Etsy Featured Artist - thegirlyplace

A few months ago I found out that my cousin was adopting to little girls that were sisters. We live very far away from each other; she is in Alaska and I am in Texas. But I wanted to be able to welcome these two angels into our family, so I set out to gather a box of Etsy goodies to send on up to Alaska. This is how I came across Joanie Reeder and her amazing shop thegirlyplace. I immediately feel in love with her huge selection of bows, headbands and korkers for little girls. Ever since then, every box of goodies that I have sent up to Alaska has featured goodies from this darling shop. In the short time that I have known Joanie, she has expanded her shop quite a bit. She now has crayon keepers, hair goodies for all ages, jewelry and the most adorable tutus!

Red and white Christmas bow

Fun frenzy butterfly haircomb facinator

Flower crayon keeper

Recently Joanie opened a second shop dedicated to scrapbooking and other paper crafts.

Premade Scrapbook Pages

And Joanie will be opening her third shop on September 15th! tailsnsnails will be a shop catering to little boys!

Although Joanie keeps herself very busy with three etsy shops and her family, she took the time to answer a few questions for me.

Name: Joanie Reeder
Age (if you don't mind): 30
Where do you live?: North Carolina

Well it looks like you are busy with 3 Etsy shops these days! Do you have a favorite?
My mothership, thegirlyplace, is my favorite because it's my first, but I really do love all three. My boy's shop, tailsnsnails, is opening Sept. 15 with treasures for all little boys.

When you are able to sit down and craft just for fun, what do you make?
Bows. I really enjoy making bows and I've got plenty of outfits for my baby girl that need matching bows. I sometimes don't get a chance to make her bows because I'm busy making them for everyone else.

What inspires you most?
My kids. They are the reasons I opened my boy and girl shop.

What do you do in your spare time (if you have any of course lol)?
If I'm not making something? Sleep, eat, veg out in front of the TV. Really, it's not that interesting.

Tell us a little known fact about you.
I have nine brothers and sisters. There are 10 of us in my family.

What are you working on now?
Building up inventory in my scrapbooking shop, ruascrapper and in my boy's shop ((author's note: tailsnsnails).

Do you sell anywhere besides Etsy? Where? Not really. I've got my first big craft fair coming up in October. I'm excited about that, and nervous too.

Do you have any advice for people that want to start selling their handmade goods?
Look before you leap. Prepare your inventory, get an idea of what people want, write descriptive listings and don't overprice your stuff, but don't sell yourself short either! Great pictures are obviously a plus.

Do you think it is important to shop and buy handmade? If so, why?
Absolutely. Someone sat down and crafted something unique for you. Even if it's something that gets relisted, chances are no one you ever meet will have the exact same product you got. That's the beauty of handmade.

Do you twitter, flickr, facebook, blog..or anything else where people can follow you?
Please feel free to list all of you "social networking" addresses.
Yes. My addresses are:
www.twitter.com/joaniereeder
http://companies.to/thegirlyplace/
I almost don't want to tell you though, because I've been a bit slack about updating them thanks to busy with the kids, busy with crafting and busy with life in general!

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I can honestly say that I highly recommend shopping with Joanie. Her items are very high quality and she is a very friendly person to work with. Make sure to keep an eye on this blog for a contest featuring Joanie!