To stay a child with SweetNSnappyDesigns

Yesterday my mom called me & she was a bit sad & tired. I thought I had to do something in order to help her mood to become better. It´s not nice if one goes to bed in a bad mood. What did I do? I just linked her a wonderful & funny pictures of animals, we laughed a lot, we talked more than an hour discovering more & more funny photos...

 Looking at the pictures of our next feature I´m so sure that they are not only for children. Imagine, that my mom had them at home? What will happen? She would never feel upset!!! And that´s for sure!They are definitely not only for children but for everybody who like his life to be full of love & wonderful childish atmosphere!

So, today the hero of our story isn´t my mom (although she deserves to be featured here as well:), but a talented illustrator & graphic designer Athena behind her wonderful SweetNSnappyDesigns etsy shop



 I knew from a young age that I wanted to be an artist. After high school I got my BFA in graphic design and worked as a designer for 6 years in a corporate setting before finally opening my Etsy shop. My two daughters, Antonia (age 4) and Amelie (age 21 months) are my true inspiration behind my art and illustrations. Antonia will often sit next to me and tell me what to draw or what needs to be tweaked. I call her my "Art Director".

 Describing myself : Patient. Open-minded. Quiet. Imaginative. Meticulous


 I actually like all my illustrations but I'd have to say that the turtle is my favorite. I just really love turtles!

 I think the key to Etsy success is loving what you do and loving the product that you sell. If you love it and put your entire self into it, you will be successful. It's all about creating something personal that someone else can connect with and appreciate.

I can't say that I've had one favorite customer...they are all great! I treat all my customers the same and am always willing to go that extra step to make them happy with their purchase from my shop. I love all my customers and am so thankful that they have given me the opportunity to share my artwork with them and their children!

All the pictures are so sweet & cute! I just can´t find the suitable words to express these warm feelings that Athena evokes with her art!!! Thank you for your wonderful personality! You bring so much light into the Universe with your wonderful animals :)

I love all of them & can´t choose my favourite one :)

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CraftedLocaly´s Wonderful Idea

Today is the first day of December, of a new seasons. It means to me that there are new plans & expectation. How can one (me in this case:) accomplish the new tasks if the old ones are still waiting to be fulfilled?

I´ve noticed today, that I completely missed the message on my fb with the etsy shop story by beautiful Debora  from CraftedLocaly. Debora´s etsy shop in not only about her, But Crafted Locally is not just about Debora. It´s the place where she shows the works of many different artists from her area. This idea seems very fascinating & I hope that Debora´s nice story inspire somebody to lead such a project too :)

My dream is to provide a venue where artists and craftsmen can show their work and we all help promote each other. Maybe someone is interested in earrings, so they go to my site to look at earrings but then they see that another artists specializes in framing scripture quotes and they decide that would make a good gift. I am particularly inept technically and I thought there might be others out there with the same challenge. So instead of 3 or 4 of us having to learn the techie stuff, we would all work together to learn, support and encourage each other thereby leaving more time for our art or craft.

Currently there are only two artists - myself and Susan Baxley. Susan is an expert in origami. She has combined origami and jewelry making for a few items in the store. Susan is currently returning to college persuing her second Bachelors degree so her crafty days are more limited than mine. Any artist who lives here in Union County is welcome to join CraftedLocally...hence the name. We would all support each other.

I love that etsy specializes in hand crafted arts. It was an easy way for me to set up shop and not have to learn too much techie stuff and on etsy, we should be just competing with other handmade artists and not factories that can churn out the same item 10 time faster than an artist can make one.


 The funniest thing is that I thought selling online would be so easy. Turns out it's not. And the most difficult thing about it is the photography. I've tried light boxes, taking them out doors, having other people take the pictures for me etc. One of the days when I was taking pictures out doors, my cat decided he wanted my undivided attention. So every time I would get a shot lined out, he would step into the frame. Fortunately, I was able to edit him out of a most.

 When I get to feeling lazy, I switch gears. Maybe I'm not in the mood to make jewelry, then I make myself get on the camera. Or I'll sit down at the computer and browse through all the beautiful things on etsy and get inspired an motivated. Sometimes, I just call it a week and go read a favorite book.


 Thank you, Debora, for your wonderful story. I´m so inspired by your idea that I´m sure one day I´ll combine the handmade artists from my area in a cosy online shop.

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