Littleput Books ... Oregon, USA

Artist: Ryan (the girl)
Business: Littleput Books
Web site: littleputbooks.etsy.com
Location: Portland, Oregon, USA

What do you make?
Handbound books and pretty little things, its a tag line :)

Where and when do you do your creative work?
I work at home, any hour of the day. Mondays and Thursdays seem busiest for some reason but I don't know why.

Do you have another "day job"?
I am a mom. I left a boring job when my son was born, and lovely as it is to be a mom I was really excited to be able to get back to work when my business took off.




Where and what did you study?
I studied sociology which was cool, I wanted to be a university professor but I got side tracked. I took a book arts class out of curiousity and it just clicked.

What inspires you and what motivates you?
Paper inspires me, the smell, the patterns and textures. I love making beautiful into functional or vice versa. Really lately Etsy has been a big motivater, selling well makes me want to work harder and sell more, I'm kind of addicted to it.

When did you start doing this?
I started making accordion books when my son was six months. By the time he was a year old I had a small product line that I sold at weekend markets, so four years now.




What memories to you have of getting into art as a kid?
Art was a real frustration for me as a child. I can't draw, I think I have a learning disability when it comes to drawing actually. I made lots of stuff but mostly it was me exploring different mediums, trying to find the one I could manipulate into something beautiful.

How did you choose the name for your business?
I don't really know, even I think its weird.

What do you love most about doing this work?
Paper shopping!

What's the most fascinating place you've been?
I lived in Peru for a while early in 2006, that was pretty interesting.




A book you love:
Memoirs of a Geisha

What's the most interesting thing about you?
I spent half my childhood living in a remote cabin on the Lost Coast of California – no electricity, outdoor plumbing and 11 miles to the nearest neighbor. I spent the other half in San Francisco. I am a hippie/yuppie who can make a great campfire.

What achievement are you most proud of?
My 5 year old.




What advice would you give women starting their own business?
Sadly it takes money to get started. It helps to have some kind of income that you can focus on building your business, either creating your product line or advertising. I had my sons fathers income to support me while I started, now I am the bread winner (shh don't tell anyone).

What's the biggest challenge you face in your work?
Doing the parts that bore me. Sometimes I just don't want to work and then I fall behind, get all stressed out and work like mad to get caught up. I should fire me....

What do you love to do in your free time?
Sleep.



What are you working on right now?
Trying to keep my head above Etsy water with all the new people taking advantage of my good ideas.

What do you hope to achieve next?
Featured Seller on Etsy.com

Bonus question: where do you find all those Scrabble tiles?!
You can buy them on Ebay :O)