Wednesday, September 3, 2008

Featured Etsy Shop: jn3 Hand Crafted Woodworks


Featured Etsy Shop: jn3 Hand Crafted Woodworks
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The Etsy community is full of a multitude of talented artists. Amongst this community of talent is an incredible team called InteriorDesignTeam (AKA DesignStyleGuide). This team is comprised of artists who create furniture, pottery, home décor, photography, paintings, various artwork, candles, lamps, bedding, and more.
If you are looking to redecorate or just for something special, search “interiordesignteam” to find these fantastic artists. Today’s featured artist is a member of this talented team.
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1. What is your shop name and what do you sell?

jn3 Hand Crafted Woodworks is the name. I sell items that I build in my wood shop, mainly candle holders, bookends and these cool little things that seem to suspend a bottle of wine in mid-air (I call them "Wine Rests"). And I build small bookcases to order so they fit perfectly a particular set of books or DVDs -- say a favorite trilogy or series. I have a lot of fun building this stuff.

2. What is your shop URL?

http://jneale3.etsy.com/

3. When did you start selling on Etsy?

June 27 of this year.

4. What is your favorite thing about Etsy?

I used to sell my wares in a gift shop in Burleson, Texas, and the place was very crowded. The ladies who ran the store were nice but shelf space was at a premium and because of the over-crowding it was difficult for customers to see clearly what I had to offer. At Etsy I have my own virtual shop where I don't have to compete with anyone else, at least not during the time a potential customer is actually "in" my shop. I can change photos and update descriptions at a moment's notice -- on a whim, even -- and I can spend all the time I need in my shop instead of minding the store because the customer can take care of just about everything except delivery of his or her purchases.

5. What is your favorite thing about what you sell?

My favorite thing about what I sell is the building process. Measuring, sawing, shaping, gluing, clamping, and sometimes taking a brand new idea through the development stage in the process. I just love working in my shop. Working with exotic hardwoods is wonderful, especially during the finishing process when the figure and colors of the wood jumps out.

I turn on the radio to SportsRadio 1310 AM, The Ticket out of Dallas, crank up the machinery and start cutting and assembling parts and the hours just glide by. It's very relaxing.



6. What is your favorite item in your own shop and why?

My favorite items in my own shop would be the bookends simply because I first began making them because I needed them to keep my books and DVDs organized. The design arose out of simple need. It's a clean, beautiful look and it has room on it to display small items, statuary or even photographs.

7. What teams do you belong to?

I belong to the Design Style Guide Team (Interior Design Team). I've really enjoyed the camaraderie and encouragement I've received since I joined a couple of weeks ago.

8. What is the most fun thing you do to promote your shop?

I used to be a photographer back when dinosaurs roamed the earth. More recently I was a graphics artist for about 13 years. It's nice to be able to put my knowledge to work when I take photos to display items for sale in my shop. I have a digital camera now, so that part's different than it used to be, but I also still have all the software and two Macs to run it on so I can clean up the photos and make the items I build look the way they do in real life.



9. What are some of your favorite finds by other sellers on Etsy?

Pretty much anything from Imagine Studio, especially this great piece called The Jester's Wife (http://www.etsy.com/view_listing.phplisting_id=14770225). Both Supernova Designs and Candy Corn Studio make jewelry out of the dice we use to play Role Playing Games... I love that stuff! Nanette Gilligan at GlamGill Studios does these beautifully detailed collages like the one she calls The Satellite of Love (http://www.etsy.com/view_listing.php?listing_id=13368746).
There's a painting called The Elyssa, Tall Ship From Galveston
(http://www.etsy.com/view_listing.php?listing_id=472061) from RH Radcliffe Designs that has a special place in my heart because I've been aboard that ship several times. And Eliza Gauger has some of the most amazing art I've seen in years at http://elizagauger.etsy.com/ and everyone should do themselves the favor of dropping in to see her stuff.

And then there's the woodworking crowd. The good ones are too numerous to name, so just let me point you to Craftsman Trom (http:// Craftsmantrom.etsy.com/), Aussie Woodcraft Design (http://AussieWoodcraft.etsy.com/) and Sewelson Woodcraft (http://sewelsonwoodcraft.etsy.com/). You can't go wrong with any of those shops.

One more thing, there's this great shop called Bliss Candles (http://blisscandles.etsy.com/) that should be mentioned, not because you own it, but because, as someone who is on the other end of the candle equation in that I take finished candles and use them to create something else, I appreciate the time and effort that goes into making them. From what I can see you do a great job.

10. What do you do in your spare time?

Watch movies and television shows on DVD, mostly science fiction, fantasy, action and horror films, and my family is really into Buffy and Angel and Firefly. I am a fiend for football, pro or otherwise. I listen to rock music by bands like Rush, Metallica, Mudvayne, the Beatles, the Who, Mushroomhead. I help out with the percussion sections in the junior high and high school bands. And we play a variant of the Storytelling System role playing game called The House. It's a science fiction/adventure/horror game set in the distant future on the remnants of Earth.

11. Do you have anything else you would like to share?

Yes. Part of the lyric for Free Will by Neil Peart of Rush:

You can choose a ready guide
In some celestial voice
If you choose not to decide
You still have made a choice

You can choose from phantom fears
And kindness that can kill
I will choose the path that's clear
I will choose free will

Thanks for this opportunity, Suzanne. I appreciate it.

1 comment:

fluffnflowers said...

Your wine rests are absolutely fantastic! Nice to 'meet' you.