THE WASH, crafty chicks come clean

One day I walked into my co-worker’s office and I saw this beautiful piece of art. I was like “OMG! Where did you get this?” And she said, “my friend Gina made it, I’ll send you her link.”



Right then and there I was hooked on doe•c•doe.

One day I had the opportunity to meet Gina and we instantly got into indie biz geek talk. Chatting away about the cute stuff we admire on-line. I just adore Gina and her vintage style!

Gina
MAIN CRAFT: embroidery
BLOG: doecdoe.blogspot.com
Etsy: doecdoe
LOCATION: originally from Western New York, currently living in Wichita, KS

Gina opened her Etsy shop in October of 2008 that not only includes her embroidery items, but her own vintage styled photography prints and repurposed jewelry.

“I started doing embroidery as an alternative to the large amount of time I spend on the computer for my job. And it’s a stress reliever.”

Doe•c•doe is Gina’s creative outlet after a full day of work as a graphic designer. She makes time to make stuff for her family and friends and goes thrifting. And she has to get her cuddle in with her guy, dog and kitty!

I just adore her embroidered paint by number hoops.



Gina also has fun embroidery patterns for personal use.



I’m always taken to another place when I see Gina’s photos of her travels and items she thrifted. They all have this wonderful, back in time vintage look!

“I’m really inspired by and love vintage stuff! I love shopping at thrift stores too.”

I admire that Gina isn’t afraid to experiment with her craft.

Rub on transfers on vintage plates and making jewelry from repurposed items are always inspiring.



Gina’s tools of her trade are a needle, embroidery floss, fabric, sulky transfer pens & an iron.

“I’m very lucky to have a office/studio of my own where I keep my computer which is really my most important workspace {pretty much all my projects start there one way or another} and a lot of the junk I thrift.”

Gina's advise to other gals getting into the indie biz is:

“I would say my biggest challenge is overcoming my self-doubt & tendency to procrastinate.  My advice would be to do what makes you happy – the best things that have happened to me since I started my blog are because I’ve done what I like to do {thrift, take photos & embroider}.

The other thing I would suggest is to just try it – if I hadn’t just forged ahead with the blog I would never be pushing myself to try new things like I do now.  It might not be the same for everyone, but my blog has been a huge source of creative growth for me.

To think I would not be experiencing that just because I was afraid to put myself out there a little bit really makes me realize how sad it is when we hold ourselves back.”

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To read more stories like Gina's visit "THE WASH."