Monday, February 20, 2012

an interview with sandi devenny {adalou}






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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!

1 comment:

  1. Thanks so much lady for having me, I appreciate it :) Happy Monday!

    ReplyDelete

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