BlueBassinet Featured Team Seller

Christine of BlueBassinet shares a little about herself and her wonderful shop. Enjoy the great treasuries she has been featured in and then learn a bit more about this creative full time wife and Mother.





First off so everyone can get to know each other better what is your 'real' name? And where do you live? Tell us a little about yourself.

My name is Christine Brandstetter, I live in Richland, Washington - but my hometown will always be Gig Harbor. I grew up there and never thought I would ever leave, until I met my college sweetheart Jeremy. After getting engaged in 2004, I spent all my summers in Richland and finally moved here after graduating from Washington State University. Jeremy and I have been married for 5 years and we have 3 beautiful children - Westin (4), Aubrey (3) and Nolan (1). I'm a full time Mom and love every second of it.

How did you get started making tutu's?

The tutu's started in September after I asked my daughter what she wanted to be for Halloween. She couldn't make up her mind so I ordered supplies to make a lady bug, a pink bunny rabbit and a Tinkerbell outfit. I made all three and when she decided on the bunny rabbit I ended up selling the other two tutu to friends for their kids. Then something crazy happened and two of my friends asked me if I'd make tutu's for them to. After getting some great feedback from them my husband thought I should put them up on my Etsy site to see what happened. I had no idea Adult tutu's would be so popular. In the last 8 months I have sold 4 times as many adult tutu's as I have childrens.

How did you learn about Etsy?

I learned about Etsy from my best friend Amber (FableBay). She had been on Etsy for a while and thought it would be a great idea for me to start selling nursing wraps and other baby items on the site. She's been a great cheerleader!

What do you like most about your shop appearance? What would you like to improve?

My logo is by far my favorite thing about my shop. In November Blue Bassinet celebrated its 1st Birthday and my husband had a logo designed for me. A lot of my tutu pictures are just snap shots that I have taken for my customers right before I shipped their tutu and never imagined they would make it up on the site. So right now I'm in the process of redoing as many of the photos as I can. I also recently opened another account and plan on moving almost all of my adult tutu's over to my second shop LambertLane.


What is your creative style? Is your work area neat and tidy or a disaster? What inspires you?

I often joke with my friends that I have "Artistic ADD" once I make it in to my office I sometimes get distracted and can't focus on the project I'm working on and end up working on two or three different things instead. My work area is almost always a disaster - its also in the middle of the house and it isn't uncommon to find my children walking off with materials. My children have always inspired me, a lot of what you see started as projects for my kids.


How did you come up with you shop name?

After our first son was born my husband and I had played with the idea of starting up a baby boutique and had come up with the name years before I opened my shop. Blue because we had a boy and Bassinet mostly because we liked the way they sounded together.


Any stories or advice you'd like to share?

Photography matters! I've seen so many items that are beautiful made but poorly photographed not sell. Your photos sell your items, they're the only visual your customer has to go on. When you're taking your pictures play with the light if inside isn't given you great shots take the product outside in the morning light.


What are your goals if any for your shop in 2011?

2011 is about expanding I'm working on all sorts of mystery projects so you'll just have to check back frequently!