{Featured Artist: The Gilded Bee}

Here at Gussy has a lot to say we love to look at all things beautiful. Beautiful decorations, beautifully soft home-elements, beautiful stories about family life.

Today marks week #16 of my series on featured Etsy artists. I hope you’ve enjoyed the featured drool-worthy eye-candy shops. Don’t worry, I have many more, so please stay with me :) You can read all back Featured Artist posts by clicking here.

Please join me in welcoming Sasha at The Gilded Bee

What inspires you? Paint chips, the candy isle, the paper isle, vintage buttons, vintage millinery, antique china and wallpaper, beautiful photographs (often seen through other blogs), flowers and plants and bugs, my Grandma North’s photo’s, her mum’s photo’s, my dad’s photo’s, French and British textiles, stuff with stripes, dots and a spectrum of colors. Glitter, tinsel, other people who hand-make things. Lots of stuff.

Where do you call home? Are you from there originally? I am from Harlan, IA. I have lived here all 21 years.

Name something unique to where you live. Me. Hahahaha.

Share an interesting fact about yourself. I’m left-handed.

How did you come up with your shop name? I was messing around in the craft room, and it just came to me. It was long before I ever thought about opening a shop, I just thought “The Gilded Bee” sounded like a great paperie name.

Share a little bit about yourself. My name is Sasha. I’m a paper-addict. I was home-schooled. I’m 21. My mum’s name is Sherri. We run “The Gilded Bee” together. I do the web work and make and photograph stuff. She’s in the shipping+supplies dept. I’m the second of three sisters. We all have “S” names: Shaina, Sasha and Sarah. Yes, this confuses people. Hahahahaha. I have developed a real crush on vintage clothes. I am from a herd of artistic-crafting-camera crazy-entrepreneurs. I’m a second-generation immigrant. I love Victorian and Edwardian architecture. I consider animals as a requirement in life. Really furry Cats especially.

If you had to describe yourself in a word, what would that word be? Creative.

What made you decide to open up shop? A need to feed the ravenous craft fund. Then it started picking up more traffic, and I started adding more items/getting more serious. I will continue to expand on that foundation.

Name your favorite thing about selling handmade. It’s controllable (you can make those cherry dotted light blue medium euro flap envelopes, you know the ideas that come to you at 3 am), you can find and fit those hard-to-find specialty items.

Do you have a day job or sell on Etsy full-time? I’m a rebel. I do Etsy + handmade outlets all the time. Rather obsessively.

Give us a little glimpse into what a typical day in your life looks like. I get up. Slowly. I stagger toward down from upstairs. Open the curtains. Turn Computer and lights. Dig out something to drink…homemade hot chocolate+honey, or tea, or organic coffee…all favorites. Answer e-mails. Pack orders. Make paper goods. Spend a lot of time running with scissors. Make lists.Take as many photographs as I can get time for, cook, clean, frequent cat and dog contact (hugs and compliments). Eat food. Read. Blog. List and upload stuff on the computer. Think about more things to make and cook. Sleep.

Share with us a favorite Etsy purchase or shop. Shops: Caramelos (yum-o), Mary not Martha, Pink Grapefruit Style, Nice Package, Sohomode, I’ve recently discovered this one: fabricfarrago, I haven’t gotten anything yet, but I think that will change as soon as I decide on the details of the studio make-over.

Recent “toys”, A gorgeous black and gold vintage handbag from Robyn Ruth, A shirt-dress with little stars all over from Metrode, A perfect Trench from Nod to Mod, A butter colored shirt-dress from RaraeAves.

List a few of your most favorite pastimes. Buy paper. Make stuff with paper. Cook + bake. Take as many photo’s as my camera card will hold. Walk Edward and Patches (the collie brother and sister). Plot gifts. Wrap gifts.

Read any good books lately? I read a lot. And lose track of how much/the titles. Magazines: M.Stewarts Weddings, Donna Hay (get a bib, the photographs are fabulous), British Country Living, Gourmet and Bon Apetit. I love Childrens books: F.H. Burnett, Dodie Smith’s 101 Dalmatians, C.S. Lewis. I have a long, long list of books to read.

What is your most prized possession? If we’re discussing highly trivial things: A tie between the camera and the computer.

What are three of your favorite foods? Chocolate, stew, fresh home-made breads, esp. whole grain.

What would you like to learn to do? Letterpress. Learn another language.

What are you listening to right now? Liszt, Juan Diego Florez, Placido Domingo, Debussy by Mel Puller, The mash up CD’s.

Name one place you must visit in your lifetime and why. The British Isles. Besides the fact that I’m fascinated by those accents and the culture, that is where most of my family’s (bloodline) is from, from the Mayflower on my Mum’s side, to a Grandmother from Trent, to My Dad and his family from Canada.

• The giveaway will close Sunday, March 14 at 10 pm CST, and the winner will be announced the following day

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