This week Zibbet is excited to introduce you to Connie of Breath of the Dragon. Connie (aka Sunfire) is amazingly talented at the art of wood burning.

She has made many friends on Zibbet because she is helpful and participates all throughout Zibbet, in the Community Hub and other Zibbet circles on the Internet. Read on to see just how seriously Connie takes the word “community” in the true sense where she lives in Washington State.

I hope everyone will read every word of this interview because Connie certainly put a lot of work into it and she has some of the best advice to help others make their Zibbet shops successful. Please enjoy the interview, leave Connie a comment, and then use the Share tools so others can read it, too. Share the Zibbet Love!

1. Tell us a bit about yourself?

   My name is Connie, but I go by Sunfire (it’s a high school nickname I picked for myself and it stuck). I’m 29 years old; I grew up in Cleveland, OH and Pensacola, FL, and I currently live in Wenatchee, WA with my high school sweetheart, Ian. After high school, I joined the US Navy and served 5 great years fixing computers with a high security clearance. I was stationed in Diego Garcia; Yokosuka, Japan; and Sugar Grove, WV. I didn’t really explore my creativity until I got out of the Navy in 2006, when I had lots of time on my hands. I had tried selling certain products online before, but they weren’t the best quality and I felt I could do better. My mom (Nicole of Nicole’s Visions) helped me realize that selling something I made with my own hands would be much more fulfilling.

2. Apart from being ‘creative’ what do you do?

   I work evenings in retail to pay the bills. I’m also attending college online, pursuing a Web Development degree from DeVry University. HTML was something I sort of taught myself while I was riding ships in the Navy, and now I’m getting formal teaching on it, along with CSS.
   During the greater part of the year, I volunteer one day a week at a local food bank, at the Wenatchee Women’s Resource Center. It’s what has inspired me to get my business involved in charity. A portion of my sales is used to purchase food, which the business donates to the food bank quarterly.

   When it’s warm enough, my other half and I enjoy getting out into nature, whether it be biking around town, or hiking in the foothills of the Cascades. We also have a garden plot at the local community garden, where we are learning through experience about growing our own foods. We picked up canning early last year, so that we could stock up and save food, both from the garden and from the food bank. We’ve also taken to making as much of our own foods as we can – I make our own bread and rolls, from scratch, on a regular basis, while Ian makes spaghetti sauce, chili, soups, and more to be canned. It’s been interesting, learning to cook from scratch.

3. What inspires you to do the kind of work you do?

   I love the smell of burning wood! The campfire smell in my hair brings me a sense of calm. Mostly, though, I just want to give people a different perception of woodburning. Often it is seen as rustic, country, or otherwise primitive in design and nature. What I do is different because I focus on clean, sharp, smooth lines, and the themes I work with are anything but rustic: Celtic knotwork, tribal designs and Kanji symbols (Japanese writing) are my most favorites to burn, but I also do words, dragons, celestial patterns and other designs by request.

   It takes a steady hand, patience, and some serious attention to detail to get these designs to come out as unblemished as possible, which is why I enjoy it so much. I’ve been told my work looks like it was done by a laser machine because of the precise detail and smoothness of the lines, and while I appreciate the compliment, I want them to know that this is all painstakingly done by hand.

   I really enjoy accepting custom requests, as well. In fact, over half of my previously sold work has been customized items or otherwise commissioned pieces. It’s empowering to be able to take someone’s idea and burn it into wood, knowing that someone trusted me enough to create it for them.

4. Do you look up to anyone? Who? Why?

   I look up to my mom, because she has been the biggest inspiration and encouragement in this journey. I also appreciate the help my significant other (Ian of UberDreamer Conecpts) has provided in helping me focus my little hobby into more of a business. And I can’t forget my fellow Zibbeters – the knowledge and support they share has kept me going, even when times seem tough.

   I do a lot of the things in my business the way that I do them, either to copy what I see being done right, or to do the opposite of what I see being done wrong. It’s certainly a learning process, and one should not be afraid to make changes as needed, based on how well you are doing or how others are doing.

5. What other passions do you have in your life?

   Turn Peace Around (TPA): it’s my little mission in life to share the positive peace symbol with anyone that is open to the idea. The message of TPA is that the original peace sign was actually drawn as a man in despair, with his hands down and out. Why would we want a sad symbol for peace? This new, ‘flipped’ peace sign is like a person standing with their arms up and out, toward the heavens, in a peaceful, happy, almost rejoicing gesture. Right now, everyone is using a sad symbol and thinking “anti-war” when we should be using a happy symbol and thinking “pro-peace”, because where we focus our attention is what will manifest for us in this life, and that is the message I am trying to spread with Turn Peace Around.

   It is because I wanted to share this flipped peace sign with the world that I’ve explored and learned other crafts, such as fabric painting and hemp braiding. While I had a separate (basic) Zibbet shop for Turn Peace Around for a while, I realized my cause and products would get more attention if it was integrated into my main shop. This worked out well because Breath of the Dragon is fully featured now (I went Premium in July). In August, I added all of my Turn Peace Around items to my Breath of the Dragon shop.

   These new crafts that I’ve learned have helped me expand my woodburning products, as well. I am now looking at making more hemp jewelry, not just for the flipped peace sign, but also for other wooden charms that I’ve burned.

   Last year I picked up crochet, with a specific project in mind. After the main project was finished, I began exploring other things with it. I’m still learning, and don’t expect to sell any of my crocheted creations anytime soon, but I do enjoy making things for myself and my family.

6. What do you like most about Zibbet?

   The current design is definitely my absolute most favorite part of Zibbet, aside from the amazing community of people that keeps it running so smoothly. In fact, the simple and clean design, which is very different from the cluttered shopping sites more commonly available, is certainly what makes Zibbet stand out as a more appealing online marketplace.

7. What ‘new’ things would you like to see added to Zibbet?

   The single feature I am most looking forward to is the guest checkout, as I know lots of people that would rather not create yet another account just to make a purchase online. Being able to make a purchase without creating a new account will probably be the biggest factor in increased sales on Zibbet, in my opinion.

8. How do you promote your work?

   Mostly, I live on Facebook, but I am in a few other places that get my work seen. I try to be active in the Zibbet community, because I know that gets attention to my shop. When I’m not particularly busy, I will sit at my desk, working on something new, with the community chat window open, holding conversations with anyone that pops in.

   Sending out samples: I’m a member of both Pagan Packs and Sample Z Box, and I’m hoping to get involved with The Little Black Boxes this year as well. Coming up with samples of my work (and actually making enough to give away) takes time, though, so I’m not as active as some other people.

   I have created a listing for my business, or myself, in the following places: Google+, Merchant Circle, The Woodburner, APSense, LinkedIn, RealPagan.net, IndiePublic.

   I also utilize Project Wonderful and Link Referral for some free advertising to people that aren’t necessarily other crafters. They take a little bit of work, but it’s worth it in the end.

   I also have my blog, which serves as a central hub, or non-selling site, for my business. And I have my own domain, which I have owned and used since 2003. The name is easy to remember, and after all this time, I have really started to identify with it.

   Aside from online promotions, craft shows and business cards are my best friends. I was in 3 shows this past year, and I hope to do more this year. Being seen in person, and chatting with the people about my craft, is a good way to create customers. I put business cards up on community bulletin boards. I’m hoping to make more jewelry so that I can wear my work around town, even in a small ‘sample’ form, in the hopes of striking up a conversation about what I do.
   

9. How would you recommend other Zibbeters make the most of Zibbet.com?

   Two main things: 1] Fill it in. Give lots of details, both in your listings and in your shop profile. Tell us as much about you and your product as possible. Just because you are familiar with it, doesn’t mean someone off the ‘street’ will know what all your little codes and shorthand mean. Expand and explain: make it absolutely clear what your product is, what it does, and why it is worth the price you are asking. This includes using as many of the slots as possible, and making sure your pictures show all possible angles of the product. Use a ruler to show measurements (since coins are not necessarily universal), and other props to shows relative sizes.

   2] Talk about it. If you want Zibbet to grow and create more sales for you and your fellow sellers, you have to bring in the buyers. Having shop fronts on multiple venues can be good, but when someone asks “Where can I browse/buy your items?” be sure to tell them about Zibbet. Make sure all of your other outlets (website, blog, Facebook) link back to Zibbet as well. If you only give them a link to a competitor’s website, then your Zibbet shop will never take off. Also, when you meet other sellers, either vendors at a craft show that are thinking of selling online, or people who are already on other venues that are not happy with that site, be sure to tell them all about Zibbet; about the lack of fees, the friendly community and the helpful staff. Show enthusiasm about Zibbet, and they will catch on.

10. In the future I’d like to be…

    Successful in my business and all that I do. Other than that, just as happy as I am today. Always creating, learning, practicing, doing, and enjoying life and the world around us.

Tags: Breath of the Dragon, featured zibbeter