"Design Advice: Get Rid of Crap. Buy Things You'll Love Forever. Make Stuff."
Those are definitely words to live by!
And, even cooler, the quote is from Cristina's (and Jenny's) feature at Apartment Therapy -- I tell ya, if I had a decent towel rack to display such a great item, I'd buy it in a heartbeat.
That's one of the things about the new apartment: a marked lack of towel racks. We're making do with free-standing racks that just wouldn't do this towel justice! Maybe I'll get it and frame it... hmmm....
While I ponder the possibilities, enjoy the interview!
1. Please tell us about the items in your Etsy shop. What do you make? How did you learn your craft? What is involved in your creative process?
The vast majority of items in my shop are screen-printed dish towels. I learned how to screen-print by reading a book about it and following the instructions that came with the screen-printing kit. There was a lot of cursing and soaking my kitchen floor in water along the way. I didn’t really feel like a true screen-printer until this past holiday season, when I finally got the basic processes down.
My creative process is still evolving. I used to draw all the time but that’s taken a back-seat to all the other things I have going on. I’m never without my notebook so if I have an idea, I can sketch it out and come back to it later. Photoshop has become more and more important to me over the past two years.
2. Tell us two (or more) other interesting things about you.
The Heated is also the name of my band. Well, ok, it’s really just me playing guitar and singing, which is not really a band. My point is, I play music as The Heated. Also, I’ve been learning about woodworking through a class at CCSF for the last two years and have plans to include some items in my shop within the next few months. Also, I’m gay-married to Jenny from ciuccio so that’s some gossip right there. (Small world! Mama's Magic interviewed ciuccio last month -- you can read Jenny's feature here.)
3. What inspires your creations?
Clearly, I’m inspired by nature and I love a sense of humor. My friend Nicole Martin (who designed Party Bird and Ratbird) keeps this awesome notebook of her stuff that I’m endlessly jealous of. So, I guess you could say that my friends inspire me too.
4. How did you get involved with Etsy?
My wife was hugely instrumental in getting me involved with Etsy. She’s been able to lead me through the ropes, which has made it so much easier for me. (Thank you, Jenny!)
5. What is your biggest challenge related to your Etsy shop?
Having the time to work on new designs. On top of all that I do (band, screen printing and woodworking), I have a full time job. I have four designs right now and I’ve been doing this for two years. A fifth is on the way. It’s less “birds” and more words so we’ll see how that goes over.
6. What crafting skill(s) do you wish you had or hope to learn someday?
Bending wood. Inlay. Printing in more than one color.
7. What has been your biggest success and/or proudest moment since opening your Etsy shop?
For a while I was having a problem with printing my owl design. I had mastered burning screens, spreading emulsion and gotten most of my systems down but I just couldn’t print that damn owl right! I figured it out by researching it multiple times and finally hitting on the solution, which was that my towels were slipping. An easy fix (adhesive on the press!) but once I got that down, I felt that I was truly a screen printer.
8. Where else can we find out more about you and/or your creations?
website: http://www.theheated.com
blog: http://theheatedcristina.blogspot.com/
twitter: http://twitter.com/theheated
1. Please tell us about the items in your Etsy shop. What do you make? How did you learn your craft? What is involved in your creative process?The vast majority of items in my shop are screen-printed dish towels. I learned how to screen-print by reading a book about it and following the instructions that came with the screen-printing kit. There was a lot of cursing and soaking my kitchen floor in water along the way. I didn’t really feel like a true screen-printer until this past holiday season, when I finally got the basic processes down.
My creative process is still evolving. I used to draw all the time but that’s taken a back-seat to all the other things I have going on. I’m never without my notebook so if I have an idea, I can sketch it out and come back to it later. Photoshop has become more and more important to me over the past two years.
2. Tell us two (or more) other interesting things about you.
The Heated is also the name of my band. Well, ok, it’s really just me playing guitar and singing, which is not really a band. My point is, I play music as The Heated. Also, I’ve been learning about woodworking through a class at CCSF for the last two years and have plans to include some items in my shop within the next few months. Also, I’m gay-married to Jenny from ciuccio so that’s some gossip right there. (Small world! Mama's Magic interviewed ciuccio last month -- you can read Jenny's feature here.)
3. What inspires your creations?
Clearly, I’m inspired by nature and I love a sense of humor. My friend Nicole Martin (who designed Party Bird and Ratbird) keeps this awesome notebook of her stuff that I’m endlessly jealous of. So, I guess you could say that my friends inspire me too.
4. How did you get involved with Etsy?
My wife was hugely instrumental in getting me involved with Etsy. She’s been able to lead me through the ropes, which has made it so much easier for me. (Thank you, Jenny!)
5. What is your biggest challenge related to your Etsy shop?
Having the time to work on new designs. On top of all that I do (band, screen printing and woodworking), I have a full time job. I have four designs right now and I’ve been doing this for two years. A fifth is on the way. It’s less “birds” and more words so we’ll see how that goes over.
6. What crafting skill(s) do you wish you had or hope to learn someday?
Bending wood. Inlay. Printing in more than one color.
7. What has been your biggest success and/or proudest moment since opening your Etsy shop?
For a while I was having a problem with printing my owl design. I had mastered burning screens, spreading emulsion and gotten most of my systems down but I just couldn’t print that damn owl right! I figured it out by researching it multiple times and finally hitting on the solution, which was that my towels were slipping. An easy fix (adhesive on the press!) but once I got that down, I felt that I was truly a screen printer.
8. Where else can we find out more about you and/or your creations?
website: http://www.theheated.com
blog: http://theheatedcristina.blogspot.com/
twitter: http://twitter.com/theheated
If you're an Etsy seller in the San Francisco Bay Area, contact Jen from Mama's Magic Studio about joining SFEtsy!
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