For this week’s Wednesday Wishes post i think it’s going to be all about the blogging mode i seem to have gotten into. I used to have a personal blog and i loved posting there, interacting with other bloggers, attending blogmeets and so on. It was a lot of fun and it lasted about 3 years. It all came to an end when Funky Box Studiocame to life. No more time for blogging… The day job and the etsy shop were more than enough to leave room for nothing else. So i had to quit blogging. For a while i blogged solely for the shop, updates regarding the shop, new items and so on. Oh, but it was so boring! Now, with this new virtual home, i’m more than determined to combine the two in a fun way: personal, but also for the shops. So i’ve finally started one of the goals in another WW article: i’m starting to interact with other bloggers! General feeling: it feels so good to be back!! Blogging mode activated!
Maybe i should actually start the WW article…
* Sort through the blogs i follow via Bloglovin’ and leave the ones i actually do read. Also, add more!Done and doing! As i keep interacting with various bloggers i also update the Bloglovin’ list.
* Schedule blog posts. Since time is always an issue, i must schedule posts whenever there’s a chance… technically. Technically, because practically there’s always something i must do! There are always a bunch of things i want to do!
* Sleep. Ok, something not related to anything, but i’m in serious need of sleep!I think i can consider this cleared. Various reasons here (we got extra help with the production processes, got out more – park, bedminton, mountains -, very quiet month of July).
* Buy peonies. It’s their time, after all. And since my “buy tulips” goal was never accomplished, i think maybe this time… i’ll be luckier?My husband cleared this one out for me!
* Get new table for the studio. I kept saying how we’re trying to put the studio together and how we need a bunch of things, but the table is a definite must. Also, just as important as the table, storage options.
* DIY projects. There are so many i want to try! So i need to get them all in one place first, update whenever there’s something new and finally, start actually doing them! Then again, i guess i could put the studio decorating thing over here, so it’s not like i haven’t done anything at all…
No more wishes for this week! Or maybe there are, but i’m too sleepy to think straight? Hmmm…
The Funky Studio team wishes you, as always, a colorful day!
When we decided to take this series of interviews, we knew that for our letterpress items‘ customers, we had to post Femke‘s interview first. We had really just purchased our new Heidelberg Tiegel (that we named Charlotte, as you may have noticed!) and we hadn’t even opened our shop and website when we took on her custom letterpress business cards order. She was our Charlotte’s first customer!
Femke is the artist behind Dutch Origin Design by FEM. She creates unique jewelry, but also paintings and drawings. In order to get to know her and her activity a little better, we managed to steal a bit of her time and had her answer a few questions for us.
Necklace – African tribe
1.Tell us something about yourself as a person and also as an artist and a crafter.
Ever since I was a child I have been drawing and painting but I also have a passion for creating jewellery with beads. After high school I moved from the Netherlands to Oxford to study Art & History of Art, but after a while I decided to go “safe” and got a master’s degree in Law. After my graduation I worked for international fashion companies such as O’Neill and Inditex (Zara/Bershka). As I traveled around the world for work, I got inspired by the different cultures and when I moved for personal reasons to Milan I started my own art & jewellery collection Dutch Origin Design by FEM.
2. How did you start your business and how did you choose to create the particular items that you make? How did you first get interested in these fields?
In Milan, I was constantly surrounded by fashion & design and became inspired to explore my ideas for my own collection. With gemstones, which I bought in Indonesia I created my first jewellery and I continued to source for more special & natural beads. This resulted in the launch of my website Dutch Origin Design.com which displays both my art & jewellery collections.
3. Where do you get your inspiration from?
People find it important to differentiate themselves among others with unique pieces of fashion or jewellery. However to find affordable pieces you often depend on the mass production of the fashion industry with little intrinsic value or actual uniqueness. The ambition is to provide people with fashionable jewellery which are unique because of the history of the components and look, but are still affordable. For both my art & jewellery nature plays a key role, natural colors & shapes inspire me to create.
“For both my art & jewellery nature plays a key role, natural colors & shapes inspire me to create.”
4. What would you say are the main aspects that characterize your work and at the same time differentiate your work from others?
I would describe my paintings as abstract figurative art with harmonious compilation of colours & shapes. For my jewellery I always search for natural materials, handmade and vintage beads which result in one of a kind jewellery. The reason I use natural materials is the enduring beauty, little imperfections which add value and emotion. I prefer to source my materials from little boutiques, family companies and relative small artists. I believe their passion for their products will reflect in the end result.
5. As an artist, crafter and seller, what were the biggest struggles you had to deal with in the past, but also at present?
Finding the right balance between quality and price is subjective. For my own business I don’t have the constant pressure of meeting targets and I can focus on quality and one of a kind items. But the challenge to source unique materials for a reasonable price and not have to fall back on mass production due to price will always exist.
6. What is the accomplishment you’re most proud of regarding your work?
The combination of family life and my own work. To be able to express what’s in my head and hands works well for me. Currently I am working on multiple assignments (mostly paintings) for people who want unique but affordable pieces. The latest assignment was received with such enthusiasm, that it inspires me to continue creating & sharing my designs.
“The reason I use natural materials is the enduring beauty, little imperfections which add value and emotion.”
7. What are your plans for the future of your business?
Painting is time consuming but personal rewarding and I hope to be able to focus more on painting assignments going forward.
8. What did you purchase from Funky Box Studio and / or Funky Print Studio?
Printed jewellery boxes , printed hang tags & letterpress printed business cards.
9. How did you come by FBS / FPS? (recommendation, google search, etsy etc.)
I was looking on Etsy for customized (printed) hang tags and jewellery boxes with the right look for my brand. During this ordering process, I asked if FBS was able to print good quality business cards as well. Not knowing that FBS was busy working on the opening of the FPS at that time.
10. Please tell us your general opinion on the purchased items.
Think it’s important that the quality, look and the price is right. The result of all my purchased products is what I wished for. The added value of the letterpress print for my business cards was exactly what I was aiming for.
11. Also, what did you think of your interaction with FBS / FPS from a customer service point of view?
The communication with FBS/FPS was very effective. FBS/FPS listen well to the customer’s “wishes” but give their professional feedback when necessary to achieve the right result. FBS/FPS is in my opinion very reliable for quality and delivery time, it’s important that suppliers don’t make promises they cannot keep.
“The added value of the letterpress print for my business cards was exactly what I was aiming for.”
Yep, it appears that FPS is very lucky when it comes to custom letterpress save the date cards. This time around, the cards i’ve designed according to our lovely client’s requests are just a bit trickier: there are two ink colors printed on 450gsm China White card stock and we also have a bit of die-cutting!
Say ‘hello’ to our Charlotte! She’s a mighty fine letterpress printing Heidelberg Tiegel. :)
Well this last photo i wasn’t exactly supposed to post as i hate ruining surprises, but i still wanted to show juuust a bit of everything: two ink colors, die-cutting, China White card stock. Also, since this photo is taken with my phone i think it’s safe to say that it’s not ruining much of the surprise, right? These custom letterpress save the date cards are yet another project i’m really proud of.
The Funky Studio team wishes you, as always, a colorful day!
… or simply an online seller of any kind. Being an Etsy seller surely has lots of advantages, but it’s not always pink cotton candy and unicorns and flowers and rainbows. Remember a while back we talked about one of the biggest problems we have as sellers – shipping problems.
Shipping is definitely a major issue and it’s very stressful as it’s clearly out of our control as sellers, but also out of the client’s control too. So it’s definitely a bummer when a client tells you: “My package hasn’t arrived yet. What’s going on?”
*** Since we’ve already given a few tips on the article about shipping (see above), let’s move on to the next terrifying words you could hear from your clients: “I received the package, but i don’t like the items / the items don’t fit.” Awful, right? Here are some tips to prevent such a situation:
– make sure your shop policies are crystal clear on refunds. For example, if ordered items are personalized, could you actually make a refund? You’d be stuck with the items as you couldn’t resell them, you’d have lost time on making them, you’d have lost money on materials…
– make sure you double check every detail of the order before sending it. Make that a triple check!
– send as many photos as possible and as accurate as possible.
*** Another terrible situation is when a client tells you: “I received the package, but it is not what i ordered!” Etsy sellers are either full time online sellers or they also have a day job too. It is tiring dealing with a day job, Etsy promoting, talking to clients, being active on social media, working on orders, shipping orders, creating new designs, maybe also taking care of the family. It is understandable to make mistakes, so here are some tips in order to try and prevent something like this from happening:
– be organized. Even if you’re naturally not an organized person, make sure you have an organized mess there in your workshop!
– use labels. I’m not talking about something fancy, but simple post-it notes or something similar so that you’ll know at all times what is where.
– step by step and one by one. Don’t start working on more orders at once. If it’s deadlines that you’re worried about, you should consider extending the time frame within you tell your clients that you’ll ship their orders. Better safe than sorry.
*** The final terrible situation you can find yourself into as an Etsy seller is having your client tell you: “I’ve changed my mind. I don’t want to order anymore.” Even though there aren’t any apparent losses depending on the exact time the client has decided not to order anymore, we – as sellers – know exactly what and how much we lost: time, money and materials. Here are our tips:
– communicate. Try and find out what caused the client to change his mind and work your way from there.
– do not send hateful messages to the client. Yes, he might have caused you to waste time and money, but hateful messages won’t bring them back and won’t do any good either. Quite the opposite actually.
– stay positive and don’t get too upset about it. You’ll need that energy for the other billion possible clients who will actually order from you!
Feel free to add your own tips and tricks for these situations or maybe share similar awful situations you had to go through and how you handled them!
The Funky Studio team wishes you, as always, a colorful day!
PS: This is part of the blog articles i’m “rescuing” from the old blog.
