About Her Crafts:
How long have you been making the items you sell on Etsy?
I have been doing some sort of arts and crafts that have been intended for gifts/selling for about 3-4 years now.
Where do you find your inspiration? How did you learn your craft or art?
I am a self-taught artist and I can get inspiration from just about anywhere. Family, God's everyday beautiful creations (like a sunset) or just flipping through magazines and books sometimes things will just hit me to combine things to make something completely unique.
On Her Etsy Experiences:
How did you find Etsy?
A friend of mine, her mother's best friend is a crafter and sells (or used to, not sure about now) on etsy and she told her about me trying to get started and just raved about etsy and demanded (lol) she tell me all about it.
Describe your Etsy experience (as a buyer and/or seller).
As a buyer its been fantastic. I've gotten some beautiful pieces and made some great friends. So far, knock on wood, I've not had a bad buying experience. On the selling side, it's been slower than I'd hoped. I knew I wouldn't get rich but most of my sells have all been BNR's instead of straight sells. So I've not really sold as much as I had wanted/expected. [Editor's note: If you're not familiar with Etsy, a BNR is a "Buy and Replace", a system by which you choose an item from a list, purchase it, and then get to add one of your items to that list.]
Do you have any advice to someone who is new to Etsy?
Don't expect to make 100 sales right off the bat. And join in groups and forums. The more active you are the more exposure you incur and the more awesome people you will meet.
On Asheville:
What's the best thing about living in the Asheville area?
I am actually in Franklin, Asheville is about 1 1/2 hours from me but I love going for the bookstores (I am such a bookworm!) and the food!
If someone is visiting the area, what is the one thing that they must see or do before they leave?
Well Barnes & Nobles is a must and then I love shopping the craft stores. It's limited in Franklin so it's a treat for me when in Asheville. And they HAVE to eat at Yoshida's.
What is your favorite off-the-beaten path place or activity in Asheville?
I'm really just now getting to know the "deeper" part of Asheville instead of just the mainstream areas I usually frequent. So I am looking forward to finding some of these places.
Random Fun:
In high school, you were voted (or should have been) mostly likely to… what?
Be a lawyer. I loved the law from my first field trip to the courthouse. And wanted to help people. I never made it to be a lawyer but was a paralegal for several years, which was much more suited to me than being a lawyer anyway.
What are your non-crafting hobbies?
Books, movies, computer and playing all sorts of dvd and board games with my family
What was the last book you read? Did you like it?
I just finished the 2nd Odd Thomas book and am starting on the 3rd, by Dean Koontz, and they are absolutely FANTASTIC books.
To see more of Rachel's work, click on the images below to view her shop.
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