Featured Artisan: Bellissimore Jewelry

Hello, please welcome today's Featured Artisan, Janice of Bellissimore Jewelry

First off, tell us a little about yourself!  

I am from Houston, Texas and I am an interior designer that also loves to create beautiful jewelry.  I have 2 boys and a wonderful husband.   My oldest son just left for college and the other is a Sophomore in High School. Both are very active in sports.  I love the outdoors including gardening and fishing. 

How did you start creating your artwork, and how long have you been doing it? 

A Friend got me into jewelry design about 10 years ago as something fun to do.  I have been doing it ever since. 

Where do you get your inspiration from? 

I get some of my inspiration from Fashion magazines, but for the most part, my inspiration is pretty much free-flowing.  I sit down in my studio with my supplies in front of me and the ideas just come to me.  

Outside of crafting what else do you enjoy doing?

All things home design, gardening, running, and fishing.

Links:

Facebook:  https://www.facebook.com/bellissimojewelry   

Blog:  http://www.artisancrafted.blogspot.com/  

Twitter:  @bellissimojewel

 Thanks for the lovely interview, Janice.

 

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Featured Artisan: Ajsdesigns

Please welcome today's featured artisan, Aletha Jane Williams of Ajsdesigns.

First off, tell us a little about yourself!

My name is Aletha Jane Williams and I live in Oklahoma, or better known as “tornado alley.”  I am a self-taught artist and am still in the process of learning. I have been in the graphic arts/print production industry for many years. When I started in the industry we created everything manually, no computers involved.

I live with my husband (he’s a writer/editor and telecommutes), one cat (Lucyfur), and one dog (Watson the Dachshund).  We have two grown married children and two teenage grandsons.

How did you start creating your artwork, and how long have you been doing it?

My 15 year experience in the “crafting/art” world is rubber stamp art, mixed media, and collage. In 2009 I became disabled and cannot work outside the home. Now I can concentrate on my health and my art. My creations will always involve rubber or digi stamps. I am an obsessive collector of stamps. I feel like I am collecting little pieces of art that I can turn into my own art.

Where do you get your inspiration from?

get my inspiration from many things, but mostly from magazines, books, and online blogs and galleries. There are so many talented people out in our world. Cyber space has opened up a whole new world for me.

Outside of crafting what else do you enjoy doing?

Other activities that I am involved with are reading, cross-stitching, watching television with my husband, and spending time with our family. I am also on the treadmill everyday as part of my rehab. What takes up most of my time is running a small online business and keeping up with my group on The Crafter’s Café called Get Hippity with {ippity}. Here’s the link: http://thestampingboutique.ning.com/group/gethippitywithippityjointheunitycommunity.

Is there anything else you would like to share?

My small business is selling {ippity} stamps by Unity. Right now I am the only “Unity Endorsed {ippity} Chick in Oklahoma. My {ippity} sales blog link is http://alethajanesgotippity.blogspot.com. This month (September) we, me and my Design Team, are opening our blog up for challenges twice a month. That link for our Get Hippity with Ippity challenge blog is http://hippitywithippity.blogspot.com.

I am on two other design teams. They are The Stamping Boutique ( http://thestampingboutique.com ) and The Crafter’s Café (http://thestampingboutique.ning.com )

My personal blog, AJ’s Designs, link is http://ajsdesigns.blogspot.com.

I also have an online Etsy shop: http://ajsdesigns.blogspot.com.

Thanks for the lovely interview, Aletha.

 

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Featured Artisan: BeadLightning

Please welcome today's Featured artisan, Amanda of BeadLightning Jewelry. 

First off, tell us a little about yourself!

Greetings all! My name is Amanda the owner and designer behind BeadLightning Jewelry. Jewelry is my life, I have been known to drive my friends and family a bit mad with my constant talk of jewelry, beads, and designs that are floating in my head. 

I share my house with my sweetheart, Ben, and a pair of delightfully crazy cats, Tao and Espeon. I grew up in Atlanta but have spent the last ten years living in Pennsylvania. Since I met Ben I have been on some amazing adventures, like spending a month exploring the Twin Cities and working as a Naturalist for a Summer Camp in the North Woods of Minnesota.

I love reading and absorbing as much knowledge as I can stuff into my mind, especially if it has to do with Mythology and foreign cultures, when I am not sponging knowledge I am getting lost in a good fantasy novel.

How did you start creating your artwork, and how long have you been doing it?

I started creating jewelry about ten years ago, it started as a gift from my mother and just exploded into an obsession that has taken over my life. 

For my 16th birthday my mother (who was always looking for artsy gifts to give me in hopes to help me with my creative impulse but lack of interest in my conventional art forms) bought me a very basic jewelry making kit. It was full of seed beads, plastic beads, and finding, I was enchanted...I had always thought that jewelry making was a sacred art that only a select few had access to learn...and here was the opportunity for me to make that most sacred of thing. I had finally found my creative outlet and it has been a wonderful journey.

Where do you get your inspiration from?

I find inspiration everywhere! I constantly find myself reading Mythology books or hiking in the woods and thinking, 'wow, this would make a really interesting piece of jewelry' I have a large portfolio filled with ideas for future jewelry pieces that have been inspired by everything from nature to interesting sounding words. 

Outside of crafting what else do you enjoy doing? 

When I am not surrounded by beads I spend my time working on my favorite hobby: Nature Photography! I love hiking, hunting for mushrooms, stalking thunderstorms, following wildlife, and ogling bugs for the perfect photo. I am also a huge fan of video games and RPGs. Yes, I am a giant nerd :) There is also my interest in Feng Shui that keeps me occupied, but luckily that does not take up as much time as my other hobbies.

Is there anything else you would like to share?

All of the items in BeadLighting are completely One of a Kind. 
 Each piece has its own unique story behind it, won't you come discover one that speaks to you?

 LINKS:

 Blog

Gallery

Artfire Shop

Etsy Shop

Facebook

Thanks for the lovely interview, Amanda!

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Featured Artisan: SamCas

Hello! Please welcome today's featured artisan, Samantha of SamCas Jewelry.

First off, tell us a little about yourself!

Hello! I'm Sam and I'm a Fashion Design graduate from FIDM in San Francisco. I also intern and take couture classes with couture designer Colleen Quen. At the moment, I am working on my brand called SamCas, starting out with its first jewelry collection entitled "Free Philosophy".

I love the mixing elements that normally wouldn't go together; I love the juxtaposition of it. I would describe my style to be classically glamorous with a little bit of androgyny and edge. I believe in creating timeless and versatile pieces without sacrificing style and comfort. 

How did you start creating your artwork, and how long have you been doing it?

 
Well, as I mentioned above, I went to school for Fashion Design, but the jewelry making came after that. After I graduated, I sort of went on this quest to find myself and to find out what I really want to do in life. So I began exploring different types of fashion and learning and experimenting. During this quest, I actually didn't even consider making jewelry. 

My fascination with jewelry was sort of an accident. A lot of my old jewelry pieces needed to be repaired, so I looked online (mostly youtube) for quick and easy guides on how to fix them, and one link lead to another, until I was already watching and following step-by-step instructions on how to create jewelry from scratch! Also, repairing my own jewelry gave me the time to really study them, and their structure and design. I noticed how similar yet different jewelry making is to making clothes, and it was seriously love at first sight!

Where do you get your inspiration from?

Sometimes it's the process, when I make mistakes or when I run into problems, that's when I come up with some of my (personal) favorite pieces. But of course like any other artist, I get my inspiration from almost anything, but majority of it comes from different cultures, especially my own. I grew up in the Philippines and I always try to incorporate my culture and roots into my art. I also get really inspired by the past, whether it's 3 years ago or 300 years ago, I think there's always a trend or an idea that we can bring back and either incorporate or improve to be contemporary.

Outside of crafting, what else do you enjoy doing? 

I'm a hard core rock climber actually! I love climbing, it's my first love! So is theater! I love to act, sing, and dance! I've been doing both since the 2nd grade, and to me, both are such huge stress relievers for me. It's actually funny because people get really surprised when they find out that I'm a climber since they usually perceive rock climbers to have super big, toned bodies, which is true, but I'm a "static climber", which means I climb "slowly" so that I can conserve energy, and static climbers usually use more of their legs than their arms.

Aside from those two, I enjoy different kinds of sports (usually extreme sports like snowboarding and wake boarding), and I'm also a photographer and graphic designer.  

Is there anything else you would like to share?
 

At the moment you can purchase my items at Etsy, but I'm working on my personal website right now, and to celebrate, I will be hosting a giveaway at my blog in September! So be sure to follow me on twitter or my blog so you can be updated about it!

LINKS:

Blog
Etsy
Twitter

Thanks for the lovely interview, Sam!

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