Last Wednesday night I attended a workshop about how to promote your shop, it was put on by Ryan of Littleput Books who has sold over 3,000 items in a single year on Etsy. The event was sponsored and hosted by Trillium Artisans an awesome group committed to upcycling and helping to support other green spirits here in Portland. It was an eclectic mix of fellow Etsians and Trilliumites and I felt completely welcomed. Among the crowd of talented artists was April Alden of Rosewebs. Her shop had been picked randomly out of a hat for a Littleput critique and we all ooh’d and auh’d as bright and lively items popped up on the screen one by one and no wonder! We were all completely surrounded in lawn chair goodness!! From bags, to wallets to coin purses oh my!! I was in complete awe and had to know more.
What a great way to recycle!! How did you come to think of making accessories out of lawn chair webbing?
Thanks! It was a fluke, I kept finding the material and buying it not knowing exactly what would eventually come of it. I was inspired by a blog someone wrote about repairing their lawn chairs with material that was not this webbing, and figured I could cross over as well.
Did living in such a green community have anything to do with the direction you have taken with your art and your business?
Absolutely! I was scooped up by Trillium Artisans group one of the fist times that I vended on Alberta street. They have been a huge help and great source of inspiration and support. People in general in our community have been supportive, we have such a great group of crafty folks around here to keep craft fairs and the whole movement going.
Is it easy to come across webbing in such a variety of colors and patterns?
I find it locally whenever possible, but I do have to hunt. I have been collecting it for years, you know how it is when you start to collect something, the collection starts to grow on it's own! But seriously I am always on the lookout.
Where can local Oregonians find you or your work? How about people living outside of Oregon?
In Portland: Trillium Artisans group store, Redux and Foundation Garment all have my wallets and pouches. Outside of Oregon: Regifts in Minneapolis, LaBussola in Reno, and a larger selection is available at Wild Blue in Tulsa Oklahoma. I will be a vendor at this years Bazaar Bizarre in San Francisco December 15th! Naturally my website has my bags and accessories. I do have a very large selection of color options not listed on my site, so if anyone is interested in a custom bag in a specific color get in touch, you could get your very own jewel!
Find out more about Rosewebs by visiting these great links!!
April will also be published in two different books come spring of 2008 so keep an eye out!
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