04.13.08
Posted in Uncategorized, jewelry, hand crafted jewelry, shopping, site promotion, interviews at 11:04 am by KellyM
Please meet Gail Harding, Owner of http://polkadotandpersian.etsy.com.
Where are you located? Edinburgh, UK
What do you design? Jewellery
Where/How did you learn this? Edinburgh College of Art
Favorite Artist who inspires you? There is lots of art that I like, but not all of it directly inspires me. However, I love: Andy Goldsworthy, Charles Rennie Mackintosh watercolours, Gustav Klimt, Cynthia Cousins, Maurice Sendak, Arthur Rackham among many, many others.
Where does your inspiration come from? I always find this a strange question for me…I don’t get inspired to make something in particular, like I don’t look at a tree and go “ooo, I’m gonna make a necklace about that”, it’s more that I get inspired to make and create in general. I get inspired to be creative in my own way by many different things. People who are excited about what they do and are honest and truthful about it inspires me a lot.
Where do you design your creations? I have a room in the flat which is the “studio”.
What does your work space look like right now? I share this tiny room with my boyfriend who is a musician, so my end of it is tidy in a maximalist kind of way, but the rest of the room is a mass of guitars and cables. I have lots of stuff in a small space so there are piles of little boxes containing various things and lots of bottles and tubes and tools. I have just put up a new pin board as a mood board and am slowly filling it. My large jewellery work bench takes up most of the space.
How does your family feel about what you do? I think they think it’s great. I’ve never asked them specifically, but they are all very supportive and enthusiastic.
Best advice you received when starting your business venture? Keep records! Write things down so you don’t forget how you made something and take pictures of all your work - even the things that you think aren’t worth selling.
Favorite part of owning your own business? The feeling that I am not working for ‘the man’.
Least favorite? No money.
How do you relax? Sleep, bed, wine, friends, reading, music, and cleaning. Really, giving a bit of my flat a good tidy is a calming thing for me.
Favorite color? Turquoise.
Does this color show up in a lot of your work? No, well occasionally if I use ribbon, but generally not.
If there were more hours in the day, what would you be doing? I’d make more jewellery. I’d also read more, I have a huge list of books that I want to read but never seem to have enough time for.
A sample of Polka Dot and Persian products. For all products, please visit Gail’s website.
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04.10.08
Posted in Uncategorized, jewelry, fun, hand crafted jewelry, site promotion, interviews, Lampwork beads at 9:01 pm by KellyM
Meet Wilma Travis, Owner of http://www.wilmas-whimseys.com/
Where are you located? Crystal, MN
What do you design? Lampwork beads, and jewelry from my beads.
Where/How did you learn this? Self taught with guidence from a forum I belong to. Then after doing this for a couple of months, I found a local shop that offered lampwork lessons to hone my self taught abilities!
Favorite Artist who inspires you? Oh I have many favorite artists, Leah Fairbanks; “Tink and John” Michelle Boukowski.
Where does your inspritaion come from? Actually, my inspiration comes when I sit down at my torch and look at the colors I have and try to put together a scheme that will go well. Also, I get inspiration from paintings (colors) and fellow lampwork artists.
What do you do to combat creative block? When I reach a block, I send out a help signal on my favorite forum that my “muse” is missing and will anyone who finds it vacationing at their house, please chase it home. I then get a link to the gallery for some inspiration and the tutorial sessions on how-to’s.
Where do you design your creations? I have an area set up in the family room which I really took over. I ripped up the old rug so that no flying hot glass would start a fire. For my jewelry design, I took over the dining room! We now eat in the living room while watching t.v.!
What does your work space look like right now? The torching area is the biggest mess I have seen in a long time! My jewelry making area is really clean and well organized and that’s because I made the mistake of leaving the catnip bag on my beading/jewelry table and my cat had a blast rolling around in it. Beads and catnip everywhere. That resulted in cleaning the whole table off and reorganizing eveything.
How does your family feel about what you do? My family is very supportive and behind me 100%. My daughter acts as my PR when she can…
Do you have any advice for someone looking to make their own creations using this method? It is the most wonderful stress reliever. You get great satisfaction when you have created something and it sells!
Favorite part of owning your own business? Satisfaction when your items sell to repeated buyers.
Least favorite? Not enough time to do all that I want to do.
How do you relax? Making jewelry.
Favorite color? Ahhh, my favorite colors are wedgewood blue and purple together.
Does this color show up in a lot of your work? Not as often as I would like. People look for the colors of the season, so the purples are lighter and so are the blues, but I try to sneak as many as I can into my beads and jewelry.
If there were more hours in the day, what would you be doing? Torching and making jewelry!
A sample of Wilma’s Whimseys products. For all products, please visit Wilma’s site.
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04.07.08
Posted in Uncategorized, fun, hand crafted jewelry, shopping, site promotion, interviews, bath and body, clothing, handbags at 4:09 pm by KellyM
Meet Yvette Estime, Owner of www.bellepourlavie.com.
Where are you located? Coral Springs, FL.
What do you design? Handbags, jewelry, shoes, bath products.
Where/How did you learn this? I am a self taught crafter. I mostly read books on the subject.
Favorite Artist who inspires you? Dali. All my work has double meanings and very symbolic.
Where does your inspiration come from? I love the ocean so most of my work has an aquatic theme. I also love astrology. My twin sister and creative parnter also inspires me.
What do you do to combat creative block? I read. Also, I am a watercolorist, so I sometimes paint.
Where do you design your creations? In my bedroom, everything is piled in a corner. I really need more space. LOL
What does your work space look like right now? Sewing machine in one corner, 3 containers of fabric, a 3 drawer stand full of beads and another full with essential oils.
How does your family feel about what you do? My mom thinks it’s a fascinating hobby and my sister (also my parnter) wants to turn it into a more successful business.
Do you have any advice for someone looking to make their own creations using this method? Try not to be discouraged if no one takes to your work right away. It’s a process.
Best advice you received when starting your business venture? Well, I think the best advice was stay away from craft shows. Always try to consign or wholesale. If you must sell, try trade shows.
Favorite part of owning your own business? Doing what I love and getting paid for it.
Least favorite? More than 8 hour work periods.
How do you realx? Music.
Favorite color? Purple.
Does this color show up in a lot of your work? In the form of Amethyst.
If there were more hours in the day, what would you be doing? Making more handbags! They take the most time to create.
A sample of Belle Pour la Vie products. For all products, please visit Yvettes website.
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04.06.08
Posted in Uncategorized, site promotion, blogs, interviews at 4:03 pm by KellyM
If you are interested in becoming featured in one of my interviews, please feel free to send an email to loufy5 at sbcglobal dot net. Or if you know of an artist who may be interested, have them email me. I’ll be glad to post your interview here.
I’m always looking to interview artists and designers who make their own items and sell them online.
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04.03.08
Posted in Uncategorized, jewelry, shopping, site promotion, interviews, paper crafts, clothing at 8:02 pm by KellyM
Please meet Annie Weihrauch, Founder and Designer of www.modern-material.com
Where are you located? Online, based out of Columbus, Ohio.
What do you design? Paper, Apparel and Accessories.
Where/How did you learn this? I landed a job right out of college as a packaging and accessory designer for Bath & Body Works where I learned a lot about retail and fashion accessory design. I have taken my experiences and translated them into my own vision.
Favorite Artist who inspires you? Gwen Stefani. She has defined our generation as a style icon.
Where does your inspiration come from? Rock & roll, fashion magazines, and other designers.
What do you do to combat creative block? I’ll give myself a few days to catch up on things I neglect such as cleaning and organizing, and then I can’t wait to get back to what I do best.
Where do you design your creations? Living room, studio, hallway, kitchen, bedroom, basement….every inch of my house is covered with something I’m working on! It drives my husband crazy!
What does your work space look like right now? A disaster.
How does your family feel about what you do? They are very supportive.
Do you have any advice for someone looking to make their own creations using this method? Start small and dream big.
Best advice you received when starting your business venture? Networking. I’ve met so many great people with great connections along the way.
Favorite part of owning your own business? Actually doing something with my designs instead of archiving them in a folder titled “old” becasue they weren’t chosen to move forward.
Least favorite? No free evenings or weekends!
How do you relax? Taking a trip to Hawaii will be the first time I’ve had to relax in months.
Favorite color? Depends on what it is going on. Black or white if it’s on me. Aqua if it’s on my walls or my umbrella.
Does this color show up in a lot of your work? Absolutely. It’s the foundation of my brand.
If there were more hours in the day, what would you be doing? Designing more.
A sample of Modern Material products. For all products, please visit Annie’s website.
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