Zazzle Blog

Shannon, from the Zazzle store HahpiStuff, answers some questions about her art, her celebrity encounters, and her time at Zazzle. Check out the interview below and don’t forget to check out her store HahpiStuff!

Zazzle: First off, tell us a little something about yourself.

Shannon: I was pretty much born with a pencil in my hand, but didn’t get serious about my art as a career until late 2006/early 2007. Since then I have created several popular collections including “The Lighter Side of Dark” and “The Ghoulie Scouts”, designed logos for some really great small businesses and even doodled a custom illustration for celebrity photographer, Tiffany Rose. When I’m not drawing or spending time with my family and dogs, I’m preparing my artist representation group, The indiExhibit, for our next Hollywood awards show gift lounge.

Zazzle: What’s your inspiration for your designs?

Shannon: Inspiration comes from just about anywhere for me. If my kids do something funny, that could inspire a design. Sometimes after watching a movie I will get into a wedding or a baby design mood. It really just depends on what is going on.

Zazzle: What’s your favorite medium to use?

Shannon: I used to be all about colored pencils and pen & ink, but have really found myself rather fond of digital art now. I still hand draw everything and ink it before scanning, but everything else is done on my computer.

Zazzle: What has been your favorite design you’ve created, and why?

Shannon: I would have to say my Mollie Mellencollie Christmas card is my all-time fave design, since it is the one that got me started in art again. I can actually remember where I was when I drew it, a conversation I had on the phone while drawing it, everything! It is very dear to me.

Zazzle: You have a lot of pictures of celebrities with your products, tell us a story about one celebrity (moment) that stands out to you.

Shannon: Hands down, the best celebrity moment was with Chaske Spencer who plays Sam, the alpha wolf, on the Twilight movies. I was sitting out in the hallway of the Sundance Film Festival gift lounge and this very familiar guy was waiting to get access to the lounge. I didn’t want him to think that I was staring (I was really trying to figure out where I knew him from) so finally I said to him that he looked very familiar to me. He and the lady he was with both laughed and then he turned and growled at me! I mean literally GROWLED at me, baring his teeth and everything! I couldn’t help but laugh. The growling hint obviously didn’t work so he told me who he was…and yes, I felt stupid since my oldest daughter adores the Twilight movies, especially the Wolfpack! We had a wonderful conversation about my group, The indiExhibit, and my artwork. He was seriously the nicest guy ever. He even posed with my Ghoulie Scouts skateboard. I couldn’t ask for a better celebrity encounter!

Zazzle: What’s your favorite Zazzle product to create??

Shannon: That’s a toss-up between cards and skateboards! I have tons of fun creating cards for different occasions, but I LOVE the skateboards with a fierce passion–I can’t even begin to count how many that I have purchased since they were available!

Zazzle: Do you have any fun stories about being a seller on Zazzle?

Shannon: Only about a million and a half! I have met so many wonderful people from Zazzle and made some really great friends both online and in the real world. Zazzle is a really great community not only to sell on, but to encourage friends as well. There are quite a few of us that have known each other from years ago when we first started Zazzling, and we all stop by and write on each other’s walls for Christmas, Thanksgiving, Birthdays etc.

Zazzle: What got you interested in selling your art on Zazzle?

Shannon: I was searching for a place to design my own tee as a joke for work and came across Zazzle. I thought it looked fun, and created a few joke tees for friends. Within a week I had already sold several funny text only tees and then it hit me…..if people would buy my silly inside joke one liners, maybe they would by my art.

Zazzle: What tips can you give someone who is just starting out on Zazzle?

Shannon: My best advice is to be yourself, don’t try to be someone you aren’t. If your style is more whimsical and cute, don’t make yourself go dark and gothic just because someone told you that it is popular and will sell. If you are a more serious styled person, don’t try to force yourself into doing funny designs just because everyone else is. Everyone has different tastes and there is a market for EVERYTHING. Be true to yourself. Make yourself happy with your art. Everything after that will fall into place

Thanks Shannon

This entry was posted on March 10, 2011 at 6:48 pm and is filed under General News. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.