03.02.08
My Interview with Robyn, Owner of Burst of Happiness
Meet Robyn Vines Smith, Owner of www.burstofhappiness.com.
Where are you located? Albuquerque, NM
What do you design? Accessories such as handbags, totes, knitted scarves, fancy-pants aprons.
Where/How did you learn this? I am self-taught. I learned to sew, knit, crochet on my own over the past few years. I never thought I had creativity in me because I never gave things a try. Now I’m eager to learn more and more-for instance, I’m currently learning yarn dyeing and spinning. Each thing I do takes me down new exciting paths.
Favorite Artist who inspires you? I guess the natural thing would be to pick someone in fashion or someone really famous, but I’m going to pick my friend Ren Adams (www.artbyrenadams.com). It’s not because I aim to do work like hers, because we do really different things. But she inspires me because she’s really passionate about her work and she’s taken so much time to learn about Asian culture. She really draws from her knowledge and passion and she takes her artwork and the culture behind it very seriously. Through her, I’ve learned to take interest in many new things.
Where does your inspiration come from? Fabric prints and fashion. I just see a fabric and know I’ve got to make something out of it.
What do you do to combat creative block? I don’t really have creative block–my problem is more a lack of time to get to work on things.
Where do you design your creations? Spare bedroom at home.
What does your work space look like right now? Today it’s quite messy because I’ve been sick and not inclined to clean up. But usually I keep it quite neat. I’m a very organized person, so I can’t work if things aren’t kept tidy and in place.
How does your family feel about what you do? They are very supportive, I’m not making a living this way, so nobody has any reason to think I’m nuts or criticize me.
Do you have any advice for someone looking to make their own creations using this method? With sewing and knitting, it’s all about practice. But my advice is to really take pride in your work and sell the best product you can. Quality, all the way. To do business as an indie shop online, you must put a lot of time into researching free or inexpensive ways to network and get noticed. Otherwise, you’re just one Web site out of a zillion floating through cyberspace.
Best advice you received when starting your business venture? Promote, promote, promote! It’s all up to you to get noticed.
Favorite part of owning your own business? The feeling I get when somebody wants an item I made!
Least favorite? When sales can’t match the amount of time I put into it.
Favorite color? Yellow!
Does this color show up in a lot of your work? I do have colorful items.
If there were more hours in the day, what would you be doing? Sewing more.
A sample of Burst of Happiness products. For all products, please visit Robyn’s website.
Robyn said,
March 2, 2008 at 12:34 pm
Thank you so much for writing this up about me!
Administrator said,
March 2, 2008 at 2:55 pm
Absolutely my pleasure! I’m glad you took part in this.
Kelly