Featured Designer - April Bogus

Meet April Bogus, curator of vintage homeware store Vintage Ten and creator of upcycled fabric wallets in Wicked Wallets.

April has been selling on Etsy since 2008 through Wicked Wallets, opening her second shop, Vintage Ten, in 2009. A keen thrift shopper, Vintage Ten defines what shopping is all about "fun, function, and frivolity". April sources unusual items and scours for new finds regularly from her hometown of Austin, Texas, USA.



We sat down to ask her a few questions about her two business, her inspiration and asked for her advice:

K&B: How did you get into making and designing?
AB: As a little girl I loved anything related to arts and crafts. When I was 7 I would put little bits of broken crayons in tiny little baking tins and melt them in my Easy Bake Oven, making huge multicolored crayons.

K&B: Where do you get your inspiration from?
AB: Anywhere, really. Sometimes a color, or a place, or even something happy I heard through out the day. Anything that makes me smile.

K&B: What makes your products different?
AB: Really the use of vintage images is key. I want people to have something fun and functional. I love anything piratical that has a nice funky look to it.



K&B: What do you enjoy most about being a part of Etsy?
AB: Everyone on Etsy is so nice and sweet. I remember within the first three days of selling on Etsy, I had met some great ladies in the chat rooms and one even made a banner for my shop ! She was a great help and gave me some really good starter advice. I just took it and ran from there.

K&B: What are your favourite websites for inspiration?
AB: http://www.notcot.org/ - A really great design site.
http://www.attackofthecraft.com/stage/ - A super forum full of really supportive ladies.

K&B: Can you describe your typical day?
AB: I wake up at basically a different time every day, depending on my husband's schedule. Have lunch with him, maybe run some errands. Take Hubs to work, on home to work on Wicked Wallets and Vintage Ten, my two Etsy shops. Some days I'll hit up a thrift store or two looking for either clothes for myself, vintage goodies to resell, or vintage magazines/books to use for Wicked Wallets. Pick Hubs up from work, have dinner, watch some TV, play on the computer, then off to bed to start it all over again !

K&B: What's the most embarrassing thing you've ever done?
AB: Oh wow, this one will be a doozy ! In the 6th grade, I was in band. I played the flute and really could have been much better had I actually practiced ;) Anyhow, I leaned over one day to adjust my sheet music stand, and let out a huge fart. Mortifying to say the least.

K&B: Do you have any hints/tips or advice for other Etsy sellers?
AB: I would say, take the best pictures you can, and describe your product carefully. Make sure your customer knows exactly what to expect when they receive their item. Great customer service is always a good thing, and study, study, study. Read as many articles about improving your Etsy shop as you can stand. They really do help !

Many thanks to April for being a featured designer.

If you are interested in being interviewed for Kicking & Biting please just drop me a line (use the 'contact' tab above).