Friday, July 22, 2011

Meeting Dolly Madison An Amazing Young Artist

I found Dolly Madison while surfing ETSY and fell in love with her sweet little buttons and characters.  She is a very talented young lady and has been very kind to do an interview for us. 
Her lovely little shop is also featuring a special discount, 5% off with coupon code BIRRCASTLE.  Please check out the interview and Dolly's wonderful creations.
http://www.etsy.com/shop/DollyMadison?ref=ss_profile
Tell me a bit about yourself……
I'm sixteen years old, and I love to work with my hands, writing, reading, and crafting. My main focus of crafting is my Etsy shop, where I sell polymer clay items, mostly buttons, but also little decorative bears (mostly custom orders for those). :) I began working with polymer clay when I was eleven, and I opened my Etsy shop in May of 2010.

Apart from creating, what do you do?
Dear me, it depends on the day! I love to read, and I have several subjects that I pay most attention to, one of which is history. I'm a genealogist, and I love to find out about my ancestors! I found lots of Irish way back there, and so I now have what you could almost call a 'hobby', finding old Irish songs and artists. I love to buy books (that's mainly what I spend my Etsy profit on) that I can feel satisfied handing down to my children and grandchildren. I desire to glorify God, and as my motto says "To enlarge the glory of the gospel!" (quote from Richard Hakluyt, puritan).

What first made you want to create?
I'm just a creative person, I suppose. :) I've been crafting as long as I can remember, and when my grandparents gave me some polymer clay one time, I immediately latched on to it and began making rather crude figures. It wasn't till April that I found my Etsy niche, which is specialty buttons. I had one set that had been custom ordered, and didn't sell, so I listed them anyway. Then I began attending BNRs and BNSs on Etsy (a selling spree system, Buy and Replace and Buy and Stay, where someone buys your item in a treasury and then they in turn get featured in your spot), and my buttons sold, and re-sold, and sold again........ Ever since then, my button making has taken off, which is really nice. But it's funny that the thing that sells best for me is the thing that I never meant to make in the first place.


Describe your creative process?
It depends on the situation. Sometimes I just sit down with my clay and start making buttons without a goal in mind or even a conceived notion as to how I want them to be---I just pick out a few colors that all the sudden stand out to me and run with it. That is always a fun process. Other times I know exactly what I want, and I fall to making them......or they turn out completely different from what I wanted. It's an adventure, and it's a very fun one. :)

How are you promoting your work?
I don't have many ways of promoting yet. Mostly I attend BNRs and that really gets the word out because it's always a great crowd and great publicity. Otherwise just getting to know folks on Etsy is a great way to get business. :) Hearting other folks' items and shops have brought me several sales, not to mention hearts and circles (Now I have switched to Etsy lingo, haven't I? ;)

Where do you want to be in ten years?
The problem to me is getting too busy. Etsy is the only source of income I have right now, and I'm not really able to devote all of my time to it. So to answer your question, I don't know if I shall be around on Etsy in ten years. :) Since I am just beginning to get sales, I will have to see if it turns out to be something I want to pursue in earnest, and if the profit is worth the effort. But I intend to have a steady income by then from some sort of home business. :)

9 comments:

Amy Griffiths said...

What an amazing young lady! (and a GREAT sense of humor!)

Dolly Madison said...

Thank you for the interview! It was so very fun. You're a dear, Mrs. Roush. :)

Unknown said...

Congrats on the blog feature, Dolly!

Peggy @ Into The Light Creations said...

Oh my goodness! You are so young and such an incredibly talented artist! I love your inspirational interview. I see a very bright future for you!

Kat of EmKatCreations said...

Great feature!

Sewinggranny - Mona said...

Lovely feature!

L.J. Libiran said...

Such a great interview, thanks for sharing..

Love your shop Dolly

Inessa/Prittyfy said...

What a lovely blog about a very creative artist!

Callie Domingues said...

Wonderful! A great personality and an inspiration to others! Many blessings to Dolly for today and her future! Thank you for sharing her story.