One year after launching Scavenge + Bloom on Etsy, Chelsea Wilkins is already working late into the evenings filling orders. That’s a good problem to have, she says. Wilkins is a trained graphic designer, and after being laid off from her job as a grade school art teacher, she decided to pursue her love of ceramics full time. Wilkins’ most popular products are her whimsical animal planters (she’s dubbed them “monomals”) adorned with hand-painted gold monocles. She also crafts vintage-inspired tableware, kitchen utensils, and monogrammed napkin rings. At the moment, Wilkins is working on scaling her business for wholesale.
You can purchase Wilkins’ work on Etsy and see more on Instagram.
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Where do you draw inspiration? I get a lot of inspiration from things that I find, like, bulk trash pickup day is my favorite day of the year. [She laughs.] This stool here [It’s a teal stool next to the fireplace.] was in somebody’s yard; they didn’t want it anymore. [She points to front door.] That little rusty bench out front I found on the same day. I love that stuff.
Why are quilts such a big inspiration? It’s a big part of my family. My mom makes quilts, my grandmother makes one for every kid, grandkid, great-grandkid. Now a lot of her daughters, my mom and her sisters, make quilts as well. They’re charming and cozy. They’re hard to [make], and I really respect the process. This is my tribute to the quilters in our family.
When did Scavenge + Bloom really start to take off? The biggest moment was when Etsy featured me on Instagram. That happened a few months ago; then it just blew up. They featured my [monomal] llama. I was shaking that whole day, and I spent the day checking Instagram and seeing my followers go up from, like, 100 to 1,000.
How did you come up with your signature monocle? When I first made [the monomals], I made a llama with a bow around its neck, and I made a mouse with some glasses, and I was, like, “I should just do a monocle. That would be so cute.” It was well received, and I just decided to go with it.
What’s the biggest challenge in all of this? Not enough hours in the day… Deciding where to put my time: Do I make the stuff that I know will sell well, or do I make the stuff in my head that I want to make because it feels like the creative thing I want to do? It was so much harder for me to teach because it just wasn’t as much fun. This is fun. It doesn’t feel like work most of the time. I certainly don’t want to come off as complaining, because it’s the best thing in the world.
What are your goals for Scavenge + Bloom? This could be considered “selling out,” but I want to be in Anthropologie. That is my career goal. That’s what I want for my business. My favorite thing is to go in there and look at their tableware and home décor. All of that is what I want to make myself.
