Jen is not only the newest Mutineer, but one of the vendors for our upcoming Mutiny Market!

1. What do you make and do you have a website?

I make soap. 8thstreetsoap.com

2. Why do you make things?

Mainly because I get real joy out of the process -- there's something about ending up with something tangible from your efforts that is very gratifying. I sit behind a computer all day, so it's especially fun to get my hands dirty...so to speak. And I will admit there's weirdly subversive element to it that I enjoy -- my own little way to sock it to The Man (I don't need your stinkin' soap, Procter & Gamble! hah!). If you want to get all philosophical about it, there's also the whole creating-order-out-of-chaos angle. It's human instinct to want to make stuff.

3. When did you start making things?

I started making soap around 2000. I had picked up an intriguing book about soapmaking. It wasn't until my first 50-pound container of coconut oil came in the mail that I realized I was in deep. When did I start making other stuff? Since I was a little kid. An early project was making my mom a "pillow" out of fabric scraps, filled with cherry blossoms, and stapled shut all the way around. It got all moldy.

4. Why buy handmade?

Handmade is one-of-a-kind, no two things end up exactly alike. Everytime you buy handmade you are acknowledging and connecting on some level with the individual who made it.

5. What craft supplies would you take to a deserted island?

I'd need more information to answer this question accurately. A saw?

6. What crafters or artists do you love?

Too many to mention (my fellow Mutineers, for starters). There are a lot of clever people out there with cool ideas and mad skills. The internet is an amazing place.

7. What new craft/skill do you want to learn?

Paper-marbling. Sewing machine and power tools. Pottery. Glass-blowing. Drawing. Papel picado. That's just the tip of the iceberg -- in my ideal world, we'd all get sent off to adult arts-n-crafts camp every summer.

8. Tell us something funny about yourself.

I spent the first two-thirds of my life mispronouncing the word "lapel". I always thought it rhymed with label.