Interview with On A Limb Paper

Yep, that's right...I'm interviewing myself. But this is only the beginning my friends. I have an interview lined up for every week until at least late October with my fellow Etsy Team Columbus members. Maybe even a few giveaways thrown in for good measure. Okay, here I go.

Tell us about yourself: I am a 30 year old wife, former 4th grade teacher, and current house renovator. When I'm not printing or designing for my Etsy shop (On A Limb Paper), I can be found painting walls, hanging cabinetry, or helping my husband on any number of house projects that need to be done. I enjoy traveling and would love to live somewhere that I could hike anytime I wanted. I want to improve my photography skills so I am always looking for willing subjects among my friends and family.

What kinds of items do you sell in your Etsy shop?: The majority of my sales on Etsy come from customers buying personalized stationery. I also sell wedding invitation packages and other printed materials. (save the dates, party invitations, thank you cards, etc.)

What brought you to Etsy?: I stumbled upon Etsy when I was looking for a handmade gift for my mother's birthday. I was selling a lot of stationery to fellow teachers and printing wedding invitations for friends already. So when I found Etsy I knew that it would be a great way for me to expand my little business.

How do you promote your shop?: I'm actually pretty bad about promotion. I get a lot of business from word of mouth (friends, friends of past customers). I have taken part in the design challenges on the Minted website and they currently sell one of my card designs. I am also a member of Etsy Team Columbus. I also hope to get some business from this little blog of mine.

What is your favorite item in your shop right now? I love the "Love Letter Personalized Stationery" set. So super cute.

What is your biggest Etsy goal for the next six months?: I would love to focus more on wedding invitations, birth announcements and party invitations.

Favorites:

Food-Pasta

Book-Water For Elephants

Movie-The Thomas Crown Affair (or any caper movie)

Music-Red Hot Chili Peppers, Joshua Radin

Thanks for following along. Check back next Tuesday for an interview with another Etsy Team Columbus member.

Freebie: Vintage Herb Labels

I can't tell a lie. I love everything about this freebie from Eat Drink Chic! I love the brown bottles, the vintage coffee stained labels, and the beautiful photograhs.

To get your own set follow this link to downlad the PDF file and click here to get the instructions straight from Eat Drink Chic!

Thank You Amy!!

Last Night's Dinner: Thai Veggie Gyoza

I'm about to tell you how I made the best dinner last night. And...it was easy!

I took some of these...Thai Vegetable Gyoza (potstickers) from Trader Joe's...

Steamed them with some of these yummy snow peas from my garden...




Served them over a bed of Jasmine rice...
And topped it all off with a drizzle (or more than a drizzle) of Hoisin Garlic sauce.

See, told you it was easy!

Real Wedding: Jamie & Anthony

When I was a teacher in NC I had an assistant, Vicky. Vicky was an amazing assistant and had an equally amazing daughter, Jamie. One day Jamie, who was newly engaged, came to visit her mother at school. We were out at recess so the three of us chatted about her upcoming nuptials while keeping close watch on a bunch of wild fourth graders. I mentioned to Jamie that I made my own wedding invitations just months before and one thing led to another. Next thing I knew, we were setting up a time to meet after school to look at colors, papers, fonts, and ideas.

Jamie and Anthony had a very short time frame to work with. From getting engaged to getting married may have been 2 months at the most. Anthony was serving in the Marines and was scheduled for deployment in early 2008. They wanted to be married, have a honeymoon, and say their goodbyes all withing a couple of weeks.

Jamie had seen some invitations that she liked in a magazine, so we adapted the colors to fit her scheme, worked on the wording, picked out fonts and sealed the deal all on one day after school in my classroom. It was my first job and it gave me the itch to find some more brides to work with.

Thank you Jamie and Anthony for trusting me and getting me started!

What Is Your Walk Score?

When deciding where to live, one of the biggest factors was location. We wanted to be able to walk to restaurants, ride our bikes around the city, be close to family, be far enough away from too much city.

I think we accomplished our goal with the new house. I rode my bike to the grocery this morning and to the library yesterday. We are minutes from a bike trail which would take us miles either north or south. Very conveniently located to several restaurants and parks.

Now, I know just how "walkable" our little neighborhood is. I just entered our address at www.walkscore.com and it tells you how close to parks, restaurants, clothing stores, school, movie theatres, etc you are.

In case you were wondering, we are .33 miles to the closest grocery store, .35 to the local park, .87 to pick up a book at the library, and .49 from the nearest western clothing store. Just in case I need to pick up some boots or a 10 gallon hat. We got a grand total of 65 out of 100.

Just for giggles, I entered my parents house(where I grew up) It got a walkable score of 2!!

Jess & Steve: A Lakeside Wedding

When Jess contact me a while back through Etsy about custom wedding invitations, she was ready with all the details. A laid back lakeside wedding in Michigan, something fun and not too formal.

Jess and I communicated throughout the process from everything from the perfect shade of green to the fonts they liked the most! It was truly a labor of love.

I know this will be one amazing wedding!

New Stamps Are A Hit

I just bought a sheet of the new stamps from the post office, and now thanks to Vale Design I have some A2 flat note cards to match.

This is a new to me blog that I can't wait to explore some more!