Featured Shop - birdversusbird

This weeks featured shop BirdVersusBird is one of my favorite shops on all of etsy. One look at the bags, wallets, magnets & decals and you will see why. Behind the birds is designer Bess. She has a unique process for creating her items & has managed to work with reclaimed materials in a very cleaver way. Not only will your friends be jealous of your new accessory but you will be helping keep our earth a little cleaner.

Check out my Q&A with Bess:
1. Tell us about your product and where you get your inspiration.
I make wallets, purses, stickers and magnets. In terms of graphics, my inspiration comes from my love of birds and of nature in general. I like to feature animals that I've actually seen in the wild! As far as the actual products and the materials I use, my inspiration is the mountains of scrap material generated by my workplace, a commercial sign shop. When someone orders an odd-sized sign, I squeeze in my graphics on the waste area of the roll of banner material or adhesive vinyl as it runs through the printer. Normally, this material would be trimmed away and tossed. I'm always trying to think of new things to make.

2. How did you get involved with etsy?
I heard of Etsy about two years ago. I had just started making things and was selling them casually via word of mouth. A friend of one of my high school friends bought something and mentioned Etsy in his email to me as a possible venue for online selling. I peeked at the site, didn't really get it, then forgot about it for a while. I took another look last fall and realized it was exactly what I needed. I started listing items the day after Thanksgiving and things have been going really well since then!

3. Do you sell your work in any bay area stores?
I sell my work at a few places: Brownies Vintage in Berkeley, Blankspace Gallery in Oakland, and Needles + Pens in San Francisco. I've also sold things at Rock Paper Scissors.

4. When you're not creating what are you doing?
When I'm not creating for Bird vs. Bird I work full time doing graphic design/prepress and print production at a sign shop in Oakland. When I'm not doing that, I do a LOT of cooking. In the past week alone I made fig jam, 12 jars of applesauce, 50 tamales and sourdough bread from scratch. My freezer is getting very full! I have a little vegetable garden, and I've been tinkering around fixing up an old bike. I have a to-do list a mile long at all times. I wish I was one of those people who can get by on 3 hours of sleep a day!