FEATURED SELLER: Asia Bataev

Asia is the owner of AsiaBataev, an etsy store with very much unique knitted toys and crochet accessories. Please red on to find out more about Asia.


Asia is from Warsaw. This is where she was born and grew up and she's amused by new comers asking her whether she knows where Hotel Europejski is. She lives in a typical Warsaw structure - a block of flats - on the 11th floor, which she hates, but she gets awesome views of the sun going down, which she loves.

Tell us something about yourself that we wouldn't know from looking at your store

I love chocolate. Life is hard for me without sun and beach. I feel that I would be at my best in  somewhere in California circa 1965.

What do you do besides creating?

I'm graduating college in clinical psychology. I'm going to take my final on my 40th birthday. I study reflexology. I have two great sons. It's thanks to them that I'm going back to the roots and escaping from the corporate world.

What made you become an artist?

I've always been an artist. I was planning on going to art school but Berlin Wall fell, the borders opened up and I ended up emigrating for quite a long time. I was building my own capitalism. I went all the way from receptionist to a creative director at an advertising agency. Either way, I've creating all my life:)

Describe your creative process

The animals are created through trial and error method. A lot of the time, first attempts, look like errors of genetic engineers. Those are end up being my children toys. They are being taken care of and loved. After some time, I get to create the kind of animals that I envisioned in the first place. The worst part is, if I take a longer break ... and in the meantime forgot the pattern. And I don't write any of the down. I make them a way to exercise my memory. 

Bath sets, I usually make after I've had a tough day and I need an outlet to vent. I don't drink or smoke, grabbing a crochet needle is what I do instead. 

What advice would you give to other Etsians?

I'm not an experienced Etsian myself, but I think that the most important thing is to take it all in with a little sense of humor. I feel like as long as I treat Etsy like it's fun, I'm going to fun out here and I'm going meet a lot of new people.

How does your day look like?

Hmmm.... I have 4 types of days. A day when I got to the office where I do advertising marketing are the hard days. That's when I leave home by 8 and don't get back till after 7. That's when I sit in the armchair, put my younger son in my lap, cuddle him up and wait for the day to be over. On the days that I don't go to the office, I study, I take care of the children, do groceries and chores ... a kind of ordinary day by day life. A lot of the night I spend working at the computer writing as a freelancer. The days that I spend at school look similar to those that I spend at the office. And there's the forth kind of day - lazy days... that's when I watch TV, go out with friends and go to the park with the kids. 

And in the midst of all that, I knit. 

How do you promote?

Chaotic and irregular. I have a Facebook and Twitter fan pages and a blog. I participate in the forums (it's fun and you end up getting a lot of visitors) and I'm part of 11 teams. I make treasuries - I think that they're a wonderful way of self promotion. Sometimes I participate in BNR's and I really appreciate them.  

Where do you see yourself in 10  years?

I have a house! And in the backyard - a studio! In the studio - an easel, a pottery kiln and cosmetics manufacture. I make soap, lip balm, lotions.... This is my life and so is reflexology. In the evenings, I sit by the fire instead of staring at the stupid TV and I continue knitting animals. 

What inspires you?

Life! Nature! Kids! Art! My own mind!

What are your favorite Etsy sellers?


Just to name a few:  Girl with a radio mind, Epically Epic Soap Co., Sewn Natural, Green Mountain and Colour Bazaar.