Featured Craft artist of the Week: McCord from yourheartstrings

http://www.etsy.com/shop/yourheartstrings

Our featured artist this week is Bobbi McCord from yourheartstrings.

Bobbi and I share a kinship in that we are both in the field of education. We both teach elementary students!  

 

Bobbi loves to be creative and makes gifts that are one of a kind.  She is offering a 15% OFF coupon to all my blog readers. So let’s learn more about her and her shop. Welcome Bobbi!

 

 

1.What would you like us to know about you?

 I am a mom of a 3 year old boy who is my whole world! I am a licensed k-6 Elementary Teacher. I have spent the last year substitute teaching and building my Business! My dream is to work from home and spend more time with my family. I hope to help everyone become more personal with each other. In this day, it seems sending an email or facebook message is so much easier than sending a card. But who doesn't love recieving a handmade, custom, one of a kind card in the mail just letting them know that someone is thinking about them? Some of my other favorite hobbys are crafting, reading, traveling, running, camping, fishing, photography, and playing with my little boy!

2.When did you discover Etsy? I discovered Etsy in MAach of 2011, but I did not get serious until December of that year. Starting in January of 2012 I decided to dedicate as much time as possible to my new business and Etsy Shop! I began posting in the forums, joining teams and circles, making treasuries, and listing many more items. 

http://www.etsy.com/shop/yourheartstrings

3.What prompted you to open an Etsy Shop? I decided to open an Etsy shop once I became more serious about making my business more successful. I have a Facebook Business Page: www.facebook.com/heartstringsscrapbooking and wanted to reach out to more people and give them an easier way to shop for my products!

4.What do you sell? I create handmade greeting cards, hang tags, invitations, bookmarks, scrapbooks and journals. All of my products are handmade by me and unique. My most popular items are custom hang tags. I love creating these items. I love using lots of bright colors and unique punches and stamps!

5.How did you come up with your shop name? When I first thought about starting a business I wanted a sweet but personal name. Heartstrings was the first I thought of. I hope to tug on the Heartstrings of every person who finds my business. I want them to feel as unique as the product they are looking at. Everyone deserves to feel special and receiveing a unique custom product helps make this happen! Your Heartstrings are where you feel emotions, excitment, sentimental, and special. Your Heartstrings are what make you who you are, one of a kind, thoughtful, needed, and necessary!

6.How would you describe your shop?  My shop is fun to be in! It is bright and shiny! I have lots of clean and vibrant colors. I have different styles and unique items so every type of personallity can find something they love. I create many custom orders so everybody has a chance to give thier item a personal touch. Each item has the option to change its color or quantity and all of my custom orders ship withing 48 hours of purchas!
I have a growing list of products and I am always trying out new styles and love getting ideas from customers!

http://www.etsy.com/shop/yourheartstrings

7.What inspires / motivates you? My family motivates me! They are always encouraging me to think outside the box and try new things. I love looking through all of my matierials and creating something that I love and can't wait to show it to everyone else! I am inspired by art and photography and nature. I love fun, lighthearted patterns and stamps on my products. The thought of somebody recieving my on of cards in the mail and making them smile drives me to continue creating! Knowing that my hang tags will be used in somebody's wedding, or for graduation announcements, or a first birthday party inspires me to reach out to more and more people! I love being a part of someones special day!!

8.How has Etsy changed your life?  Etsy has played a huge role in making my business more successful! It has given me the resources I needed to reach out to more people and make my items more accessible. It has given me a support group through the discussion boards and forums. I have people who are their to help with anything I am struggling with and celebrate with me when I reach my goals. Etsy is more than a selling marketplace. It is a community, somewhere you can go to reach out, create friendships and share your unique style with people from all over the world. Every handmade item on Etsy is created with patience and love for the customer. It is hard to find that anywhere else.

9.Where else can we find you? Do you have a website or blog outside of Etsy?
You can find me at:
www.facebook.com/heartstringsscrapbooking
or on my Etsy shop at:
www.etsy.com/shop/yourheartstrings

10.Is there anything else you would like to share? There are a lot of people who make the same types of items I make. So why would someone come and visit me at my store? I like to think I make them feel happy, welcome, and one of a kind. They are not customers, they are people just like you or me. A mom who is having a baby and wants her baby shower invitations to stand out. An 18 year old who is the first in his family to graduate high school and wants and extra special graduation announcement. A young girl who wants her wedding to be one of a kind and needs silver and white hang tags to attatch to her invitations. They are all equally important and deserve to feel that way!
I respond to every message, custom order, question or thought as soon as I recieve it and begin the order as soon as it is placed. This is not as much a business as it is a way of life. I love making others smile.



11. When you get a new idea, how long does it take you to execute and list it? When I get a new idea it depends on how thought out the idea is! Sometimes I get an idea and it seems straight forward until I start creating it! Then I realize I need to think a little bit more about it! But usually I can have an idea created and listen within a day. But sometimes I start on one idea and it leads to three more ideas and before I know it, I have scraps, stamps, makers, ink and scissors everywhere, and nothing made! haha

12. How much time do you spend on your shop take each week? I spend about 4-5 hours a day on my shop. If I have no orders to fill I usually try to post in the forums, make a treasury or just increase my amount of listings. I usually don't work on my shop too much on the weekends. I try to spend that time with my family. However, if I have a large order to do or if somebody needs something finished on a rush, I will work on that!

Tips you might give other thinking of opening an online shop: 

13. How do you promote your shop? I try to promote my items in the forums on Etsy and on Facebook. I use Facebook a lot as marketing tool. I have run contests, giveaways, coupon codes and other fun things to help generate more sales. I also reach out to local business and try to get my items in thier shop!

14. How important is social media for your shop? Social media is very important to me since that is the easiest and most efficiant way of reaching out to a large amount of people at one time. I also love being able to connect with my fans on Facebook on a more personal level. Many times I will post something like, "What are you plans for today?" It has nothing to do with my business, but it gets a conversation going and makes them feel as though they are personally connected with me and my business.

I will have a coupon code active the week of my feature in your blog. The Coupon Code will be MIS2MANOS15 and they will receive 15% at checkout when they use it!!