Today we would like to introduce you to Rachel
and her Etsy shop LilBDesigns
LilBDesigns has been selling on Etsy since October 2006, she sells a beautiful range of handmade crayon wallets, chalk mats, art folios and more!! Today she is sharing a little about her shop and selling handmade items.
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A big family move prompted a career shift for me. My daughter Lillian was a toddler at the time and opening a shop on Etsy enabled me to be home with her and still contribute to our household finances. I loved the challenge of taking my sewing skills, combining them with my prior marketing and communications background, and crafting a home-based handmade business!
What is the story behind your shop name?
My beautiful 8 1/2 year old daughter Lillian inspired my shop name. It's a take on her name. About a year ago, she had this "ah-ha" moment realizing my shop name is derived from her name. Since then, she has certainly had a more vested (and vocal!) role with my design choices -- and she has become quite the marketer with her classmates and teachers, very cute!
What surprised you most about having your own craft / online shop?
Lots has surprised me! But, the happiest of surprises are my international customers. A large percentage of my sales are to amazing customers outside of the U.S. I keep saying I should have a map with push pins showing the various corners of globe where my products have travelled My daughter's first question when I tell her about a new order is, "Where's it from?" My sales have been a really good lessons in geography for my 3rd grader!
What do you find most challenging about being an Etsy seller?
Keeping up! When I opened my Etsy shop in 2006, the Children's section had a mere 10,000 listings, which I thought was a lot at the time - silly me! Now it's in the hundreds of thousands, making it a daily quest to keep my items fresh - and found - by Etsy shoppers. Keeping up with Etsy's evolution with SEO, tagging, titles, and so forth has made nothing about being an Etsy seller a "cookie cutter" process. It definitely keeps me on my toes between balancing the necessary sewing time and computer time.
What's your personal philosophy behind your shop / products?
I'm a bit of an anti-technology mom, who prefers unplugged fun activities over electronic toys. Between all of the gadgets and gizmos it seems like every toy on the mass market requires a battery to operate. Encourage children with crayons or chalk to spark their creative imaginations...and let them soar.
How would someone (other then you) describe you?
Positive, funny, determined.
What do you do when you aren't working?
Time away from the sewing machine is time with my daughter - whether it's homework, Brownies, choir, building Lego cities, painting, American Girl tea parties, and now she's really into learning how to cook -- omelets are the latest! I also love DIY home projects - giving new life to old furniture, re-purposing household items, and painting. My home is definitely a never-ending work in progress, many thanks to Pinterest!
LilBDesigns is offering a a whooping 25% discount for our blog reader To use the coupon, visit her etsy store and enter code 'ETSYKIDS25' at checkout. The voucher is valid undtil the end of December 2012.
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