Get to know Capri Wisniewski, the multi-faceted crafter behind Craftinista Girl.

Tell me a little about yourself.

I'm a wifey, dog mama, shop owner, small business champion, habitual-crafter-by-day and bartender-by-night based in the midwest.

What is your background (education, previous jobs and/or experiences) that led you to create?

My mom and grandma are very crafty ladies and I grew up making things from a very young age. In addition to the craftiness, they are both thrifty types, too. My grandma would save lots of seemingly random things, and we would turn around and make something beautiful with them. I also remember going to thrift stores on the weekends with my mom where she would want to look through every rack and shelf (at the time, it felt like we were there for an eternity) but now as an adult that's like my dream day. It’s funny how things change.

My work and education background is pretty boring and standard. I have an MBA and worked lots of jobs while going to college, most of which were in customer service. I took a liking to retail and spent 10 years working for Kohl's locations all over the midwest. I thought one day I could rise through the retail ranks and make the window displays for Anthropologie. Setting up new merchandise was always one of my favorite parts. I tried for a while to get a "big girl" job but a dear friend got me a bartending gig when we were in college and after seeing how much money I could make staying up all night and having fun, I kind of let those corporate dreams fall to the wayside and leaned 100% into bartending. I was never much of a morning person anyway.

During my time of attempted big-girling, I wasn't making enough money to pay the bills, and it was the early days of Etsy, so I figured I could make stuff and started listing some things there. I was doing sewn goods and some paper crafts at the time, but didn't really have a direction or cohesive brand. I was simply making and listing things that made me happy and that was enough. Then another one of my best friends got pregnant and I knew I wanted to make her something special for the baby. I took an old meaningful t-shirt that I had from high school and turned it into a onesie for her little one on the way.

After that, I was hooked so I started thrifting for cool old t-shirts and turning them into onesies for babies. As you can imagine, you start with a big t-shirt and make it into a tiny thing and you've got all these leftovers and I hated throwing them away, so I started doing accessories to match the outfits, too, like headbands and little cloth shoes. I loved the whole process of challenging myself to find more and more things to make with the smaller and smaller t-shirt scraps.

What led you to start your business, Craftinista Girl?

I don't know how, but it all snowballed and turned into an actual business a few years after starting to sell on Etsy. It's been a long journey and I'm always learning and adding new things to my line up. I'll be celebrating 10 years of Craftinista Girl in September 2023, actually - which is wild! Double digits! I don't think I ever intended for it to be a business, but I do remember wanting to start selling my things in stores and knew at that point I would need to make it "legit."

At the time, I was mostly doing sewing projects, but I've been crafty my whole life and love paper crafts as well. I knew that I might not always stick to sewing and I wanted my business name to be encompassing of all the different ways to be creative rather than making the name "Sew Capri" or something specifically related to sewing.

What types of products and services do you offer?

My product range these days is far and wide. I always say I'm a sewist and doodler. I've since stopped making the onesies I originally started with and now make other items like pants and rompers for little ones out of old t-shirts. I still use the scraps from those t-shirts to make headbands, dog toys, and linings for other things. I also make things from new (purchased) fabrics like key fobs, little zipper pouches, and reusable paper towels. During the process of cutting up fabric, I am still very conscious of not wasting any scraps. As for my "doodles" I'm now turning those into greeting cards, stickers, and buttons (all made by me in my home studio). I like being hands on with everything I make if you couldn't tell!

Why were you interested in trading with Lettering Works?

The logo I had prior to our work together was so bad. I needed Chelsie’s help! My original logo was put together by a friend of mine, but based 100% on my direction. I asked them to merge a letter C and crown together and decided that would be my logo. I just thought they both looked cool - but there was no meaning and my business name wasn't even incorporated. I thought my logo could be recognized as a sign one day in the craft world. I'm not making a million dollars crafting, and to be honest I can't pay my bills with crafting (yet!), so when I saw the opportunity to have a new logo through trading, I knew I had to reach out and at least see if I could be a candidate.

What was the process of trading with Lettering Works like for you?

Everything felt so professional throughout the process. Lettering Works has all of these forms and links and fancy portals built out. It’s clear that they benefit the business and clients. Chelsie was also very quick to do everything. If only I were faster to respond to things, the process might have only taken a week or two.

Lettering Works part of the trade was creating a custom, hand-lettered logo design. What did you enjoy most about working together?

I enjoyed Chelsie’s patience and grace. I came into this process with zero ideas about what I wanted a new logo to look like, I just knew that it had to change. This process really challenged me to think about what I wanted my brand to look like to everyone else. I eventually settled on the idea of incorporating hands into the logo because literally everything that comes out of my studio is hands-on by me. It took some back and forth to get there and I am very grateful that Chelsie stuck with me and helped me get to the point of being able to articulate what I was looking for in my logo. It means a lot to me to have the hands as well as lettering that was also created by hand! I'm so happy and proud of the end result.

What value have you received from your new logo?

Previous to having this logo, I was not putting my brand name on any of my products, but now I am printing it, stamping it, sewing it to anything and everything that I can. My hope is that people will see or purchase one of my products and then take the time to look me up and give me a follow on Instagram. Because my product range is so far and wide, they might have bought a card, but don't know that I can also sew something for them and coming to my Instagram is a good way to see an all-encompassing overview of all that I'm doing. Overall, I’m at the stage of hoping to increase my exposure and name recognition.

Why do you think artists should consider applying for a trade with Lettering Works?

I love the idea of trading expertise, plain and simple. Chelsie is a branding and graphic design aficionado, and I have a sewing machine :) If we each do the thing that we are good at, it can be mutually beneficial to both parties. I just think the overall concept is great.

The entire process was painless, fast, and Chelsie really listened to my feedback during the process. There's no reason not to, at the very least, fill out the contact form and see if there's an opportunity to trade services with Lettering Works. Having a new logo has been a huge motivator for me - I'm really proud of it and I'm more productive because I want to keep proudly putting it on more and more things. Working together could give you a new refreshing place to jump off.