Today I'm here to introduce you to Melissa from The Tiny Bee shop on Etsy. She is really lovely and such a friendly person and I'm really glad to have met her. Her shop is full of pastel colors, polymer clay and clutches with lovely prints. She has an eye for making cute things, this girl has got all the talent she needs!Melissa sent me a lovely cosmetic bag with the cutest pattern ever and I've been using it ever since. I cleaned up all my make-up before I put it in there because I didn't want to ruin anything :) Anyways I can really say that the material is absolutely fantastic. I mean this thing will surely last for long and thats great for me. It has lots of room considering I only put my necessary items in there. All in all I can say that if you ever shop from the The Tiny Bee it will be your moneys worth! :)
1. Can you tell us a bit about yourself and your shop?
I'm originally from the Boston area and after graduating from college I relocated to sunny Arizona where I now reside with my fiancée and three little dogs. I've always loved to make things but when my mom gave me a sewing machine for my thirtieth birthday things got serious. I stayed up all night practicing on old clothes. The next day I started watching tutorials on YouTube which is how I learned to sew. A year and a half later I opened The Tiny Bee.
2. How did you come up with the name The Tiny Bee?
My name, Melissa, means honey bee but theres more to the story than that. I was sitting in my backyard brainstorming names for my shop. My late grandfather nicknamed me doodlebug which I wanted to incorporate into my shop title but they all seemed to be taken. I felt like I had hit a wall so I asked in my head, "Papa I need help what should I name my shop?" and just then this tiny little baby bee landed on my arm. I rushed inside to see if the name was available, which clearly it was.
3. How do you come up with your designs?
I love going to craft stores and letting the supplies inspire me. Watching tutorials on YouTube or scanning Pinterest for new ideas is another way to learn techniques. For example: I never though about painting clay until I saw someone else doing it.
4. Why did you choose Etsy?
A few people I know sell on Etsy which is how I became interested in it. I was a buyer before I was a seller. Once I fell in love with the community I just wanted to be part of it.
5. What are your inspirations?
Everything I make is something I would buy and use so my greatest source of inspiration is myself. I first got into working with clay when I wanted a pair of black earrings to go with my waitressing uniform but couldn't find what I was looking for, so I made them.
6. What is your goal for the future, in terms of The Tiny Bee?
I have been working in restaurants for over a decade. The lessons I have learned in the service industry are invaluable but I'd love to put down the tray and focus on The Tiny Bee full time. I put no limit to how far I go with this. Every few months I go back and edit myself based on all the new things I've learned. Through improving the old and creating the new my business will keep growing and building upon itself and take me places I could have never imagined.
Hopefully you were as excited as I was to get to know Melissa and her shop as you were reading the interview because she is giving away one of my readers a chance to win this tiny bird printed cosmetic bag (not the one she sent to me, a new one of course)! Awesome right?! So head on over to Rafflecopter widget and start entering. Good luck!
This is International.
End date: September 8th, 2013
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