Meet The Maker: Janet P from Zipperworks

Hi Friends! How are you? How were your holidays? Ours were good but busy. We traveled to see family and then afterward my husband went on a business trip. Followed by several us getting sick. Needless to say, it has been an interesting couple of weeks. What have you been up to? Feel free to leave me a comment or send me an email.

I am back to give you another Meet the Maker. I am so excited to introduce you to Janet from Zipper Works.

Where are you from? Palo, Minnesota
Where do you live now? Kingston Springs, TN

How long have you been crafting? I have been creating Zipperart since 1979.
Are there other types of crafting that you enjoy doing? Sewing, knitting, embroidery, photography, mosaic tiling.

What drew you to zipper art or what inspired you? I was in 4-h and the challenge was to recycle a household object. Instead of the soda pop bottle bird feeder; I sew so I had broken Zippers, it occurred to me to use the Zipper teeth like paint. I painted my worn out cork bulletin board and created Pussy Willows.
I left my artwork behind and my Mother had my broken Zippers. My father came home with kitchen cabinet doors and she looked at my work and the doors and started to create pieces. I took on the role of promoting her and gathering the broken Zippers. She passed at the age of 85, creating right up to her passing. I started to create with her and when she passed, I had a lot of Zippers left and not wanting to ‘waste’ them, I went back into creating on a daily basis. We are many different artists. This is a very interesting story. What a blessing you got to work with your mom for so long.

Is there a story behind your shop name and if so what is it? My sister came up with the name of Zipperworks. The designs are worked zipper teeth.

When did you start selling online? 2004
And what drew you to sell online? Reach the world
Where do you sell online? www.zipperworks.com, Facebook, Instagram: Zipperworks. I do not have an Etsy storefront because it is difficult to photograph my work. The teeth cause pixelation and look distracting. My art is very tactile too, it is meant to be felt. I never frame it with glass covering it. This is cool.

Do you sell in other venues and if so what are they? Galleries, juried art fairs, boutiques, pop up shows, demonstrations.
What is your favorite venue for selling? Fundraiser shows for schools, you get to interact with up and coming artists, inspire others to think out of the box-promote creativity. Very fun. I like fundraiser shows as well.

Do you have any giveaways or sales coming up or other exciting things that you would like to be shared in your post? I am launching my vastly improved website.

Do you do any other work and how does that fit into your production time? I work as a cancer researcher. I travel the US, Canada and world managing clinical research trials to find new therapies to cure cancer. My work can be very bleak, especially when the drug I am working on does not work as intended. I have my art to renew me. My themes are very whimsical (or so I have been told) because of my day job. I actually bring Zippers, scissors and Tacky glue with me and I create in the evening. Thank you for the work you do both with cancer research and with your zippers.

Do you do your creating alone? I get help processing my Zippers-removal of the tape (which is the cloth that you sew the Zipper). Removal of the tape, pull and clasps can take a long time. My husband is an excellent woodworker and he makes many of my frames and cuts out wood designs for me-i like working on raised shapes. That is great that you and your husband get to work together and you get help with the zipper removal.

Do you have a faith practice and how does this fit into your work? I believe that my work is very meditating and I create faith-based themes.

What hopes do you have for your business in the future? I would like to reach a greater audience-that is how I get my Zippers-from jean quilters, former sewers, alternationists, I have a relationship with a developmental group home, they shred rags from Goodwill rejects and they save me the Zippers, in exchange, I create art for their home.

What is your most favorite piece that you have made? I don’t have a favorite piece but I treasure my mother’s work. I have kept many that I will not sell, the only way I will part with them is if they go into a permanent collection and treasured.That is a blessing you have those pieces.

Do you give to charity from the proceeds of your pieces? If so which ones and is there a story behind why? Yes, I donate to many causes, I gave pieces to help fund counseling for children who have both parents in prison; save habitats for falcons and educational outreach for them, I already mentioned about the group home, scholarship funds, and to help buy GPS locator bands for autistic and people with dementia in case they wander off, they can be found. Thanks for giving to all of these causes what a blessing.

What lead you to donate? I get Zippers donated to me, I must give back.

What is one thing you would love to share with others who are considering going into the handmade business? Make what you love and not what you think will sell. Thanks for this great reminder.

Is there anything else you would like to share with the blogosphere? or with a partner or family member? Try to repurpose if the life of something has finished, don’t throw.

Thanks for sharing Janet. I wish you all the best.

You can find Janet online and the following locations:
http://www.zipperworks.com/
https://www.facebook.com/zipperworks/
https://www.instagram.com/zipperworks/

What's Happening:

• Currently, we are in a giveaway celebrating Nikki from instagram.com/thisandthatbynikki
  celebrating 1,000 followers and her six year anniversary! Head over to Instagram and check out all of the awesome prizes.
• We are working on a new essential oil line for our ETSY shop. Come on out and check it out.

Pricing Handmade Items Guide

Meet the Maker: Bryan S Gordon from Tat 2 D Quilter.

Hi, friends! How are you? How was your weekend? My daughter and I had a booth for our jewelry shop Mt Nittany Creations at a fundraiser for Alzheimer's on Sunday. It was fun to meet some new people and share our jewelry. What did you do this weekend? Are you a small shop owner? Would you like a blog interview, product review or feature on our Instagram and Facebook pages? You can email us or fill out the typeform on our product review page.

I am excited to share with my interview with Bryan from Tat 2 D Quilter with you.

Where are you from and where do you live now? I was born and raised in Tucson, Arizona. And I currently live in the Phoenix metro area.

How long have you been crafting? I have been crafting all my life. My grandmother, mother and older sisters all did a variety of sewing and embroidery, so I was taught to sew very early. Although I sewed clothes for my dolls when I was younger, I never really took to needlework or yarn crafts like crochet or knitting, though, so I explored photography and drawing as my creative outlet through high school.How fun that you have tried all of those crafts and that your family is so crafty.

What drew you to quilting or what inspired you? I really don't know. As far as I know, I'm the only quilter in the family. We've never had quilts in the home until I started making them. I've always loved scraps of fabric and collected them for years before even really knowing what to do with them. I did have a co-worker who was making a Grandmother's Flower Garden quilt and I started asking her questions. From there I got a few books from the library and used book stores and never looked back.Sounds like you have had a fun journey getting to where you are now.

When did you start selling online? I opened my Etsy shop in May of 2015.

And What drew you to sell online? Honestly, pressure from friends. I was selling the patchwork cat quilts here and there to friends and acquaintances, and then made a bunch of quilts from old uniform shirts for my veterinarian to use in exam rooms. This opened up another style of cat/pet quilt I could make. Up until last year, I had never really sold my quilts for people as I can get a bit overprotective of them, so I resisted opening a shop just for cat quilts. The first year I didn't really do much promoting or even really take my shop seriously, even with my first sale to a stranger. But when I joined Instagram, I realized how I could use it to help grow my customer base. After I was given some fabric that wasn't appropriate for my quilting, I started creating my up cycled fabric critters, the most popular of which are my hippos. This opened up another outlet of creating, and when I sold my first quilt for people to a stranger, I realized this gave me a reason to make quilts I want to even without knowing where or to whom they are going to go. Your upcycled critters are so cute. I am so glad you joined Instagram and we have had the opportunity to meet. I love that you are using recycled materials.

What hopes do you have for your business in the future? I hope that I continue to make people happy with my work, and since I donate part of every sale to various charities, I hope I can continue to grow my sales so I can share the wealth with those who need the funds.That is great that you share a part of each sale with various charities and that you want to expand on that. What a blessing to those in need.

What is your most favorite piece that you have made? Each of my pieces is one of a kind so it's very difficult for me to say this is my favorite, or that is. As a grouping, my favorite original critters are the turtles that I make out of repurposed t-shirts. I have done a lot of hand dying and bleaching of the t-shirts to create interesting colors and patterns and often I see the turtle shells in these patterns. Additionally, they remind me of the animals my oldest sister used to make for me when I was little and in a way I'm carrying on her legacy with them. How sweet that you are "in a way" continuing on what your sister did for you when you were little. The turtles are cute.

What is one thing you would love to share with others who are considering going into the handmade business? Follow your heart and bliss, but don't get disheartened or discouraged when there are slow spells or if it takes a while for your work to catch on. Don't worry about "competition". You make what you make and that's what makes it special. Most importantly, don't let the stress of the business take away what you love about what you make. It should always be something you love doing, not something that makes you stressed out and crazy.Thank you for such great advice.

You can find Bryan at the following locations online:

Etsy: Tat2dQuilter.etsy.com

Instagram:@tat2dquilter

Top five Unique craft ideas of the week.

Hi Friends! How is your week going? I hope well. I'd like to start a new series called,Top Five of the week. In this series, I would like to feature crafts, DIY, handmade shops, blogs, and any other top fives I can think of that I find during the week. If you would like to be featured in my top five, please email me.

What unique crafts or DIY's have you found this week? Share them below in the comments. Don't forget we have our annual Christmas in July Craft Challenge starting July 1.

Here is my top five for this week:

5. How cool is this that you can color a picture a different way by embroidering on it. Head over to Sew What Alicia and check out her How To.

4. Isn't this picture cool. Who ever thought of weaving with straws was definitely thinking outside the box. I am really excited to try this one out. Especially since I have all of the items around the house. Head over to There's Just One Mommy to find out how to do this.

3. This basket looks like something you could pick up at Target or the Home Store. Head over to Lydi Out Loud to see how to make this basket.

2. Who doesn't love a little bling in their life. Well how much more exciting then to have that bling in a lawn flamingo!! Head over to Dream a Little Bigger to learn how to bling out a flamingo.

1. What is one to do with all of the crazy amounts of plastic bags we flood our world with... How about making a rug? Head to My Recycled Bags to find out how.

Thats all for this week. What top fives would you like to see? Leave suggestions in the comments or send me an email and I will try check out your ideas.

Don't forget to join us for our Christmas in July Craft Challenge starting July 1. You could win an awesome prize from a handmade shop, plus have lots of fun crafting.