EtsyPaper Team Weekly Featured Sellers - Alycia Morales

Our second featured EtsyPaper Team member this week is Alycia of Peek A Boo Productions! Alycia is one of our team admin (Promotions & other general tasks). She makes gorgeous paper pine cones and other pretty paper goods. We have 3 questions that tell us a little about Alycia and her shop and she has chosen 5 out of all of the questions that were submitted by our team members on the forum post. Here are her answers to our questions - happy reading!

Tell us a little about yourself :

I currently live in Alabama, enjoying life close to a major city. We have a house in Upstate, NY, though, which is where we come from. I am very happily married to my husband, Victor, and we'll celebrate 11 years in October. I have a wonderful step-son, Zachary, who is graduating high school this year. We have four children together, Ezra, Caleb, Hannah, and Gideon, who are between 9 and 4.

Tell us about your shop:

*When did you open it?
August 27, 2008

*What items/type of items do you sell?

I sell an assortment of paper items, ranging from cards and stationery, to scrap booking supplies, ornaments and bookmarks.

Getting to know you - 5 Questions

1. What inspires you?

I am inspired by my children, nature, and God. I love looking around me for ideas. I will be driving down a road and pass a field of wildflowers and think, "Hmm...those colors look so naturally perfect together. I think I'll try this." In my humble opinion, I think God's creation is filled with the perfect color blends and patterns. There is so much inspiration to draw from in it. :) My kiddos are very inspiring, as well! Hence, the watercolor stationery in my shop. My kids love to watercolor, and I hate to throw everything away. They do such a beautiful job! But, we all know how quickly their paintings pile up, and sometimes it's a piece of paper with a splash or two of color. One day I was cleaning up the piles and decided to share them with others, rather than waste them and throw them away. So, I turned them into stationery! :)

2. What equipment/ supplies do you use/where do you purchase them?

I use a lot of paper, and I tend to favor Stampin' Up! card stock. It's really thick and sturdy, and they have great colors! I buy mostly solids from them. I love K&Company's prints and colors, as well. I usually get most of my supplies from Stampin' Up!, Creative Memories (can't beat their tape runners, cutting tools, and scrapbook albums), Michael's, and Hobby Lobby. I use my 12" Trimmer from Creative Memories a LOT, and I love embellishments (ribbons, brads, flowers, buttons...pretties).

3. When do you find/make time for your crafting?

With four kids, a husband, and a household to run, it's definitely a challenge to find time for my crafting. Plus, I tend to get caught up in the Etsy community, keeping up with threads in the forum, checking on the FP, and such! :) LOL...So, I have to manage my time really well. Right now I don't have an outside career, but I have been looking to go back to work, so that will add in another challenge to the timing in my day. Currently, I set my priorities for the day, keep up with my morning routine of getting hubby to work, having coffee and reading my Bible, getting the kids up and out the door for the bus, and then I take care of business for the house, take care of business for my Etsy shops, run errands, and hope that I have time to work on my crafts before the kids get off the bus. If I have a chance, I may take an evening or a Saturday afternoon to work on my crafts. I think the most time consuming aspect of running my Etsy business is listing. Between shooting the item, touching up the pictures, and getting them into the shop, it is time consuming. Family and church are my priorities, so I make sure that I plan my day out well. That allows me to find the time to craft. You could say my crafting is my "vent". My dear hubby is great at recognizing when I need a few moments to myself. When I get time to craft, I'm less grumpy about the everyday running of the home! :)

4. Why did you decide to become on Etsy seller?

I have always loved to craft, and I was looking for someplace that I could sell my items, without the fuss of a lot of footwork and having to pay a lot of money to design a website (I'm so in love with using images and writing, that I'd have to do it myself, and I wasn't sure back then how much it costs to start a website of your own for sales purposes). I kind of "stumbled" upon Etsy. I think I was surfing the net one day when I came across the site! LOL :) As soon as I saw it and that the fees were very reasonable, I was in! I really enjoy the simplicity of it, and the encouragement and support is fantastic! I love the community here.

5. Do you have more than one etsy shop?
I do! :)

* Name of shop(s) & link: God's Glory Photography at:
http://www.godsgloryphotography.etsy.com/

* Types of items you sell there.

I sell photography at God's Glory Photography! :) I also sell cards of the photographs, ACEOs of the photographs, and I'm considering adding more items to the list! I would love to add the option of purchasing a coffee table book of my photographs, complete with quotes and such. Please stop by to check it out! It's a fairly new endeavor for me. I try to capture life's moments, without a lot of "foof" and changes to the shots.

Find Alycia Here:
Shop: Peek a Boo Productions
Blog: Peek A Boo Productions
Ning: Alycia

A NOTE: We have a great blog post from Alycia on how to make her beautiful paper pine cones - Give it a try!