonbud Design to them.

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I hope that you enjoy the selection of the week!!!

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