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SPOTLIGHT on MtCoffinz!

CreepyQueen: So First off, What is MtCoffinz?

MtCoffinz:We are trying to be a ?One Stop Shopping? Experience for alternative clothing.  We still make absolutely every single item by hand.  We have diversified enough over the years to have lots of dark gothic and Steam Punk skirts.  We also have tons of Neon Raver Bright Party TuTus. If you are heading to a special event party, like Burning Man or a 3-Day Rave, then you should start shopping here first.

CQ: Who is MtCoffinz?

MtC:Technically, MTCoffinz is just Jinx.  That?s me, a coffee Fueled Sewing Robot.  I design all of the patterns, choose the colors, sew the clothing, take the photos, and answer emails.  However, it would be unrealistic to say that I can keep up with all of those demands.  Riven, my wonderful assistant, now answers most of the email questions (about 350 per day!)  I also get lots of help from my husband who does almost all of the screen-printing and he writes the online item listings.

CQ: How did MtCoffinz get Started?

MtC: I started making clothes with my mom when I was still very young.  In my teens, I had a dance studio where I taught kids dance routines.  When we had competitions, I used to make all of my dancer?s costumes.

That led to making clothes for my friends, then for their friends, and so on.  I started selling online with eBay many years ago, which led to my own online store, and then I had some requests for consignment shops.  I currently sell in a few consignment shops in several countries.  Then Etsy was born.  I love it!  Almost all of my newest stuff goes straight to Etsy.  We have 2 Etsy shops that are doing very well.

CQ: Do you have a favourite piece for sale right now?    

MtC: I have 1 item that holds a special place.  I made a Giant Red and Black Prom skirt last year. It was the first one and I was kinda testing the waters to see if anyone would like it.  I was also a little cautious about pricing it at $150.00.

Well it turns out that it was the start of something great. That skirt was an immediate success and we sold more than 40 the first year during Prom Season.  I started getting requests for the same skirt in alternate colors.  That skirt is now available in about a dozen colors with more coming. The summer Wedding season was also very good and I expect it to get better when we roll out new styles for formal events.

CQ: What do you think makes the perfect tutu?

MtC: There are several things that a skirt has to have before it can even be called a tutu. It has to be sewn not tied. It has to have a real waistband, not a piece of string or ribbon. It has to be machine washable so you can enjoy it over and over again.

To make it perfect it has to have bold or vibrant colors that are eye-catching.  It needs to be really full and pouffy.  All of our skirts are ruffled by hand.  Even the smaller skirts can have 20 yards of tulle in them.  All of those hand folded ruffles are the key to making it durable and full.

CQ: What do you find was one of the hardest things you had to overcome so far with the start up of your shop?

MtC: The first few challenges were based around finding fabric and materials in large quantities.  Even from the beginning, I wanted to make clothing that could be reproduced so we could have a full store of regular items.  It?s great to have loads of One-of-a-kind items, but they sell out so fast that it was hard to keep the inventory stocked up.

CQ: What are your future plans for MtCoffinz? Any new pieces in the works?

MtC: I am always adding new colors and styles to our inventory.  That?s the fun part.  We do all of our own screen-printing on site, so if I can?t find the right fabric?I?ll just make it!  Halloween is right around the corner, so I?ll be releasing lots of new styles. 

The future is looking pretty bright, I am planning an adding at least two full time employees to help with fabrication and production of the regular inventory items.  That will give me a lot more time to create unique items.  By Homecoming dance season, I hope to have lots of full length skirts for alternative girls.  It?s going to be really exciting!

Plus we will have lots more pictures with Miss Mischief.  She is a stunning model who works with SMP photography.  They are working with us exclusively in New England. [See above graveyard photo and right below this].

CQ: Where can readers of CreepyQueen buy and find more about you and your shop?

MtC: Google!  MTCoffinz is almost everywhere (eBay, Etsy, Facebook, Twitter, MySpace, LiveJournal, YouTube?)  Just type in MTCoffinz and you can find us all over.  Every account has the same name so it?s really easy to find us!

Jennifer Ryburn aka Savage Lucy is the fabulous artist behind Delicious Pie Designs, an online shop that offers an assortment of hand made goodies from doll clothes to stationary. I got a chance to interview Jennifer and show off some of her wares.

Creepy Queen: Your shop showcases a variety of artistic talents (drawing, painting, sewing), what did you start with when you first started crafting?

Savage Lucy: I've always done everything. I can't really remember when I made a conscious decision to try any one craft or another. My mother and grandmothers sewed, so I always sewed, and I've always been an illustrator at heart.

CQ: Do you have any art training, or are you self taught?

SL: Like I said, I've always been a bit of an artist. I've always drawn, and my style was heavily influenced by people like Bruce Timm and old Hannah-Barbara cartoons. A few years ago I came out to LA where I went to art school and classes like life drawing immensely improved what I could do. I recommend to every aspiring artist I know that they take a life drawing class or two, even if you see your art as a hobby. You'll be amazed at what you can do.

CQ: You draw a lot of different comic book characters, which one is your favorite?

SL: I've always been a comic fangirl. I don't read as many as I'd like but I love comic book movies. I guess lately I've had tons of fun with my little drawings of Bruce Wayne and Tony Stark hanging out at fancy shindigs. I'm pretty much a Bat-villain fangirl through and through. Joker, Catwoman, Harley Quinn, Penguin, Poison Ivy, Two-Face, The Mad Hatter, et cetera. I've loved them all since I was a tiny girl. Although I'm trying to move away from products with characters owned by other people, I will probably never stop my fangirling.

CQ: Aside from drawing and crafting, what is the rest of your life like? Are you in school, a 9-5 girl, or a full time artist?

SL: I graduated May of last year and I do a bit of custom work, commissions and freelance here and there to pay the rent. But it's slow going with this economy, so I'm still looking for a full time design position.

CQ: Where do you hope to be in five years from now?

SL: I hope to grow Delicious Pie into a bigger independent business bringing all sorts of fun items to the public. I love doing art and designing products to put them on, and I can't wait until the day that I can do that full time.

You can visit the Delicious Pie shop here. Mention Creepy Queen and receive 15% off!

More of Jennifer's artwork can be seen on her DeviantArt account.

-Shannon

    I found ByHand.me randomly one day whilst bored and aimlessly browsing the internet. I immediatly contacted the creators, because this site has a lot of potential for crafters and DIYers. Although new, it still bosts a lot of awesome features, and well.. I'll just get one of the creators, Rebecca Dillon, to tell you about the site.

CreepyQueen: First off, what is Byhand.me?

Rebecca: ByHand is in essence a social community for handmade artists and buyers to come together and make handmade personal again. We offer a number of features for artists to promote their work and for buyers to find it. The most popular aspects of the site are: Spotlights and Wishlists.

Spotlights allow you to curate 9 items in a gallery format. This allows you to pull items from multiple venues and create what Etsy calls a "treasury" of handpicked items that you'd like to show off to the world. Spotlights never expire, and only are removed when you choose to delete it. All spotlighted items are randomly featured in Window Shopping and at the top of every ByHand page.

Wishlists allow you to create wishlists of items from a multitude of handmade venues including Etsy, ArtFire, 1000Markets, DaWanda, SilkFair, Made It Myself, ShopHandmade, iCraft.ca, WinkElf, Foodzie and Zibbet. (These are same venues that we support in our Spotlights feature. ) A wishlist is many things to many people. It's a great way to keep up with gifts for friends and family, or to compile a list of those must haves for your own indulgences. Our wishlists allow you to keep organized by creating lists of items, allow you to send your wishlists to friends in an email, either as All Items, or just a particular list. Wishlists are private and remain private unless you choose to share your Wishlist.

Adding an item to your wishlist is as simple as clicking a link on your browsers toolbar. You can add items to your wishlist on selected venues in just one click without ever leaving the page you are on. You can also import all of your etsy favorites to your wishlist in just one click for easy organization.

CQ: Who are the creaters behind ByHand?

R: M. Adam Kendall is the creator, designer and programmer for ByHand. He currently works full time as a programmer for an independent company in Arlington, VA. However, his background growing up was very different from this and another reason that ByHand was created. Adam actually came from a lower income family with three other brothers and a sister. His dad lost his job at one point so he is very familiar with what it is like to struggle through a hardship. He also, unfortunately, remembers what government cheese and powdered milk taste like. Adam's mom was a seamstress who worked at her craft to pull in extra money to help support the family. It's because of her that Adam gained an appreciation for arts and crafts and the reason he knows how to sew. He also learned woodworking from his dad and metalworking from his grandfather.

Myself, Rebecca D. Dillon, I'm from a pretty average American family myself. I grew up as part of the struggling middle class in the 80s with a mother who was always trying to give my brother and I whatever we wanted and therefore living a bit beyond our means. My mom was always doing arts and crafts with me and taught me how to bake. I attended college locally at Roanoke College where I studied a bit of everything including photography, screen printing, graphic design, pottery, 3-D design, drawing, painting, art history, poetry and even writing. It took me seven years, but I eventually managed a BA in fine arts. I do a lot of the basic customer support for ByHand members, the advertising and marketing. I also work up the artist features and interviews.

Together, husband and wife make a pretty good team.

CQ: Why did you two decide to create byhand?

R:  ByHand.me was conceived and created by my husband, Adam. Frustrated withhandmade venues that seemed to advertise only to sellers and not to buyers as well as social networking sites that seemed steeped in nothing but seller spam, he wanted to create an environment where artists could showcase their work and at the same time really get seen. We feel ByHand reflects an answer to these issues. Front page blog posts are carefully monitored for content and we also actively advertise to buyers as the bulk of advertising.

You can read Adam's whole story on why ByHand was created under Our Story.

CQ: Are there any requirements to join?

R: To become a member on ByHand all you have to do is register. It's as easy as that.

There are no restrictions on joining ByHand. Everyone is welcome. You can be an artist, a venue, a reseller, or just buyer. We welcome everyone to become a member and celebrate handmade. The only restriction we have set forth is that only handmade artisans can list their shops in the Artisan Directory.

CQ: Are there any special events or promotions going on right now?

R:  We are running a handmade contest through March 18th in which you can enter to win $103 in handmade products donated by ByHand.me members. There is a new contest every month.

So there you have it! ByHand.me is an awesome new site for crafters, shoppers, and more! We've signed up!

Feel free to post your byhand address/username at the bottom of this article as a comment.

T:  We are very pleased to have a new intro. site in the works! When that is up we will be launching a promotions company based in central Ontario. And, Canada wide contests, campaigns and Entity merch are also being worked on

You can check out Entity at the following:

Creepy Queen: What interested you in alternative weddings, and do you think they are something that will become more popular in the future?

Wedding Skulls: I'm less interested in the 'wedding' side of things and more interested in the subculture itself. Firstly, a wedding is such a huge, fun party, it's a great vehicle to express yourself, and I just LOVE seeing what all the crazy, zany, fun, creative people within our subcultures think up - especially when it comes to expressing love, that most elusive of emotions. Secondly I'm a true believer that it's the artisans - designers, writers, musicians, crafters - that keep subcultures alive. I really want to do my part to support creative people by allowing them to be featured on the blog. 
 
I think more and more people strive to push the envelope of what's 'acceptable' in society nowadays, and dark alternative weddings will get more popular as a result. The longer subcultures hang around - like goth, or punk ,for example - the more 'acceptable' they become. Nowadays, most people have some notion of what a goth or a punk IS, whereas Emo is still a mystery (my parents have no idea what an emo is). Second and third generation goths, punks and metalheads have no fear of what their parents and grandparents will think of their all-black wedding party or haunted house wedding - in fact, their parents are probably arguing over which Slayer song should be the father-daughter dance.

CQ: Is this a full time endeavor for you? What else do you do?

WS: I wish! No, I have many and varied jobs. Mostly I work as an accessible formats producer, transcribing braille books and resources for blind New Zealanders. I also do large print and electronic text. Apart from that, I work as a copywriter and freelance writer. I write anything from magazine articles to website content and marketing copy.
 
When I?m not working on either of these jobs, I?m writing a novel or poem, painting or crafting, jumping around at a heavy metal concert, hanging with my husband and our awesome friends, planning my next overseas trip or on the hunt for the perfect sausage roll.

CQ: Can you give us one tip for planning a Halloween wedding?

WS: A wedding is two things and two things only - a ritual ceremony to announce and legalize your commitment to each other, and a celebration. There are no rules, no must-haves, no "traditions" that govern what you can and cannot do. Strip the concept of a wedding back to its core and rebuild it according to YOUR pricipals, YOUR relationship, YOUR friends and family and YOUR budget. And make it fun. Weddings should be fun.

All photos accompying this article are of Steff's own "Halloween Wedding". Over the next few months Wedding Skulls will be featuring MORE Skully Weddings - real wedding profiles, some wonderful guest posts, AND they will be releasing the Gothic Wedding Planner, along with some other, brand new ebooks for your dark delights.

www.weddingskulls.com

-Shannon

Danni is a published artist and has sold many of her prints on clothing, as well as canvas. After receiving a very positive reception to her artwork, she set up her own website and has been doodling more than ever! "Art creates an unspoken bond with people you have never met, but with whom you have an imaginary connection to, and that's why I continue to pick up a pencil and create new doodles every day."

CreepyQueen: How did you get started with all the doodling?

Danni: I have always loved drawing from a very young age.

CQ: Do you have any art training, or are you self taught?

D: I have done a lot of studying at school, college and university, but I think an artist's style is always self-taught. Your imagination and personality molds the artist you become.

CQ: What is the inspiration behind your designs?

D: My doodles mainly portray girls with attitude. My fashion design background is always present in my drawings, and I love inspiration from people I meet and see on the street. This, along with my imagination, creates cool girls with attitude!

CQ: Aside from drawing and fashion design, what else do you like to do in your spare time?

D: I'd love to say that I have other interests, but doodling and sewing have become my way of life. If you enjoy what you do, why do anything else?!

CQ: Where do you hope to be in five years from now?

D: I would adore to have exhibitions of my work and be a well known name for alternative art. A lot can happen in five years, but even if I'm still doing what I'm doing, I'd be happy.

You can see more of Doodles by Danni at www.doodlesbydanni.co.uk

Danni is also a techinically trained fashion designer with her own line, Dressed by Danni, which you can see here: www.dressedbydanni.co.uk

-Shannon