Getting to Know Garden22DesignStudio

 Hi team! It's time to get to know Cristy, from Garden22DesignStudio.  She also runs a vintage shop called Garden22Vingtage. Cristy was also the winner of the Itsastitch treasury challenge, so I thought it was time to share a little about her here. 

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Angie: Who inspired you to be an Etsian?

Cristy: Nobody really inspired me, I was told about Etsy by our Realtor while in the process of selling our house in Indiana and moving to Texas last summer. After getting settled in here, I went to check out the site and became obsessed and finally took the jump and opened my shop mid January.

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Angie: What is your favorite thing about Etsy?

Cristy: I love that I have found a group of fellow artists that have given me so much support through Curation Nation. I am actually kind of a shy person (!!! shocking I know) so I am so happy to have found so many talented community members that I can personally trust to ask if I have a question, and so many that I now count as friends. This team rocks.

http://www.etsy.com/listing/54050284/early-autumn-glow-8x10-fine-art-print">this photograph.
I took it on a day that I remember fondly as a pretty awesome family adventure :)

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Angie: What is one thing you would like everyone to know about you?

Cristy: I can't think of anything that I really want people to know about me, so you get my oddest quirk: for as long as I can remember, I have found 4-leaf clovers. Granted, not NEARLY as much since we moved to Texas, but I still find them. I will just be walking and I see them. It is so strange. My husband calls it the worlds most worthless talent, but don't let him fool you as I know he is secretly jealous. Try as he might, he has yet to find one, ever. It is such a pleasure to be on a walk with him and at the end, hand him a small bouquet of various sized 4 leaf clovers :) Maybe this St. Patrick's day I will finally put them to good use on some cards or something.

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 It was great getting to know you, Cristy!

Getting to Know Virtue Bath and Beauty

Hi there, team! It's time to get to know Jess, from Virtue Bath and Beauty.  Jess is the winner of the Green treasury challenge, and the creator of some amazing looking skin care and make up products!

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Angie: Who inspired you to be an etsian?
Jess: I have a friend who is an amazing photographer and she got a lot of her props off of etsy. She bragged so much about the amazing artists there that I just had to check it out and immediately fell in love. The small town that I live in doesn't have very much "art" culture so etsy fulfilled that part of me longing to meet and connect with other artists.

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Angie: What is your favorite thing about etsy?
Jess: Well it changes quite often but at this moment I am enthralled by the vintage aspect of etsy. I love things that have a story to them and I love to imagine who owned that item previously. If you ever want to see some great vintage items just look in my favorites, I have a huge collection of things I love.

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Angie: What is your favorite thing in your shop?
Jess: I love all of my bubble bars, especially the peppermint one. It is the prettiest blue when it dissolves in the water and makes these giant cloud-like bubbles. It reminds me of the sky in may. Plus, it smells like heaven.

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What is one thing you would like everyone to know about you?
I would love everyone to know how much I appreciate their support. I was sort of "undiscovered" talent before curation nation came along and I owe a lot of my success to all of you. You are all so talented and i'm honored to be counted as your team member and friend.
xoxo Jess

Thank you for the interview, Jess!

From the FP to the TV: rctees

As small business owners, we'll take what features we can get.  The main goal of this team is to promote each other by making FP-worthy treasuries.  We get extra excited when our team members are featured in the storque.  A couple of us have been (or are going to be) featured in magazines.  But can anyone say that we've had our work featured on TV?  Before long, one of us will be saying so.

Toni at rctees was contacted by Jess Ward, a member of the production staff for the Animal Planet and member of the Etsy community since 2009, about the Abby Cat tee.  She was looking for unique cat shirts on Etsy for the host of a new Animal Planet series Must Love Cats. 

At first, Toni was a little skeptical.  This is completely understandable whenever someone contacts you asking for samples in order to be featured.  (I immediately went through a phase of doubt when Vogue Knitting contacted me.)  But she did exactly what she needed to do, which was research who was contacting her and find information to back up that their request was legitimate.  She eventually had a real time phone conversation with Jess and knew it was all real.

So she sent shirts, merely hoping the host would choose to wear them.  In June, she received a message from Jess telling her that John (the host) wore the Abby Cat shirt and wanted to know if there were MORE colors because he liked the design so much!  So Toni gladly sent another color. 

NJ Wheelock, one of the artists that John interviewed while wearing the Abby Cat tee, contacted Toni just a few days ago with photos from the shoot. John also contacted her to let her know that some of the photos from the shoot were up on the Must Love Cats facebook page.  The episode that the Abby Cat tee was featured on was filmed in Catskill, NY, and features the Catskill Cats.

We are all proud of Toni and are quite anxious to see her shirt on TV!  Toni says about the experience, "I’m still in the 'pinch me' stage, and my emotions are just all over the place.  This is one of the most exciting things that’s ever happened to me and my husband, Mark. It’s one of those surreal experiences that lets you know that what you’re doing is so worth while."

The Abby Cat tee is set to make its debut on Episode #6 of Must Love Cats series that starts airing in January 2011 on Animal Planet.

Be sure to "like" RCTees on facebook and check out the entire Abby Cat line in her shop.  You can also follow her on twitter for more updates!