ParisChicBoutique

Today I am featuring Allie from Paris Chic Bouique. What a lovely Etsy shop this is....everything is so lovely and Parisian. They sell hand painted, French inspired products for you, baby and the home. From oil paintings to hand painted tiles, you can find just about anything with an Eiffel Tower, Fleur de lis or French Poodle! Most pieces will even teach you a french word or two!

What is your "real" life like?
I live in a great building in Queens, NY with my wonderful and extremely supportive husband, Philip and our orange tabby, Benson. I cannot begin to function without my morning cup of coffee as I check emails and sales and just break into the day. When not painting, packaging, photographing or posting I love to read, cook, go for a walk, shop and most certainly watch my daily dose of Martha Stewart!

What is your process?
Most of our items are ceramic so we use special paints that are later fired to create permanent art. The tote bags offered are all organic cotton canvas and we use all natural pigments made for fabric painting, again creating a permanent bond. Just browsing through our shop, you can see that we paint on just about everything and use all different types of materials. Right now, our favorite decoration is glitter! Just in time for the holiday season!

What are your goals and vision for your business?
Short term goals are to sell as many products as our little hands can keep up with! Long term we would love to grow our business by obtaining more wholesale accounts and having more availability of the Paris Chic Boutique line.

How and where do you market your business?
Mainly on Etsy but there are so many wonderful blogs that have so graciously featured some of our products:
www.organic4baby.com
http://onthedotcreations.typepad.com/onthedotcreations/
http://trendytots.typepad.com/trendytots/

Do you subscribe to any business related blogs, zines or magazines?
Martha Stewart Living, (lots of entrepreneurial advice & creative ideas)

What inspires you?
So many inspirations...just love Paris (obviously), colors in nature (always stop to smell the roses!), fresh flowers, Spiderman, and love the smell of a bookstore! Oh, and traveling by car; whether it's a vacation cross country or just a ride Upstate NY it's all about the journey!

Who is your favorite musical artist?
Neko Case but love such a broad range...classical music while painting, classic rock while emailing.

What are two of your favorite things from your shop?
Cabinet Knobs: (pictured above)These were just so much fun to paint on because they are so small!
Wish, Dream & Believe Painting: (pictured below)
Just love this painting because i had no idea where it was going and I love the outcome!

I am a fan of...
www.daisycakessoap.etsy.com: best soaps I ever bought!
www.TRUEGODDESSFRAGRANCE.etsy.com: quality incense in hundreds of scents!
www.pacokeco.etsy.com: creative paper products that will amaze you!
For book lovers:
www.paperbackswap.com : you can recycle your books and get great new ones for free!

Find Seller.....
The Paris Chic Boutique line can be found in many boutiques across the United States. Here's a few;

Flourish Boutique & Gallery
24545 Brick Road, Suite A
South Bend, IN 46628
www.flourishboutique.com

Cherry Blossom Boutique, located in historic downtown Port Huron
327 Huron Ave
Port Huron, MI
810.985.0075
Brentwood Kitchens ; www.BrentwoodKitchen.com

Fortunes Rocks Fine Art
709 Blount Ave.
Guntersville, AL 35976
www.TheBabyGiftShoppe.com

You can also find more paintings and wall mural ideas on my personal website;
www.allisonluciart.blogspot.com

Sellers Who Go Above and Beyond

Recently I have been sent some wonderful products by Etsy sellers as a form of thank you. It really is a testament to how important it is to make a connection with people in this cold internet world. I think we can all learn something about how to better connect with our customers.

Deco Alley was featured on my blog last month and wanted to thank me by sending me a little sampler. When it arrived my 9 year old daughter and I tore the package open and discovered some miniature goodies like biscuits, bagels and donuts. My daughter immediatly had ideas how SHE could use them- or - how I could use them to make something for her. I ended up making her a charm bracelet out of the bagels and it was so cute. Above is a picture of one of my favorite new things by Deco Alley.



Another artist that I recently featured was Blue Rock Gourds. As I said in the post that I did about them- my heart is warmed by the family nature of their business. They went out of their way to thank me by sending me a gourd. Now, I have- historically- never been a big fan of gourds-maybe I thought I was too cool for gourds- or they were too crafty. I am a modern girl- stainless steel birdhouses- that kind of thing. I am a gourd loving convert now- they seem so alive because they come from nature. When I opened the box I was wowed by how dynamic and glossy the stain was on it. She included the extra touch of sending it in my favorite color- green! I was so overwhelmed by the generosity of it and it's unexpected beauty. I immediately hung the birdhouse gourd on a tree that you see from the patio door so I could continue to admire it from indoors. I am selling my house and all of my personal items are in storage- which is where, technically, this gourd should be also but I don't care- I am going to hang it proudly on that tree until I move- then I will hang it at my new house. BTW- they tell me, over at Blue Rock Gourds that they send out a thank you gourd a week- what a great idea!



LolasCraftShop makes the cutest cards. I was on her blog awhile back and left a comment - she contacted me and asked for my address so she could send me the card that I commented about. It was an owl card- not the one above. When I got it in the mail I was taken back by the workmanship she puts into these cards. I left it on my counter so I could admire it for a few days before tucking it away into my card box. I am waiting for the perfect opportunity to send it to someone- or give it to someone that I like alot. I just feel like sending a card like that out of the blue is such a great approach to marketing yourself- I have to figure out how I can incorporate that into my business.