Thursday, August 20, 2009

Interview with Hydrangea Hippo!

Please welcome Jennifer Priest of Hydrangea Hippo as our first High Desert Street Team member interview! Please check out Jennifer's Shop and Blog and leave a comment here to let her know you stopped by:)


1. What is your shop name and does it have special meaning?

My shop is named Hydrangea Hippo. Silly, right? There actually is a story behind it. A bunch of friends and I were on our way to a scrapbook store named Pink Pineapple in Vista, CA and we started joking about what our scrapbook store would be named if we had one, pairing colors with object names through alliteration. I joked that I would name mine Hydrangea Hippo and it stuck!

2. What do you make and how did you start?

I make paper crafting kits and sell embellishments and goodies for papercrafting. Many times I find items that are perfect for papercrafting but not necessarily "scrapbooking" supplies. I love featuring these finds in my shop, such as the triple bead stick pins I am featuring in my shop right now.

I started an etsy shop because I started teaching scrapbooking classes about 6 years ago and needed a way to sell kits leftover from classes. Someone suggested etsy and the rest is history! I've always had an entreprenuerial spirit so creating and selling is something I thoroughly enjoy. I recently started offering monthly layout and project kits exclusive to my etsy shop in addition to my regular items & past class kits.

3. Do you have a special inspiration?

My family. We travel to craft fairs and cool shops, go to fun cities to see the sites, and check out magazines to find cool color combos and shapes. And paper inspires me--if I see a paper I like, I'll create a class or kit around it. If I have cute photos of my kids, I'll create a project around that--right now I am working on a "mud" book because we have photos of my son playing in the mud.

4. How long have you been doing this craft and how did you start?

I started scrapbooking in 1998 when I was pregnant with my first child. I wanted her to have the completed baby book I never had so I got a mail-order scrapbook kit and started creating her book. I caught the scrapbooking "bug" in 2003 when I went to a scrapbook convention and have been teaching and scrapbooking every day since.

I am currently on several designs teams (Zutter Bind It All, Polka Dot Whimsy, Pink Pineapple Scrapbooks) as well as the Creative Director for Scrapbook Royalty, a 501c3 nonprofit that organizes scrapbooking events to fundraise for other charities. I love being involved in the scrapbooking community through the Divine Desert Divas (a group of women who organize events in the High Desert of Calfiornia), Who Gives A Scrap? (a group of friends across the US who scrapbook), and the Lucky 13 (a scrapbooking celebrity filled circle journal group). I teach classes all over Southern Calfornia at events, local stores, and my home.

5. What do you do besides etsy? Tell us a little more about you...

Before my "career" as a papercrafter I worked for various local governments and nonprofits specializing in contract management and grant writing. Now I am supposed to be a stay at home mom but I am a busy body so I just couldn't "stay home" all day. I teach classes on nights and weekends when my husband is home- sometimes my family accompanies me on trips to stores. I enjoying reading, love Reader's Digest & National Geographic, listen to electronic music, watch alot of HGTV and Bravo, enjoy being involved with Girl Scouts, and spend time with my family and our dog. Right now I am busy decorating our first home with fun little creations I make and with finds from etsy.

6. What are some of your favorite etsy shops?

I LOVE Dog Bone Art. Every member of my family has T-shirts from this shop and I get a lot of attention for the Monkey Muffin shirt I bought from this shop.

Poor Dog Farm. I love the whimsical watercolors of wildlife they offer. I am planning to purchase a set of prints from the "Birds In Hats" series as a gift for my husband.

Belle and Boo. More inspirational, detialed prints for the home. I love the whimsical, playful nature of the prints offered by Belle and Boo...just trying to find a place in my home to put some!

7. Do you have a blog and what kinds of things do you share on it?

My blog is hydrangeahippo.blogspot.com
and I share tips, techniques, and news about all things crafty. It started as a place to promote my classes and now I use it to share my love of papercrafting with others.