An Interview with Dayle from BabyRooz by Jo-Be-Mac Studios

As many of you know, EtsyBABY team members are extremely talented.  We wanted to take a peek at the person behind the creativity.  All throughout May we will be interviewing shop owners, to get a glimpse of the designer behind those adorable baby products!

Meet Dayle from BabyRooz by Jo-Be-Mac Studios

What inspired you to begin a shop featuring your own designs?

My husband had just build a woodworking shop for himself.  I bought a book on scroll sawing animal puzzles because I thought that he would be able to do this with our youngest daughter for fun.  First, he pointed out to me that he did not have a scroll saw and neither one of them were interested.  I started looking through the book and decided I wanted to try.  So I did and I loved it.  Soon after I decided to try to make my own design based on the animals that I work with at Zoo New England (I am a zookeeper when I am not at home in my shop).  It came out really nice so I submitted it to a magazine and they published my work!  I couldn't stop after that.

What is your favorite material to craft with?  

Beautiful natural wood.

What training have you had or are you self-taught?

I am self taught.

What has been the hardest aspect of creating a hobby into a business? 

Finding the time between a full time job and a full time mom.  I have started painting some of my toys at work during my lunch to increase my productivity.

Any advice for other Etsy sellers?

Have fun.  I love creating new designs and posting them on my shop.

What do you enjoy doing in your off time?

Well, right now my etsy shop is my off time.  But when I do decide to skip the shop (and housecleaning) I enjoy photographing wildlife.
 

Describe a typical day in your life...
I get up at 5:30 and get the kids up at 6.  I set off for my work at Stone Zoo in Stoneham, MA.  There I take care of our collection of animals including snow leopards, Mexican gray wolves, markhor mountain goat, reindeer and many others.  I also train our Black Bears, Jaguars, Spider monkeys, Otters and Cougars.  I generally get home at 6pm.  Then I make supper, check my etsy shop and work in my little workshop making baby toys until around 9pm.  Then collapse in bed!  It is a lot of work, but it is all so much fun that I never want to stop!

Where can we find your products online? 

Right now I can be found on etsy and facebook.  I am getting ready for my first craft fair and have had a few stores ask about featuring my toys.

Thank you Dayle, for taking the time out of your busy schedule to grant us an interview!