Etsy Entrepreneurs
Add a touch of Austin to your living space this Thanksgiving with unique pieces from these enterprising women.
The last rays of summer have set on the upcoming holiday season, which, in turn, brings the promise of cooler weather, family gatherings and probably a few too many pumpkin spice lattes. Give your home the extra little touch it needs to help you wow your guests this holiday season. Shop these local Etsy boutiques for home-goods items, such as pillows, as well as accent pieces, like bath salts, to spruce up your bathroom.
Sweet Thyme Design
Chelsea Bumgarner
Chelsea Bumgartner captures Etsy shoppers’ attention with her funny and welcoming home goods. Bumgartner, who abruptly quit her job of three years, decided to invest her time in antiquing and crafting as a means of income. She soon invested all her time in Sweet Thyme Design, which allowed her to celebrate her love for puns and DIY projects. Bumgartner was already familiar with the creative market in Austin, and this allowed her to focus on determining what consumers were interested in and how she could best promote her shop. Adding wit and color to mundane household objects, such as vintage dining wear, book pages and greeting cards, is Bumgartner’s specialty, and she is continually motivated by the support of her customers to produce her reasonably priced one-of-a-kind pieces.
Studio Pillows
Karis Webb
With a taste for minimalistic design and a true affinity for customer satisfaction, Karis Webb easily turned her pillow-making hobby into a second job. Her goal? Providing accent pillows of designer quality without the huge price tag. Webb is inspired by designers Nate Berkus whose style errs on the more minimalistic side, though she believes in the power of standout pieces. She uses bold patterns or rich colors on her pillows to complement her classic style, and she tries to create pillows she would want in her own living space. It is Webb’s dedication and appreciation of her clientele that keep her producing her best work, even if that entails spending time on the weekends making pillows.
Blue Morpho Apothecary
Brandie maraziti
An Etsy shopper since 2008, Brenda Burke didn’t think she had time to open her own shop while raising a family and working in real estate. Desiring a creative outlet in her life, however, she turned her real-estate work into a part-time job and opened Gypsy Road Market in January 2015. Burke is drawn to creating a heartwarming atmosphere in her home, something she considers of top importance while perusing auctions and sales for pieces to add to her shop. These repurposed items are timeless and simple, curated from a variety of estate sales, yard sales, flea markets, farm auctions and even Craigslist, on occasion. The most unique thing about Burke’s business is the cross-country trips she takes in her beloved motorhome, truly making her shop a Gypsy Road Market. In an attempt to bring Austin “etisans” together, she created Austin Etsy Live, a community that aims to provide the opportunity to collaborate with other shop owners and attend festivals and events for a lower price with higher inventory.
Gypsy Road Market
brenda burke
Blue Morpho Apothecary boasts a line of all-natural bath products that are beautifully and simply packaged. Brandie Maraziti’s lifestyle changes led her to begin recycling, incorporating organic produce into her diet and applying all-natural makeup. As a result, she decided to open Blue Morpho Apothecary in December 2011 to share her passion with others. Her need to know what she was putting into her body became a driving force to create products for others, including custom products for women suffering from allergies and sensitivities to certain ingredients found in other bath products. Not only is she a one-woman show, but she also works a full-time job as a surgery coordinator at St. David’s Medical Center. Sacrificing free time with friends on the weekend to photograph, package and distribute her bath salts is reflective of her commitment to her products.
Sweet Thyme Design photos by Chelsea Marley. Studio Pillows photos by Karis Webb. Gypsy Road Market photos by Brenda Burke. Blue Morpho Apothecary photos by Chelsea Francis.
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