Etsy Top seller interview – CraftyIntentions | Crochet Patterns, Tips, and Designers

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Today I will take you to a fairytale full of mysterious beings. I have found a unique Etsy shop full of magical crochet patterns.

Have you heard of CraftyIntentions Etsy shop? There you will find 84 amazing patterns from dragons, horses, sea animals, mystical creatures, Beatles, and other cute creatures. Look at the photos below; I am sure you will fall in love just like I did. But don’t worry, here are two discounts you can use:

Use Coupon Code CRAFTY10 on Etsy or Ravelry to get 10% off your purchase of $15 or more of ANY Crafty Intentions patterns.

Use Coupon Code CRAFTY20 on Etsy or Ravelry to get 20% off your purchase of $30 or more of ANY Crafty Intentions patterns.

You really must check out CraftyIntentions, there are so many incredible patterns there, that it was very hard for me to choose which photos to include.

The owner of the CraftyIntentions is Megan Lapp from Pennsylvania, United States. She has been crocheting for 10 years, and each of her patterns takes months to write, test, edit and publish. Everything is unique and original and is written to enable us to make a custom creation with our own personal touches, so the final product is unlike anyone else’s finished work.

That is so fantastic! I love creating unique items. What about you?

Reads Megan’s exciting story below, and read her advise to other sellers. She even suggested an app you can use to make your photos look better:

1. How did it all begin? Tell us your story.

I started crocheting after a friend received a beautiful crocheted baby blanket at her baby shower, and I felt inspired to learn. Using Youtube, I taught myself one stitch at a time, and over years slowly increased the difficulty level of each project I took on. I started with scarves and moved to hats and gloves and blankets, and then began 3-dimensional objects. At some point, I desperately wanted to make an Octopus (My favorite animal), but I couldn’t find a pattern that I liked enough to purchase.

On a whim, I decided to try to make one myself. It came out decently well, and I wrote down what I did so that I could repeat it. That eventually lead to me typing up what I’d written, and publishing it as a pattern.

My second pattern was a “Choose your own adventure Monster” set. It is important to me to have creative options as I work, so from the beginning of my patterns (even with the octopus!) I have made sure to include options within so that whatever people make from my patterns, they can make it their own, unique creation.

My Monster pattern was the real beginning of that idea as I made interchangeable bodies, mouths, limbs, ears, and more so that you can make hundreds of different, unique monsters from just the one pattern!

My third pattern is what cemented this path as my career. I, once again, could not find a Dragon pattern I liked enough to purchase, so I wrote one, myself. I was inspired by the Anne McCaffrey Pern series of books, and made my own sort of Fire Lizard.

It took me 5 months to write it. A couple of months after I published it, Bored Panda shared a post featuring photos of my dragons and it went viral. After that, it seemed like this could be a real, sustainable calling for me.

In my first year publishing (in 2017) I published 4 patterns. In 2018, I published 7 patterns. In 2019, I published 20

patterns. And in 2020, I published 40 patterns. Publishing 40 patterns was a bit much for me, but I’m hoping to be able to keep up that pace again this year!!

2. What inspires you?

Everything inspires me. Nature inspires me, my children’s imagination inspires me, TV and youtube inspires me, books, art, and more — I’m sure all of my designs have been inspired in one way or another by things I’ve seen or read or watched. A great deal of my inspiration comes from mythology. Dragons are a large focus of my work.

3. How does your every day look like?

During the pandemic my children have been virtual schooling because I am at high risk for COVID-19, and I am the stay at home parent in addition to running my Crochet pattern designing business full time. So my days are a little bit grueling with an early rise, breakfast, and prepping for school, then I support my daughter as she does her school work while my Mom has been able to join our bubble and sits with my son during his school day as he is Autistic and needs the constant 1 on 1 support.

Then during any free moments, I work on my designs. Once my husband gets home from work, I work almost constantly until about Midnight when I collapse.

I generally publish a new pattern every Monday. I try to send out a new pattern to testers every Tuesday. Every Wednesday through Friday I take step by step photos for my newest pattern that I’ve already designed, and then I insert those photos into the formatted pattern and prep it for testers for the following week. Every Saturday and Sunday I work on a brand new design.

In spare moments, I sew together items I’ve crocheted, Photograph finished works, Edit photos, manage tester edits, prep patterns for publication, manage my social media, manage my Facebook support group and my website, work with my translator, and come up with new ideas!

4. What is your favorite yarn?

My current favorite yarn is Worsted Weight Superwash Merino hand dyed yarns — I have really been enjoying Rainbow Frog Textiles yarn and Tangled Pixie yarn. They both make beautiful hand dyed worsted weight super wash merino yarns.

For something on the lower end of the price range, I really enjoy Lion Brand Landscapes and Ferris wheel yarn, Universal Classic Shades, King Cole Riot yarn, and Mary Maxim Prism yarn.

I used to really love Crystal Palace Mochi yarns and Knit Picks Chroma Worsted, but they’ve been entirely discontinued or mostly discontinued.

5. Do you have any advice for other sellers?

My first piece of advice to crocheters, sellers, and pattern designers is to keep building on your skills! Never stop making, and never stop challenging yourself. It’s an exciting world out there, and there’s always something new to learn or try.

Being a constant student is extremely rewarding.

My second piece of advice is to TAKE GOOD PHOTOS. You don’t need an expensive camera to take quality photos of your work, smart phones work great too! Be cognizant of your background, your frame, your angle, and your light. Don’t be afraid to get low and completely on the level with your item.

Try not to ONLY photograph on a downward angle, looking down at your work. Try all different positions. Try to take your photos in natural light (But not in direct sunlight), and don’t be afraid to edit your photos either!

Snapseed is a free app that can do some really wonderful things to make your images pop. It’s a largely visual, digital world, and people want to see what you make, but if your photos are indoors, poorly lit, and slightly blurry, no one is going to be able to clearly see the time and effort you put into your work! Do it justice by taking the time to get a clear photo!

Oh my god! That is such an amazing interview! I am so grateful Megan took her time to answer my questions. She really is amazing!

I am sure you love her patterns even more now when you got to know her better and see all the work and dedication that is needed to create them. So here are the discounts again:

Use Coupon Code CRAFTY10 on Etsy or Ravelry to get 10% off your purchase of $15 or more of ANY Crafty Intentions patterns.
Use Coupon Code CRAFTY20 on Etsy or Ravelry to get 20% off your purchase of $30 or more of ANY Crafty Intentions patterns.

You can follow CraftyIntentions here:
Website: www.craftyintentions.net
Facebook: www.facebook.com/CraftyIntent
Ravelry:    www.ravelry.com/designers/crafty-intentions
Etsy:    www.etsy.com/shop/CraftyIntentions
Pinterest:    www.pinterest.com/craftyintentions
Imgur: www.imgur.com/user/CraftyIntentions
Instagram: @CraftyIntentions
Twitter:    @CraftyIntention