SillyLittleLady's Spot on the Web: Interview with MovetheNeedle

A fellow college Etsy-er, MoveTheNeedle is multitalented and very ambitious. Her shop sports handmade journals, cards, and boxes. I was intrigued by this eclectically organized shop and asked MovetheNeedle to answer a few questions for me:

First, please tell us a little bit about yourself?

Hi, I'm Anna. I'm 19 years old and currently a sophomore at Allegheny College in Pennsylvania. I love all types of arts and crafts. I've always been really artistic. Besides craft making and bookbinding, I love listening to music, reading, writing, movies, cooking, etc.

How did you get started making journals?

I actually started making journals this summer. I wanted to start a shop on etsy and sell my crafts, but I didn't know what I wanted to focus on. I made a journal as part of a craft swap on another site and I enjoyed making it, so I decided to learn more about bookbinding. I used some tutorials online and also found a few books, which have been really helpful. I'm definitely still learning though.

How do you balance college and craft? (I sometimes find it hard to do!)

Since I opened my business just this summer, I actually haven't had to balance my college and craft yet. But I know I'll probably be making sure I'm giving myself some time each day to devote to my business and craft. I'll prioritize my tasks and make sure I'm still having fun with my crafts and giving myself enough time to relax.

Where do you find the supplies for your journal making?

I buy most of my journal supply tools (binder board, glue, bone folder) and some of my decorative paper online at a shop called Hollander's (hollanders.com). I use mostly Alexander Henry fabric and most of my decorative paper is from Paper Source (paper-source.com). I love shopping for decorative paper and fabric, it's one of my favorite parts of the whole process.
If you could learn any other new craft, what would you choose to learn?

There's so many other crafts I would love to learn. I recently picked up a screenprinting book, so that will be fun to try out. You can use screenprinting in so many crafts - on journals, clothes, bags, etc. I've always thought it'd be fun to be able to make my own clothes. I don't think I've ever made my own top from scratch before and that would be great to learn. I've also experimented with polymer a little bit lately. I love the cute and detailed items people can come up with. As you can probably tell, I am always learning and experimenting with new crafts. I would also like to keep learning new journal stitches and bookbinding technique.