"Friday Features"

It's Friday, and after a little break, I am back with another "Friday Features". I am really happy to bring you another wonderfully talented member of our Etsy community and a great blogger too! This week I would like to introduced you to a lovely Jewelry maker, Victoria, from;

http://themossgarden.etsy.com/


She has kindly answered some questions for us :)


Tell us a little about how you got to where you are creatively.


I've been making earrings and necklaces for myself out of random objects since I was a kid - using my mom's eyebrow tweezers to swap pendants or hang things from ear hooks. Last summer I decided I needed a creative outlet, and frustration trying to find the perfect necklace led me to realize I could just make it myself!


Tell us a little about your creative process.

Sometimes I have a specific image in mind for a piece of jewelry, and I will seek out the pieces for it. Mostly though I just buy parts that I love and dump them all out on my desk and wait for them to sort of assemble themselves - trying out different combinations until something clicks. When I get stuck, I often go to my mom to try and help me - she's helped me design some of my favourite pieces!

What do you love about creating?


I like starting out with all the random charms, jewels, chain and findings and eventually making something I'm proud of, and being all, "I could have bought that in a store but hey! I made it! And it's just as good!"

Plasma-Purple glass bracelet.

What is your favourite item in your Etsy store right now?

Ooh, that's a hard one. I love the blown glass spheres in some of my earrings, but I'm also having fun with all the cool brass creature stampings I've been playing with. Okay, if I have to pick, I will say my Asteroidea starfish earrings: http://www.etsy.com/view_listing.php?listing_id=29043630

Asteroidea - antique copper, rhinestone, and honey blown glass starfish earrings

Why Etsy?

I had heard about Etsy from a girl at school (weirdbuglady) and used it at first as a buyer. When I started creating, it was the perfect place to start selling my trinkets.

What do you love about Etsy?

For the most part, my impression has been that the items sold on Etsy are great quality, and the artists really put a lot of heart into their pieces. There is also a great network between sellers and buyers - there are so many great opportunities to interact with people on the chats, forums, Facebook, and blogs like this one!


Hirundo - blue crystal and antique silver bird earrings

What do you do in your spare time?

My what? Spare time is something I don't have a lot of at the moment... being in school full time, taking 6 classes, working, volunteering, being on the student society council, making jewelry, trying to have a social life, working on vet school applications and, oh yeah, sleeping don't make for a lot of downtime. I do make sure I get in my TV time though - I love Glee, Dollhouse, and Lost!!

Tell us 4 things about yourself that would let us peek into your world or that you think define you.

I'm pretty much defined by school at the moment. My major is wildlife biology, so I'm learning a lot about the ecology and physiology of animals. I really love school, which is a good thing, because if all goes well I will be doing up to 9 more years of it between vet school, specializations, and a master's degree! However, in a past life (aka the two years between high school and university) I tried really hard to break into film and theatre as an actor. So next year, if things calm down a little, I kind of want to audition for a chorus role in our community theatre.

My hobbies include photography, scuba diving, birdwatching, and cooking.

My favourite place in the whole world (so far) is Tofino, British Columbia. But I really want to travel to Scotland. Unfortunately, I have a fear of airplanes.

If you could, what would be your dream life?

Working as a veterinary reproductive biologist in wildlife and conservation medicine!

Here are some of the places you can check out Victoria's work :)

Etsy shop: http://TheMossGarden.etsy.com

Blog: http://the-moss-garden.blogspot.com

I hope you enjoyed meeting Victoria! I certainly did. Go check out her shop on Etsy :)

Have a Wonderful Weekend! :)

Happy Painting/Creating! :) T.