Etsy Seller Interview with France of FranceQuirion

How FranceQuirion got started

Introduce your Etsy shop and tell us your story. How did you begin and decide on what to sell on Etsy, and how do you create your products?

During the 2000s, I was a very active painter and renowned designer in Quebec, Canada, and a little in other places in the world. My work was published in the PaintWorks magazine from 2003 to 2007 while the editor-in-chief was Linda Heller, and in a French magazine in Quebec, Canada, from 2007 to 2012, where I also wrote a column on decorative painting for each issue of the magazine.

I have created more than 100 pattern packets in French during those years and five English books, including From the North Came Travellers, that made me discoverable by American painters in 2017 thanks to the private Facebook group, "Tole Painters Unite!" This beautiful book has created a "buzz" on social media, and painters want to buy it. That's where Etsy became the solution. I first heard about Etsy from a friend in 2006, and it immediately piqued my interest. Being able to open a store without investing a lot of money was the solution for me as an artisan. At that moment, I knew that I could offer my book through Etsy and that I could strike while the iron is hot. I opened my little boutique the same day as this "buzz day," and it is a beautiful story that continues now. When the American women discovered my work, I was no longer painting. Now I keep a painting space throughout the year and have even started teaching Zoom classes with ArtRoom2Create. All this has changed my life profoundly, and Etsy is a part of it.

Favorite items

What are your favorite items? What makes these so special? Why do you think these items might be selling well?

My favorite work ever is the book From the North Came Travellers, because it contains the essence of my work from the 2000s. It contains everything I learned on my own and all the work I put into those early years of decorative painting. Now, I have other favorites, including A Winter Story, Eve & Joy, Father Christmas and the Cardinals, Enchanted Night, The Spirit of October, and many others. I am proud of my work because, to tell the truth, I have to work very hard at drawing; this stage, unlike painting, is not easy for me.

Getting sales on Etsy

How long did it take for you to earn your first sale and how do you currently attract customers to your Etsy shop?

I made my first sale immediately after adding my first From the North booklet. I published a post on the decorative painting Facebook group, and people came to get the book. Since I was just starting out on Etsy, I had listed that I only had one book for sale. It was insane; people were writing to tell me they couldn't afford the book. So I redrew my product sheet and listed the quantity as 500 this time. My buyers are from the decorative painting network in the US, which is still very active.

Managing FranceQuirion

How do you manage your shop? Are you running solo or do you have any team members? What tools or services do you use to run your shop and how do you handle fulfillment?

I run my shop completely by myself. I create the patterns or I translate the ones already made in French, and I add them to my Etsy store after having photographed them. I work on my desktop computer. We live very rurally, and we don't have wireless internet, so I don't have a cell phone. It may sound unlikely, but the whole world does not have a cell phone! 

I opened a second and then a third store on Etsy, the last one is for my husband. With the opening of the second store, an Etsy worker contacted me and gave me the opportunity to learn how to manage everything better, about tags, and about how to proceed with all these things.

The future of FranceQuirion

What goals do you have for your shop in the future?

I'm happy to operate this Etsy shop; it brings in a lot of extra income that we rely on now that my husband and I are older and that we have earned a life with small things, both as craftsmen. Thanks to Etsy, I can reap what I sowed 20 years ago. I will continue to add new decorative painting patterns to feed my passion and my shop. I have the great privilege of being part of the great family of decorative painters in the USA, and these people keep my flame alive with their constant encouragement.

Advice for new sellers

What’s your advice for a new seller starting an Etsy shop?

I would tell them to believe in themselves and to come up with products that are really a reflection of who they are. If they have a good network of people around them and they're doing things that inspire people, then people will want to support them.