artist of the month

i recently caught up with etsy seller ktjean. you can check out the interview below!

1.)Tell us a little bit about yourself! (name, location,pets, family, etc.)

I am Katie Jean Walker from Phoenix, Arizona. I am married to the coolest guy ever, his name is Jonce and we have 2 awesome boys, Cade is 4 and Clive is 2. We have 2 dogs, Laredo and Benny, 5 Chickens, Myrtle, Venus, Chickadee, Batman and Cockadoodledo, and 1 fish, fishy power ;)

2.)How did you become to be an artist?

It was really by accident, I met my neighbor at my old house and she was great at making clothes. She inspired me to try my hand at it and we started a kids line that turned into an adult line that eventually broke off into 2 of our own lines. Her stuff is available at ouma.etsy.com ~ we have both moved and now just live a few blocks away again so it is really fun!

3.)What inspires you?
Pretty much most of my inspiration comes from times past, anything old really gets my attention. That is something that shows in all my designs and the line I am working on is going to be awesome!!

4.)What is your creative proccess like?
I just get ideas, then chat with a lot of my friends and my husband to get feedback before I start sketching or anything. My friend (and another neighbor) Jenn from mignonnehandmade.etsy.com is really awesome. We get together to drink wine and chat and she always helps me compile everything together and focus my ideas.

5.)What do you do in your free time?(besides creating)
I love to take my kids out to do fun stuff and hang out with my husband, either just watching movies at home or having friends over to hang out or play games.

6.)What would give as advice to someone just starting out on Etsy?
Just try to make your stuff stand out from others and show your style with good photos. I know I can take quality photos of my own work, but I always use professional photographers who specialize in wedding photos or fashion. I am positive that this has been detrimental to the success of my business.

7.)How do you promote your work?
so far it is all just word of mouth or people finding me on etsy or my website. I would love to do some intentional advertising, I am just making sure I have everything organized on my end so that when I invest in that step, I am ready for the orders that result.

8.)In ten years, where would you like to be?
For a while, I wanted to stay small, but I think it would be fun for people to know what I do and who I am! I would love to have a famous person wear one of my dresses and inspire people to try doing something they love, even if they weren't technically trained for it :)

9.)What handmade possesion is closest to your heart?
i have some jewelry friends have given me that they got from artists on etsy. I love those and wear them all the time!

10.)What would you like to see more of on Etsy? Less of?
I feel bad, but I think that people think that because they know how to sew fabric on a burp cloth they should start an etsy store. I do think that stuff is super cute and fun, but everyone should make sure they have something special about their stuff and a way they can stand out.
I LOVE the stuff that is innovative and I think, "Wow! how did they think of that!?" I love it!" that especially happens when I see stuff that has been re-purposed :)

wow....thanks katie jean! i am totally in love by katie jean's designs and wish i could buy out her whole store!

you can check out her store HERE !

xoxo,
gracie