Naughty Secretary Club

Artist: Jennifer Perkins
Website: Naughty Secretary Club
Blog: Naughty Secratary Club blog
Other: Craft Lab, Stitch Fashion Show and Guerilla Craft Bazaar, Has Anyone Ever Told You?, Austin Craft Mafia

Where are you located?
Austin, TX. I live on the South Side of town with my hubby, cat and dog in an aqua, red and yellow house.

What do you create?
Well it depends on what job title hat I am wearing. If I am Jennifer of Naughty Secretary Club I am making jewelry. If I am Stitch I am producing a fashion show and craft bazaar. If I am Stylelicious I am making wearables. If I am Craft Lab there is no telling what I am creating since I get 3 guests a day for 6 weeks at a time J If I am Jennifer of the Austin Craft Mafia I am trying to help promote other small crafty businesses. I do a lot of different things, all of them craft related. Naughty Secretary Club has been my “real job” full time for the past 5 years.



How did you come up with your company name?
When I started Naughty Secretary Club I was an Administrative Assistant to Business and Government Relations at an Austin telecommunications company. I had a lot of free time on my hands so I decided to start Naughty Secretary Club. I was after all being a naughty secretary starting my business while on the clock. My friends and I always referred to vintage pencil skirts as “Naughty Secretaries” so the name was kind of a combination of both things.

When and why did you decide to start your business?
Naughty Secretary Club started as a zine, one of 3 I have written in my life, about 5 years ago. At the time I was writing free lance music reviews for magazines like Venus, Held Like Sound, Splendid and others. At some point I thought I should restart my own zine with all these articles I am writing. That is exactly what I did and Naughty Secretary Club was a place where you could go and read an interview with Spoon, get an East Texas recipe for pound cake and find instructions for making a hanging basket out of an ivy and a vintage birdcage. It was like my dream magazine combining everything I loved: music, crafts, fashion and kitschy goodness. Eventually I got started playing around with casting resin embedding images inside and making jewelry. I made a bracelet for a friends birthday and everyone at the party promptly asked me for one. I started selling the bracelets first on my friend Tina’s website Sparkle Craft. After awhile I started selling them on Naughty Secretary Club and expanded into necklaces and rings. They were big and chunky clear cubes with images of rockers and 80’s film icons. Eventually the jewelry business started to consume so much of my time not only did I have to quit my job in order to have time to fill orders I also had to sadly cut out the zine due to time.



Where do you get your inspiration for your projects?
I get inspiration from the darndest places. I collect vintage costume jewelry for starters and have since childhood so I love the look of big chunky bakelite necklaces from the 40’s, long slinky 70’s necklaces and bright huge plastic pieces from the 80’s. I am actually smitten on all things kitschy and vintage and get a lot of my inspiration from these things.

What craft do you remember with the most fondness from your childhood?
I really did quite a few different crafts as a child. My mother is really crafty and my younger sister Hope Perkins is an artist so there was always something getting crafted in some way or another around our house. Not to mention one grandmother was into ceramics and the other crocheted. I remember really loving getting to go to the craft store and buying one of those “make your own stained glass kits” where there is a metal outline and you sprinkle in crystals and then melt the whole thing in the oven. I think it was that they were big and bright and somehow I wanted to wear them. Man that is a good idea, I should do that.

What is your favorite craft to work on now?
I go through crafty phases. At this exact moment I am on a bit of a home decorating jag which is very crafty (my dining room floor is painted with polka dots my husband and I hand applied). After realizing how many cool paper options there were available for scrap bookers I started to try and think of ways to incorporate it into my jewelry. In high school I would cover my notebooks with layered collages of art and bands and the new jewelry I am working on is a tweaked version of that. I am totally smitten on them because they are like little pieces (well nothing I make is little) of collage art that I get to wear.



What keeps you motivated?
I am one of those lucky people that loves what I do. Remember when I said I have a bunch of different jobs? Well I LOVE jewelry and have collected and made it since childhood so its not like I need to be motivated to keep up with one of my favorite things in the world. With Stitch and the Austin Craft Mafia (as well as NSC) I handle Publicity. I am the one that makes sure people come out to Stitch (we had over 3,000 people for 2006 I am proud to say). For the Austin Craft Mafia if a magazine needs an interview I am the one who sets it up and makes sure they have all the pictures they need. I love doing PR almost as much as I love making jewelry so it is not hard to stay motivated there either. For the TV shows I love crafting and learning new techniques and skills so everyday on the job I get a private one on one lesson in some new and exciting craft. Whether it is a guest on Craft Lab teaching me about polymer clay or how to make balloon animals or one of the other mafia members showing me how to needle felt or use a serger on Stylelicious.

Is there any technique/medium that you still haven’t used and would like to try out?
I wish I knew more about metal working and casting metal. I would love to be able to take my jewelry to that next level. I say that, but then metal does not come in bright pretty colors like plastic so I would get tired of that quickly. I am also learning to love solder. After using a soldering iron so many times on Craft Lab I have slowly realized it is not near as intimidating as I once thought. It is actually pretty easy. That is one of my new years resolutions is to do more soldering in my jewelry.

You work on so many different projects (Naughty Secretary Club, Craft Lab, Stylelicious)... How do find time for it all?
Lucky for me a lot of it is seasonal. Naughty Secretary Club is obviously all the time, but I have a wondermous crafty assistant named Travis Nichols who helps me out 4 days a week. I only film Craft Lab once a year out in LA. I am there for 6 weeks and shoot 65 episodes. Stylelicious is the same way. Stitch is in the fall and though we meet and plan all year long it is not until October and November that things really get crazy. It really just all depends, I like to keep things diversified so if there is a lull in one thing something else is cooking so that I am always busy.



What advice would you give to someone starting a creative business?
This might not be the most sound advice, but just do it. My father in law who lives by the words measure twice and cut once would be so ashamed of me saying this but just take the plunge and work out the details later. You can spend forever and a day planning out your master plan of how to set up your business, wondering about if you need to get trademarked before you even know if you company is going to be a success. I just see lots of potential small business owners get stifled by the what ifs and prep work of starting their own company. I just bought the domain and got started and worried about the technicalities as they came up. Don’t get me wrong they will come up and eventually you might need accountants, book keepers, lawyers, assistants and more – but cross that bridge when you come to it. While you are waiting there is someone else with an equally awesome business plan that are getting themselves set up and out there on the internet as you wring your hands. Especially now with amazing sites like Etsy you really have no excuse to not just get started.

What’s the most important thing you’d like people to know/understand about your work?
That there is no Naughty Secretary Club factory, it is just me. Now there are some things like in the nouveau sections that I buy wholesale and resale, but everything else I make by hand. I sat in my pajamas and pondered exactly what bead would best match the little cake topper garden gnomes that I want to be on a necklace. Given I spend more time on a computer than anything else with my business, but I do hand make the jewelry. From time to time I have assistants that help me make the items, but even then they are replicating a design I made. Even if I got to a place where I could have my jewelry made in a factory for me, I would still make some jewelry. I just love it, I go through withdrawals for it when I am away from my studio and living in a hotel in Los Angeles.

What’s on your nightstand?
There is always a mother load of rubber bands and bobby pins, since I always have my hair in some sort of up do. All my nightly face and hand creams. Earplugs because my husband and dog snore, well ok so do I. There is always a stack of magazines and books too. Floss, my dentist is going to kick my butt if I don’t start flossing more.


Thank you Jen!

iFuse Solutions

Artist: Sarah Merrion
Website: iFuse Solutions site, iFuse Solutions Etsy Store

Where are you located?
I live in Chicago, Illinois but keep my large kiln in Kalamazoo, Michigan.

What do you create?
Plates. Platters. Bowls. Glass quilts. Jewelry. All sorts of fused glass art...both functional and decorative.

How did you come up with your company name?
iFuse Solutions seemed like a great combination of purpose and 21st century technology.

When and why did you decide to start your business?
I was working in technology during the day and going to school for my Masters at night and
was sick and tired of technology 24x7. I needed a hobby...and fast. As it happened, some girlfriends and I all fell in love with glass at the same time. I also noticed very few glass artists selling anything other than glass jewelry or large, custom, architectural pieces...and thought there might be a market for something in between...such as what I'm producing now.



Where do you get your inspiration for your projects?
I'm very drawn to geometric art, and see unique patterns and color combinations in both retro
and contemporary designs. I save everything from home décor magazines to greeting cards for interesting patterns and ideas.

How did you learn to work with fused glass?
I started out taking stained glass classes, and found it to be a little too traditional (and churchy) for my tastes. Thankfully, that led to exposure in the other glass mediums: warm
and hot glass. Warm glass (fusing) was something I could mindlessly do, and could also afford to do in my own home.

Which of the tools you use is your favorite?
Liquid stringer is my new favorite tool...allowing the application of glass frit in a liquid format.
Imagine drawing freehand on glass and then firing - it's safe, easy, and fun to do with kids as well.



What keeps you motivated?
Positive feedback from customers that love my art, repeat sales, and the thought that I can do this full-time someday!

How do you get the word out about your work?
Etsy.com has been an invaluable marketing tool. I recently joined the West Michigan Glass Society (who knew that small town Michigan had such a large glass community??) and enjoy
networking on warmglass.org. During the art festival season, I'm constantly handing out my business cards in cities all over the US.

What is your main goal for the next 6-12 months?
I'd like to concentrate on building relationships with designers and produce pieces for larger projects in homes, bars, clubs and restaurants.

What advice would you give to someone starting a creative business?
Whether you do it for a living or as a hobby, it's a great learning experience. One of my favorite quotes is, 'there is no substitute for experience'....and it's so true in small business!



What has been the toughest part of owning a business?
Learning about the back-end part of the business. I never thought I would spend so much time
concentrating on insurance, taxes, and accounting software.....the part that isn't fun.

Who are some of your favorite indie artists/designers?
Check out these fantastic glass artists: OrangePeelEnamel, Nina Cambron and Tomilyn Clark. For a non-glass artist, check out Heather Gentile Collins.

If you could live in your dream place/city where would that be?
A Greek island

What's your definition of a perfect day?
Sunny, warm, and spent with my very favorite people.


Thank you Sarah!

Hi!

I'm just popping in really quickly to let you all know that I've been super busy and unable to update CS with new interviews. I have new ones coming soon - promise! I will resume posting next week. Thank you for your patience! ;)

xo
Patricia

Allison Strine

Artist: Allison Strine
Website: Allison Strine Designs

Where are you located?
I'm in the Atlanta area now, after having lived the first 30 odd (and they were odd) years of my life in Boston.

What do you create?
I make collages on thick art canvas, and then use the wonders of technology to transform the art into soldered pendants called LadyBirds. I also make soldered pendants/charms/baubles/doodads out of vintage license plate letters and fabric.

When and why did you decide to start your business?
I totally stumbled into selling my work. I had spent several years being very involved in the scrapbooking and altered arts industry, focusing solely on doing work for publication. I really loved seeing my work in print, especially in such highly regarded mags like Cloth Paper Scissors and Somerset Studio. After a while, I started feeling like I was losing myself, doing work that I thought editors might like, instead of listening to my art heart inside. So after a short art break, I whirled through a spurt of creating highly personal little figures that talked. Since they were part lady and part bird, I came up with the brilliant moniker of LadyBirds (I know, it's shocking, but true.) A friend mentioned Etsy as a possible outlet for me, and I started a little shop. It wasn't easy to shush the 'what-if-no-one-buys-them' naysayer inside of me, but I'm so glad I did!

Where do you get your inspiration for your projects?
Just about everything I come into contact with is fodder for my little art brain. For images, I love to use odd catalog stuff. The words are everywhere. My husband came up with one the most popular LadyBird sayings, when he started saying we should carpe the diem. Really, though, my life is one big fat ladybird.

Which of the tools you use is your favorite?
Ooh, whatever I'm using at any given moment is my favorite. When I'm soldering, I love the soldering iron, and when I'm painting, I love my paintbrush! I'm just a tiny bit addicted to my Mac computer, too.



Can you explain a little about your LadyBirds? What are they and how did you start making them?
I want to make art that tells my story without being a downer. I had a painful childhood, and developed an eating disorder as a way to cope with my troubles. O lo these many years later, I'm living the most wonderful life imaginable. I wanted to make art that helped remind me to live in the present, and not to revert to yucky negative thinking. I first started wearing a "She Dares to Be Happy" pendant, and it was good. Then I tried the "She Doesn't Pretend to Be Normal" pendant, to help me remember to be me, and it was good, too. Next, I tried the "She Goes the Whole Day Without Wearing a Bra", and the rest is history (kinda).

There are so many negative messages sent to women about our bodies, and it is important to me that the LadyBirds are made of all shapes, from massive silhouettes to pencil thin bodies, and of every skin color under the sun. I want to send my daughter a positive message about what it means to be a girl, and the LadyBirds help her to understand that she is much more than what others see on the outside.



What keeps you motivated?
I wonder about that sometimes. I may possibly have some (rather unattractive) obsessive tendencies. I'm sure I'd do some sort of art even if people hated it, but one of my greatest rewards is hearing from a customer that my piece had a positive impact on her day. Women have shared some really heartfelt, touching stories of being affected by a LadyBird touched them. That is without a doubt the most amazing reward of all.

How do you get the word out about your work?
So far, it's been word of mouth, and a little bit of advertising on blogs. Etsy has been an invaluable asset - there would be no business without the luck I've had on Etsy. The whole internet is just amazing to me; my mind is boggled by the fact that a lady in Tasmania can buy my work (and one did!). I'll probably do an art show or two this year also. I did one last fall and it was the first time I got to see people's faces light up when they read something that tickled them or spoke to them. I'll never forget that feeling of satisfaction, that my art actually made someone feel good!

What is your main goal for the next 6-12 months?
I want to get my web site up and running, and I want to sell more wholesale. There's so much to learn about starting a business - it's exciting, and scary and fun all at the same time!

What advice would you give to someone starting a creative business?
Ooh, I'd say it's important to listen to your heart, and make sure you're creating something that really reflects your own unique personality. And if it doesn't work, change stuff! Push yourself, even if it's scary as heck.



Who are some of your favorite indie artists/designers?
I'm new to the indie world, but from the altered arts world I'm quite inspired by the colorful work and generous spirit of Teesha Moore.

If you could live in your dream place/city where would that be?
I adore Hawaii, and Europe, and Boston in the summer, and San Francisco, and Maine, but really I just need to be wherever Lloyd is.

What's your definition of a perfect day?
I'm lucky enough to be living the perfect day right now (as long as the kids don't bicker too much). I like having my coffee, and bringing the kids to school, and calling Lloyd, and going to exercise (actually I hate it but I'm glad when it's over), and coming back home to do some soldering, and computering, and art-ing. And so on, until the cooking dinner part, which is the worst part of the day for me! But then it's over, and I'm happy again finishing up the day puttering around on the computer some more. Exciting, huh?


Thank you Allison!