I live in a small old house in Oakland, Ca with my two funny little dogs and my very tall boyfriend and I have a peculiar propensity for things in miniature.

Eristotle is about fun and funky ways to decorate your pad and your life with reduce-reuse-recycle front and center to every design. All of my creations are designed and sewn by me using vintage, reclaimed or eco-friendly materials whenever possible.

I was raised with a recycling bin under the kitchen sink and a compost pile in the backyard. “Put your scraps in the compost bin like a good little hippy child” was heard at every meal. The ‘rents were kind of kidding about us being hippy children, but not about the composting! It is important to me to continue that line of eco-thinking with my business as much as I can.

What inspired you to go into the craft business, do you still have a day job? This seems to be a recurring theme amongst the crafty set; I’ve been crafting since I was a wee tot. I love how it seems like so many crafters started with paste, big fat crayons and plastic lanyard – and just kept that going into adulthood. I’ve always loved to make things, and turned it into a professional career when I finally figured out how. I went to school for Interior Design, and worked for a couple different architecture offices after. I had never really sold anything I made as a legitimate business, though. I decided crafting as a business was my next big adventure. I now moonlight (or maybe I should say “daylight”?) doing merchandising for the kids’ store, Monkey Bars in Alameda.

What’s the best thing about what you do? And the worst? I love playing with the fabrics, figuring out which ones go best with others for the best visual impact. And I love when people get excited about one of my pieces they bought. It’s so nice to get that appreciation from a customer on a piece I’m proud of. The worst? I feel like I’m not the greatest time-manager in the world. And I really feel that’s a key element to success in one’s business. Sometimes I get down on myself for it, but I try to see it as an opportunity to grow.

What’s the best advice you’ve been given about your business/craft practices? “you need an agent.”  We’ll see how that pans out. ;)

Shop: http://www.etsy.com/shop/eristotle
Tweet: http://twitter.com/eristotledesign
Stalk: http://www.facebook.com/pages/Eristotle/