Danielle From Merriweather Council Interviews Herself

By Danielle of The Merriweather Council

Tell us a bit about yourself (name, location, affiliations, personal stuff)

Hey friends! I’m Danielle, I currently live and work in my apartment near Fenway Park in Boston. I just graduated in May from Massachusetts College of Art and Design with a BFA in 3d Fine Arts with a concentration in fibers! (Yay –strings and threads!) I was born and raised on Long Island, NY and I have one brother and a slight addiction to coffee…. (Those things don’t really go together do they?)

What is the first thing you can remember making by hand? How and why did you make it?

When I was growing up I had 5 American Girl dolls and would cut up my own clothes to make doll clothes, that makes sense right? I remember drawing and stuff like that when I was much younger, but my doll clothes were my first real creative endeavors. I also learned to crochet pretty early on and I made lots of doll sized blankets. They weren’t all that bad, just kinda crooked.

What are your favorite materials?
My favorite materials are DMC embroidery floss, wooden embroidery hoops, and vintage fabrics – which I love hunting for.

How do you promote your work?

I really like to make treasuries on Etsy, and I think that has been a great way to promote so far. I have a blog and a tumblr as well as a Facebook page and a twitter. I post new listing on those sometimes. I’ve done exhibitions on Paper and Stitch as well which I think helped also.

How long have you been involved with Etsy and what have your experiences been?

I listed my first item on Etsy at the end of June 2010, so far it’s going pretty well! I’m so new though, maybe it isn’t, I don’t have anything to compare it to. But I have been on the front page a bunch and I’ve gotten interviewed on a variety of blogs, I’ve been featured in Etsy Finds, on Apartment Therapy, in the December issue of Cottages and Bungalows… and all those people found me through Etsy, so in that way it has been very positive. I have had someone try to resell my work, I’ve seen imitations popping up and I’ve encountered a few awkward moments but overall it’s going really well!

Name your favorite books, movies, etc…

My favorite book of all time ever is Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close by Jonathan Safran Foer and my favorite movie is probably Garden State but I do also love Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind… I know, I know, typical art school kid… But those really are my favorites!

If you were a fruit what kind would you be? What kind would your best friend be?

I would be a banana, she would be a kiwi.