Artist Feature and Giveaway: Get Ready Set Go

On this 17th day of December we are off to visit the inspired world of fellow artist Rachel born in Detroit. Rachel is the artisan behind the super successful Etsy shop Get Ready Set Go, your place to find upcycled luggage enhanced with her designs.

Rachel is a pretty brunette that lives and works on the East coast of Florida with a penchant for all things creative, including knitting and photography. You will find her on Etsy with two other shops. One which features Vintage clutches, Get Ready Set Clutch and the other Around N Brightly Wound with her handknit goodies and vintage lucite jewelry.

I first became aware of Get Ready Set Go through building treasuries on Etsy. A fun creative outlet that is tremendous for building community on the worlds largest venue for handmade. Rachels fun and well shot photos of her pieces make them perfect for us treasury builders.

I'm really attracted to how Rachel melds her creativity with ecology to create these little beauties that are ever so functional and utilitarian. There's a color and style for everyone AND she has been known to do custom work as well.

Rachel was very kind to take a moment out of her very busy schedule to answer a few questions for all of us so that we could get to know her a bit more.

1.) What is the one thing you find most inspiring to feed your creative spirit?

picking just one thing that inspires me is impossible but i will have to go with music. it's my drive, it makes me tick, it helps me to feel, it carries me through.

2.) What is your favorite scent from the natural world?

black currant, sandalwood, blackberry...the woods- pine trees in the winter to be exact. i grew up in michigan and i miss the trees there like no other! fresh fallen snow and a deep inhalation of pine makes my mouth water......

3.) If you were Queen of a village what would you wish for your kingdom?

for my kingdom i would wish for all children to have the love of a parent- blood or not- unconditional! that every child would grow up with someone who believes in their dreams and supports them in ALL that they aspire to do and be. that they would have someone to talk to, be open with and not feel judged by- even when their thoughts may not seem right. everyone needs to have that intensely passionate love standing behind them when they fall. because we all fall.

4.) How did you find yourself using vintage luggage as a canvas?

good question. hmmmm, i think it was when i found a piece of luggage that i couldn't get clean enough. it just looked so blah after i used all of my tricks of the trade to make it look better. i was bound and determined to kick it up a notch! i did, and from that point on the gates flew open:)

5) Tell us a secret?

this is hard because i am a really open person. i've been told that i don't just wear my heart on my sleeve but rather i wear my guts all over the place. sorry for that image but i think it's a pretty perfect visual for it. so a secret...... here's what i got: i dream all too often of being featured seller on etsy and when i do my biggest fear is naming my favorite musical artists- there are just too many good musicians. i seriously start to freak ot when i think about it for too long.

Thank you dear Rachel, it's a treat to have you here and share a bit about yourself with me and the readers of this journal.  Get to know Rachel a bit more and tap into her creative mind by visitng her  blog.

NOW...the Giveaway!
For this giveaway, Rachel is offering the winner a a $15 gift certificate to an item from her Get Ready Set Go shop AND two surprise gifts along with the purchase. Wow, you are all so fortunate!

To qualify to win this prize, please....

Begin by visiting the Get Ready Set Go shop on Etsy and sharing in your comment what item you most crave from her shop. You must include your first name -or- etsy username AND email address with each entry or it will not be included.

For additional entries you can do any or all of the following, please leave a separate comment for each entry.

• 1 entry: Be or become a follower of the GetReadySetGo blog
• 1 entry per day of the contest: Twitter this message: RT @RoxanaVilla is hosting a giveaway with GetReadySetGo! Visit http://journal.illuminatedperfume.com for a chance to win
• 2 entries (total) - Blog about this giveaway, leaving the URL to the post in comments (1 blog per entrant, please)
• 1 entry: Be or become a follower of the creator GetReadySetGo on Twitter
• 1 entry: Be or become a follower of this journal: IlluminatedPerfume   

More fine print, learned along the way
1. If we cannot contact you we will give your prize away to someone else.
2. The featured seller will do their very best to mail the winners package in a timely manner, please contact them directly if you have any questions.
3. Each entry is assigned a card from several decks here at the house, I then shuffle all the cards and have someone handy (like my daughter or husband) choose a card for the winner and a runner up.
4. If you have won the Artist Feature and Giveaway in the past you may enter again.
5. Please don't make up any new guidelines, what is outlined above is what we follow.

The giveaway ends on Tuesday, December 22nd at 10 pm PST with the winner announced shortly there after. Please help us get the word out. Anyone who posts comments after 10pm on December 22nd will not be entered in the draw.