Member Spot Light, SproutLuv
Let me introduce you to Jennifer from SproutLuv!
This is what she said.
Etsy Paper: Tell us a little about yourself.
Jennifer: My name is Jennifer Rodriguez and I grew up and live in beautiful Vancouver, British Columbia - where it really isn't nearly as rainy as they say or X-Files made it look!
Etsy Paper: When did you open your shop on Etsy?
Jennifer: I opened up SproutLuv near the end of January 2013 and am very excited about my 1 year anniversary which is coming up right around the corner.
Etsy Paper: Tell us about your shop.
Jennifer: SproutLuv is all about handcrafted paper goods, with a focus on custom stationery. What can I say? Maybe I'm old fashioned, but I just love giving and receiving handwritten notes so the cards, jotters and notebooks I design and make are really just a natural extension of what I love.
I'd been giving them away to friends and family and after much coaxing, the people I love convinced me to try my hand at selling the pieces online.
You can find me here:
www.etsy.com/ca/shop/SproutLuv
or on my site at sproutluv.com/
or on Facebook www.facebook.com/pages/Sprout-Luv/397791826980559
Etsy Paper: How did your shop get its name?
Jennifer: The "l-u-v" in SproutLuv represents a time in my life when, as a young teen, I could be creative without being overly critical. When all of my ubiquitous little handmade gifts and notes were unabashedly signed off with “luv, jen.”
I think all of us have at some point in time, given or received a handwritten note signed off with “luv." Some were three sentences and others spanned messy pages. Some were silly and some were surprisingly reverent. Others arrived in the mail from loved ones far away. I have a shoe box full of these notes which will always be keepsakes. The name of my shop is a reflection of that.
Etsy Paper: What inspires you?
Jennifer: This may seem a little strange for stationery, but my favorite designs have actually been inspired by items in my closet that I just love.
One of my all-time favorite prints was inspired by a now worn-to-death set of tights that were my go-to pair come fall and winter. I have since had to retire them, but they served me long and well and at least I have a design to commemorate them! I also literally own 11 items of striped clothing (not counting 2 pairs of striped flats I picked up in the summer) so of course stripes are featured as a design. I mean, I even created lace typography... Me? Over-coordinated? Er. Well. Sometimes.
Etsy Paper: What is it about paper that draws you to create with it?
Jennifer: My fanaticism for handwritten notes (the "NOTED!" section of my website is devoted to them) coupled with the fact that I'm just a VERY tactile person who loves the feel of good paper makes it my medium of choice.
How my notebooks and stationery feel in your hands and against your pen is just as important to me as how they look. For example, I only use 70lb paper in my notebooks and jotters. If you're not a paper geek like me, that's over double the weight of your typical printer paper! My cards are made from a dense and luxuriously textured art board stock I can't seem to run my fingers over enough! And I actually spent over 6 months testing three different cover stocks before I went with the kraft version I use for my notebooks and jotters. I ended up choosing the kraft board I use now because I just fell in love with how the covers wore into this soft, almost velvet-like texture after a while, but still remained sturdy and retained its heft.
Like I said, I'm a sucker for how paper feels and you'll notice that with all of my handcrafted goodies.
Etsy Paper: What has been your favorite comment from purchasers about your product?
Jennifer: Great reviews truly make my day and anything referring to my customer service and the quality of my goods always makes me happy. I think my very favorite reaction from a client receiving my goods came from a lovely woman who took the time to email me as soon as her notebooks arrived. She couldn't wait to tell me that she was both extremely happy with the books AND extremely UPSET that the new Etsy feedback system wouldn't let her leave a review for her purchases yet! She said she would have to wait a week, but that she'd mark the date in her calendar so she didn't forget.
Of course, I didn't expect to get the feedback on my shop because it was the holidays and people are so very busy, so after I emailed her back thanking her for the glowing email, I forgot about it. I'm sure you can imagine my surprise and delight when exactly a week later, on the date she mentioned, I got one of the best reviews my shop has seen!
Etsy Paper: Who is your biggest fan?
Jennifer: That has to be my lovely mother. Or wait. My 16 month old nephew? Actually, I think they may equally love my goodies, though for different reasons: my mom loves my design tastes and my nephew loves the taste of my papers!
I can really relate to many of those answers, and I'm sure most paper-lovers can too.
Such a beautiful shop. Be sure to take a peek at SproutLuv.
You'll be amazed at all the wonderful options she offers.
Happy New Year from Etsy Paper!
Until next time,
Jenni
Etsy Paper Team, Captain