Featured SNS Seller: StilettoHeights!

StilettoHeights is our Second Featured Seller! Whoever is the very first poster in the SNS Promotional thread will become the next featured seller. Congrats to StilettoHeights! Good luck to all next week! More info here.

Tell us a bit about yourself (name, location, affiliations, personal stuff).
My name is Jennifer Gordon, I am a mixed media and collage artist living in Columbus Oh, with my partner in love and life, Keith. We also have a new addition to our family, a silly, cute and naughty little hybrid dog, Scribble.

Apart from creating things, what do you do?
I voraciously read...I love words, so I am constantly reading books, comics, magazines...I read as if the art of it will be banned at any moment. I also write a weekly web comic that my love, Keith, does the art for. (http://petiteheights.blogspot.com/), I also blog, watch old episodes of MASH on dvd, daydream and drink lots and lots of cocoa.

What first made you want to become an artist?
I have always been more creative than logical, and always did artsy stuff but never really considered becoming an artist until I became one. I went to school for acting and did theater on a professional level, and always enjoyed doing collage as a hobby and as a way to visually create a story, when I got burned out on theater I started doing more collage work, then I found etsy and on a whim listed a couple aceos...the rest is history.

Please describe your creative process (how, when, materials, etc).
it's different every time, sometimes it starts with a word or phrase in my mind and I go onto to explore that and create a picture from that....other times I start with visual elements and come up with the "story" behind the piece as I am creating it. One thing that is always the same is that it is a messy process...seriously my studio is like a disaster area.

What handmade possession do you most cherish?
I have a small stack of letters that were written to me 16 years ago from my love Keith...we were first loves when I was a kid and I still have those letters to this day, I also have a wonderful collection of original comic art...

Name your top five books, movies, songs/musical groups, and websites (besides Etsy)
This changes all the time, but today it is

movies
virgin suicides

picnic at hanging rock

lost in translation

eternal sunshine of the spotless mind

the english patient

music

damien rice

johnny cash

elvis presley

the whiles

the monkees

books
The Secret History -Donna Tart

The Time Traveler's Wife

The Lake of Dead Languages - Carol Goodman

Without - Donald Hall

Complete Works of Anne Sexton

websites
perez hilton

trunkt

amazon

dogster

flickr

What advice would you give to artists who are new to Etsy?
do what you love, try to not copy other people because you think it will get you more sales, and don;t get caught up in forum drama.

What are your favorite features on Etsy?
the shops/sellers...everything else is icing on the cake, but the sellers themselves are the best part of etsy

What new features would you like to see?
separation of supplies from the main handmade categories

How do you promote your work?
The SNS of course, my blog, listing a lot, and Showcases

In ten years I'd like to be...
doing what I am doing but I would like to be a little healthier, out of debt, and a little more self confident.