Meet the Artist and Giveaway: Mari from Hobbies from the Heart

Please welcome my new favorite Etsy shop owner, Mari from Hobbies from the Heart!

I see a lot of new favorites in Mari's future, once you all see what she's giving away!

Mari has kindly offered to give one lucky winner a 

$15 gift certificate to Hobbies from the Heart!

Trust me, $15 will go a long way there!

Buy it here

First things first, let's get to know your new best friend, Mari:



Q: Tell us a little about yourself.

A: Well, I am originally from Puerto Rico, born and raised.  I moved here to San Diego a little after high school and have been here ever since.  More importantly, I’m a mom to a wonderful, full-of-energy 16-month-old girl, and a wife to the most amazing husband a woman can have. (Really!) They are both my life! Besides that, I’m a full time graduate student and work part time in a psychopharmacology lab (at school) doing research. I opened my etsy shop as a way to express my creativity and take a break from books and journal articles :)  

Q: What inspired you to sell crafting supplies?

A: As a little girl we didn’t have  a lot of extra money, but one way I was able to show people how much I cared for them was by making cards for them on special holidays/occasions.  I loved it, but I kind of forgot about till around my daughter’s 1^st birthday.  As I was looking for ideas to plan her first birthday, I realized that I could make most of the décor myself. I started by buying 2 paper punches to create the cupcake toppers and the rest is history.

Mari's Craft Room

Q: It looks as though you make quite a bit of the stuff in your shop, so creative! How did you learn to make your products?

A: Most of the ideas for my handmade products came spontaneously. The few times I am in my craft room not putting an order together, I just start creating as I go. I really enjoy those times, but I do not get them too often.

Q: What is the most popular item in your shop?

A: As you probably already guessed, baker’s twine is my most popular item, followed closely by tags, my handmade stickers, and vintages cutouts. By the way... I am getting 3 new colors of bakers twine coming next week and I’m pretty excited about it.

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Q: Your prices are ridiculously reasonable! How do you manage that?!?

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A: I ask this same question everyday. To tell you the truth, I haven’t had a chance to sit down and review how much I should really charge for some of my products. I’m currently just going by what I see other people charge. I truly started this shop as a hobby, not expecting to make much money other than at least getting back what I’ve spent on materials. However, I’m hoping it will transition to more of a “real” business before the end of the year.

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Q: You've only been open a short time, and yet you've been very successful. To what do you attribute your success?

A: I do not know. Perhaps it is the prices, or the fact that everyone loves baker’s twine and paper as much as I do.

Q: Do you have any advice for new sellers out there?

A: I guess, my advice would be to not get discourage if you don’t sell right away. It takes time to get noticed in this sea of amazing artist that is Etsy. I got soo happy when i got my first sale (it was ridiculous how much jumping up and down i did. lol).. and then I didn't sell anything until a month or so, but again. I started selling baby girl headbands and i only had about 5 things listed (silly uh?!) but you have to start somewhere.

Q: What are your future plans for your shop?

A: Well, I will be adding a few more supplies and hopefully try to keep a systemic posting on my blog/facebook/twitter.  I also want to add more handmade items that I personally do like the scrapbooks I make as well as other random ideas I have bouncing around in my head. (It is so much to keep up with and so little time). I have high hopes though.. ;)

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This is one of those times when if I could, I'd put up a picture of everything in the shop! I seriously love it all. Mari sent me samples of her twine, washi tape, stickers, dollies, & tags. I can't even "tag" them all because she sent me so many!It was like Christmas in August when the package arrived. Mari individually wrapped every item she sent!

It didn't take me long to put them to use. Here's a first look at some mini notebooks I used the striped washi tape for (just listed in my shop):

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Mari's handmade item and supplies are SO inspiring! I have so many new project ideas. You, too? Well get shopping already! Start with Mari's Etsy shop.

Bonus Alert! Mari is offering my readers an exclusive coupon code! Use the code MODERN10 at checkout to receive 10% off your entire purchase! That really is an incredibly good deal, I'm not sure how long I'll be able to resist it.

 Don't stop there! I highly recommend her Facebook and blog where you'll find more fun filled crafting ideas :)

And, of course, don't forget to enter the giveaway!

How to Enter the Giveaway:

1. Follow this blog (Mandatory)

and leave a comment here saying you did.

2. "Like" Hobbies from the heart on Facebook
and leave a separate comment here saying you did.


3. "Heart" Hobbies from the Heart on Etsy 

and leave a separate comment here saying you did.

4. Follow Mari's blog

and leave a separate comment here saying you did.

Don't Forget about the Other Great Giveaways!

Good luck!

Fine Print:

Only 4 entries per household please

1 winner will be chosen September 6th at midnight PST
Winner will be chosen by random.org
Entries will be validated
Winner will be announced here
Winner will have 3 days to contact me, 

after which a new winner will be chosen

Must be 18 years of age or older to enter 

Buy it here