EtsyPaper Team Weekly Featured Sellers - Jess Bradlee

Today we have Jess Bradlee as our featured EtsyPaper Team member. Jess is the creative mind behind Modern Card. She creates beautiful cards with a simple but elegant style. We have 3 questions that tell us a little about Jess and her shop and she has chosen 5 (actually 6) 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 :

Aside from creating cards, I am a mother, a wife, a town clerk, a cook and a waitress all rolled into one. I grew up in the restaurant business (literally the apartment upstairs). My family and I live on the island of Martha’s Vineyard year round.

Tell us about your shop:

*When did you open it?

One day I was surfing the Internet, looking for these particular seersucker pants for our son to wear on Easter. I was led to this great blog called chic mommy finds. One of the featured sellers on that site was someone who was selling baby blankets from this cool website named Etsy. I spent the rest of night hooked on Etsy and wondering what I would name my imaginary shop if I were to start one. The next day (March 14, 2007) I opened up Moderncard with 3 cards for sale.

*What items/type of items do you sell?

Modern paper goods – one of a kind cards, gift tags, invitations and embellishments all with a modern flair.

Getting to know you - 5 Questions

1. What is your first crafting memory?

Hmm….my first? I guess that would be licking the watercolor paints because they looked so delicious. I was three.

2. Do you have a special space for your crafting, or does the kitchen table do double duty?

Both. I have a space for crafting and then I end up on the kitchen table because it’s free of paper scraps, so I start a new pile there.

3. What do you have on while you're creating, if anything, and is it tuned to something specific?

I have HGTV on in the background, along with a 3 three year who gently snores.


4. Are you a clean or messy crafter?

Ha. I guess I’m somewhere in between. I have a very low tolerance for clutter and mess around the house. Basically I like things in their place, but for some reason when my craft space is all neat and organized, I’m not as inspired to sit down and create. When it’s a disaster, I push stuff to the side and create my most favorite cards on a 6 x 6 inch area of free space, on the corner of my desk.

5. Where do you go to first when you need ideas?

Fashion Magazines. I look for the latest styles or trends and try to blend some of those colors in my cards.

6. What or who is your biggest inspiration? Do you have an inspiring story you’d like to share?

My friends and family are my biggest inspiration. Usually what happens is I end up making a card for someone because they have some special occasion coming up. With them in mind, I create the card based on what I think they would like. Once I create that card, I try to duplicate it with the same process. I then name that card after the particular friend or family member that inspired me.

Find Jess Here:

Shop: Modern Card

Blog: Modern Card

Ning: Jess Bradlee