Featured Seller: Me

I have declared myself to be the Etsy Featured Seller for today.  It will be a hot day in January (I love Tanya Tucker) before I ever was officially picked so I have taken matters into my own hands.

1.  Give your name, location, affiliations, and personal information.
My name is Pauline.  I live in Kelowna, BC, Canada.  It is the main city in the Okanagan Valley, a gorgeous spot with lakes, sun, orchards, vineyards, and fabulous people.  I have lived here for 26 years, in three different houses, all within a couple of miles of each other.

I am poorly traveled, having been to Europe once, the States twice, and Alberta a couple of times (sadly, the only other Canadian province I have been to).

I live with my husband, Mike.  He's an equipment operator. We've been married forever. We have 2 dogs and 2 cats and 2 horses.  Mike says that means he should have 2 wives.  Just as long as I am not the cooking-cleaning wife!

2.  Apart from creating things, what do you do?
Alot of people wonder that since it appears that I do very little.  I can actually sit and watch grass grow or paint dry.  I drink beer, I drink coffee.  I read the newspaper.  I watch cake-making shows on TV.  I watch hunting shows on TV (they are quiet and have nice scenery and manly men).  I spend a good deal of time avoiding things I should be doing.

3.  What first made you want to become an artist?
Really, I'm not an artist.  I'm a technician, but more on that later.  I come from a long line of non-artists.  I do not have a great-grandfather who carved animals out of scraps of wood, no grandmother who made quilts from old clothes.  I do have grandparents who survived the Depression, fought in wars, pioneered on the Praires.  In doing those things, I'm sure they created things they needed.  My grandmother could lay out a spread for a threshing crew.

I guess I have always had a hankering to be artsy.  I really want to be a hippy.  I tried singing, but the lady teaching me declared me to be "her first failure".  I wanted to paint, which I did, but mostly abstract since I can't draw.  I did do tole painting (or decorative painting) for awhile because each project came with a set of instructions!  Hallelujah.

I don't think I really answered that question.

4.  Describe your creative process: how, when, materials, etc.
I make glass beads.  I have a studio (it is really just a corner in the basement, but I like to call it my studio) with a Mini CC dual-fuel torch, an oxygen concentrator, and a kiln.  And lots and lots of glass.  I use mainly Effetre glass from Italy because it is the cheapest.  I have just started to experiment with Double Helix glass, a silver-laden glass from the States.  It is expensive and is forcing me to think about selling price of the finished bead(s).  I do not make focals - lots of beadmakers only do focals.  I like repetition, there is something Zen about doing the same thing again and again.

I have a fulltime day job, so most of my beadmaking is done at night or on the weekend.  I usually work for about 3 hours or so at a session.

As for creativity, that is my weak spot.  I am not creative.  Glass is a wonderful medium as it is creative.  The glass looks after the creativity and I am simply the technician.  I can make a balanced bead with puckered ends (I am very insistent on puckered ends) and the glass does the rest.

5.  What handmade possession do you most cherish?
I panicked at this question.  I am not a stuff person.  I do not cherish (a strong word) things.  If pressured I would say recipes my daughter copied out when she was in grade 1, a sofa table my son made.

6.  Top 5 books, movies, music, websites.
Books:  I have read practically everything Nora Roberts has written (stop rolling your eyes!), essay-type books like The Last Lecture and David Sedaris.  Recently I am getting into crime novels and I am starting to like short books.

Movies:  I am not a movie person.  I cannot concentrate that long; I usually wander away.  But I guess Brokeback Mountain, Le Chocolat, Lord of the Ring series (except the one that is all about Gollum).

Music:  Country, like Sugarland, Steve Earle, Brad Paisley, Eric Church

Websites:  etsy of course, craftgawker, foodgawker (I only look at the photos, I never actually make anything), facebook, Pioneer Woman, Glass by Sarah, Beads by Laura.  I love the internet!

7.  What advice would you give to artists who are new to Etsy?
Relist every day.  Use the Categories.  Make sure you have Shop Policies.  Ship everywhere and don't ask people to convo you for a quote - they won't.  Crop your photos.  Relist every day.  Relist every day.  Be nice.

8.  What are your favorite features on Etsy?
I love the Shop Local.  And the Featured Seller.  And the forums especially Business and Etc.  I love the fact that it actually exists.

What new features would you like to see?
I would like to sort Sales by buyer.  I would like to put an item into more than one category.

9.  How do you promote?
Oh dear.  I don't.  I relist.  I tell myself that my buyers are pretty specific (jewelry designers) so there is no need to pester my friends, coworkers and relatives.  I do include a few extra beads with each order and I do ship for free.  I am not on Twitter, or Flickr, and I do not have a Facebook Fan Page.  I do not even use Google Base or Analytics or whatever that tracking hits business is.  I figure I'll just put time into creating beads.

10.  In 10 years I'd like to be...
This one scares me.  My bank lady seems to think I can retire in 7 years.  But then what would I do?  I mean really DO?  I can't make beads 24/7.  I don't enjoy traveling.  Gardening is simply work.  So what, really?  I didn't really have teenage angst, but now I have "in 10 years I'd like to be" angst.  Big Time.

I have a bit of a Bucket List though.  Sell my beads, from the back of a VW van, at music festivals.  Make pendants from beer caps.  Drink the beer to get the caps.  Skate down the Rideau Canal.  Go fishing (this will help get beer caps).

I got lazy and didn't make links to books, movies, etc.  I'm sure you can figure out where to go if you're interested.  Right.

A New Plan

After much neglect, I am planning to revitalize this blog with a focus on lampwork.  I enjoy everything about soft glass and beadmaking and love to talk about it, but no one near me really gives a hoot.  With this blog, I can yammer away and if you get tired you can just simply click on the little Close window.

Brilliant.

My first plan is to declare myself the Etsy Featured Seller.  On the Etsy home page there is always an interview with a seller.  I love reading them.  I dream of being selected as a Featured Seller but since the chances of that happening are slim to none, I have taken matters into my own hands.

In the near future, read about paulinabeads, the Etsy Featured Seller, right here!