Featured Designer - Taryn Dams

Hello to Taryn Damns, owner of Oh Danger, an Etsy shop full of dangerously cute crochet goods & postcards.

All items in Oh Danger are vegan, and made by a vegan. Taryn also makes monthly donations to various animal causes and donate my time volunteering at my local, no-kill Humane Society.



You can win a FREE Squidie as featured in Oh Danger just by entering Taryn's contest. All you have to do is fill out the survey here for the chance to win a squidie.



We caught up with Taryn to ask her more about her business:

K&B: What's your name and where do you come from?
TD: My name is Taryn and I live in Ontario, Canada. Due to the nature of my job I tend to travel about the southern portion of the province, so I don't really identify with one particular city or town... though I'm hoping to settle somewhere soon!

K&B: How did you get into making and designing?
TD: I've always been crafty. When I was about five years old I remember sitting at the kitchen table and just playing with playdough for hours, making everything I could think of - my Mum said she'd never seen a kid who could sit and play with playdough for six hours straight without getting bored. A few years later my grandma taught me how to crochet, and it's something I kept up with all these years. As a teenager and through University I worked at a craft store, which gave me the time and the access to resources to be able to continue being creative despite time constraints in daily life - not only did it allow it, but it actually encouraged it! I usually stuck to simple crafts - scarves and the like - but a few years ago, I saw picture of a crocheted donut. I thought, wow, that is adorable! And I started to make ones like it. I realized I wasn't half-bad at recreating things I thought were cute, so I kept going.



K&B: Where do you get your inspiration from?
TD: Cute things. That's pretty generic but it's the truth! I love to create based on the things I find visually appealing - cupcakes and squids are my favourite. It's an odd mix, I know.

K&B: What makes your products different?
TD: They're made by me! Ha. There are a lot of people that do what I do; I would be naïve to think there weren't. But whatever I make and sell in my Etsy shop fully reflects my personality - from the style, to the colour, to the purpose, to the careful nature with which it was crafted. I'm vegan, too, so everything in my shop is 100% vegan - I don't, and never will, create or sell any items that contain animal products. I'm part of the Vegan Etsy team which is comprised of many other sellers with values like mine, so I guess it doesn't make me all that different, but I think we're still a minority compared to the whole of Etsy!



K&B: What do you enjoy about running your own business?
TD: I'm still kind of a newbie. I have a full-time job so my Etsy shop is my hobby-turned-side-business. I like being able to have the freedom to create on my own schedule. The freedom of just being able to create! I don't have a ton of sales just yet, so I always feel really popular when I get one - I like the reassurance that people like my stuff.

K&B: What are your favourite websites for inspiration?
TD: I take my inspiration from real life - cute foods, animals, etc - no specific websites come to mind!



K&B: Can you describe your typical day?
TD: I have a full-time job working away from for an environmental remediation company on a military base, and so my days aren't very glamourous. I work almost 11 hours per day and I live in a hotel. My spare time is spent crocheting, reading, and well... sleeping! Thankfully this is contract work and I live by this schedule spring-fall. The winter is when I thrive - volunteering at my local animal shelter, crocheting like crazy, napping with my cats and reading more books than a lot of people read in a lifetime.

K&B: What's the most embarrassing thing you've ever done?
TD: I generally don't get embarrassed easily - being a complete klutz, I'm used to tripping in public and making a fool of myself so I've gotten used to it. But once, I had a friend that I met online. She had a tattoo of her name, in an obscure kind of script that I obviously read wrong... because I called her by the wrong name for ages. This was years and years ago, though, so I don't remember how I came to be corrected, or why she never corrected me herself... either way, I felt like a complete idiot. But hey, we're still friends to this day!



K&B: Do you have any hints/tips or advice for other creative sellers?
TD: Enjoy what you do and make sure that it reflects you. Trying to copy something else or making something that doesn't fit who you are can't possibly be successful, because you need to believe in your own abilities so that you can properly market it! The internet has done an amazing things for creative sellers - thanks to social networking sites, it's easier than ever to get out there and spread the word about what you're doing. I have Facebook, Twitter, MySpace, and even my personal blog to thank for exposing others to the things I make for my shop.

Many thanks to Taryn 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).

Featured Designer - Etsy Cerra

Hello to Cerra, postcard designer, mum, student, and Etsy shop owner: EtsyCerra from Ontario, Canada.

Cerra started designing postcards five years ago after being involved in an online postcard exchange. She became disheartened by the abundance of generic, scenic postcards that were available and after making a few of her own fell in love with the process. Cerra is now involved in Postcrossing.com - a project that allows anyone from around the world to receive postcards from around the world.

As if that wasn't enough, Cerra also create intricately detailed felted toy food.

How does Cerra manage to juggle it all? We asked her some questions to find out:

K&B: What's your name and where do you come from?
C: Cerra, pronounced the same as Sarah! A tiny town in Ontario welcomed me back in '84, shortly after I was brought to the east coast of Canada and, though I've been away a lot, I always find my way back here.

K&B: How did you get into making and designing?
C:My whole family is pretty crafty. My nan and great-nanny are/were big into crocheting and knitting and also creating with plastic canvas. My ma and I used to do craft projects most weekends, it seems, she also used to knit a lot. I was bitten by the photography bug in the mid/late 90s (a 1.3 megapixel camera was my grade 9 graduation present - $600!), along with painting during junior high thanks to an amazing art teacher who encouraged me during a pretty dark time in my life. The feelings that came from creating have been a reliable source of comfort throughout the years.



K&B: Where do you get your inspiration from?
C: These days, it's my son, Clive, definitely. I really want to pass along the creative side of life to him and I try to lead by example as much as I can. Plus, he loves to look at my photography and play with the felt food I make. I'm always striving to give him more to look at and play with.

K&B: What makes your products different?
C: They're made by me and usually constructed with a sleeping toddler on my lap!

K&B: What do you enjoy most about being a part of Etsy?
C: When something sells, it definitely gives a confidence boost. It's also cool to know that my work has the potential to be seen by so many people!

K&B: What are your favourite websites for inspiration?
C: I don't spend a ton of time online anymore, but I'll go with Twitter. My account there EtsyCerra is 90% used to connect with other people on Etsy and their passion rubs off on me!

K&B: Can you describe your typical day?
C: My son wakes me up, usually early than I'd like, shortly after that he wakes my husband. On a calm day I'm able to get in a little bit of crafting before my husband goes to work. When my son is awake I focus mostly on him and keeping the house in order. During his naps, which are spent on my lap or beside me, I catch up on emails, study for university or craft. Afternoons are park/errand time, evenings I try to get some crafting in once my son is asleep and before I head to bed myself.



Since my husband doesn't work on the weekend I try to find time retreat to the office and craft or study, so he and my son to have their own time. My son is my number one priority and I try to enjoy the time I have with him now. Soon he'll be too old to want to spend time with me and I don't want to look back and go, "Wow, I really could've waited to focus so much energy elsewhere."

K&B: What's the most embarassing thing you've ever done?
C: Oh boy. Opening my mouth on a daily basis can end up being pretty embarrassing! Seriously, though...when I was a little girl, my family went to the beach, my uncle was in a Speedo and I grabbed his front, loudly asking "What's this?!" The story still gets told to this day.

K&B:Do you have any hints/tips or advice for other Etsy sellers?
C: Set your goals high, promote, persevere and keep your expectations realistic. There are so many sellers, which means a lot of competition, and as a result it can be hard to get noticed. Do what you're doing out of love and the rest is sure to follow!


Many thanks to Cerra 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).

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).

James Ward Designs

London based illustrator James Wards takes inspiration from natural history and animals to create detailed pen and ink illustrations. My favourite item is the plate above, in fact the whole crockery range is fabulous, and far too nice to eat your dinner off.

Follow James Ward Designs on Etsy

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