Featured Artist: Paint It Pretty

Hi Laura! Thanks for joining us this week! Tell us about yourself.
Hi Kim! Thanks for having me. My name is Laura Reynolds. I am the owner of Paint it Pretty. I lived in New York. I'm married and have two adult sons.

How did you get started in your handmade business?
One day my daughter-in-law was looking at a mural I painted. She emailed me the next day and said why didn't I try to market my paintings. I said I didn't think so but I couldn't get the idea out of my head. I began quietly painting things and then I finally got up the nerve to try my hand at selling.

What are your hopes and aspirations for your store and where do you see yourself going from here?

I love when I sell something. For me its not just about the money, though I do like that part too. I love knowing something I made is giving someone else pleasure. I hope to continue to be successful at this.

Have you ever experienced any major accomplishments or recognition?

I put on a exhibit featuring my sculptures and charcoals at the local community college. It was a heady experience seeing my body of work prominently displayed.

What are three tools in your work space that you could not live without?

Paint and paint brushes are the obvious physical tools needed for what I do. I also need nature. I grow hybrid lilies in a variety of colors. I predominately paint flowers so I am often inspired by the gorgeous colors in my garden. That's where my love of vibrant reds and purples comes from.

Have you ever experienced a craft disaster? What happened?

Actually my first attempt at painting tiles was the worst disaster I ever faced. I painted a tile backsplash for my kitchen, probably 200 tiles in all. It took me weeks. We glued them to the wall and they looked awesome. We applied the grout and the petroleum in it dissolved the paint off the tiles. The whole thing had to be removed and redone. Not fun. On a smaller scale I have disasters all the time. Paint fingerprints or dropped brushes. Luckily they can be painted over. Many of my designs include a flower that was placed to hide a disaster.

How much do you social network? Can you link us to your personal social media pages so we can follow you?

I use Facebook, Wanelo and most recently Twitter. You can find me here:

https://www.facebook.com/pages/Paint-it-Pretty/121826751285849

https://twitter.com/ipaintitpretty

http://wanelo.com/paintitpretty

What item in your shop is your favorite item or your top seller?

My favorite item is usually whatever I'm working on at the moment. I love the ceramic pitcher I just finished. I also love the flip flop bags.

What are your 2 favorite items from other shops on The CraftStar, with links?
My two favorite items are from Gerda's Garden and DLC Glass.

Thanks for taking the time to join us today Laura. We appreciate you taking time out of our busy schedule so that we could interview you. Happy sales!