Feature: Texas Beadz

Here's my interview with the woman behind Texasbeadz.

Tell us a bit about yourself name, location, affiliations, personal stuff, fun stuff.

I'm Lynn from Dallas surrounds and I am an Etsy-holic. Yes, I do admit I am
a holic of the beading kind. I love everything jewelry so the best way to
feed the need is to make it...and make it...and make it. I have a shop on
Etsy that has items ranging from $10 to $150, fluff to fabulous. Favorite is
anything pearlie!

Apart from creating things, what do you do? Do you have a day job?

I actually wear several hats and when I'm not creating jewelry I also have a
travel business helping plan upscale cruise vacations. In my spare time
(hear the roaring laughter) I also help my husband with his consulting firm.
I love the end of the day when we chop wood and start a roaring fire (ok,
I'm going to tell the truth, it's gas). I head in to the kitchen with a
glass of wine and start my favorite pastime, cooking. My forte is rustic
foods and especially Italian cooking. With over 100 cookbooks the only time
they are touched is when they get dusted or I need a little inspiration.

When not creating, planning or cooking, I love to golf, hang with my best
friend husband and play with our friends. We are no longer travel bugs both
having to do international travel for a living over 20 years, so staying
home is the best place we can be!!

Please describe your creative process how, when, materials, etc.

My inspiration comes mostly from the ocean. My love for water drives me to
the elements of and around the sea. Pearls are my favorite element and
second would be earth elements. I go for texture, color and is it appealing
to the touch. Then just sit down and away we go. No studying, no drawing, no getting up in the middle of the night. I just sit down and see what happens with the materials in front of me.


What handmade possession do you most cherish?

I think I would have to say my most cherished personally made item are my grandmothers faceted amber beads that I restrung last year. They date back to the 30s if not before and have such character. I don't really recall her ever wearing them because I think they have been broken since I was born (not telling)



What inspires you?

Internal serenity and peace. Sounds corny but it's really
true. I have a loving best friend of a husband that supports anything I do,
I live in a wonderfully quiet environment surrounded by nature. My life is
in total balance with fitness and health so with this combination, I have
nothing to muddy my mental waters and have complete clarity to create pretty
much on demand. Just wish I had more time to create and let the admin get
done by the fairies!

i love etsy!

I just got an email earlier today that iloveetsy featured me in their tumblr. How exciting. Check it out to see if you're featured too!

Green Earth Journey - feature

I'm so excited! Green Earth Journey just featured me! :) There's all kind of cool eco yumminess going on there -- check it out!

:)

Sadie's Things, also a member of the Etsy Dallas Team featured me on her blog today. To be honest it made my day! Check it out! There are also a few fellow Dallas Etsians featured there too. Mark your calendars to see us at the Jingle Bash.

Karma Crochet

I met Patricia the woman behind Karma Crochet at the Etsy Dallas BeerBQ event. Here's my interview with her... I hope you enjoy getting to know her as much as I did. :)

Introduce yourself, please. (name, location, shop site, blogsite, etc.)
My name is Patricia and I currently live in Dallas, TX with 3 cats: Sam, Jessie and Melba. I was born and raised in Buenos Aires, Argentina. I moved to the US 10 years ago.
Shop site: www.karmacrochet.com
Blog: www.karmacrochet.blogspot.com

Is Etsy your primary “job”? If not, what else do you do?
I work full time for a software company, there I wear several hats but my main function is
to supervise the customer service and technical support team. I started my Etsy store in January this year and my current goal for it is to get supplemental income doing what I love: crafting. Long term, I see it as an occupation during retirement but that is wa-a-a-ay far away.

What’s your favorite color and why?
My favorite color is blue, it soothes me very much, however I go through phases with green, orange, pink, brown, gray and black. Sometimes I like to surprise myself with different colors.

If you could have a super power, which would it be? why?
Hmmm super power...I always liked the idea of looking at the magazine and being able to grab the item pictured and have it in my hands.

What have you created that you are most proud of?
Every item I create gives me a sense of accomplishment, however I made a wall hanging in filet crochet (this was years ago) that took me a year to finish. I treasure it.

What’s your fave snack and why?
I'm not a snacker, but if I have to I grab cheese - I love cheese all kind especially the stinky ones.

What kinds of things do you do to get the creative juices flowing?
More than doing something to motivate me I just wait until something comes to mind. I really do not force it I just go with the flow.

If you could be a fruit, what kind would you be and why?
I will say strawberry, small and sweet.

How did you get started creating things and what is your best loved material to work with?
I started knitting and crochetting at an early age, (4 or 5 years old) for my Barbie, in Argentina you could not buy her clothes. I also sew and do embroidery but I always liked yarn. Still amazes me that from that stringy material you create very cool stuff. I also like fabric and paper, the colors and patterns make me feel alive.

In 10 years I'd like to be ...
able to do crafts from home full time and get away from the corporate environment.

If you could sign up for a class right now, what would it be?
Oh yes, piano lessons I would love to play the piano.

Thanks for taking the time to tell me about you, Patricia. I enjoyed it. Please be sure to check out her shop. She has fabulous gift items for your holiday needs or to treat yourself.