Zazzle Blog

Peggy, from the Zazzle store northwestphotos, talks to us about her photography and her time as a Zazzler.  Check out the interview below and don’t forget to check out her store northwestphotos!

Bio: I live in the Pacific Northwest state of Washington, a true wonder to itself. Although I’ve been a resident for over 30 years, I was born and raised in western New York. I am currently retired and devoting myself totally to my creative talents and interests.

Zazzle: When you’re not creating art, what are your other hobbies?

Peggy: When I am not creating on Zazzle, I turn my creativity to my love of music and playing piano. I also volunteer my time as an assistant editor and promoter of an author who has featured some of my work in his books. And, of course, I love traveling regionally to capture all those lovely stills out there in nature.

Zazzle: A lot of your works seems to be more photography, when did you start taking photos? Are there other styles of art you enjoy as well?

Peggy: All of my work on Zazzle is created from my stock of nature and landscape photographs. I’ve had a long time interest in photography from my teen years on. I can remember longing for my first 35 mm camera. I always knew that I had an eye for photographing what Mother Nature has to offer. Other than landscape and nature photography, I occasionally like to photograph vintage trains and planes.

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

Peggy: I would have to say that my favorite design I have created on Zazzle is “Advice from a Mountain,” which is available in two formats: one with a photo image of Mt Rainier, and one with a black silhouette image of Mt Hood. Each image is accompanied by practical advice given by “the mountain.” The items are available as mousepads, greeting cards, T-shirts, and tote bags.

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

Peggy: I think the funniest story about my sales on Zazzle is that I seem to sell quite a bit of photo items that are not indicative of the Pacific Northwest, which is what I specialize in. For example, I sell quite a few “east coast” photo items, which I really don’t have much of to begin with. I do travel to other regions and so I try to capture some of those areas’ popular attractions as well as what my own region has to offer.

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

Peggy: My favorite Zazzle products to create are greeting cards. That seems to be the most natural way to show off my nature photographs. I have the most versatility with cards in that I can create many different types of occasion cards, such as birthday cards, thank-you cards, holiday cards, etc. And there’s a little bit more creativity involved with occasion cards in that you have to think up a good verse to include inside some of them. Many of my cards are also blank style cards for customers to creative their own verse if they wish to.

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

Peggy: I became interested in selling my photo designs on Zazzle a few years ago just before I retired. I wanted something to keep me busy in my retirement years. As well, many friends and family members had been encouraging me for years to market my photo images. I already knew about Zazzle and just had to make up my mind once and for all to try my wings. I like the ease of using Zazzle’s design-creating software and that was the primary reason why I chose Zazzle. I’m glad I did!

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

Peggy: For those newbies on Zazzle, I would strongly suggest that they refer to the forums frequently and check out other Zazzler’s store links to help spark their own creativity. Also, keep up with the weekly Zazzle blogs and newsletters for more creative ideas. With many of my own problems I encountered, I found the solutions in the forums and Zazzle’s own instructional videos. People in the Zazzle Community are really great and are eager to share helpful information. If you have a creativity block, take a few days off and then come back and try again. That usually works

Thanks Peggy!

This entry was posted on June 23, 2011 at 1:38 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.