This month I have decided to place my focus on a unique and playful shop.
Please welcome Jennifer of www.etsy.com/shop/Heedopter.
Etsy Paper: Tell us a little about yourself.
Jennifer: I’m from the Netherlands and happily together with a great English guy, together we have a gorgeous 6 year old son and 3 very lazy cats. We live in a smallish, but lively and beautiful town, about half an hour north of Amsterdam called Hoorn.
Etsy Paper: When did you open your shop on Etsy?
Jennifer: The Heedopter shop opened in November 2012. I just wanted to get my creative flow going again so in a wild mood I created 20 illustrations, printed them on cards and hooray! My Etsy shop was opened. It really was that simple.
Etsy Paper: Tell us about your shop.
Jennifer: My shop is full of stationery and paper goodies. I use my own illustrations on cards, handmade notebooks, art prints, giftwrap, DIY paper puppets and DIY paper houses. I love to experiment with different types of paper, like screenprinting on vintage pattern paper or use thick sturdy recycled greyboard for greeting cards. I value sustainability a lot and try to use as many recycled and eco friendly materials as I can.
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| Greeting Card |
Jennifer: I would love to try to make my own paper from paper pulp but am lacking time to get into it (and isn’t it really messy?)
Etsy Paper: Do you sell mostly online or at craft shows?
Jennifer: I mainly sell online since it’s so flexible in what hours I put in and when (in the middle of the night if I wanted to!) but this summer I’ve been doing a few craft shows as well. And it’s so lovely to meet customers and get a real feel of who’s buying my products.
Etsy Paper: How many different selling venues do you use?
Jennifer: I do sell at a few websites. Etsy,of course, but also the more Europe orientated Dawanda (heedopter.dawanda.com) and on the Dutch site ‘Met de hand’ (www.metdehand.nl/winkel/heedopter). Besides the 'selling sites' I’m active on social media and my blog:
www.facebook.com/Heedopter
twitter.com/Heedopter
instagram.com/heedopter
www.pinterest.com/heedopter/
www.heedopter.com
Etsy Paper: Do you have a day job? If so are you up all night crafting?
Jennifer: Yes, I do have a day job, 4 days a week. I’m spending a lot of evening and weekend work on Heedopter. It’s tough at times! I do have my free Monday which I always spend designing and the rest is done in between all the other bits that need doing (like boring household chores).
Etsy Paper: Is there a certain color or motif that you are repeatedly drawn to?
Jennifer: Clouds! And sun and rain. I can’t help it and I don’t where it’s coming from but I love simply love clouds!
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| Greeting Card |
Etsy Paper: What has been your most successful marketing technique to date?
Jennifer: For our Mother’s day gift boxes we created a really cool stop motion movie. We buzzed about it on social media a couple of weeks before it was released and eventually the boxes, which contained beautiful folding posters, sold out! It was great and exciting!
www.youtube.com/watch?v=VNx86h2JCdA
Etsy Paper: Do you have a favorite quote to share?
Jennifer: It’s one with a special meaning to my boyfriend , he has been carrying it with him in his wallet for years. And then I surprised him with an typographic art print featuring this quote by Henry David Thoreau: "Go confidently into the direction of your dreams, live the life you have imagined" It reminds us everyday to just go and live that dream, make it happen!
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| Art Print |
What a sweet shop full of wonderful creations. The YouTube video is something I wish I could carry in my pocket and watch when I'm feeling down, so perfect.
Until next time,
Jenni
Etsy Paper Team
Captain