Spotlight On Rich Neeley Designs

Today we turn the spotlight on a piece of technology turned into a statement piece that sure to make your friends jealous! If you’re like me, you don’t like the uniformity and the artlessness of the cell phone charger. I hate things that are blasé, I’m a creative gal and I like for my possessions to be as fun and creative as I try to be.

Today we meet Rich Neeley, a man who has taken one of the things I love most, books, and turned them into IPhone and IPad chargers! New and vintage, classics and recently popular, bright and simple. Whatever your looking for there’s a book charger for you!

Wonderful gift for the bibliophile in your life! I’d flip my lid if I got one of these as a present!

But enough of my ramblings and hinting to my family what I want for Christmas... ;)

I want to Hobbit one so bad! It’s my favorite book of all time! But I love these other as well! Winnie the Pooh is always a favorite!

I love this one! The dinosaur is eating the phone, hee hee!)

Lets hear from the creator of these incredible creations:

I'm Rich Neeley, I live in Southern CA, and I run my Etsy shop full time as of last year. I've been blessed to be able to get my product out there, and making the decision to move to this shop full-time was not easy, but pretty rewarding. 

(I grew up with The Wind in the Willows, makes my heart smile!)

Our wedding inspired me to start this business, as my wife had used books from our wedding decoration (I'll admit I am not the bibliophile, that's definitely her) and I wanted to get involved with her crafting and make something for fun. The booksi™ idea came to life, and now I make all sorts of docks from vintage and new books.

(Yes, he did!)   =D

We find books that are in odd places, and the books themselves inspire my creative process. I find books in used stores, thrift stores, library discard bins, craigslist, yard sales, etc, etc. Anywhere a book is no longer wanted or needed! I'm also constantly trying to come up with a better way to hide the dock, something else to build from books, how to add speakers - with the few minutes I have not spent building orders. :) I've thought of a lot of things, but just haven't had the time to flush them out - YET!

-I don't have a favorite, but my favorite author is Hemingway, so this vintage dock was one of my favorites. I also loved this iPad dock, it was our very first iPad dock ever built!

My current favorite up in the shop is this one, made with vintage music instruction books for youth and children. It's crazy to think how many music students owned them and practiced with them.

My advice for people who want to build their Etsy shop is to have great photos, which is all the customer has to go on before purchasing. You can take your own (I do), but make sure they are well-cropped and well-lit.

The other huge thing is: customer service!! If someone sends you a convo, send back a professional friendly response as soon as possible! 

Thanks so much Rich for giving us a look at the man who creates these gorgeous and functional pieces! Please visit his shop and see all of the wonderful repurposed books, you’re sure to find one you love!

http://www.etsy.com/shop/RichNeeleyDesigns