Today we welcome one of my favorite people from Etsy! Tamara, or "T" as she prefers to go by, is the owner of Butterfly Chic Boutique. "T" is married and is the mom to a 4 year old boy and a 16 month boy! She was also one of the first people on Etsy to compliment my work and is responsible for the very first feature article ever done on my Studio. It's now my pleasure to be able to feature her work! Her stuff rocks and I think you'll agree!
Don't forget to enter to win the "Custom Etsy Graphics Set" that she has offered up for one of my readers:)
So T, welcome to Torchwood Studio! Your Etsy shop, Butterfly Chic Boutique, is great and obviously your work appeals to alot of people. Tell us a little bit about what you sell in your shop.
In my Etsy shop, I have Graphics (Etsy banners & avatars, web ads, animated graphics, business card design) and Paper Creations (cards, Tags, Scrap booking items, notebooks) and currently fabric, but I'm thinking of moving the fabric to my iCraft shop or most likely dropping it all together. I'm thinking my iCraft shop will be my original art, photography, and maybe some of my jewelry.
Do you belong to any Etsy Street Teams or Groups?
Etsy Bloggers and Etsy Trade-a-holics
How did you come up with your Etsy shop name and the great tag line?
For my shop name, I wrote down a
bunch of words that I liked the sound of. Then I knew I wanted 
'butterfly' in the name because I had a logo in mind, then I knew I
wanted it to end in 'boutique' but 'butterfly boutique' was taken so
I added the 'Chic'.
For the tag line, I held a contest on the Etsy forums to com
up with my tag line of "The things dreams are made of..."
I see that your main offerings are Graphics and Paper. How did you start working with these mediums?
With the Graphics, I taught myself with my last business. I spent tons of money on a logo, banners, avatars, ect so I decided that was a waste of money when I could probably lean to do it myself. So, when I bought my new laptop, I bought Photoshop and told myself I'd better learn to use it!
With the Paper...I don't know, I've just always loved making cards for people and I give people cards all the time! Getting a card, especially a handmade one, will just make your day! The scrap booking items just naturally followed.
What would you say is your favorite thing about making Graphic and Paper creations?
My favorite thing about making graphics is getting a chance to collaborate with all types of creative people across all types of crafts/arts.
My favorite thing about my paper creations....I don't know, I just love it! It's my release. I enjoy it and I think it's great I can make money at but I'd be doing it even if I didn't...Plus it's something my 4 year old and I can do together, he often sits beside me and makes his own creation while I work.
Is there anything you would say is your least favorite thing about doing this kind of work?
The business end: editing photos, listing, calculating price, marketing, advertising, monthly accounting.
What has been your most memorable moment selling your work?
The 1st thing I sold! I took a picture of a necklace I made, posted it on a forum and it sold in a hours time! That's how my 1st business began!
That must have been an incredible feeling! So, tell me, how do you go about pricing your items?
I have a formula set up in a spreadsheet, I easily adjust it for each craft, and each venue by changing my hourly wage, overhead and value factor. Then all I have to do is enter the cost of my materials and the time it took to make each item.
Do you consider yourself an entrepreneur?
Yes, I do. Why? Because this is my income. This isn't a hobby for me. This is how I buy food for my kids.
Have you ever taken any business classes to help you to prepare for being an Etsy shop owner?
No, just the school of life. I
learned a lot in my 1st business and applied it to this one. The
start of this 
one was a lot easier! It took me 2 months to sell
anything once I opened my 1st business, I sold 27 items the 1st month
Butterfly Chic Boutique was open, big difference.
Where would you like to see yourself in 5 years with your business?
Hopefully making enough to not only pay for the necessities but having some extra spending money from it.
So, what current projects do you have in the works?
I'm hoping to roll out 2 new products next week in my Etsy shop. Some seller supplies that I haven't seen on Etsy and some small books, notepads and cards (sewn paper).
- Etsy Shop - Butterfly Chic Boutique
- Blog - http://www.butterflychicboutique.net
- iCraft Store - http://www.icraft.ca/butterflychic
- MySpace - http://www.myspace.com/butterflychicboutique
- Twitter - https://twitter.com/butterflychic
- Personal Website - http://www.butterflychicboutique.com
Thanks to "T" for sharing her time and work with us. Be sure to enter the contest below to win the "Custom Etsy Graphics Set" for your own shop!
Butterfly Chic Boutique Giveaway Contest
"T" has offered up this Custom Etsy Graphics Set that includes 1 shop banner and 3 avatars for your shop! If you'd like a chance at winning this great prize, take a look at the Butterfly Chic Boutique shop, and let me know what your favorite item in her shop is. Please leave only one comment per person on this post along with a valid email address. If I am unable to get in touch with you, I will draw a new winner.
This giveaway contest is open worldwide. Your deadline to enter this contest is Thursday, April 17, 2008 at midnight EST. The winners name will be drawn on Friday, April 18, 2008.
Hi, I really liked Butterfly Chic's Spring gift Tags. They would be great for some lively Spring children's gifts!
Hope I win the contest...I am setting up my own Etsy shop soon, and would love to have another artist touch to make my shop special.
Posted by: Colmurph | April 22, 2008 at 04:10 PM
Dear Friend,
I have to tell you now i am using new blog with the same widget, different address only. My old blog has been removed by google because of someone hack and add malware in my old blog. So, I hope from today everything will be oke.
Any way you have a nice blog and I like your content :)
Success for you
The Aries
Posted by: The Aries | April 13, 2008 at 02:05 AM
I am most interested in T's graphic design services and love to win this contest. I don't dislike my banner and avatar, but they have poor image quality and will not work for other applications. I will probably convo her to see if she is able to do other designs for my shop also.
Posted by: Kolleen Fortenberry | April 11, 2008 at 02:13 PM