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I found Caitlin Sainio's fab shop after she kindly included one of my pieces in her treasury. Caitlin "draws pictures with thread" and makes amazing things like bracelets and hoop framed fiber art. I'm totally coveting this white crochet daisy bracelet and this rose bush wall hanging.
Enjoy meeting Caitlin below, and be sure to check out her shop for some eye candy loveliness.
• Tell us a little about yourself – your name, where you live, your work.
My name is Caitlin, and I live west of Boston, Massachusetts. I'm a stay-at-home mom to two boys, aged 2 and 5.
• Tell us about your Etsy shop and products.
I initially started my Etsy shop as an excuse to crochet Christmas ornaments. I love to crochet snowflakes and other ornaments, but our Christmas tree was running out of room for them, as were the trees of our friends and family. I opened the shop in January, 2009, with a small selection of bracelets, suncatchers, and doilies, and then added Christmas ornaments as the holidays approached. I've recently expanded into using crochet for other kinds of art: I stitch crocheted elements to fabric to create wall hangings, and use them to create paint imprints on notecards. I've really been enjoying the new focus (it gives me opportunities to use more different colors, and to crochet designs that are too complicated and unpredictable to easily work into a doily or a bracelet), so I'd like to continue in that direction for my non-holiday offerings.
• How did you get into your creating? Do you have a favorite item you’ve made? Tell us the story.
I first learned to crochet in elementary school, when the school had a craft fair as a fundraiser, and somebody taught me to crochet shell stitch strips so that I could help make an afghan. I taught myself more stitches with the help of an old "learn to crochet" book that my mom had hanging around, and later discovered tiny hooks and thread, which I love even better than yarn.
My favorite items change with my mood and the seasons. Right now, I'm completely in love with trees like the ones on this wall hanging and in these cards. I live in a neighborhood filled with huge, leafy trees, every one of which could pass for a tree of life. I was curious to see if I could achieve that strength and lushness in thread, and I'm thoroughly delighted with the results.
• What advice would you give a creative entrepreneur on starting a small artistic business?
First of all, know what your goal is. Do you want your business to be your sole support? Do you want it to provide supplemental income? Or do you simply want to make your hobby pay for itself? How you approach the business depends a lot on the answer to that question. (Those goals can change over time. I started out just wanting my crocheting to be self-supporting, and now that it does that with room to spare, I'm hoping to expand it so that it provides more supplemental income.)
After that (especially if your goal is for your business to be a significant income source), I think it's useful to do a quick back-of-the envelope calculation: how many of your products can you make in a week, how will you price them, and how much will they cost you to make? Will the resulting profit be enough to meet the goal you've chosen? (If not, it'll be necessary to make changes to your products, your pricing, or your goals. I think it's good to know that earlier, rather than later - it's incredibly discouraging to pour all of your time and energy into a business, only to realize later that it's not structured to provide the income that it needs to.)
• Do you have a person that inspires you (living or historical)? Tell us about her or him!
I've found that most people are inspiring, one way or another. I've been blessed to know and work with a lot of incredible people, over the years, and the ones I most try to emulate are those who know when to stop talking and listen, who can see other people's points of view, and who can tell when to keep trying and when to stop and ask for help. These aren't things that come naturally to me, so it's always amazing to me when I see people who seem so effortless in their grace and good judgment.
• Do you have a book or movie that makes you feel creative? Tell us about it!
I'm not a big movie watcher, but almost any book with pictures will put me in a creative mood - anything from a science textbook to a National Geographic magazine to some of the beautifully illustrated children's books that my kindergartener brings home from the library. I'll see mixes of colors or shapes or textures, and want to go make something or draw something.
• What is your favorite handmade treasure?
I come from a family that can't seem to stop making things, so my house is so well populated with handmade treasures that it's hard to pick a favorite. If I had to choose, though, my favorite would be a collection of decorative pots that my uncle made. I have probably a dozen or so, in various sizes, shapes, and colors, and I never get tired of looking at them. They're all currently squirrelled away on high shelves and in cabinets, to protect them from being loved too much by my kids, so that increases the "treasure" aspect: I love them, but almost never see most of them.
My name is Caitlin, and I live west of Boston, Massachusetts. I'm a stay-at-home mom to two boys, aged 2 and 5.
• Tell us about your Etsy shop and products.
I initially started my Etsy shop as an excuse to crochet Christmas ornaments. I love to crochet snowflakes and other ornaments, but our Christmas tree was running out of room for them, as were the trees of our friends and family. I opened the shop in January, 2009, with a small selection of bracelets, suncatchers, and doilies, and then added Christmas ornaments as the holidays approached. I've recently expanded into using crochet for other kinds of art: I stitch crocheted elements to fabric to create wall hangings, and use them to create paint imprints on notecards. I've really been enjoying the new focus (it gives me opportunities to use more different colors, and to crochet designs that are too complicated and unpredictable to easily work into a doily or a bracelet), so I'd like to continue in that direction for my non-holiday offerings.
• How did you get into your creating? Do you have a favorite item you’ve made? Tell us the story.
I first learned to crochet in elementary school, when the school had a craft fair as a fundraiser, and somebody taught me to crochet shell stitch strips so that I could help make an afghan. I taught myself more stitches with the help of an old "learn to crochet" book that my mom had hanging around, and later discovered tiny hooks and thread, which I love even better than yarn.
My favorite items change with my mood and the seasons. Right now, I'm completely in love with trees like the ones on this wall hanging and in these cards. I live in a neighborhood filled with huge, leafy trees, every one of which could pass for a tree of life. I was curious to see if I could achieve that strength and lushness in thread, and I'm thoroughly delighted with the results.
• What advice would you give a creative entrepreneur on starting a small artistic business?
First of all, know what your goal is. Do you want your business to be your sole support? Do you want it to provide supplemental income? Or do you simply want to make your hobby pay for itself? How you approach the business depends a lot on the answer to that question. (Those goals can change over time. I started out just wanting my crocheting to be self-supporting, and now that it does that with room to spare, I'm hoping to expand it so that it provides more supplemental income.)
After that (especially if your goal is for your business to be a significant income source), I think it's useful to do a quick back-of-the envelope calculation: how many of your products can you make in a week, how will you price them, and how much will they cost you to make? Will the resulting profit be enough to meet the goal you've chosen? (If not, it'll be necessary to make changes to your products, your pricing, or your goals. I think it's good to know that earlier, rather than later - it's incredibly discouraging to pour all of your time and energy into a business, only to realize later that it's not structured to provide the income that it needs to.)
• Do you have a person that inspires you (living or historical)? Tell us about her or him!
I've found that most people are inspiring, one way or another. I've been blessed to know and work with a lot of incredible people, over the years, and the ones I most try to emulate are those who know when to stop talking and listen, who can see other people's points of view, and who can tell when to keep trying and when to stop and ask for help. These aren't things that come naturally to me, so it's always amazing to me when I see people who seem so effortless in their grace and good judgment.
• Do you have a book or movie that makes you feel creative? Tell us about it!
I'm not a big movie watcher, but almost any book with pictures will put me in a creative mood - anything from a science textbook to a National Geographic magazine to some of the beautifully illustrated children's books that my kindergartener brings home from the library. I'll see mixes of colors or shapes or textures, and want to go make something or draw something.
• What is your favorite handmade treasure?
I come from a family that can't seem to stop making things, so my house is so well populated with handmade treasures that it's hard to pick a favorite. If I had to choose, though, my favorite would be a collection of decorative pots that my uncle made. I have probably a dozen or so, in various sizes, shapes, and colors, and I never get tired of looking at them. They're all currently squirrelled away on high shelves and in cabinets, to protect them from being loved too much by my kids, so that increases the "treasure" aspect: I love them, but almost never see most of them.
Thanks, Caitlin! You can check out the rest of the Featured Artisans here.
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