I met Abby Calinog-Herrington at the local library, both of us interested in the book sale of the Friends of the Library. Before long, we were both volunteering together at the library and sharing each other's interesting stories of life. Abby, it turns out, has an Etsy store on top of working, going to school, and being a Bookstagrammer.
Welcome to the Extraordinary Ordinary blog, Abby!
Q) What came first, your Etsy store Made By Gail Shop or your Bookstagram, herlife_herbooks?
My Bookstagram (herlife_herbooks) came first! I created a bookstagram after going to my first Friends of the Grayslake Library Book Sale a few years ago. I went on the last day. I got a big bag for just $5 and I was SO happy. I started the bookstagram that day.
I started painting and drawing at a really young age. And then I got into photography. I always wanted to open my own business. It started with wanting to open my own bakery and then a bookstore. Most recently, I combined the two ideas and now want to open a combination of both. But that idea will not come to fruition for a few years from now. I always thought Etsy was a really good platform for small businesses. So I took my love for photography and art and started a small business—Made by Gail.
Q) How did you get into designing stickers, by the way?
The first stickers I released are actually photographs of flowers. These are photos I took myself and thought, "I want this as a sticker." But I couldn't find what I was looking for anywhere. So I thought I would create it myself, now here we are with a little Etsy shop for stickers, with stickers I've sketched and photographed myself.
Q) How would you describe your design process for the stickers you sell as well as your sketches?
Honestly, for my design process, it is a little wonky. If I get a chance to sit down for a few hours, I will either sketch or read. A lot of the time, I would rather read. But when I am sketching, my inspiration comes from the things around me, and it is also based on the weather and the season. Right now, the main theme of my shop is floral and summery. But in the fall, I did have some pumpkin stickers to match the occasion. If I think it's cute and other people will think so too, then I add it to my shop.
Q) You're juggling school and your Etsy business. How do you manage your time?
I do not manage my time as well as I would like. Right now, I have a full-time job. I work 40 hours a week. I try to have set days to sit down and do homework afterward. My position at work is a remote work from home position so that does make it easier to do homework on the side or get an order packed and shipped out during a break. It also makes it easier to quickly interact with customers during the day, since I do not have a supervisor.
Q) What catch phrase(s) captures you?
Books=Life
A reader lives a thousand lives.
Have a break. Have a KitKat.
Q) What's next for you, personally and business-wise?
Business-wise, I would love to add apparel to my Etsy Shop, but I'm not sure when that can be done. Right now, I'm working on some bookmark designs to add.
Personally, I'm not sure! I'll be graduating with my Bachelor's in Business Management with a minor in Computer Science and Information Systems—this May. I'm not sure what I'll do after.
Q) Please tell us something unexpected about yourself.
Some unexpected things about me are that I do not know how to swim, and I am under 5 feet tall.
You can shop at Abby's Made By Gail Shop on Etsy or check out her Bookstagram!
Thanks for visiting TLC's Extraordinary Ordinary blog, where folks with out-of-the-ordinary tales share their stories! Please leave a comment.
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