This week we have with us Mel from The Cotton Road!
Please tell us a bit about yourself?
My name is Melissa but everyone calls me Mel. I am married and have an 8 year old son. We also have a dog named Zoey who is very active. I grew up in the southern tier in farm country. I love nature and natural fibers. I started crocheting when I was 12. I would watch my aunts crochet and slowly picked it up. I use crocheting as my stress reliever. My crocheting gives truth to the old adage "if you do what you love you never work a day". My crochet business started over a year ago and I still love crocheting everyday, in fact not crocheting can make my day worse.
What do you create? How long have you been working on your craft/art? I crochet primarily baby items, but I am very picky about the patterns I choose. I make hats and slippers for adults. I have begun to make toys, rattles, and pillows for babies. Mason jar covers, doilies, mesh tote bags, and things for the home. I learned to crochet when I was 12 but have been doing it regularly for about 5 years.
How did you come up with your store name?
I love cotton and primarily crochet with cotton, but wanted to pay homage to where I came from and learn my trade it was on a dirt back road tucked back on the farm in between cornfields. So I combined the two for The Cotton Road.
How does Buffalo influence your work?
The seasons are what inspires me here. I have to change the type of item and the thickness of the yarn for the warmer months. I know Buffalo weather changes fast but most people don't wear winter hats and boots in July.
What is the best thing about having a etsy shop?
The freedom to make and sell what I want and to control the amount of items in my store. I also love that I can sell to more people than just here in the WNY area. I have sent items to Australia, Canada, Hawaii, California, among other places. I am trying to create an interactive map so that I can pin where I have sent items. I'd like to send one item to every state I think that's be cool.
How do you promote your work to the world? Twitter, Facebook both personal and business pages, Instagram, Pintrest
Where can your work be found locally? I am a member of Gallery 464 and some of my items are featured there. I am working on a few open work hats to take there in the next few weeks.
Do you have any advise or suggestions for new sellers to etsy? Don't get discouraged if there are not a lot of sales in the beginning. Focus more on building a fan base that will refer others to your page.
Do you do this full or part time? If full time how did you get yourself to that status? If I really tally up the amount of time it would be full time, but it is realistically a part time thing. I work a full time and part time job on top of Etsy. My dream would be to open a little store front someday where I can sell my items, yarn, other local artist work and teach the art of crochet full time.
Have you had any formal training in what you do? I have had no training beyond my Aunts instructions.
Do you teach any classes in what you do? I have taught before at JoAnn's but I am not currently teaching there.
Where do your ideas come from? I love nature and things that are functional. I just bought a wire lamp shade a flea market and hope to crochet a lamp shade. I like to make things that people can pass down to others.
What do you do when your creatively blocked? I go to Pintrest or Etsy and search crochet.
Where can you be found online?
www.etsy.com/shop/thecottonroad
www.facebook.com/thecottonroad,
@thecottonroad on twitter, intstagram, and Pintrest.
http://www.mindweb.us/#!linton/c1b0h is the website from Gallery 464.
thecottonroad.blog.com/.
My name is Melissa but everyone calls me Mel. I am married and have an 8 year old son. We also have a dog named Zoey who is very active. I grew up in the southern tier in farm country. I love nature and natural fibers. I started crocheting when I was 12. I would watch my aunts crochet and slowly picked it up. I use crocheting as my stress reliever. My crocheting gives truth to the old adage "if you do what you love you never work a day". My crochet business started over a year ago and I still love crocheting everyday, in fact not crocheting can make my day worse.
What do you create? How long have you been working on your craft/art? I crochet primarily baby items, but I am very picky about the patterns I choose. I make hats and slippers for adults. I have begun to make toys, rattles, and pillows for babies. Mason jar covers, doilies, mesh tote bags, and things for the home. I learned to crochet when I was 12 but have been doing it regularly for about 5 years.
How did you come up with your store name?
I love cotton and primarily crochet with cotton, but wanted to pay homage to where I came from and learn my trade it was on a dirt back road tucked back on the farm in between cornfields. So I combined the two for The Cotton Road.
How does Buffalo influence your work?
The seasons are what inspires me here. I have to change the type of item and the thickness of the yarn for the warmer months. I know Buffalo weather changes fast but most people don't wear winter hats and boots in July.
What is the best thing about having a etsy shop?
The freedom to make and sell what I want and to control the amount of items in my store. I also love that I can sell to more people than just here in the WNY area. I have sent items to Australia, Canada, Hawaii, California, among other places. I am trying to create an interactive map so that I can pin where I have sent items. I'd like to send one item to every state I think that's be cool.
How do you promote your work to the world? Twitter, Facebook both personal and business pages, Instagram, Pintrest
Where can your work be found locally? I am a member of Gallery 464 and some of my items are featured there. I am working on a few open work hats to take there in the next few weeks.
Do you have any advise or suggestions for new sellers to etsy? Don't get discouraged if there are not a lot of sales in the beginning. Focus more on building a fan base that will refer others to your page.
Do you do this full or part time? If full time how did you get yourself to that status? If I really tally up the amount of time it would be full time, but it is realistically a part time thing. I work a full time and part time job on top of Etsy. My dream would be to open a little store front someday where I can sell my items, yarn, other local artist work and teach the art of crochet full time.
Have you had any formal training in what you do? I have had no training beyond my Aunts instructions.
Do you teach any classes in what you do? I have taught before at JoAnn's but I am not currently teaching there.
Where do your ideas come from? I love nature and things that are functional. I just bought a wire lamp shade a flea market and hope to crochet a lamp shade. I like to make things that people can pass down to others.
What do you do when your creatively blocked? I go to Pintrest or Etsy and search crochet.
Where can you be found online?
www.etsy.com/shop/thecottonroad
www.facebook.com/thecottonroad,
@thecottonroad on twitter, intstagram, and Pintrest.
http://www.mindweb.us/#!linton/c1b0h is the website from Gallery 464.
thecottonroad.blog.com/.
Your work is beautiful! best of luck with your shop!
ReplyDeleteI love your eyeballs that you made! your work is wonderful.
ReplyDeleteCrochet envy! Nice to meet you, Mel!
ReplyDelete