Feature Friday - Three Seventeen

Tell us a little about yourself.

My name is Kristin, I'm almost 24 years old and I'm a single mother of two girls. (3 and 1) I've been making crafts for my entire life and started selling at local craft shows for 10 years. I learned from my mom, who always made little Christmas ornaments to sell at my school craft shows!! She taught me how to be crafty and thrifty! My dream of owning my own design business has been a long goal for me. I hope for it to be coming true now. I attended Moore College of Art and Design on a full scholarship and loved every moment of it. I believe that I am an artist in the truest sense of the word. If I was able to, I'd spend all day painting, making jewelry, sketching, etc... Art, in any form, is the way I express myself and feelings.

What is your first memory of being crafty/artsy?

I've been crafty and artsy for as long as I can remember, though I recently found papers that my mom gave me that were pictures I drew when I was 3 or 4 years old. They weren't normal kid pictures, they were actually beginnings of real art. I don't remember being that talented at such a young age, but apparently I was! I would always be crafty with my mom when she would make things, or I'd sit in my room and just paint or sketch whatever came to my mind at that time. I loved anything art for as far back as I could think!

Where do you get inspiration for your products?

Honestly, the designs just come to me. Usually at night or when I'm working out of the house. I always keep a notepad on me to jot down and sketch new ideas. Sometimes I get inspiration from seeing something in nature, or seeing a bunch of vintage items that I believe I could make better by combining many elements of favorite pieces. Sometimes I just mess around with something until I come up with something I love.

Tell us a little about your workspace.

I have a studio. Though, right now it has a lot of furniture that we were moving around, so it isn't accessible. At this point, I work at my dining room table. I'm working to get the furniture we don't need in my studio out to the garbage so I can actually make use of that space soon! My dining room table is a mess with my beads, soaps, cards, glitter, so I will spare you the eyesore of seeing that! :)

Where can we find your products?

Currently, you can find them at http://threeseventeen.etsy.com/ and also you can see my products and upcoming projects at my blog. http://three-seventeen.blogspot.com/. I am in talks with one little local boutique to possibly feature some of my jewelry and also am working to book some craft shows to sell at! All dates and locations will be posted on my blog!

My mom and I also have two shops together. Our soap and "cute stuff" shop is http://ohmycupcake.etsy.com/ and our baked goods shop is http://sugardustconfections.etsy.com/ where my mom and I have a great shop full of yummy chocolates and other baked goods! My mom is licensed for food handling and bakes the best things!!

What methods do you find best bring traffic to your shop?

I believe that the Etsy message boards are a very helpful place for me to get some publicity. Otherwise, the facebook fan page or local ads that I've placed at art stores and also at local stores.

Is there anything else you would like the readers to know?

Currently, at my facebook fan page I am hosting a giveaway. On April 1st I will pick one fan of my Facebook page and they will receive a free swarovski crystal bracelet of their color choosing, a full size bar of any scent soap you'd like and a sampler pack of SugarDust Confections chocolates (of your choosing). You can find my facebook fan page at http://www.facebook.com/home.php#/pages/THREEseventeen/58576877648 You can only win if you're a fan of our page. I am also going to soon host a giveaway at my blog (http://three-seventeen.blogspot.com) so keep checking there or follow us there for details! We're excited to share our products with our customers. :)

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