Artist Spotlight #2 - Callooh Callay

Today's feature will shine the Artist Spotlight on Susan Hume of Callooh Callay!

So, Susan, tell us how you came up with your unique shop name?

My shop name is from the Jabberwocky poem by C.S. Lewis. (Oh frabjous day! Callooh! Callay! He chortled in his joy.) My son and one of his friends were quoting the poem one day when I was searching for a name, and it had a great ring to it.

What do you sell?

Jewelry made from vintage buttons, such as celluloid and Bakelite, and from other vintage items or watch parts. Also, a few pieces of vintage jewelry and other vintage items.

How did you get into making jewelry with vintage buttons?

I sort of backed into it. I had been making brooches for a year or so as gifts for friends, so I had a ton of supplies. Then I read about Etsy in the New York Times and just sort of launched into it. Now, of course, I’m hooked.

What makes your products special? What sets you apart from the crowd? 

Well, it’s very hard in jewelry and even in a small niche like vintage button jewelry to stand apart from the crowd. There are so many people doing such beautiful work. But I think that if you look around, you find that everyone’s work is a little different in terms of the types of buttons they prefer, the colors and combinations, even to some extent the way they put their work together. I don’t worry too much about trying to be different—I think everybody has their own aesthetic. I just try to find interesting, beautiful buttons and do something cool with them. I do think they look a little different from what others are doing, but I often see jewelry that I wish I’d made.

One thing I’ve started doing in the past month or so is combining old watch parts with vintage buttons, and that’s something I haven’t seen elsewhere yet--you see steampunk, you see vintage button jewelry, but not the combination. (Someone else is no doubt doing the same thing--nothing new under the sun--but I haven’t seen it yet.)

What are your current projects?

I just got my first Alchemy bid accepted, so I’m doing a custom steampunk necklace centered on a large celluloid wafer button. I also am working on a few necklaces incorporating vintage jewelry, and I’m trying my hand at making some cuffs (to use some of the buttons that don’t lend themselves to jewelry). I’ve got a few collage projects going as well, so I would say it’s like almost everybody else: more ideas than time.

Have you taken any business classes to help you prepare for being an Etsy shop owner?

No, but I worked in for a number of years in communications and in management, and I’ve also been freelance editing and writing for a number of years, so I have some experience in marketing, dealing with budgets, coping with the IRS, etc. The technical aspects of an online business and blog are more challenging for me—figuring out how Technorati works, for example, and learning how to use Gimp (since I’m too cheap to buy PhotoShop).

How do you decide on the price of your items?

When I first started selling online, I looked around at many shops doing similar work to see how they priced it, and the answers were all over the board, so I’ve sort of quit paying attention. I have a range I stay in, more or less, and price specific items based on the value of the buttons used (both in intrinsic terms, like how rare and beautiful they might be, and also what I had to pay for them), the number of buttons used, and how appealing I find the piece. For vintage items I sell, I do as much research as I can to see what similar items are going for. I also have occasionally asked advice from other Etsy vintage sellers—there’s a wealth of knowledge here.

What role does creativity play in your marketing methods?

I started a blog partially to promote my shop and partially because I haven’t had any time to write since I started at Etsy. So at least this way I’m doing a little writing almost every day, and it’s been a lot of fun. Right now I’m running an Ugly Necklace Contest to try to pull people into my blog. I’m still trying to expand my marketing efforts outside of Etsy, which is just a matter of finding time to figure it all out. Within Etsy, marketing comes into play in terms of developing treasuries, working with the Etsy Vintage Street Team to figure out ways to co-promote our shops, and even simple things like trying to be amusing and upbeat in the forums.

Finally, which Etsy Street Teams or Groups do you belong to?

Etsy Vintage Street Team, Etsy Vintage Buyer and Seller Community

• Etsy Shop: Callooh Callay
• Blog: http://thesnickersnack.blogspot.com

Thanks to Susan for a great interview! Also thanks much for educating me on what "SteamPunk" is! I had no clue..lol Best of luck to you and your shop!!

Comments

[Susan]

Thanks so much for the nice write-up. So generous of you!

Susan

[Backwoodsophisticate]

Awesome interview! I really enjoyed this.