1) Tell us a little but about yourself.

I’m just a 23 year old Benjamin loving, bike riding, mountain adoring, Jack Russell owning, stress crafting, nursing student who is trying to get by. I can’t wait to graduate in May, and I already have a job lined up in the Surgical ICU at the University of Louisville Hospital. I have a passion for traveling, and want to combine that passion with my future career. Right now, Doctors Without Borders is a front-runner, but I have to wait for Ben to get done with his medical school residency. Needless to say, we have about eight years to wait on that. But, hey, a girl can always dream, right? It’s never too late to start planning. After a surgical mission a few summers back to the Dominican Republic, we both knew our lives would take us down a road very similar, and are very excited to see where, when, what, who, how it will all pan out.

2) What inspired you to start your shop?

When I was in undergrad, I worked with another student as a nursing assistant at the University of Kentucky Hospital. Afton and I were practically identical, in every way a person could be. We both were in difficult majors, we both stressed way too much about those majors, and we both loved to “stress craft”. Stress crafting is when you have given up on everything at the moment and take an hour out of the day to do something you love. Afton and I would get together once a week to do our crafting, finding inspiration from online tutorials, or from things we saw when we were out and about. Well, we found out that one can only craft for so long, until you realize you have run out of room for your creations!! By that time, I had really fallen in love with covered buttons. I had a box of old scrap material from my grandmother’s house and began to make button earrings. I think I grasped onto the buttons because no matter how many times you use the same fabric for a pair, they never turn out identical as the set before. Each is unique, and individual, and that simple charm is what won me over.  And, BOOM, snnewt was born!

3) What do you like to do in your free time?

Since I am finishing up school, when I do have free time (which is hard to come by these days), I enjoy my crafting. I am also a big outdoors girl. All seasons involve camping for me. I’m not talking “Troop Beverly Hills” camping, either. I want “outdoors, away from modern commodities, have to hike 14 miles with your gear on your back, eating everything over a campfire in the heart of the wilderness” camping.  If it is summer, I pack my kayak on top of the car. If it is fall or spring, I tote along my rock climbing gear. There is a beautiful place in Eastern Kentucky called “Red River Gorge”. If I could, I would pack up, be a hippie and live off of the land in that area forever. There is something peaceful about that place; I just haven’t been able to put my finger on it quite yet.

4) Any advice for new shop owners?

Don’t give up. It takes time to find your niche or “place” in the Etsy world, but once you do, it will feel right. Never copy another owner’s design, even if it is unintentional; it just isn’t worth it. If sales aren’t coming, don’t sweat it. As long as you are doing what you love, that is all that matters. Also, Twitter is your best friend. I never believed it, but once I got on, I realized what a great tool it was for networking and getting the word out on your product. Try a sponsorship on blogs as well; it is a great way to get traffic into your shop!!

{DISCOUNT}

Guess what?  Samantha is offering 10% off her shop just for Sandy a la Mode readers from October 20, 2010 to November 3, 2010, that’s two weeks, sweet!  Just enter “Sandy a la Mode” in the Message to Seller box to receive the discount!