{featured artist :: Paper & Pigtails}

This giveaway is now closed.

Here at Gussy Sews we love to look at all things beautiful & handmade. Beautiful items that reflect a happy life, love, and a joyful spirit; beautiful items that we can share with others…

Today is week #38 of my series on Featured Artists, which is a bi-monthly event showcasing fun and sassy handmade shops! I love searching for new wares to show the Gussy community. You can read all back Featured Artist posts by clicking here.

♥ This week’s Featured Artist is Kori from Paper & Pigrails, a shop filled with party printables.
Be sure & enter the giveaway below!

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Please introduce yourself to us… My name is Kori Clark and I live in sunny Florida {Bradenton to be exact} where I share my home with my sweet husband, two excited toddlers, and two large dogs who shed a bit too much. My computer is my heart and I have been using it to illustrate original graphics for over 10 years. Most of my growing years I spent loving the fine arts and then went to college, ready to abandon my dreams of being an artist for a “real” career. It was then that my {OH SO WISE} dad suggested I look into computer graphics instead of abandoning something I loved. It was love at first digital illustration, and I graduated in digital arts. Since that time I have worked corporately and then had the opportunity to stay home and try to make this a full time gig, with freelance work. In spring of 2010 I was introduced to a whole new world of “party designs” and party bloggers and it was a perfect fit! I have watched Paper & Pigtails grow and have many plans for it in the future!

What inspires you? What doesn’t? Artistically, I find myself inspired by food, fashion, and interior design more than anything else. In life and in design, my children both inspire me with the way that they see the world and all of the things that I forgot were cool in it!

Share something you absolutely LOVE about your shop/your product: I love that printable designs can save money, packaging, and help support local businesses. I think one of the coolest things about printable products is that there isn’t any shipping associated with them!! For this reason, I am able to send products around the world without any “packaging” and packaging/shipping expense, and my clients can then have their invitations and paper items printed at their local shop. I have customized my products for everything from birthday parties in Australia to a wedding in Japan, while sitting at home in Florida.

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

Do you have a day job or sell full-time? I am thrilled to be able to sell full-time.

Based on your answer above, what a current challenge you’re facing? Balancing running a business with two small children at home. Every day there is a challenge and trying to do it all seamlessly can be exhausting.

Give us a little glimpse into what a typical day in your life looks like.
6am – up and at ’em/coffee/emails/orders
7:30am – kids are up, we get dressed and have breakfast and prepare for the day
7:30am-9am – try to squeeze in a little work while we get ready for the day (check FB/twitter/blog)
9am – drop my older one off at preschool and home to play with the little guy for a bit before putting him down for a nap
11:00am – 2pm designs (different ever day… sometimes marketing/logo design, sometimes party designs, sometimes setting up and photographing new designs)AKA kids nap time
2:00pm – 3:30pm my daughter is home and she has a “rest time” which allows another few emails to be answered while I start dinner
3:30pm – 5:00pm playtime
5:00pm – 7:30pm family time/dinner/bath times/bedtime stories/lullaby’s
8:30pm – 12:00pm or later emails/twitter/Facebook/blog/fill orders, hurry and go to bed!!!

Share with us a favorite handmade purchase or shop. My favorite purchase/shop right now is Bee’s Knees Creative. Renee makes the sweetest cookies and cake pops. She has worked her magic for me several times and is amazing! She makes her own cookie cutters, so she can customize things wonderfully to a vision. Not only are her sweets beautiful, they are super tasty! She recently relocated to a town only an hour away, so I am now anxious to try her cakes, too!

What would you like to learn to do? I am trying to learn more about product photography, I love beautiful photos! I would also LOVE to learn how to sew.

What are you listening to right now? Err… Nick Jr. But if I had my way, it would be replaced with any band with a stand up bass guitar.

The Giveaway Goods:

Sign your name below and enter to win $50 Paper & Pigtails shop credit.
Please note, this giveaway is open to US residents only.
For extra entries ~ share on your blog, facebook, or tweet this: i {heart} @paperandpigtail’s party printables and hope to win $50 shop credit via @GussySews’s blog >> http://bit.ly/eLqUrF

More info ~
* The giveaway will close Sunday, April 10 at 10 pm CST.
* Connect with Kori online: website, twitter, facebook, etsy.
* Come on back Friday, April 29 for another Featured Artist post!