Ohhh, how I love a clever Etsy shop.
A few weeks ago on Instagram, someone posted an item from Brittany Garner Design and I was immediately intrigued; enough to where I was opening up the Etsy app on my phone (oh yeah, I'm that person), and scrolling through her goodies. I laughed out loud several times and really, I was hooked. I'm so excited to introduce you today to Brittany, of Brittany Garner Design - or as those in the know refer to it, BGD. I've ordered a couple things from her already, and I will most definitely be back for more!
How did you get started with your Etsy shop? Is this a hobby, your full-time job, or something in between? It all started in 2010. I had just graduated college, gotten engaged, and was planning our October wedding (I like to group big life events really close together, apparently). I wanted custom stationery that I just couldn't find on any mass produced design website so I created my own. It snowballed from there as friends asked me to design custom items for them and the Etsy shop came after that. As of right now I work as a secretary at a university 30 hours a week and design for BGD on nights and weekends. It's getting a bit crazy but I try to keep that end goal in mind: to make BGD my full-time job when the time is right.
What inspires you? Why is this question for hard to answer? :) I get inspired at such weird times - like in the shower or during hectic mornings when I can't find my son's other sock and we are already 10 minutes late getting out the door. I'm inspired by awesome designers that make me want to be an awesome designer. Alone time brings me the most inspiration - an introvert at heart, a few minutes inside my own head usually gets the inspiration flowing.
How do you come up with the items in your shop? Do you create every day or is it more of a "as it comes" mentality? I'm a firm believer in three things: laughing is the best medicine; good design tells a story; and it's important to be creative every day. I've learned to not burn myself out by limiting that creativity to BGD work through. Sometimes my creativity comes in the form of sidewalk chalk with my two-year old son as long as it's something that get my creative juices flowing.
I love that you have such a variety of items in your shop! How do you decide what to put on a mug, make into a print, or use as a digital download? It is so random. I really try to listen to my client base. I keep up with trends. I read
a lot. Social media has provided me with such a great "test market." Posting photos of items that are "coming soon" really helps me gauge how well an item will do. And honestly, I stopped listing things that I wouldn't hang or use in my own home because if I have to look at these things constantly,
I want to love them, ya know?
What's your favorite item in your shop right now? Does this ever change? I'm really loving the mugs these days. I use my
Coffee Before Talkie mug every morning (I'm pregnant so using the
Shhh...There's Wine In Here mug feels weird - ha!) and I haven't gotten sick of it yet!
And just for fun - if you had to eat one food for the rest of your life what would it be? Cheese. All of the cheese.
Isn't she wonderful? Don't you want to just buy up her whole shop? (No really, it's a problem). Thanks so much for letting us get to know you more Brittany - be sure to check out BGD on Etsy!
*All photos courtesy of Brittany Garner Design.
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4 comments:
She does have some fun things! I think my favorite is the let go of heavy print of the coffee before talkie. You are so great at finding fun shops like this!
Coffee before talkie! Awesome.
And Duh, eat ALLLL the cheese.
I follow Brittany on instagram! She has so much great stuff! I LOVE that coffee before talkie mug!
I added like 4 things to my wishlist!
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