waysideviolet - cozy, lovely things

A few weeks ago I came across the prettiest little lockets with sweet messages like “Know that you are loved”.  Perfect for Valentine’s Day, don’t you think?  I am so excited that their creator, Amy from Tuesday Afternoon Tea, is today’s interviewee!  And Amy has even offered the most adorable giveaway package!

Q. Could you tell us a little about yourself?
Hello! My name is Amy, I’m 25 years old and I live in a little village in the North of England. I have a BSc and an MA in Sociology from the University of Manchester, but recently I went back to college to indulge my real passion and did a Foundation Diploma in Art and Design. I work part time in an art gallery, and use the rest of my time to make things I love and sell them through my Etsy store.

Q. How did you begin making such adorable things?
I’ve always been passionate about art, but I sort of pushed this to one side to focus on academia when I was younger. It always drove me mad that when I was researching and writing assignments what I really wanted to be doing was drawing, painting and making, so I started the Etsy shop to give me some kind of creative outlet and now I’d just love this part of my life to grow and grow!

Q. Your shop is so lovely! What is your creative process like?
Thank you! My most favourite items seem to happen by accident to be honest! For example, the Polaroid notebooks that have little sayings cut out of them came about because I had taken a load of ‘dud’ photos but didn’t want to waste them, as Polaroid film is so expensive and difficult to come by these days. I always carry at least one notebook around with me to write down ideas and am a big fan of ‘to do’ lists. I work on new things as and when inspiration takes hold, and try to keep myself motivated by setting little goals to accomplish.

Q. What’s a normal day in your life like?
As much as things have been going well with my little shop lately, it doesn’t quite allow me to work at it full time just yet! I also work part time at an art gallery as assistant to the Exhibitions Co-ordinator.  A normal day depends completely on what’s going on at the gallery, as sometimes I work every day and sometimes I just work weekends. When I have weekdays off I usually get up, spend too much time on the internet checking emails and my favourite blogs and then focus on whatever idea is niggling away at me until the late afternoon. In the evening I might check for any new Etsy orders that need to be packaged up ready for the post office, and then update my own little blog.

Q. What inspires you most of all?
A lot of the things I make seem to feature words or phrases, and inspiration can come from song lyrics I love, snippets from books I’m reading, well-known quotations and things my boyfriend says that I find cute. ‘We will do good in the world’ is something that we say to each other a lot to keep us going when it feels like everyone else is doing more important or exciting things than us! I also get inspired by other people’s creativity too. We recently exhibited some work at the gallery by a young local artist who was so passionate and driven and determined to get where she wanted to go, that it just made me want to rush home and make something myself!

Giveaway package: a ‘message in a bottle necklace’ customized with a message of the winners choice, a set of badges and a paper fortune teller!

To enter simply visit tuesday afternoon tea and leave a comment here about your favorite item.

The giveaway will be open until February 11th. Good luck!

Tags: etsy interview, tuesday afternoon tea