Weekly Featured Artist - Carley of Vanilla Pixie

The featured artist this week is a fellow Aussie and my eldest sister, Carley of the etsy shop Vanilla Pixie. Carley handmakes and sells unique hair accessories and you know they must be fabulous as Carley has had her etsy shop open for only 3 months but has had over 60 sales!!! Wow!
You can also follow Carley through her blog HERE.

Tell us all about yourself and your craft?
I am a wife & stay-at-home mum to three blessings - both being jobs that I love!! When I went looking for accessories for my girls I found that there was nothing available that 'grabbed' me, nothing that was different. So, why not create something?? Hence, Vanilla Pixie was born to fill a void for unique & gorgeous hair accessories.

How long have you been creating your craft?
I have only been doing this for a few months, but so far the response has been amazing. I obviously wasn't the only Mum out there who was looking for beautiful accessories!! I have had just as much fun (if not more) sourcing my materials, as I have actually creating the clips.


What is one of the biggest lesson you have learnt about your craft & selling it?
One of the biggest things I've learned is patience. Of course, when we all start out we want to be busy & successful straight away. It doesn't work like that & we have to enjoy the ride on the way to success - learning what works, what doesn't, where we can make changes. But most importantly, what I do must be fun!! The day that this is no longer fun for me, is the day I give it up.

Which of your items did you have the most fun creating & why?
All my clips are variations on a simple design, so it's hard to say, but... probably my first custom order. It was so much fun to create something that was so specific. And having the buyer so happy with the result was an absolute thrill!!


Is there a basic 'household' item you use when creating that seems to work just as good if not better than the actual 'tool'?
My 'tools' are very few but my major problem is having my hot glue gun drip glue everywhere. I've found that an old baking tray/cookie sheet underneath the gun catches the drips perfectly - and is so easy to clean afterwards.

What is your favourite candy bar & why?
Either a Snickers or a bag of liquorice bullets - hard to go past either...


If money, responsibilities, and time were no issues where in the great wide world would you go & why?
I have three wishes (is that allowed??) - tornado chasing across the US, a flight with the 'Top Guns' in a fighter jet & a trip to Canada/Alaska. One day...