Artist Feature: Stephanie Bolton of Sincesass

I met Stephanie, owner and artisan behind Sincesass, at the retail company we worked at together. We shared a love of bling, Mad Men, finding great deals and of course, crafting. She also has a great style and personality which is clear in her product line. Incidentally, we also both attended University of San Francisco, although at different times (because I’m old, ha).

Sincesass features wine bags, zipper clutches and totes, all handmade by Stephanie. She’s been sewing since she was 11 years old, and I have to say I admire her patience since sewing drives me bonkers.

I am the proud owner of my very own one-of-a-kind Sincesass wine bag that was given to me on my last day at my job which says “bai”. I like to carry it around the house in case of wine emergencies, and let’s face it, wine emergencies DO happen.

Stephanie and I got together for a glass of wine and a chat:

What are your favorite things, crafting related or not?

Crafting is definitely one of my top favorite things ever, but aside from sitting in front of my sewing machine, I like to go to the movies, gallivant around San Francisco, happy hour, and talk way too much about Bravo reality shows.

Embroidered "Bling" Zipper Pouch. Love the zipper color!

What are your goals for your business? Or are you just doing it for the enjoyment of crafting?

I started crafting without any goals (or craft business knowledge) in mind so I really dove in head-first starting my shop. After having my business open for almost six months and consistently making products, I've only focused on small goals to keep me going. This could be a new product line or experimenting with ads on blogs. I opened my shop as an outlet for my hobby and basic curiosity of how to turn a hobby into business. I just really wanted to see where it took me. If you would have told me in November that I would be selling my items in two San Francisco stores and having even more than five sales on Etsy, I won't have believed it. I think that keeps me going with this business. It's already exposed me to different experiences and people that it can only get better from here.

Moustache Tote

Do you have any new product ideas in the works, or would you like to focus on your current product lines?

Yes, I'm working on launching wedding party wine bags! Based on the idea of my current wine bags, they will be a bit "fancier" and playful with weddings in mind. They will be made of upholstery material with a classy detail, lined, and finished off with webbing straps. There will be different options for men and women in mind. A buyer will have the option to customize certain features and the quantity (based on the size of the wedding party). I noticed after selling my wine bags, that there was interest in using them as party favors and gifts. I thought this would be a great opportunity to jump into the wedding world and see what happens. I also have a long list of other ideas that I have to figure out how to execute and the time to do it!

This wine bag isn't afraid to say what we're all thinking

With thousands of people participating, selling on Etsy can be difficult and discouraging. What do you do to keep yourself going?

I've learned that I can only focus on my shop and what I'm doing. It can be overwhelming if I spend hours just looking at shops similar to mine and seeing their sales and products. I figure my time is better spent making new items or working on improving my shop. I also believe to be a successful shop, you do need to promote it outside Etsy since the likelihood of a buyer finding you on their own is low. But on the other side, Etsy has created a great community of sellers that want to talk with each other and share information. I've learned the most from forums and becoming buddies with fellow sellers.

Zipper pouch in action

What as been your most popular/best selling line so far?

For my online shop, it's been my wine bags (mostly over the Holiday season). In brick and mortar stores, it's been my glitter oilcloth zipper pouches. The glitter oilcloth is difficult to photograph so in person, it's eye-catching and so pretty!

Bronze glitter oilcloth?! Yes please!

You mentioned that customers in San Francisco can buy your products in a few physical locations outside of Etsy, where can they find them?

They can find my products at Urban Bazaar (Inner Sunset) and Green Zebra (downtown). Fingers crossed more locations soon! I'm always updating my Facebook page (www.facebook.com/SinceSass) and Twitter page (www.twitter.com/SinceSass) with the latest info on my shop.

Finally, and really most importantly, how long do you give Don and Megan’s marriage on Mad Men?

The moment when millions of Mad Men fans simultaneously exclaimed "Whut?!?"

Oh, my heart is breaking that Mad Men will not be back until 2012! Not sure how I will survive. So many theories about this marriage, but it could be one that lasts until death do they part. Don will probably go back to being Don the Player and Megan will want to do the right thing and stay with him, but develop extreme bitterness towards him and their life together. For the most part, the characters in Mad Men can't be that happy so something has to go wrong. Or she could die in a tragic accident (jealous Betty?!). Either way, I'm staying tuned.

BIG thank you to Stephanie for being my first featured artist on Stellaspace! Please check out her Etsy shop, Sincesass.