Featured Seller: mihow

Tell us a bit about yourself.

My name is Michele Howley Boudreaux and I live in Williamsburg, Brooklyn. I’m a graphic designer by trade who loves to bake and make candy. After two years of publishing “Mom It Down” recipes on my blog, I decided it was time to become more serious. I enrolled in the Institute of Culinary Education where I hope to refine my confectionary skills.

I’m a mother and a wife. I have a three-year-old son and one more on the way. I love cats, soccer, and New York City.

Apart from creating things, what do you do?

I bake. A lot. And I blog. A lot. I also do some freelance graphic design, specifically logo work. I love jogging. And did I mention I am a mother?

Tingled Pink (watermelon and pink peppercorn) by mihow

What first made you want to become an artist?

I’ve been creating stuff since I was a toddler. However, this particular art form was born when I was in design school. I was in packaging class and we had to design packaging based on an imaginary store of our choice. I came up with a candy shop. Instead of buying candy to fill my shopping bag and other packaging materials, I decided to make it all from scratch. That was 15 years ago.

Please describe your creative process.

The majority of my lollipops are made-to-order. I try and combine strange flavor combinations that taste wonderful; Tingled Pink (pink peppercorn and watermelon) comes to mind. Each batch is made from scratch and many are made with extracts I create. Otherwise, it’s pretty straightforward: sugar, water, a whole lotta love and amazing flavor combinations. Plus, they’re really easy on the eyes.

I should also mention ALL of my lollipops are made without corn syrup. It’s just good ol’ fashioned sugar.

What handmade possession do you most cherish?

My pottery.

Name your top five books, movies, musicians, and websites besides Etsy.

Books:
Middlesex
The Feast of Love
Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close
The Road
The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo

Movies:
Kicking and Screaming (The Noah Baumbach one from 1995!)
The Royal Tenenbaums
Lost In Translation
Garden State
Four Weddings and a Funeral

Musicians:
Mountain Goats
Red House Painters
Quicksand
Jets to Brazil
R.E.M.

Websites:
Mihow
Twitter (I am constantly amused by Twitter.)
Smitten Kitchen
Dooce
Toby Joe

What advice would you give to artists who are new to Etsy?

Buy stuff! Get to know other sellers by buying their stuff. Give feedback. Basically, support your peers. They’re great people. The stronger the community, the faster it grows and the larger our collective audience becomes.

What are your favorite features on Etsy? What new features would you like to see?

I love, love the Pounce feature (Most Recent Purchases). I use it every day at least once. And I buy stuff because of it all the time.

I’d love to see a more customized checkout system for buyers and sellers to communicate.

How do you promote your work?

I promote through Twitter and my own site, as well as passing out freebies. I’ve heard that the pictures have helped reel people in as well.

The First Trimester (ginger and lemonade to ease nausea during pregnancy) by mihow

In ten years, where would you like to be?

I’d love to own a small town bakery. I hope to one day combine my love for graphic design and baking and make people smile. Basically, that imaginary bakery I came up with for packaging class in college? Yeah, I want that to become my reality.

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