Introducing Amy Roundtree, SewArtsy

Want to get to know us Amys better?
Here continues a series of getting-to-know-you interviews.
Next up: Amy Roundtree of SewArtsy

How long have you been an artist, and how long have you been active as a business artist?
I have been a lifelong artist, from my first coloring pages, to painting at a local studio, art classes in school, and so so many arts and crafts in the in between times up til now. I started my sewing business in 2006 after my local friends began admiring my own bags. I started just by bringing in my friends who love me, and then slowly ventured out into the world. I opened my Etsy shop in 2007, and started attending arts and craft shows to get my wares out into the public.

Are you an artist full time?
I am first and foremost a full time wife and mom. My three little ones Caleb (7), Sammy (5) and Charis (2) require most of my time daily, but I steal away some evenings to work on my craft. My family is awesome, and they give me the time and support I need to keep my shop full of lovelies!

Who or what inspires you to create?
I'm inspired by completely random things, and once an idea pops in my head I try to get it down on paper. I love to make things that are happy and bright, and I'm inspired by other things and people who are happy and bright! I have tons of ideas that have never made it into physical form because I just haven't had time to work on them, but at least they are written down for the future.

Describe your work space.
I have a large space in our basement for my sewing table, drafting table, notions and supplies. Most of my fabric is stacked in a closet and on shelving units just outside the closet (I have way too much fabric!). Another shelving unit houses my notions and tools. I also keep my craft show folding table up, so I have a nice looking place to put my items once they are finished. It makes me happy to have a place at which to look over and see what I've accomplished! An enormous baby gate separates my area from the kids' play area. Otherwise we'd have big problems! When my schedule gets hectic, like when prepping for a show, I do my cutting and ironing upstairs in the kitchen and family room so my hubby and I don't miss out on watching our shows together.

What kinds of things do you like to do in your free time?
Hmmm...Little League games, soccer games, classes at the rec center, going to church with the family, getting together with my girlfriends, reading craft blogs, getting inspired by others' creations!

What is your favorite handmade item, made by you or given to you?
I have an acrylic on paper painting that I made in junior high art class. It was chosen to be shown at a regional art show for the public school system, and it was the first moment I really felt like I might actually be a good artist. It gave me the confidence I needed to step out and try my hand at other media.

What does being an Amy mean to you?
Most Amys I have met in my life have been super friendly. In fact, growing up I had two other Amys as best friends, and I wouldn't have traded them for the world! So being an Amy means to me that hopefully others find me friendly, and that if you're an Amy I haven't met yet, I'm probably going to like you!

Find SewArtsy Amy here:

http://sewartsy.com/

http://sewartsy.etsy.com/

http://sewartsyblog.blogspot.com/

http://artist.to/sewartsy

http://twitter.com/sewartsyamy

Introducing Amy Sellers, SnuggleVillage

Want to get to know us Amys better?
Here continues a series of getting-to-know-you interviews.
Next up: Amy Sellers of SnuggleVillage

I don't know how long I have been an artist. I have always been making fun things that I love since I was little. I learned how to crochet a few years ago. I was at a concert at Red Rocks in Colorado and saw a crocheted koozie that had a strap to hang it around your neck. I asked everyone where I could get one because I thought it was the neatest little accessory for tailgating. I googled it and googled it. I finally went to the store and got a crochet hook and some yarn. I watched youtube.com tutorials until I was happy with the quality of my little accessory. My friends started asking me to make them for them in their college colors as it was a neat scarf like accessory that worked as a koozie. I decided to call them Skoozies. I was told about etsy and now I am here selling them through my snuggle village page and also through custom orders at drinkhandsfree@gmail.com.

I do this full time as I have moved to West Virginia for my boyfriend's job and there are not any jobs here for me. In Colorado I was working for the Integer Group - on sweepstakes for MillerCoors and promotions for P&G. Now I work in our spare room that has been made into a very girlie creative room with lots of windows with views of apalachia.

I also love to cook and I usually watch Aarti paarti episodes on youtube while crocheting because I love her cooking style and she is very entertaining. If you have not discovered her youtube videos yet, I highly recommend them if you love to cook new and interesting foods! Also in my spare time I like to quilt, hike, drink wine, go see live music, travel, hang out with my grandmother, thrift shop, tour old mansions, estate sales, run, ride my bike, and take afternoon naps.

My favorite handmade items are those I have saved from my mother. She passed away in 1982 of a rare lung disease and she was also a quilter/crafter. I have a lot of her handmade things. In fact, when I was 22 years old (now 34), I met my friend Katie. We felt as though we had known each other forever. It was strange how we began hanging out every day and were inseperable. She ended up mentioning it to her mother Sally one day. Sally couldn't believe that Katie and I had found each other. Sally and my mother were friends when Katie and I were babies into toddlers. It turned out we had played together as small children and then lost touch once my mother had passed when I was five. Sally gave me a box full of handmade items my mother had made for her as gifts. Now Katie is getting married THIS Sunday and I made her a quilt. This quilt is special. I asked her mother to give me the names and addresses of all women invited to be in or attend the wedding. Each woman made a quilt square with the directions I sent them. I got 90 of them and assembled the quilt; I am now working on the quilting of it. I hope to have it done by Wednesday as I fly out Thursday to be in the wedding with Katie on Sunday. I would have to say this is going to be my favorite handmade item made by me.

Being an AMY is super fun. I love hearing Amie, the Pure Prarie League song and the Once in Love with Amy song. I like that one letter is at the beginning, one letter in the middle and one is at the end of the alphabet. I am also in love with COWS... if you go two letters from the letter C you get A, two letters from O you get M, two letters from W you get Y. COW and AMY are pretty close. I know, I have had a lot of time to think about it. I also like that my address is 269 and that is A-M-Y on a phone. I was named after my great grandmother, Amy Elizabeth and I always ask every Amy I meet what their middle name is. As you can tell about me... I like finding similarities and coincidences; some call it syncronicity.

snugglevillage.etsy.com

A New Amys Treasury

This just in! We've got some talented Amys on our team!

'A Little Amy Here and There' by sewartsy

Items from the Amys in the Arts Team...Enjoy!

Purple Pastels Silv... ahouston $18	FLEUR DE LIS origin... haveart $12	Offspring ORIGAMI M... Amigami $15	Beautiful Pink Flow... AmyCanSew $20
Peacock Family Momm... amyzo $15	Russian Nesting Dol... BlushingDoveBo... $5.5	Cole the lump of Co... peglegpoo $3.50	Earth Toned Moth Ne... alililly $30
Fall Carnival (hand... amyspishposh $18	Coin Dragon Beaded ... arjarvis $350	Honey Brown Genuine... StudioDolores $34.99	CLASSIC CHARM Jumpe... rosellaclaire $30
H - Mini Hippo Etch... ScrtSolstice $4	Button Adjustable R... sewartsy $10	Fragile Beauty - Fi... AmyRehnae $18	Emmaline with Poppi... petiteami $15

Generated using Treasury HTML code generator by Whale Shark Websites.

Enjoy! Amy

My Favorite Time of Year by Amy B, Amigami

My favorite time of year is the half-weird month or so of summer warmth once school starts. Before the leaves turn and nights get cold again and fall officially begins. The ice cream truck still runs. Neighbors are still obsessed with lawn care rituals. But the pace of life is changing all around us, and it hangs thick in the air like the creeping morning dew. Needless to say, days become quieter. I think that's what I like most. After a childhood spent "going back to school," it's almost like being left in a theme park after hours, getting to ride that coaster one more time before you're kicked out.

This time is punctuated by Labor Day, the culturally observed end of summer. It marks the closing of seasonal day wasters such as swimming pools and the aforementioned theme parks. The drive-in limits its double features to weekends only, then ceases altogether. With the days growing colder with each passing sunset, and the children newly preoccupied with matters of education, these establishments begin to fade away. My birthday also comes at this point of the year, providing me with a justifiable excuse for one last celebration before summer disappears entirely. Pretty soon sidewalks will crinkle with dead leaves and life once again slows to a more hibernatory pace.

Amy B, Amigami.etsy.com

Click here to find the Amys' shops offering free shipping this week!