{ June Etsy Feature: Down Shadow Lane }

Jen has a wonderful little Etsy shop called Down Shadow Lane. And  her 15,000 + sales, make it a highly successful one at that. Jen sells fabric. Lot's of it. And by lots of it, I mean 57 pages ladies. I have gotten lost in the virtual aisles of her shop, on more than one occasion.  And her clearance section, remnant packs and bundles are really great! And she's agreed to do a fun summer giveaway here, for the bright + summery fat quarter bundle we put together that 's pictured below...we thought maybe it would add a fun splash of color to a summer sewing project or two.

And now for the lovely interview with our featured Etys shop keeper of the month:

Tell us a little bit about yourself:

I'm married to a wonderful supportive husband and a stay at home mom to 3 kids (ages 13, 12 and 7) and I didn't start sewing until I was 30 years old. I hired a lady to come over and show me how to use a sewing machine and then I hired a girl from our church to come over and show me how to make a bag. I started making quilts right away (I loved straight stitches) and caught the bug then. I have always loved crafting and was crocheting when I was a little girl. My passions are still crochet and needle work of all kinds. I can't stand to sit in front of a t.v. without my hands making something so movies with the family are a big ordeal, first I have to gather some yarn or hoop and needlework or hand quilt something before we can start the movie.

Is there a story behind the name of your shop?

I started Down Shadow Lane Fabrics with a friend from church and she lives on Shadow Lane so that's where the name came from (my street name wasn't so cute). I run the shop alone now and it's been a full time job that I really love.We just added on a studio to our home and I have custom built selves and cutting table to make the process much faster. I like to call this my therapy room as well because it's my own little escape from the real world and I'm surround by wall to wall selves of fabric and color.

What advice do you have for those of us who are new to or interested in or already do sell on Etsy?

Etsy has been one of the best places for me to sell my fabrics, I haven't had any trouble or complaints about the site. I had my own .com web site but no traffic and with etsy I have tons of great returning customers but I also have tons of new etsy users as well. My advise to start selling is to find the right time of day to list your item. Know your customer base and think like they would (things like what time of day are they on browsing, are they stay at home mom's or are they at work searching the internet while the boss is away? LOL). The biggest and best piece of advise is in the pictures, the better the picture the more likely it will sell.

Do you have a favorite fabric designer or line?

 I have a few favorite designers but I will have to say that Denyse Schmidt is at the top. I was lucky enough to go to Connecticut and take a 5 hour quilting class from her at her studio and it was amazing (She's amazing). She showed us her Hope Valley line before it was released and she also showed us her amazing quilts. If you ever get the opportunity to take one of her classes it is worth every penny!!


What do you love best + least about selling on Etsy?

What I love about etsy is the traffic it brings to my shop, there's no way I could bring that much business to my own .com site. I also love how easy it is to list and up load a item. If I had one thing I wish they would add is the ability to search through my sold pages by the name of the fabric and not just the date.

Tell us what a perfect day in your life would look like?

A perfect day in my life would be to have all orders cut and shipped by 10 a.m. and then the rest of the day to browse flicker and be inspired to sew the night away! Oh yeah and my kids would be perfectly dressed, fed by their father and their rooms clean without me telling them to do it! (daydreaming)

Do you have a favorite Etsy shop/source for inspiration?

I love all the shops on etsy and I get so inspired by the craftsmanship there! I have recently found flicker (better late than never) and I can't seem to pull myself from there! I love browsing everyones favorites and I have started quilting and crocheting like crazy since I found it!! I also love to see some of my customers on there and all the great creations they have made with the fabrics they buy from me!! It's my new addiction!!

 

It was so nice of you Jen to do this interview and giveaway for us, thank you so much! And if you can't wait to win your own splash of summer f.q. bundle, you can certainly find one for purchase here.  To enter this giveaway is leave a comment at the end of this post, telling us what you'd like to make with this fabric, if you were to win it.
This giveaway will be open until a winner is announced on Wednesday morning, June 30th.  

*David, Jack and I are off to Alaska tomorrrow for four days.David's brother Jay is getting married to a wonderful beautiful girl this weekend and of David's 10 siblings, 8 are going to be there, as well as a half a dozen or so friends from ID/WA. I think that's a pretty amazing turnout and says a lot about how loved Jay is, especially since Alaska isn't exactly next door. Debs, Becca + Minta, you will be m.i.s.s.e.d greatly! I still feel like one of you girls should have had my ticket. Thanks for staying home with the new babies + kidlets. I promise to take lots of pictures.