Shop: Janssendesigns
Star Wars or Sleepless in Seattle?
I don’t have much time for movie watching but when I do, it would be The Shawshank Redemption or Little Miss Sunshine (or if my 4 year old daughter is choosing, it’s Shrek or Monsters, Inc.).
Fruit or chocolate?
Both-can’t live without either one! In season (or local if possible) fruit and dark chocolate.
Favorite color?
Green, lime, chartreuse, olive, jade, apple, sage. Did I say green?
Favorite meal?
My husband makes fantastic flour tortilla chips and guacamole. Pair that with margaritas and tofu enchiladas and I’m all set!
Bath or shower?
Shower-with shampoo bars from DressGreen (no plastic bottles!) and soap from GreenSprings0 (fellow EcoEtsy member).
Dress or jeans?
Jeans (although I made myself a few skirts recently and love wearing them!).
Your favorite material?
Fabric, fabric, and more fabric. Mainly cotton-reclaimed and recycled!
Tell us about your shop.
I’ve been a buyer on Etsy for a while and love all the handmade goodies and amazing creations here. I have sewed and crafted for many years and occasionally sold items but mostly made gifts. I opened shop to share my creations and hopefully get people motivated to buy upcycled clothing instead of sweatshop, imported and mass-produced items. I recently developed the ReWreath idea-one wreath core with multiple covers for all the holidays and celebrations. I also have a vintage shop called RetroLabs where I sell vintage clothing, fabrics and other retro goodies. I have collected vintage items for many years and decided it was time to share them.
Do you sell anywhere else?
Right now I only have items in my two Etsy shops and my Janssen Designs shop items are also listed on cosa verde.
What’s the favorite item you’ve made so far?
My favorite item is a custom dress that I made for a woman who I met after donating two dresses to WeeCycle, a non-profit she co-founded that distributes gently used baby gear to low income families in Denver.
What has been the most useful lesson you’ve learned (about Etsy) so far?
Etsy is an amazing community of artists, crafters, and enthusiasts of everything vintage. I’ve learned that you can make your shop whatever you want it to be but you need to be active to make it work (list new items frequently, get involved with a team or two, participate in creating treasuries, etc.).
How do you see your store developing?
I hope to get back in to the swing of things with Janssen Designs by listing a few new children’s clothes monthly and adding more ReWreaths and ReWreath sets. I also hope to continue with my RetroLabs shop by adding items every few days. At some point I would love to reduce my full time day job to 4 days a week so that I can spend one full day a week working on my Etsy shops. That would be wonderful!
How is your shop eco-friendly?
I use mostly reclaimed cotton t-shirts or knit fabrics in my designs. Originally, I purchased a few yards of new knits with designs but quickly realized that I could find all sorts of designs in recycled shirts. I use recycled packaging materials and vintage, reclaimed tissue paper and wrapping paper. I use reclaimed or recycled paper for business cards and tags. I recycle all my fabric scrap waste at my local recycling center which gets made in to insulation. And electricity to our home comes from wind power through our utility company.
Have you and your family always been eco-friendly?
My family and I have been changing to greener living over the past couple of years. We are always looking for new ways to reduce, reuse and recycle. I frequent thrift shops not only for my Etsy shops, but for my family as well. I few years ago I made a one-year anti-consumerism pledge and decided it’s a wonderful way of life, not just a one-year test.
What kind of message would you like your buyers to know about the environment?
Do your best to be kind to our Earth. Every little change towards eco-consciousness helps.
Visit her shop: Janssendesigns
{ 4 comments }
Thanks Karen for the feature!! What fun!
I had to be the second to comment after Rachel (or I might be responsible for a few more IOU’s for home-made guacamole and flour tortilla chips). Rachel is my wife and I can tell you she sure does put a lot of time and effort into her shop and all the up-cycled clothing she makes. She seems to be getting a ton of custom requests lately – just about every time something is added to the shop that is really unique or that has the most vibrant colors there will be a few requests for a second or even third of the same item.
Hopefully soon you will be able to back off a day at work (or more).
Gary,
I should have made a stipulation that if I post Rachel’s shop, you had to send me your famous guac and tortilla chips! Ha ha ha…And how sweet are you to post a comment here about Rachel! Awesome! I’m so glad she’s busy with custom orders. What a compliment!
Hey Rachel, you should steal Gary’s famous Guac and the chips recipe for the team’s blog!
It was my pleasure to feature you. I love your re-wreaths. What a great idea!!
Karen – thanks.
I am actually the cook of the house (although Rachel does have several things she is famous for) I am the “every-day” cook. One of my passions. Most of what I make comes from 15 years of experience in the restaurant biz ( a previous life) I generally just think of the main ingredient and go from there – very rarely do I use any recipie.
There are many fans of the guac and chips I make – I wish I could find a good entry point to make, package and sell them locally or beyond.