Northwest Folklife Vendor Spotlight: Fuzzy Ink
Today we are kicking things off with an interview from Michael Paul, one of three fabulous parts that make up Fuzzy Ink. Love the ever epic stache? This is the place for you! Read on!
Tell us a bit about yourself. Where are you from? How did you get started doing what you do?
FI: I'm originally from upstate NY, moved to Raleigh, NC for a few years and am now residing in Portland, OR. When I was living in Raleigh, my brother and I decided it would be delightful to have a try at the entrepreneurial world, so we narrowed down out interests to t-shirts and mustaches =).
What would we find in your refrigerator right now? Be honest! :)
FI: Yikes, not much. I'm a simple man so mostly strawberry jelly in the squeeze bottle, sandwich meat, a bunch of light yogurt, a bag of baby carrots, some microwavable fishsticks / chicken, cheap rum and a half gallon of ice cream.
Who has been most influential/supportive in your craft?
FI: I'm influenced by any and everything that makes me do a double and triple-take. As a company we spend a significant amount of time on the road for shows and related events, so I get a lot of new ideas from the vendors I meet along the way. Additionally, it makes complete sense that the vendors I meet and befriend are usually the ones most supportive of the crafty lifestyle.
If you could be a superhero, what would you want your superpowers to be? These can be crafty-powers too! FI: Hmm, I'd love to be able to squirt chocolate syrup, whipped cream, peanut butter cups and fudge brownie ice cream out of my fingertips on command (strangely I'm a super healthy guy too =). For crafting purposes though, I'd prefer two magical items: a never-ending bag of polyfil and a sewing machine with unbreakable thread that never needed to be reloaded.
How do you find inspiration and/or get out of any creative slumps?
FI: The one constant with me during any crafting session is music, Music, MUSIC! It could be Jonsi or Oasis or Keyboard Cat...as long as I'm grooving I can stay super productive even through the most monotonous tasks.
Aside from being a creative master, what other hats do you wear?
FI: I prefer some sort of baseball / fidel type hat...oh wait =). I'm really just a typical guy in my spare time though, hitting the gym, reading children's books and playing in dodgeball / soccer leagues.
If you could trade places with any other person for a week, famous or not famous, living or dead, real or fictional. With whom would it be?
FI: I always wanted to play professional soccer as a kid so prob. anyone in the English Premier League (EPL)...or a red panda (can you make an exception for furry animals?); I'd love to know what it feels like to be that adorable if only for a short time ;)
Is there a handmade item that you cherish most? If so, tell us about it.
FI: A good friend of mine, Diane Koss (Cutesy But Not Cutesy), makes some of the most amazingly stupendous monsters this side of the universe; 100% hand-sewn and 100% delicious! Everyone should check her out... http://www.etsy.com/shop/dkoss2
Is this your first time at UCU?
FI: Yes. I'm excited to visit Seattle for the first time and see if people embrace our eclectic and interesting style like so many have. As someone with sometimes unrealistic expectations though, I'm nervous the outcome will fall short of the goal in my head because of a super rainy weekend (fingers crossed against this of course!)
Tell us something unknown about you/your company...Lets hear a random/fun fact!
FI: Well, I have an identical twin brother (also part of Fuzzy Ink), a fascination with cats and actually saw my mom slip on a banana peel in NYC last year (who else can seriously say that?!)
Michael Paul - Fuzzy Omelette
