Friday Feature with The Enchanted Cupboard

Today's feature is with our very own team leader, Beccijo, of The Enchanted Cupboard! Enjoy!

Tell us little about yourself!

I am an artist, a toy maker, a wife, and mother of 4. I am very creative, but also very analytical. I use both sides of my brain equally. I love to write stories and then create the characters and the worlds they come from. I also enjoy being creative in the kitchen and making my own recipes. Organization is important to me, and when life is out of wack you will find me putting some corner of it back in order. I love to garden and connect with the earth. I truly feel that the best way to "get grounded" is to do just that...get dirty and get working with the ground.

What do you make and how long have you been creating?

I make many things but my passion these last few years has been making wooden toys and wedding cake toppers. They become alive to me, and I can see what the little pieces will become before the paint even goes on.

What inspires you?

Kids and watching them play, my own and others. I also have a wonderful imagination that I never lost. Before having my family I was a Certified Professional Nanny for over 12 years and was able to keep my creative-self all during my early career.

What got you started working with miniature dolls and playsets?

I started because I wanted to make something for my daughter and then the whole thing exploded. I didn't want to just make one thing but have a whole line of toys that went with each series. I have stories for them all and many more plans. I have other toy lines coming out.  I just need to find the time or some minions to do the work, lol.

How long have you been on Etsy and how has it been for you so far?

I found Etsy in 2008 as a buyer, my daughter was getting a gift of a lovely quilt and I needed to look at it before the gift could be finished. From there I became a regular buyer, and then I got the "ETSY ITCH". I started reading everything I could, because my logical brain said if you do something you do it right!! I use to have 2 shops The Fairy Ring and The Enchanted Cupboard but found it was better to have just one to do all the media work for. So in 2 years I have had close to 500 sales. Although, like with anything there are growing pains and lessons to be learned, I have loved every minute of it.

What advice would you have for other Etsians?

(getting my soap box out) May people have heard me preach some very true advice I will share again. Everything depends on your packaging!! You get them to buy your product by having a great item, great description, and great photos but you keep them as a buyer by your packaging. No mater how simple or how creative your packaging is, it needs to feel professional. They want to feel like it is a gift to them or who ever they bought it from. The packaging needs to make them want to come back to buy that "feeling" again. I have (since I BUY a lot) seen lovely packaging made from tissue paper, some yarn tied nicely with their card stuck in behind the bow and then the same combo with the tissue rolled and wadded up and the card somewhere in the box. It really does make a difference in if you get a repeat buyer.

What do you hope to learn/gain/contribute from being part of the Natural Kids group?

I have learned so much not just about Etsy, but about mothering and friendship from this lovely group of people. I love getting to share knowledge with the team as well as learn from them. As the team leader I hope I show my deep love for my members and a passion for what they make. Not a day goes by that I am not telling people about this wonderfully amazing group of sellers. I find a way to tell complete strangers every chance I get, lol.

What thoughts do you have for parents on the importance of natural toys for creative play?

As I learned at the English Nanny and Governess School, education begins at birth. Intelligence is so linked with creative play and the first 5 years are so important to get a vast growth of neurons in the brain that will connect as a child explores and plays. A parents first "college fund" should be in filling the child's environment with natural toys. Things that inspire creativity and make the child think and do!



Your links:

Website -- http://www.beccijo.com/

read -- http://blog.beccijo.com/

shop -- http://www.etsy.com/shop/theenchantedcupboard

follow -- http://www.twitter.com/mrsbeccijo

&       -- http://www.facebook.com/TheEnchantedCupboard

Thank you Beccijo!

Today's interview was by Kat of kats in the belfry.