Artist of the Week!

Congratulations to Christy of Embellished Bayou as this week's featured artist.

Introduction- Tell us a bit about yourself. 

Hi, I'm Christy and I live in Shreveport, LA, with my husband and pug, Gidget.  I have lived in Louisiana all my life, mostly in Shreveport, Baton Rouge & New Orleans.  I am an LSU alumni and a huge Tiger fan!  Some of my hobbies include reading, gardening, surfing the web, shopping estate sales, and spending time with family & friends.

How did you get started making handmade items? 
I have been creative and crafty pretty much all my life.  I can remember doing all kinds of craft projects with my mom as a child and with friends on through college.  I first started selling my handmade items after I made some baby gifts for friends a few years ago.  I would see cute frames and other things in stores and knew I could make them even cuter myself!  Then my mother-in-law gave me her old embroidery machine last year and it has been non-stop ever since!

What does a typical day look like for you? 
I usually start my day like most, checking my email, Facebook, and other pertinent websites.  I also work part-time as a retail merchandiser, so 1-4 days a week I visit stores like Kohl's, JCPenny, and Academy completing various projects.  I am home in time to take Gidget for her daily walk and agonize over what to cook for dinner!  On days when I'm not working my retail jobs, I will work on orders or play around with my embroidery machine and of course do the boring stuff like housework, grocery shopping, and laundry.  I can usually fit in some fun shopping or lunch with a friend at least once a week.  In the evenings hubby & I relax by watching TV/movies, playing video games, or hanging out with friends.

If you could tell someone anything about Louisiana, what would you tell them? 
I would tell them not to believe everything they see on TV! We don't all have alligators in our backyards, take pirogues to work, or have unintelligible accents! 

What is your favorite item to make? 
Right now I love creating things with my embroidery machine.  I love making anything from personalized onesies and burp cloths to travel tumblers and koozies.  I also love using vintage jewelry on my frames, although I haven't made any new ones in a while. I try to make all of my creations unique by embellishing them with some sort of special touch like rhinestones, vintage jewelry, or cute fabrics.

What is your favorite food from Louisiana? 
How do you choose a favorite food from Louisiana? That is next to impossible! I love seafood, and I'm particularly fond of crawfish etoufee, crawfish chowder, meatpies, pralines, and bread pudding.

Any other information you'd like us to know?
I also sell my items at a local consignment boutique.  This is a great way to get your product out to a wider market; if there are any in your area, I highly recommend checking them out!  Also, Facebook and Etsy teams have been a great resource from me.  I've gotten such great information and support from HML and others! 

Shop address
http://www.embellishedbayou.etsy.com

Blog
http://www.embellishedbayou.com

Facebook
http://www.facebook.com/embellishedbayou

Embellished Bayou is giving away One personalized Travel Tumbler: http://www.etsy.com/listing/54598349/fleur-de-lis-personalized-monogrammed

In order to win, you can become a facebook fan and share your favorite item from Embellished Bayou's shop by commenting below. For more entries you can follow their blog and twitter! For other entires, you can post a comment on their facebook page!  

Also, readers can use the code "HANDMADELOUISIANA" for 20% off their purchase from the Etsy shop.

Embellished Bayou Etsy Shop

Embellished Bayou Blog
Embellished Bayou on Twitter
Embellished Bayou on Facebook

Winner from last week's giveaway is carolynmcintyre! Winner for this week will be posted on next week's blog post!