Today we'll be chatting with our next star, Jessica from Home and Holiday Keepsakes! She's a very talented gal that manages one blog and a small online business, while juggling family life meanwhile:)
Design It Chic: Hi Jessica, to get the mood setting, tell us a joke!
Jessica: I live in Idaho (that’s not the joke) and we’ve already had snow. I even saw a few snowmen in town! So here’s a joke to go along with that: Two snowmen are standing in a field. One says to the other, “Funny, I smell carrots,too.”
Design It Chic: Ha ha.. that was so funny:) Now that the air is a little lighter, can you tell us a bit about yourself?
Jessica: I have always loved using my hands to create things. Ever since I can remember, I've been drawing, crafting, creating. But I'd have to say that my longest creative love is drawing. It will always have a special place in my heart:) I have lived in Idaho my whole life, except for 3 months after I got married to my best friend, Daniel. We lived in his home state of Oregon for a summer, and although it was beautiful and green, I was glad to be back home! We finished college together, both Elementary Education majors. Now I am a stay at home mom to one little boy, and I love it! My husband loves his job teaching. I decided to start this little cupcake wrapper business to help out in my own way. A habit of mine is always getting into something new. Within the last few years, I've gained another new crafting love--paper! And I've found a lot of ways to use it... Lately, I enjoy paper crafting, photography, and playing in Photoshop!
Design It Chic: And we see you have a beautiful little online store too. Can you tell us a bit about it and how it started?
Jessica: Sure! I make and sell cupcake wrappers! I was watching Cupcake Wars on Food Network, and I thought, “Wow! Cupcakes are really popular these days!” We had just made a trip to Oregon and I remembered seeing a bunch of cupcake shops on the way…and the cupcake shop here in my hometown…and then it just dawned on me…”I should make cupcake wrappers!” So I got started right away.
Design It Chic: Love hearing the history of a business. But how do you keep it always fresh and come up with something new every time?
Jessica: Well, with all the cute paper available I can always find something new! I just love going to the craft store and filling my cart up with papers that spark my imagination. I try to think of themes and patterns that people could use for special occasions and holidays. I sell a large variety of cupcake wrappers, with themes ranging from baby showers, to birthdays, weddings, holidays, children, and more! I also have several DIY Printable Cupcake Wrappers--this is my Black and White Damask set.
Design It Chic: And do you have any specials for this Holiday season?
Jessica: I am making Christmas cupcake wrappers all the time. I post new ones every few days or so, and I also have some Thanksgiving themed ones. I am having a special on my Christmas Solids—Red and Green (shown below)—If you need more than 12 of these, you just have to buy one set at $4.50, and then each set after that is only $3.99!
Design It Chic: Wow! Those are cute! And speaking of cute, we see you have a little blog too. How do you combine your life as a blogger with working on your little business? Is it hard to manage both?
Jessica: The purpose of my blog is to promote and feature handmade items. I also post new cupcake wrappers I am working on. I occasionally post crafts or projects that I’ve made, but it’s mostly to show people all the great handmade items you can find online. The way it’s going right now, I feel that it’s manageable, but I do spend more time with my shop:)
Design It Chic: And as every good business has a funny behind-the-scenes story, tell us a funny blooper from your store or blog. We always love to laugh here:)
Jessica: Okay, here goes. I go to the craft store EVERY day. We only have one craft store here, so I can’t even alternate between two. I always wonder just before I walk in, “Are they going to notice I’m here again?” I try not to make eye contact. I even have these silly ideas that maybe the employees make bets in the break room as to whether or not I will come in today. Well, my fears came true the other day when I was at checkout----the cashier looked at me and said….”I see you here, like, EVERY day.” I felt myself blush and I just smiled and said, “Yah, I buy a lot of paper.” :) Now that it’s out in the open that I’m there all the time, I can just go in and not worry about it!
Design It Chic: Now for the grand finale, what is your surprise for our readers?
Jessica: I would like to offer all Design it Chic readers 10% off! Just leave me a message when you check out that you found me through Design it Chic. I am also going to give one set of each of these cupcake wrappers: Gray and White Damask with Black Distress Marks and Frosty Blue Floral! These are two separate prizes for two lucky winners, so two prizes means more chances to win!
Design It Chic: TWO PRIZES!?! Wow!! You're so awesome Jessica! Thanks for stopping by to chat with us!
So you heard the lady! Two of you awesome readers can snag one of these amazing prizes from Jessica's store! Now that's something we're all digging right? And just in time to decorate your cutie cupcakes for the Holidays! All you have to do is become a follower of Design It Chic right here and then pay a visit to Jessica's wonderful shop and tell us in a comment what item did you like most. That's 1 entry.
If you want to gain extra entries, add Design It Chic's button on your blog somewhere where we can find it and come back and tell us that you did(2 entries), blog about this giveaway with a link back to this interview and then comment that you did that(1 entry), follow Jessica on her blog and come back and comment that you did(1 entry), add Jessica's button and come back and tell us that you did(1 entry), favorite Jessica's shop on Etsy and tell us that you did that with a link back to your profile so we can check(1 entry). There's 7 possibilities for you to snag one of those two sweet cupcake wrappers sets, so what are you waiting for?
Enjoy everyone!!! And if you're looking for some amazing wrappers for your cupcake plates this Christmas, go to Jessica's shop because you will find everything you need in there:)
The giveaway is now officially open and will be closing 11/24 midnight Central Time Zone.
Plus don't forget to check the other stars from our Show Yo' Flow Campaign, and make sure you don't miss any of the upcoming interviews along with our amazing gifts for everyone! Happy Wednesday everybody!
