Jennicakes' Interview with Vanessa of Hey Pretty Cupcake

Hey Pretty Cupcake is not your average crafty consignment shop, and one look at the Art Collaborations between shop owner Vanessa and a whole host of amazing artists will show you that!

In addition to running HPC and The Promo Shop, Vanessa is a frequent contributor to The Sampler. You may recognize her name from The Samplergram!, and she was recently featured on the Funky Finds blog!

So what does this crafty force of nature have to say about being a crafty force of nature? She had lots to say in a recent chat!

Hi Vanessa!

Hi Jennicakes!!

Can you give me a little description of Hey Pretty Cupcake, as if I hadn't seen it and admired it before?

Awww thanx :D HPC is a consignment/collaboration shop featuring amazing artists and crafters from all over the world.

What made you decide to open that kind of shop? Isn't it a ton of work?

It was actually an overnight decision. I am the queen of organization. I love to be organized. I consigned some goods personally at other shops and it struck my interest. The next day I was working out the details and searching for amazing talent. It is A LOT of work but I love every second of it!

Wow! You are a woman of action! I love the overall look of your site. How do you keep everything looking so pretty and uniform with so many different designers involved?

I have a fabulous designer that did the overall look of the page. I told her what I wanted and she did wonders... like I said, I am super organized and i am pretty picky (bad trait, I know). I wanted to keep the same "color theme". I picked that before the design. I take all my pictures on top of a set of papers that all match so everything looks pretty :D

And do you really live in Cupcakeville, CA?

Haha I wish! I love cupcakes! I actually live in a small town in southern California. But being lavished in cupcakes would be any girl's dream!

True enough! Did you go into the business planning to sell collaboration pieces, or did that evolve later?

I sold some collaboration items at my other shop for a while, but it wasn't "contracted" like HPC is. It did pretty well but I didn't open HPC with it. There are so many different artists out there that want to get their pieces seen but didn't have all the right tools and I thought that HPC would be a good spot to also start a collaboration section. It brings in a lot of attention!

And what is your other shop?

The Promo Shop (thepromoshop.etsy.com) but it was Paper Zombie at the time :D

So you are a seriously committed promoter of artists and crafters! That's great!

Oh yeah! I love crafting.

Do you have a favorite project or medium?

I have tried just about everything. My favorite at the moment is stencilling. I haven't had much time at all to craft between my two shops. I also love paper crafts!

Do you have another job, or just a craft empire ;) ?

Taking care of my very supportive husband? Does that count? Haha.

Of course it does! Is he crafty, or just a craft fan?

He wants to be crafty. But he has his own job. He helps me out a lot though! I would be afraid to see anything he creates but of course would be super supportive! :)

Hahaha, so you two won't be collaborating anytime soon?

No... haha. Maybe consignment though, he wants to make soap to put in my shop!

Soap for boys?

Yeah, he said "cool soap". He wants to be known as "the soap man".

That sounds like a superhero name! What would your name be if you were a superhero?

Cupcake Girl! Ha!

Haha, perfect! So, Cupcake Girl, is there anything you don't have in your shop you'd like to start including in the future?

I would love to carry everything if I could! I really want to carry some supplies (like yarns and stuff). I am really fascinated by yarn crafts because I can't do them. But I really love yarn!

I feel the same way! Maybe some day we will both learn.

It's difficult! I am not hand-eye coordinated!

But your shop is well-coordinated! Congratulations on running two amazing businesses!

Thank you so much! I put my heart and soul into both... very well worth it!

And thanks for taking some time to talk to The Sampler!

No problem! The Sampler rules.

Thanks!