Today I’m interviewing the owner of Happy Hound, an online shop featuring hound stationery and much more. She herself loves the color green and on weekends is found by the fire reading a good book. Her favorite breakfast food is Eggs Benedict, and if she could travel anywhere in the world she would go to Thailand and sit in a thatch roofed hut on stilts in the water.
ART BACKGROUND QUESTIONS
What started you in your art/craft?
I was unable to find sophisticated sighthound tags, notecards or stationery, so I started making my own. I use antique Victorian Illustrations of Greyhounds/Whippets, Napoleonic Bees, Sheep,Stags,Dogs, Horses and hundreds of other images for the tags and printed merchandise. Additionally, I like to make healthy homemade cookie treats for my Italian Greyhound and thought others mike like them as well.
The most exciting part of doing this has been how the business has evolved with the opportunity to create custom orders. A few of the custom items I have been asked to make are: custom tags for a Whippet dog show, English Bulldog tags to be sold to benefit Bully rescue, store hang tags and unique wedding table number cards. Each custom order allows for the customer and I to work together in creating the desired items.
What are your favorite materials/tools?
I love the look and feel of Kraft paper. Also I like the clean look of the black images on white ceramic.
How long have you being producing your work/How did you get started in it?
I have only been doing this for the past year. I love antique Victorian illustrations taken from books and newspapers that harken back to a time before photography when artists were revered for their simple, yet beautiful images. I rework the illustrations to create images that are exclusive to HappyHound. To maintain the antique feel , I print only in black ink on kraft or white paper. I have been selling on Etsy since January of 2009.
Where do you hope your art will take you in the next year?
This is mostly a hobby for me, as I have a full time job that I enjoy. About 50% of my orders are custom, so I look forward to working with Etsy buyers to continue creating custom items they will love.
What advice would you give to an artist just starting out?
My advice to anyone starting in the Handmade arena is to research what is already out there and make sure what you are offering is unique. I have seen so many new sellers open an online shop and then be disappointed that their craft is not flying off the shelves. Some areas of Handmade are extremely competitive with thousands of sellers, so your item needs to be unique in order to stand out from the crowd.
Also, I was unaware when I began how much time and effort needs to go into promoting your online business. Sometimes it seems like it takes as long to network every day as to create!
[all images property of Happy Hound]
Those bees are super cool! And I just had eggs benedict yesterday morning… yum!