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Meet Renee Osborne from Quilted Keepsake Ornaments
♥ Please tell us about yourself:
My name is Renee and I am married to my husband Kurt. In fact we just celebrated our 20th wedding anniversary. We have a son Cameron who is turning nineteen very soon. We also have a dog and cat who for the most part get along pretty well. I worked in the corporate world for twenty seven years until I was laid off in 2011. I have been unemployed since. My family and I are originally from Southern California and now live in Olympia Washington due to my husband’s job relocating. We’ve been planning this move for three years and it finally happened this past June. It’s a beautiful state and I’m enjoying the changing seasons that you just don’t get in Southern California, but the one thing I miss the most is my family and friends back home. I can’t wait for them to come up to visit us.
♥ How long have you been in business?
I’ve been an online seller since 2006 when I was making rag quilts, but then in 2009 I ventured into making quilted ornaments after being introduced to this beautiful technique a year earlier. After making the first one, I was hooked and just kept making more and more of them. My goal was to improve my technique to where I felt they were ready to sell to the public. So in June of 2009 Quilted Keepsake Ornaments was opened for business.
♥ Please describe your business:
I make and sell novelty Christmas ornaments by applying beautiful fabrics, ribbons and embellishments to Styrofoam ball forms. It’s a gorgeous technique that requires patience, precision and lots of passion which is why I love it so much. Even though Christmas ornaments are seasonal, my shop is open every day for those who are looking to buy a unique gift for family and friends throughout the year. I also specialize in photo ornaments.
♥ Tell us what inspires you:
My family and friends! I’m so blessed to have such a wonderful family that supports and encourages me in my business. Their positive energy keeps me inspired to do what I absolutely love to do, and it shows in my work. Aside from that, I have this love for fabrics. I get inspired just looking at all the beautiful patterns and colors that are available to me. My favorite fabric pattern is the Paisley design, and I hope to get more ornaments with this design into my shop very soon.
♥ Please share with others, your best marketing techniques:
I use Facebook, Twitter and Pinterest. I recently received two custom orders from separate individuals who saw my ornaments on Pinterest. That was pretty cool! I also have a YouTube video that gets a lot of daily views and visitors to my website. It’s a great medium to advertise your business and showcase your beautiful work, so I highly recommend a video on YouTube.
♥ What do you love most about your business?
I love everything about my business. Aside from making my products, I love the whole behind the scenes of taking the product photos, listing them and keeping up with all the social media stuff. It’s a lot of work, but I enjoy the challenge. I’m always looking for new techniques or improvements to old ones that will give me that competitive edge.
♥ Please tell us why have chosen Craft Café as a venue for your business?
When I heard about Craft Café opening a new online venue back in the spring of 2012, it piqued an interest. I liked what I had read, the pricing structure was the best I had seen compared to other venues and after being here now for seven months, the level of service from the staff members is top notch. The sellers here are nice too!
♥ What advice can you give for crafters/artisans just starting out?
First of all congratulations in making your dream come true! When I started out in 2006 I had no clue what I was doing. If it wasn’t for the community of sellers where my website was being hosted at the time, I probably wouldn’t have learned as much as I did in that first year. So I guess my advice for someone starting out would be to join a community where you can also learn and get great support from other sellers.
♥ Where do you see your business in 5 years?
I have a few ideas brewing in the back of my mind that I’m hoping will come to fruition within a year or two. If it’s successful, it should bring in a new customer base for my business. I also want a new updated craft room with a color palette that is calming and inviting, like blue and white which are my two favorite color combinations. We are renting right now, so therefore I am stuck with plain ol’ white, blah!
♥ Lastly, would you like to offer our readers a special or coupon code for your Craft Cafe shop?
Yes, I would like to offer a 15% discount on everything in my Craft Café shop, including custom orders. Please use coupon code ccLuV15 during checkout. This offer expires end of day on 2/14/13.
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We would like to send out a big THANK YOU to Renee for all her love and support.
Be sure to visit Quilted Keepsake Ornaments soon ♥ ♥ Craft Cafe Shop / Facebook / Twitter / Pinterest
Very nice interview! Best of luck with your business your ornaments are gorgeous.
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