Friday, June 27, 2008

jetsetpaper

INTERVIEW by Etsy on Jetsetpaper

Tell us a bit about yourself name, location, affiliations, personal stuff.

My name is Noelle Griskey. I reside in Pittsburgh, PA (by way of Portland, Oregon and Washington, DC) with my husband of 10 years, a few parakeets and a lovebird named Inez. I was born and raised in Los Angeles, CA where I earned a BS in Business Administration from the University of Southern California.

I have a small greeting card and stationery business called Pink Bathtub Designs where I create a line of hand printed paper goods. This is my main shop here on Etsy, pinkbathtub.etsy.com.

Unintentionally, most of my life has revolved around printing. From working for years in the family printing business, to holding various positions in advertising production at a national magazine and newspaper, to my current gig, I have somehow continued to be involved in a printing process. I guess it must be in my genes.

Apart from creating things, what do you do?

My husband and I love to travel. We enjoy going to Reykjavik, Iceland just as much as Kansas City, Missouri. There is something unique to be found in every city. We grow giant pumpkins in our front yard and heirloom tomatoes in the backyard. I make a mean veggie lasagna and drink pinot gris from Oregon when I can find it here in PA. I read when the mood hits, am glued to Deadliest Catch on Tuesday nights and try to complete the Sunday NYT crossword puzzle before the next one arrives at my door. We watch way too much football in the Fall and when I get tired of NPR, I turn on sports radio…there, I admit it.

What first made you want to become an artist?

Gosh, I don’t quite think of myself as an artist. I like to think I’m artistic. I have no formal art training besides a brief stint (I’m talking one quarter) in art school, some art history classes in college and a few years of pottery.

As a kid I would save my allowance to buy a brand new box of 64 Crayola crayons or those markers that smelled. (Remember how awesome those were?) I could never have enough art supplies. So maybe it was in me, it just took about 30 years to show up.

Please describe your creative process how, when, materials, etc.

The Jet Set series was born out of a dual effort and a love of travel. My very talented sister, aubreyhyde.etsy.com, was visiting from Nashville and I pulled out my recently acquired set of old letterpress letters in hopes that we could come up with something cool to do with them.

As I don’t actually have a letterpress printer, we began hand inking letters and stamping them on various materials. I had some Moleskine cahier journals hanging around, so we started experimenting with those. We thought how great they are for traveling and how you always come up with your best ideas when you are on the road. So, airport codes got put together as did calling cards with corresponding area codes. Airplane and telephone blocks were carved and voila the idea was formed.

What handmade possession do you most cherish?

They are not so much handmade as they are hand written, but I have many years worth of letters, cards and notes from family and friends that I treasure. I love to go back and look through them and remember those occasions and people in my life.

Name your top five books, movies, songs/musical groups, and web sites besides Etsy.

In no particular order:

Books:

The Agony and the Ecstasy - Irving Stone
Girl with a Pearl Earring – Tracy Chavalier
The Kite Runner – Khaled Hosseini
To Kill a Mockingbird – Harper Lee
Where the Sidewalk Ends – Shel Silverstein

Movies:

Waiting for Guffman
Office Space
Spinal Tap
Sideways
The Princess Bride

Musical Groups (I’m old school):

Pink Floyd
Joni Mitchell
Lucinda Williams
Yes
Steely Dan
(Led Zeppelin is a given)

Websites:

Flickr.com
decor8.blogspot.com
printpattern.blogspot.com
foodtv.com
cnn.com

What advice would you give to artists who are new to Etsy?

Patience.
A unique and high quality product. Your products are a part of and represent you.
Well shot and interesting photos.
Frequent listings (but not your entire inventory all at once).
Fantastic customer service.
Your location and profile filled out. People like to buy from someone they know a bit about.

And market yourself and be professional.

What are your favorite features on Etsy? What new features would you like to see?

I’ve been a part of Etsy for over two years now and it’s been a thrill to watch the site grow and improve. I really love how they depend on the community for feedback and make changes based on our comments and critiques. Some of my favorite features are the shop sections, favorites, treasuries and gift guides.

I would love to be able to clean out expired and inactive listings that I know I will never relist. Also, could you up the shop section maximum to, say, 12? Thank you.

How do you promote your work?

I advertise on a couple popular blogs, keep my flickr account updated, do a few arts & crafts shows a year, comment on blogs, swap links, rely on word of mouth, hand out business cards…the usual stuff.

In ten years I'd like to be...

Of course happy, healthy and still creating. But, I really try to enjoy the little gems that each day brings. You can reminisce about the past and worry about the future, but all you have is today.



Written by Etsy on 6.25.08 Copyright Etsy 2008

No comments:

 

blogger templates | Make Money Online