Featured Handmade Artist- Graceandlight
Hello! Welcome to this week's edition of Featured Handmade Artist! I am so happy to introduce you to Brooke from graceandLight.etsy.com. I am in so love with Brooke's simple and clean graphic style embroidery!
Can you image a little collection of these beauties hanging on your wall in your hallway or bedroom? LOVE it!
Hi Brooke!!! Can you tell us a little bit about yourself?
My name is Brooke Petermann. I am a born and raised Nebraska girl. I currently live in Lincoln, Nebraska which is a wonderful small, big town. If you see me around, don’t be surprised if I am cross stitching. I am a bit impatient about seeing my designs coming to life, so I often carry my projects with me and fit in a few stitches whenever I have a spare thirty seconds.
What is the first craft project you remember making?
My parents used to buy my sister and me those big end rolls of paper from the local newspaper. We spent hours making giant pictures on the kitchen or basement floor.
Where does your inspiration come from?
My biggest inspiration is color. I often choose a color scheme before I decide what it is that I am going to create. I think that part of this is still holding on from my former painting days. I was an abstract painter and color was always the defining element in my work.
I am also inspired by words. I am a voracious reader and absolutely love words. I think it is amazing that words can both place a picture in your head and also create an emotion within your heart.
I am very good at “finding the pretty” in any situation. I carry my camera around with me, everywhere I go and am constantly snapping photos of the little details of life that are too often forgotten. This means, that any and every tiny bit of the world can inspire me.
Can you please describe some of your creative process?
I have a notebook that is overflowing with cross stitching ideas. Some of these ideas are written out in words and others are doodled. When I am ready to get down to business, I flip through the notebook until I find something that resonates with my current mood.
I draw my designs out on blank paper and then transfer them to graph paper. I sit down in my chair and get to work with the needle and thread.
What is your most prized handmade possession?
In my dining room, I have a small wooden stand that was built by my great-grandmother and her father more than 100 years ago. Despite its age, it fits in beautifully with my modern décor. I love that this is something that has been in my family for so many years and I think it is so sweet to think of my great-grandma spending time building something with her father.
If you could give one piece of advice to a new etsy seller, what would it be?
It is important to realize that you can’t force anyone to purchase your products, but you are in control of a lot of things that may influence someone toward purchasing your product.
You are in control of the quality of your work, the service that you provide to your customers, the aesthetics of your shop, the quality of your photographs, the number of treasuries that you make, the way that you tag your items, the relationships that you make in the crafting community, etc.
There is an abundant amount of material available on each of these topics. You need to spend some time improving wherever you can.
What are some of the ways you promote your work?
www.graceandlight.etsy.com
www.graceandlightblog.blogspot.com
www.facebook.com/pages/Grace-and-Light/135784283147980
What the three websites you couldn’t live without?
www.blacksburgbelle.com/blog/
www.thesimpledollar.com
www.younghouselove.com/
Where do you see yourself in ten years?
I would like to be right here in my cozy home creating something. I have already switched from painting to cross stitching, so I’m not sure that cross stitching is the end of the crafting line for me (although, it is definitely where I want to be right now).
I would like to help more people to appreciate the beauty in life and to be doing something for others that will help them appreciate their own surroundings…perhaps this means an interior design business??
If you could have one super power, what would it be and why?
I would like the power to go back and relive the good moments in life, at my will. I would gladly relive:
• the few hours before and after my husband asked me to be his wife
• the day that I adopted my puppy
• the hours playing cards with my best friend and sister on my last vacation
• and about a million other things
Thank you so much Brooke!!! It was a pleasure to get to know you a little bit! I wish you much success!!!!
I hope you have enjoyed this little interview with Brooke, and that you have a moment to stop by her shop and check out her other lovely embroidery designs!
http://www.etsy.com/shop/graceandlight
Can you image a little collection of these beauties hanging on your wall in your hallway or bedroom? LOVE it!
Hi Brooke!!! Can you tell us a little bit about yourself?
My name is Brooke Petermann. I am a born and raised Nebraska girl. I currently live in Lincoln, Nebraska which is a wonderful small, big town. If you see me around, don’t be surprised if I am cross stitching. I am a bit impatient about seeing my designs coming to life, so I often carry my projects with me and fit in a few stitches whenever I have a spare thirty seconds.
What is the first craft project you remember making?
My parents used to buy my sister and me those big end rolls of paper from the local newspaper. We spent hours making giant pictures on the kitchen or basement floor.
Where does your inspiration come from?
My biggest inspiration is color. I often choose a color scheme before I decide what it is that I am going to create. I think that part of this is still holding on from my former painting days. I was an abstract painter and color was always the defining element in my work.
I am also inspired by words. I am a voracious reader and absolutely love words. I think it is amazing that words can both place a picture in your head and also create an emotion within your heart.
I am very good at “finding the pretty” in any situation. I carry my camera around with me, everywhere I go and am constantly snapping photos of the little details of life that are too often forgotten. This means, that any and every tiny bit of the world can inspire me.
Can you please describe some of your creative process?
I have a notebook that is overflowing with cross stitching ideas. Some of these ideas are written out in words and others are doodled. When I am ready to get down to business, I flip through the notebook until I find something that resonates with my current mood.
I draw my designs out on blank paper and then transfer them to graph paper. I sit down in my chair and get to work with the needle and thread.
What is your most prized handmade possession?
In my dining room, I have a small wooden stand that was built by my great-grandmother and her father more than 100 years ago. Despite its age, it fits in beautifully with my modern décor. I love that this is something that has been in my family for so many years and I think it is so sweet to think of my great-grandma spending time building something with her father.
If you could give one piece of advice to a new etsy seller, what would it be?
It is important to realize that you can’t force anyone to purchase your products, but you are in control of a lot of things that may influence someone toward purchasing your product.
You are in control of the quality of your work, the service that you provide to your customers, the aesthetics of your shop, the quality of your photographs, the number of treasuries that you make, the way that you tag your items, the relationships that you make in the crafting community, etc.
There is an abundant amount of material available on each of these topics. You need to spend some time improving wherever you can.
What are some of the ways you promote your work?
www.graceandlight.etsy.com
www.graceandlightblog.blogspot.com
www.facebook.com/pages/Grace-and-Light/135784283147980
What the three websites you couldn’t live without?
www.blacksburgbelle.com/blog/
www.thesimpledollar.com
www.younghouselove.com/
Where do you see yourself in ten years?
I would like to be right here in my cozy home creating something. I have already switched from painting to cross stitching, so I’m not sure that cross stitching is the end of the crafting line for me (although, it is definitely where I want to be right now).
I would like to help more people to appreciate the beauty in life and to be doing something for others that will help them appreciate their own surroundings…perhaps this means an interior design business??
If you could have one super power, what would it be and why?
I would like the power to go back and relive the good moments in life, at my will. I would gladly relive:
• the few hours before and after my husband asked me to be his wife
• the day that I adopted my puppy
• the hours playing cards with my best friend and sister on my last vacation
• and about a million other things
Thank you so much Brooke!!! It was a pleasure to get to know you a little bit! I wish you much success!!!!
I hope you have enjoyed this little interview with Brooke, and that you have a moment to stop by her shop and check out her other lovely embroidery designs!
http://www.etsy.com/shop/graceandlight