I'm happy to introduce the sweet Sandi Devenny, of Adalou Vintage! Unfortunately for me, she lives very far away, so instead of chatting with her over coffee to get to know her better, I decided to do a long distance interview instead. By day, she illustrates for Hallmark cards. By evening she is a busy mother, she authors the blog Adalou, and runs 2 etsy shops!
1. What was the first blog you ever read? When did you begin blogging and why?
I've
always enjoyed reading blogs. I can't recall which was the first ever
but, the first which I felt connected with and followed along was over
at Frecklewonder by Jenny Mitchell. We met thru Flickr,
while being pregnant with our kiddos (which are about the same age). I
found her blog and loved that she wrote about general life and things
she enjoyed doing which was an inspiration to me.
I
didn't start blogging myself, until last year when I was asked if I
blogged where I shared things. Every blog I read was about general life,
which I greatly enjoyed, but I'm actually an introverted person so me
writing about me, I wasn't so sure about this. I love hunting for design
and illustrative inspiration so I started my blog by posting a few
things I loved. I made every effort to post one new piece of inspiration
a day as an ongoing place for my personal likes. I blogged not with the
intent to have a huge following but in hopes to meet a few new friends
who may enjoy the same things I did, and to offer up inspiration to
others which I had found. I slowly added a bit of general life (me chit
chatting and sharing life with my family) but I mainly hunt for
research. I started sharing some of my personal collections which is a
big part of who I am... a Collector. In return this helps keeps me
be creative and inspired.
2. I just love your mini collections series. What is your largest/favorite collection to date?
Collection... oh where to even begin... the mister and myself collect a lot
of different things. One of our largest collections to date would be
designer vinyl toy, which is somewhere over 700+ figures (action figures
of various sorts). Currently they're in storage until we figure out
another solution for displaying them about our tiny home. It's a toss up
for favorite collections between, my vintage mugs, my Pez Dispensers
(which tops somewhere over 500+) or my enamelware pieces. It's so hard
to choose a favorite, I guess I just love them all.
3.
Your design/art resume history is very impressive! You have a degree in
illustration, you were a designer at Carter's Clothes, and you
presently work as an illustrator/designer at Hallmark. It's no wonder
that you are now designing blogs for clients. Is this something you
would like to do more of?
I
love interacting with people and thru my design and illustrative work I
can do this. Since I do work a full time job and have my handfuls with
my family and my small etsy shops, web design isn't on the top of my
list currently. Not that I'm not available or open for business, because
I surely am. But I take jobs case by case if I have time and when
personal schedule allows such. If someone has an idea I'm always all
ears.
4. Where do you find your artistic inspiration?
I
love looking thru illustration books and magazines (we own a small
collection of favorites). But recently I have found Pinterest to be such
a great source for inspiration. The web is filled with so much
creativity. Sometimes it's hard not to loose yourself in it all so when
I'm stumped for ideas, I do turn to my family and friends for day to day
inspiration.
5. With such an awesome and full work schedule, what do you do when it's time to play?
Play...
well I'm not to sure what some consider play but in my free time I
really enjoy sewing. You can also find me hanging out with my family,
thrifting, exploring outdoors, playing board games with friends or
getting cozy on the couch with the mister, an ice cream sundae and a
movie.
Sandi, thanks so much for taking the time to tell us a bit more about yourself, you are one amazing woman!
Please go check out Sandi at Adalou, say "hi", and don't forget to peak into her shops to see what she's been collecting and creating!
Thanks so much lady for having me, I appreciate it :) Happy Monday!
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