TDIPT Presents.........

Diane Apperson of Tallowberry Primitives

We asked Diane:

Where do you live?

In a very rural part of central Virginia. I'm surrounded by history and I feel most blessed to be where I am.

Beautiful Grapevines on Diane's property. She says they love to nibble on the grapes, and also uses the grapvine in some of her crafting.

Can you tell us a little about your family?

I'm not married. My Dad and I live together, I have 4 brother's (3 are married). I also have nieces and nephews and lots of other family that

lives fairly close by.

Diane's sweet elderly dog Gypsy

Do you work outside the home?

I clean the Church that I attended as a child and teenager, other than that no.

Do you have an hobbies/what do you like to do when you're not creating?
I absolutely adore antiquing, I have an Aunt and a good friend that love to go along with me.

What are some of your favorite things?
Cooking, in fact I recently started doing some baking and cooking as a little sideline. And, I would say my favorite thing to do is to go antiquing.





Do you collect anything in particular?
I collect yellowware, vintage Halloween and Christmas post cards and in the last couple of years my collecting passion has been advertising memorabilia. I love any kind of container, wood, tin, fabric or glass that has advertising on it.

How did you get your start in your creative business? When?

I would say in the 1980's. My Aunt and I each made things and we would have small shows at her house. I then started doing some local craft shows.

*How did you get your business name?

Tallowberry Primitives..let's see, I always loved the bunches of small white tallowberries I would see in the homes in country magazines I would buy and when I needed to come up with a business name that just popped into my head and the word "primitives" was a given because it's the style I love.

Is it in the genes......does anyone in your family, now or generations before create?
My Mom always used to laugh and tell me that loving to sew skipped a generation in our family. Both of my Grandmother's were wonderful seamstresses but my Mom said if you set her in front of a sewing machine it tensed her up. I love to sew. My maternal Grandmother would make her own patterns for clothing out of newspaper. She sewed for several women. Both of my Grandmother's sewed for me when I was a little girl. To this day I can remember some of the outfits they made for me.

How do you keep ideas coming?
I honestly don't know. Sometimes I think I just cannot come up with another thing but then something happens and the ideas start flowing again. Alot of my ideas pop into my head after I go to bed at night, I lie there waiting to go to sleep and my brain is still very active and one thought will lead to another and next thing I know I've planned a new project from start to finish!

Who/what inspires you?
My work is very much in tune with the seasons. I have to say my favorite time of the year to design and sew for is the Fall/Halloween season.

Do you have a studio or do you work in different parts of your home?
I wish I had a wonderfully organized space but that just wouldn't be me! I do most of my work at my kitchen table. Fortunately it's a large kitchen.

How do you organize your supplies?
I have boxes of fabric in my spare room . I have old tins of buttons and plastic containers of trims, paints, threads etc.

Do you like to listen to music while you work, if so what ?
Not really, I love music but I usually don't want distractions when I'm working.

Do you have a favorite piece of art that you've created?
I guess it would be an Uncle Sam I made a couple of years ago, it also happened to be my highest selling piece.



What have you learned about marketing?

That to me is a difficult question to answer, just when you think you've figured things out, something happens to let you know you were wrong! Look at how the current state of the economy has changed the whole game.

What keeps you motivated ?
The nasty little habit of wanting to eat everyday!

Do you sell you work in any shops, or will you be in any upcoming shows?
I sell to 3 shops here in Virginia. One is located in an old Mill, one is to a friend who's an Antique dealer that has a shop and also travels to shows and the third is to another friend that has a fabulous primitive shop.

Do you have any tips you would like to share?
Do what you love and stick to it, you may not die rich but you will die happy and content.

Tell us something about yourself that may surprise us?
I don't know how surprising this will be but I worked in a bank for 2 to 3 years and I absolutely hated it. But one lesson I learned from it was: I knew I could not work 5 days a week in an office and be happy and I think that experience steered me in the direction that has made me happy. For that reason I guess it was a couple of years well spent!


Thanks Diane, it's been fun seeing you in the TDIPT Spotlight!