Origami Jewelry - Paper Displays of Affection

Paper Affection was started on Etsy by Suanne. She is a super talented origami artist. I love her many different creations. She makes earrings, necklaces, ornaments, hair pins all using her paper creations. Suanne was kind enough to answer a couple questions about her craft and how she got started on Etsy.

Tell me a little about yourself, your store and what you sell.
I'm Suanne and I love origami! I'm 22 and I just started my real life job in the big city. I'm an origami artist and I try to make it more practical and sell origami jewelry, hair pins, and ornaments.

How long have you been making the craft/art that you sell? What started your interest in it? How did you learn?
It’s been about 13 years now since that fourth grade class where I made my first crane. I first got into origami because I had this problem with sitting still when I was a kid. I discovered that folding paper helped me concentrate in class while I took notes. This was especially true in college and long lectures and I honestly believe I did better in class when I was folding! I'm mostly self-taught, but I love me a big advanced origami book!

What made you decide to turn your art/craft into a business? What support or inspiration have you had along the way?
As I made more and more origami, I realized that if there wasn't a real use for my models, and they'd all go to waste - and I couldn't let that happen! So I set out to make my origami functional - jewelry was my first thought, and I'm exploring other mediums. After I sold a few pairs on DeviantArt, I realized my idea was good enough to have my own store. Other DeviantArtists have been supportive, especially my friend Mel, who owns sugarposse.etsy.com.

Do you have any other hobbies / interests?
Real Estate (is that weird? That's my day job) I also love photography, New York City, drawing, sculpting, and summer. :) And hugs. I love hugs.

How long have you been selling on Etsy? Do you sell outside of Etsy? If so where?
DeviantArt if people don't want to sign up for Etsy, but thats about it.


What is your favorite way to promote your Etsy store?
Blogs :) I'm in the forums a ton too!


Do you have a blog? If so what is your blog address, and what do you feature / write about?
DeviantArt is kinda like a blog, but more an online portfolio. http://www.pandacub143.deviantart.com/

Where do you hope to see your business / Etsy store in the future?

I'd like to just keep crafting. Some day I'd love to do a craft show and show off what I can do, maybe have a celebrity wear something hehe. But I craft to make myself happy. No big dreams here :)

What is something that you want to make SURE you do in 2009?

Not get fired from the day job. :)

What is the thing that you are most proud of?

After 5 months meeting my sales goal that I made for 1 year. I'm doing way better than I thought I ever could!

What do you wish you had more time for?

Crafting

What is your favorite part of the day?

My favorite is Saturday mornings, when I get to photograph what I made that week - all my hard work goes into a pretty picture for everyone to see and I love choosing angles and playing with colors!

Hanami Gallery - Origami Cards and Ornaments

These are the beautiful creations from Hanami Gallery. She creates beautiful cards and ornaments from fine Japanese papers. My favorite is the Red Butterflies card above. She was so kind to answer a couple of questions for me about herself and how she got started crafting.

I went to college for mathematics and economics, but I've always loved art and crafting. I learned how to fold origami when I was very young. My first books were from Tomoko Fuse and I still have her books to this day! I also drew, painted, and took photography. My grandmother also taught me how to knit and I enjoyed knitting capes for our chickens in the winter. HAH. I love paper. I tried to think about how I could showcase some of the great papers I have. My mom has always loved collecting cards. I thought making cards would be a great way to showcase the paper, and I could always use them if they did not sell! My family and fiance have supported me and helped me when I get down about my craft. My inspiration is the paper. Really I look at each sheet of paper and think about what type of design would best showcase the paper.

As for other hobbies or interests, I enjoy knitting and just learned how to crochet. I’m expecting some dyes and will try hand painting yarn! I also enjoy playing video games! HAH. It is a lot of fun when I can really escape into other worlds. I just started selling on Etsy in January 2009.Before I moved to Providence I showed in a gallery in Pennsylvania for a little while, but the commission was a bit much. I also had a website, but got rid of it to make another new website that is currently in progress. I also have a blog where I try to show some items from my shop every now and again.My favorite ways to promote my store is probably word of mouth.

My blog address is: http://hanamigallery.blogspot.com/ I write about anything I am doing currently!

I hope I can sell my cards to people who will cherish them and the words written inside forever. So, I hope I will have sold more cards by the end of the year!I want to make sure I stay positive. It’s hard to start a business and to get a reputation built. So, I just really need to stay positive and keep trying at my store. I’m proud of my work, to an extent! I am a bit of a perfectionist. HAH My favorite part of the day is when I can hang out with my fiance and kitties.

You can check her out at http://www.hanamigallery.etsy.com/ and tell her that Mrsfatface sent ya!