Etsy Interview with Designs by Danni

Well, I'm a 26 year old actress and I'm the creator of the Etsy shop Designs by Danni. I was born in New Jersey, but raised in South Carolina, but I recently moved back to New Jersey about three months ago. I moved in order to work on my acting career in NY. Since I can't afford to live on my own in NY, I chose to live in Paterson with my family. I spent a lot of my life in sales, I mean like really hardcore sales, and although I'm very good at it, I wasn't very happy. It was always the same boring suits, quotas, numbers, etc. It became very mundane for me. I'm a very creative and spontaneous person, I love to express myself, so I decided to indulge myself in visual and performing arts. I also express myself through my jewelry, which I sell on Etsy. I've been finding other ways to express myself; I am taking an online art program which is a perfect way to visually express all of the feelings and emotions I have, and as soon as I feel like I've made enough progress in my program, I'm going to sell my artwork on Etsy and in local galleries as well. I've been much happier since I've been sharing a piece of myself with the world, and the sales background is helping out also.

As far as my personal life, I'm single with no kids yet. I do however have a wonderful family whom I love very much. In South Carolina, I lived with my mom, grandma, my twelve year old sister, and my aunt. I also have uncles and cousins there as well. In Paterson, I live with my sister and my six nieces and nephews (we have a very large one-family home here, lol). I am actually moving to Newark this week, so I won't be near any of my family, but I will still see them often since I will still work in Paterson and my gym and trainer are in Paterson.

How and when did you start making jewelry and your other items?

I actually started making jewelry last year. I have no idea what sparked my interest. I just woke up one day and said, "I want to make a pair of earrings." I'm very spontaneous like that. I have so many different interests and I want to try all of them before I leave this earth. I never took jewelry-making classes. I just bought a few books, visited the local Hobby Lobby for supplies, and paired all of that with the extensive amount of knowledge on the Internet and practiced, practiced, practiced! Although I only sell jewelry and jewelry making supplies on Etsy right now, I actually make a lot of other stuff. I sew very well. I make pillows, curtains, clothes, and whatever else I decide that I want to make. I usually do this as a hobby, not a business. I will make gifts for people, or make items for my home. Maybe I will offer some of my work on Etsy one day.

When and how did you originally find Etsy?

I was actually chatting it up on Facebook one day and I saw an ad for Etsy. I clicked on it and visited the Etsy site. I was completely shocked because I was not aware that there was an online shopping site specifically for handmade items. I signed up immediately.

What is unique about Etsy and what about the website do you like the most in regards to your shop?

I like Etsy because its really makes having an online business simple. You don't need to know about owning a website, or really any of the technical stuff. You just list and sell. I'm very computer savvy, but there are a lot of people who aren't, so I know that they really appreciate the simplicity that Etsy offers. I also like the fact that Etsy is a very specific site. The customers who shop there are looking for what you have--handmade or vintage items. Etsy has already done the hardest work for us--getting the customers there. If you compare Etsy to eBay for example (I sold my jewelry on eBay and did not like the experience), eBay is a very broad and general site. You can find any and everything there. So out of the enormous amount of customers that visit eBay, only a small percentage of them are there for what you have.

What inspires you the most in regards to your creations?

Everything that I create, whether its artwork, jewelry, a pillow, or even baking a cake at home, stems from my feelings and emotions. I'm a very emotional person. I have such a wide range of emotions, and I may go through a dozen of them everyday. Sometimes if an emotion is overwhelming enough, I want to express that emotion, so I make something to visually describe how I'm feeling. These emotions can affect the colors that I use, the shapes, the size of the material, the value of the item, just pretty much every aspect of it.

What is your favorite piece you've created and why?

If the question is about jewelry in my Etsy shop, my favorite piece (its actually a collection) was called the Ayanna Collection. I named the collection after my little sister (her middle name is Ayanna). Her name is of African origin, meaning "a beautiful flower", and the collection featured African/tribal style beads. I used all earth tones, and I used just a few multicolored glass beads. The idea was to tie together the earth-inspired African "vibe" with that of a beautiful flower. Like, say if you were walking through the beautiful plains of Africa, you would see the grass, trees, maybe a flock of zebras or a family of lions. All of these the earth tones. But you come across this beautiful purple flower right in the middle of the plain. That one little spark of color would be enough to bring the whole scene to life. And that was the idea behind to few little multicolored beads. I actually sold that collection before I signed up for Etsy.

What do you want to accomplish with your online shop?

I have a mission to be completely self-employed within the next two years. I have a few different areas of income right now, and I would like for each of them, including Designs by Danni to pick up enough for me to completely leave the "punch in, punch out" world behind. Also, being able to have a shop on Etsy allows me to share my creative side with people all over the world. I really hope that my designs can inspire at least one person, that it can make their day better, especially when I begin to put my artwork on the site. If I can make a difference in just one person's life, that is a big accomplishment to me. Just knowing that their is a little piece of me somewhere in the world always encourages me to be a better person. So that person that is wearing my jewelry, viewing my artwork, or any other creation that I've made can use that as inspiration to make a difference also.

Do you have any new creations in the works? If so, what can shoppers expect to see from you soon?

I always have new creations in the works. I may make something new, and not put it on Designs by Danni right away. But I do have a very specific idea in mind that will involve some major time on my part. I want to start doing full birthstone accessory collections, something that would include not only earrings, bracelets, and necklaces, but that will also include a hair piece, ring, belt, anklet, and matching purse. Its a pretty big collection; I've never offered a collection of that size before on Designs by Danni, but its something that I've been putting into action lately.

Where can readers find out about more information regarding your jewelry and other creations and possible special offers (including additional websites, blags, face book, etc)?

I have a face book page for Designs by Danni. It is under the former name that I used for my shop, Danny's Treasures. I switched names for my Etsy shop because I felt that it was more catchy, however, I left the name the same for Face book because I didn't want the fans to have any complications with a new page. So search for Danny's Treasures on Facebook to keep up with the latest news on Designs by Danni. I sometimes run little contests for the fans also, so make sure you join!