Today we would like to introduce you to
Kaetoo has been selling on Etsy since May 2011, they sell beautiful textured notice boards. Today they are going to give us a little peak behind the scenes of their Etsy shop.
What motivated you to start your shop?
Hello! My name is Kate. I am from a very artistic family (seriously, on Etsy alone my aunt makes clothes, www.etsy.com/shop/jacksdaughter, my brother makes cards, www.etsy.com/shop/BreakfastTime, and my cousin makes underwear, www.etsy.com/shop/LicoriceandCream), but once I left school and began working, I didn't have much time to be crafty anymore. In 2011, I had a year off with my baby daughter. She was so good at sleeping (I know! I'm lucky!) that I found myself with a lot of free time. So I rediscovered painting. After I ran out of walls in my house, I started selling my artworks through kaetoo.
What is the story behind your shop name?
In secondary school, I studied Korean. My Korean teacher wrote my name, Kate, as k-ae-too. It stuck. Friends and family started calling me kaetoo. My business name was born from there.
What surprised you most about having your own craft / online shop?
Being naive, I never imagined that selling crafts online required so much work that isn't crafting! All the photography, SEO, marketing, networking and other behind-the-scenes work that is essential to any successful business... for some reason, at first I didn't put two-and-two together that this applied to crafts as well. Now I know!
What is your favourite creations from your shop?
My favourite items to create are big artworks and notice boards. Unfortunately, although these pieces are popular locally, they are not ideal for an international market because shipping is relatively expensive.
What's your personal philosophy behind your shop / products?
Every kaetoo artwork is vibrant, cheerful and original.
What do you do when you aren't working?
When I am not crafting, I'm a busy lady! My usual day job is as a molecular biologist. However, I am on maternity leave at the moment with my baby son, so my current day job is super-mummy-extraordinaire combined with exceptional-house-renovator.
Please tell us a little about the children's items market / handmade movement in your Country?
Handmade in Australia is BIG! Independently designed children's artisian products are very popular at the moment and the handmade movement has a lot of momentum, which has spawned some brilliant online marketplaces, markets, magazines and Blogs so that everybody can keep up with all the great talent out there. In fact, I am the editor over at Handmade Cooperative (http://www.handmadecooperative.com.au), which is a select community of Australian designers who hunt out the latest children's products in the Australian handcraft marketplace.
Links:
Blog ~ http://kaetoo.blogspot.com.au/
Facebook ~ http://www.facebook.com/kaetoo.canvas
Pinterest ~ http://www.pinterest.com/kaetoo
Kaetoo is offering a 5% discount in her shop during the month of August. To use the coupon visit her etsy store and enter code "ETSYKIDS2014" at checkout.
Treasury Tool Powered By Toastie Studio - Etsy Tools
This Natural Round Up recipe has been all over the internet so I had to try it. Not only is Round Up expensive but it also has plenty of chemicals in it that I would rather not spray on our lawn that our children and pets play on. The recipe is easy and uses common household ingredients. Even though I had heard it worked really well I had to see it for myself and I was surprised at how quickly it worked. 
The left picture is of a weed before I sprayed it and the right picture is a day after I sprayed it!
