Guest Blogger week 72 Polymer Clay Shed

I would like to say a huge welcome

to Carola

 from Polymer Clay Shed

• Tell us a bit about you:

Living for over 30 Years in Berlin (Germany) I moved to the US in 1998, together with my Hubby and my 3 kids. I was always involved in some kind of crafts, not always Polymer Clay but painting in oil, scrap booking, art projects with my kids and our girl scouts troop. Since the beginning of 2007 I'm totally into Polymer Clay, and haven't stopped ever since. All my beads, buttons, designs on crochet hooks, pens, accessories , etc are 100% hand crafted and designed by me. The technique used in most of me creations Is called “caning” in which a cane or a long roll of Polymer Clay  is made with a design that runs the full length of the cylinder. This can be sliced and applied to flat or curved surfaces as a design element. This process imitates the technique used in making certain types of glass beads. Most of the completed pieces are finished by sanding and buffing. I am using mostly Premo for my creations.

• How did you decide on the name for your blog & shop?

I wanted the material I work with to be included in the name of the shop. When I started working with Polymer Clay, I didn't really start working in a shed :-), but it wasn't much better than that. We had a small 5x7 closet, which we didn't really use. Hubby put in a worktable, and some shelfs. The chair barely fit. That's how I worked for a few years. I first sold on ebay and later on etsy, and was doing the occasional craft show. Later I got the chance to open my own shop in a small Arts and Crafts village, called Sugar Loaf, in upstate NY, where I also had my work area.

• How long have you been blogging or how long has your shop been open and why did you start?

I started blogging when I opened my etsy shop in December 2009, to bring more traffic to my my site. I loved the idea of doing something I love, and make some money on the site with it as well. It feels very good, if people like what you do.

• What is your favourite item in your shop at the moment? 

I don't really have a favorite item, I like working on all of them. I like to come up with new color combos and new items, that I can cover with the Polymer Clay. My Best sellers are my crochet hooks, and the cases for them. 

• Where do you get your inspiration from? 

I get a lot of my inspiration from the fabrics I use. First I browse through the fabric store, and find new patterns. I sew the crochet case, and try to match the colors of the hooks. This way I get a lot of new color combos.

• What would be the one piece of advice would you give to a new blogger or a person setting up their own shop?

Setting up your own shop especially on etsy requires a lot of work. It is not just about making a beautiful item. You have to constantly list new items, take good pictures, adjust your prices and shipping, advertise on twitter, facebook, pinterest, and of course your blog. I am on my etsy site pretty much every day. I try to offer the best customer service, by answering all questions, and answer them as fast as possible. I try to make every custom request possible. I do, of course have my limits of what I can do, but try to come up with other suggestions to make the customer happy. I also make sure that the quality of what I make is excellent. If I wouldn't buy it, I am not going to sell it to a customer. I did take handles of crochet hooks after they were done, because they had a slight indent or the pattern didn't come out as I had imagined, and started over.

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Shop

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Thank you ever so much Carola!

Your clay work is just soo beautiful!

I'll hope you'll all join me in thanking Carola and visit her sites.

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