Weekly Featured Artist - Katie of Boy Girl Boy Girl Design

I 'met' and have gotten to know Katie through one of my Etsy Street teams - FAM (Fabulous Artistic Moms). Katie along with her mom create gorgeous hand painted and dyed items like onesies, shoes, dresses, tote bags and more! Katie says "We see each piece of clothing as a blank canvas ready to be turned into wearable art. Since we each have a different style of painting there is something to suit just about anyone's taste". Thank you to Katie for being this weeks Featured Artist.

Tell us all about yourself and your craft?
My name is Katie and I have two wonderful children. Brandon is ten and Lauren is three.I have a degree in Early Childhood Education and that has sure come in handy. I am a self-taught artist and have had my businees painting children's clothing for about two years.

How long have you been creating your craft?
It all started when I painted an Easter outfit for my little girl. My Mom loved it so much and thought I could easily sell outfits. She has been a professional artist for quite awhile and had been looking to change directions. So together we started a business and it has been a partnership that has worked out well. She dyes all the clothing and we both design and paint it. Etsy has made a huge difference in our business and the experience has been so rewarding.


What is one of the biggest lesson you have learnt about your craft & selling it?
The biggest lesson I have learned..there are so many...is that promotion is key to our business. It takes a great deal of our time but is absolutely necessary. The internet provides so many ways to do this..blogging, MySpace,YouTube...and I have learned to do them all. The other thing I realize is that not everybody will love your stuff but the people who do, really do and that makes all the difference when it comes to motivation.

Which of your items did you have the most fun creating & why?
It is hard to pick one item that I love to do over any but every time I do a pair of Boo Shoes I get a smile on my face. The little ghosties are so appealing.


Is there a basic ‘household’ item you use when creating that seems to work just as good if not better than the actual ‘tool’?
I love to use toothpicks to do detail work on the designs and freezer paper is amazing. We iron it on the backside and it keeps the fabric smooth for painting.

What is your favourite candy bar & why?
Godiva is my favorite candy but really anything that uses chocolate as a carrier would not be turned down by me.


If money, responsibilities, and time were no issues where in the great wide world would you go & why?
I had always wanted to go to Italy but now that I have children I think it would be wonderful to travel the United States. There would be so many interesting and fun things to show the kids.We live in a great and wonderfully diverse country and I cannot help but think they should see it all.

Pop into Katie's Etsy shop boygirlboygirldesign and take a look through her many items including some fun bits for the coming Christmas season.