Interrogation::: Michelle {Scissor Quirk} + GIVEAWAY!!!

Good Afternoon / Almost Evening Everyone!

I apologize for the lateness of today's Interrogation! I'll admit, things around the house had gotten so out of hand I had to take care of a few other things before I handed my day over to the computer :)

But we're here now. And I'm super happy to introduce you all to a new friend of mine Michelle from Scissor Quirk! Michelle is super fun and talented, and my favorite thing about her/her blog is how bright and colorful she is! You'll soon see what I mean :) Welcome Michelle, thanks for taking the time to visit us!

1. Tell us a little bit about you as a person?

 

   My name's Michelle - Michelle Alynn. I'm a quiet quirky girl, living by the ocean in Vancouver, BC, Canada with my Bulgarian sweetheart, Tzanko.  I work in the animation industry by day but will soon be a full-time art school student pursuing a degree in design - yay! I also have a crazy love affair with all things crafty in my after-work hours: I'm quite obsessed with scrapbooking, embroidery, sewing, crocheting, and any other such craft that involves scissors - lol. Really. I have a serious crush on anything octopus, too - and '80's rock, City & Colour, graphic tees, lumberjacks, polka dots, and bright nailpolish. I seem shy at first, but I'm anything but - and I have to be creative everyday or I get antsy!

 

2. Tell us how/why you started Scissor Quirk?

   I started Scissor Quirk in 2007 while attending film school/college, because I worked crazy hours and was never able to call my parents at a normal hour and tell them what I was up to - lol. It was then called 'Youer than You' (after my favorite Dr. Suess quote), and my family could hop on and check to see what I was up to whenever they wanted. Around the same time, when I started the blog, I discovered this cool community of online scrapbook blogs and design teams, and - having scrapbooked for a few years in my free time and finding it a happy place while in film school, I started sharing my scrapbook pages with the world!

3. What are some of your favorite things about blogging and your blog in particular?

 

   I love the feeling of not being the lone crafty girl, anymore - lol. I felt like somewhat of a black sheep in my circle of friends, being the only crafty girl, so getting the courage up to share what I was making with the world and subsequently discovering that there were a whole lot more crafty girls where that came from made me super happy! It's great to connect with people who stop by and say hello on my posts, too - I really feel like we're all like-minded and I love the sense of sharing and learning and trying new things that comes from a community of crafty bloggers.

   I really like that I'm able to share my inner-most self on my blog, too - it takes my quiet self a long time to really get to know people, but now it's all out there for my colleagues to see, so I feel like I'm coming into my own a little bit more - or at least that my life isn't quite such a closed book. lol.

 

 

4. What do you do when you're not blogging?

   

   I work from 9-5 at an animation studio right now, and my nights are mostly spent doing freelance design work, making scrapbook pages for design team assignments, designing products for my shop, Bubbly Shnooks, doing crafts for fun (like crocheting and embroidery), decorating my house, going on little motorcycle road trips with mister husband (mostly camping or hammocking), watching a lot of movies, and riding my old bike!

 

5. What networking do you to that you feel most helps your blogging business?

   The best way to network, I've found, is to find blogs that I love and leave them sweet, thoughtful comments. It's the fastest way to both connect with somebody and encourage them at the same time - and hopefully they stop by to see what I'm up to, too! Lots of new bloggers just start a blog and then wait for everyone to find it, but you really need to be confident about what you're putting out there and say hello to new like-minded people. :) It's been really rewarding!

 

6. Who are some other bloggers that inspire you?

   Oh, there are so many!! My blog reader is pretty ridiculous..lol.

I'm really inspired by these blogs & their amazing authors: A Beautiful Mess, Freckled Nest, I Just Might Explode, Here's Looking At Me Kid, The Dainty Squid, Thompson Family Life, My Girl Thursday, Kyla Roma, Cave in The Clouds, Moorea Seal, Delightfully Tacky, Rachel Denbow, Art Equals Happy, and Love Elycia - among many others!

7. Tell us about your craft and how you got started?

 

   I got started designing paper and soft goodies for Bubbly Shnooks in 2007 - I had just started my first job fresh out of film school animating on a Saturday morning cartoon, and it was a lot of hours logged on the computer - so I started drawing on paper just for fun and ended up doodling a few card ideas, and it grew from there! I had a lot of scrapbooked cards from design work piling up, so I thought I'd put them up for sale, and that went well, so I decided to print some of my own designs, too. Now I draw original designs for cards and art prints, and also turn my drawings into dolls and embroidery pieces!

8. What has been your best experience through your Etsy shop?

   The best experience has been learning how to market myself and my work - it's definitely still an ongoing/neverending learning process, but it's been invaluable and I can see myself using it to help my other creative endeavors for a long time!

9. Do you have any advice for other start-up shops?

   Market, market, market your shop. Not in an obnoxious constantly-promotional way, but network wisely, make meaningful connections in the blog community, and really enjoy what you do - don't just do it to sell things. If you really love what you do, it'll be obvious and people will be attracted to that - and people won't just find your shop, you have to lead them interested right to it. Patience is a virtue. Focus solely on what you like to do and make, and try to avoid making something just because it's popular, too - or at least out your own unique spin on it!

Silly Question:

What is something you wouldn't want to find in your attic?

   Hmm. I definitely wouldn't want to find a squirrel family up there. I love vintage things and finding stuff in piles of other things (lol), so there are not many things in an attic I can't imagine not liking, but furry animals of the rodent variety would be up there on the list of not-likes!





Hahahaha great answer! I wouldn't want to find any little squirrlies up there either! Thank you again so much Michelle for taking the time to come visit us! I really enjoyed reading your answers and getting to know you a little bit better and I'm certain my readers have too {right guys???} :)


Please don't forget to visit Michelle at her BLOG and SHOP and TWITTER!!!

GIVEAWAY

What you will win: Octopus Love Sticky Notepad from Bubbly Shnooks

 

How to enter: {{{MANDATORY}}} Be a follower of Yellow Bird, Yellow Beard as well as Scissor Quirk and leave me a comment telling me so.

Additional entry #1: Visit Michelle's SHOP and leave a comment here telling me which of her beautiful cards is your favorite.

Additional entry #2: Blog, Tweet, Facebook, Etc. about this giveaway and leave a comment telling me you have done so. {You need to leave me a separate comment here for it to count as an entry!}

 

The giveaway will be running till midnight on SATURDAY {since I'm posting it so late in the day} and I will announce the winner on SUNDAY! Good luck everyone!

 

xoxo
Janee