Featured Artisan: Betsy's Rag Bag of Jasper, Tennessee

Today, we are going to be hearing from Miss Betsy, the owner of the online shop Betsy's Rag Bag . She is a veteran crafter and sells hand sewn goods, paper beads, bonnets, and more. Let's hear what Betsy has to say about her shop and other local venues she sells at. Thanks, Betsy, and best of luck for your new online business!

Hey Y'all, I'm Betsy, a writer, filmmaker, small business owner, aunt, big sister of five and little sister of two, home school graduate, and daughter at home. I live in a darling little country town called Jasper, the "Gateway to the beautiful Sequatchie Valley".

I love upcycling things, particularly magazines and clothing. Taking them apart and turning them into new, updated usable items is something I've been doing since I was a kid. The idea of turning my passion into a business was brought to my attention one day by a friend who said, "Why don't you sell those, they are so pretty!". She then recommended Etsy to me. However, I continued to resist the idea of selling my creations, not wanting to part with them. I resisted for about another year, till Finally, I ran out of excuses and started my shop. I've been running it for about six months now and am absolutely loving it.

Since most of my things are made from Upcycled/recycled stuff, I tend to shop at Goodwill. Anything I can't find at Goodwill I get from friends or the big city (Chattanooga) where all the good craft stores like "Michaels" and "Hobby Lobby" are. 

Etsy is not the only place I started to sell at. A local quilt shop called "Sew Notions" asked if I could bring my jewelry and hair accessories in to be put in the window as a display. I also created a website http;//www.betsyragbag.webs.com where I started uploading craft videos and opened a little spin-off shop. 

Recently my shop was featured in a magazine called "Shinning Stars". In it I wrote a much more detailed article about what it was like opening my Etsy shop. If you would like to read it click here.shiningstarsmagazine.com/2013/06/03/fhb-review-and-giveaway-betsys-rag-b...Right now I'm focusing mainly on marketing and getting my name out there. Also I'm working on learning the ins-and-outs of this business and navigating my way around Etsy. 

Some other places you can find me at...
Website: betsyragbag.webs.com/
Etsy: www.etsy.com/shop/BetsysRagBag
Facebook:https://www.facebook.com/pages/Betsys-Rag-Bag/580756478622689
Pinterest: pinterest.com/betsysragbag/
Blog Articles: shiningstarsmagazine.com/2013/06/03/fhb-review-and-giveaway-betsys-rag-b...