Interview with the January Challenge "Rising Star" Winner

Lea Paličková is the 2017 Rising Star!

Congratulations on winning the Rising Star challenge. Your necklace is spectacular! 

First if you could provide a little background such as where you are from or live now and what your work or career is. Your Etsy shop profile mentions you study geography, are there any favorite places or influences that sparked your interest in that subject?

I come from Czech Republic, the home of well-known Czech glass beads. I’m just a regular girl that grew up in the country. I came to the „big city“ after getting accepted to the University, where I chose to study nature and geography. I wouldn’t say that anything specific led me this way, I’ve been just interested in all the things around me. I’ve always been interested mainly in the abiotic part of nature, and I’m still fascinated by weather… And now, when my university studies are over, this subject of knowledge makes my living. And what do I do when I come home from work? Beading, of course…

In your shop you offer many wonderful pieces of beadwork. How long have you been beading and how much time weekly do you devote to your craft?

I started with beading when I was a young girl, when I was stringing my mom’s and grandma’s beads. As I said before, my country is one of the biggest beads producer. Almost in every house you can find in the attic a huge chest full of old beads… So, it was easy to start playing with beads. I started beadweaving after years, approx. in 2009. This technique charmed me so much that even now I am able to spend most of my time beading. It’s hard to say how much time a week I spend beading, it depends on many conditions. I would say I spend with beading about 10-15 hours a week.

Do you have friends or relatives who also work with seed beads, or are there any beading societies or groups you belong to?

No one from my family is beading. If someone beads something, the initial impulse comes from me. Quite often my sister-in-law asks me to bring some beads along, because she wants to do something for herself. She uses my tutorials to create some floral jewelry.
On the other hand, beading is quite popular in Czech Republic and I’ve met a lot of interesting and inspirational people thanks to beading. Beading societies, like you can know from US, aren’t common here. Here it’s more a question of arranging meeting bead friends for a dinner or a glass of beer and then beading together all night long.


 Your work shows a wonderful interpretation of nature, is that the main source of your inspiration?

Yes, mainly I’m trying to find my muse in nature. This is the reason why I enjoy working with nature materials the most. I’m not good at using shiny Swarovski crystals, but psst don’t tell anybody. When I walk outside, I’m trying to perceive all colors and shapes of nature surrounding us. My most favorite season of year is definitely autumn. You can find everything in it: beautiful color transitions and often unsuspected color combinations, mysterious morning fogs and first hoarfrost as well. Anywhere around us is a lot of inspiration, you just have to keep your eyes open.

What artists or bead workers do you admire or feel have influenced your work?

I’m trying, as I always did, not to get influenced by other authors. Because of it, I use Pinterest as little as possible. I would like my work to reflect just my ideas and moods
However, there is a lot of beaders that I adore greatly. One of many is for example Kinga Nichols with her color and material combinations, Apollinariya Koprivnik with her sparkling treasures, queen of sea urchins Joanne Zammit and I can’t forget to mention my best-bead-friend Denisa Kangas

What are some of your favorite materials to work with?

I love to work with any natural material. Gemstone cabochons, druzies, any kind of fossils, pearls and shells, wooden beads, ceramics and so on… I rather work with irregularly shaped material. Glitter and perfectly polished surfaces gets me a little insecure, because I’m not always sure how to work with them to get the perfect result. I really love combination of matt and gloss and Czech glass beads.

Your patterns in your shop are lovely. I especially like the way you use the two holed beads in your designs. What are some of the joys you have experienced or challenges you have faced selling on Etsy?

The greatest joy is when you receive positive feedback of your work. Like when customer send me a picture of finished piece of jewelry made with my tutorial.

Where do you see your work with bead weaving evolving in the future?

My big dream is to have my own studio – room just for me and my craft passions. I hope it will be soon, because we are planning reconstruction with my boyfriend and I hope he will be kind enough to let one room for me in our future home
Anyway in this „dream studio“ I would like to have a craft oven for making ceramic, glass or even copper enamel. I would love to create my own components for my beaded jewelry.


Interview by Patti Parker

March 2017 "Greenery" Challenge

Evi Csizmadia Lajosne has proposed the theme of "Greenery" as it is the Pantone color of the year!
Check it out here: http://www.pantone.com/color-of-the-year-2017

"The spring buds burst, green plants slip out of the earth..."

The main color of your entry should be the color of the year (or very close!) and should be inspired by hopes for an early spring.

Make sure to have your entry listed in your Etsy shop by March 5, 2017 23:59 EST. Please refer to the Challenge Rules for details on what is allowed in Challenge entries and don't forget to include EBWC in the title and tags of your entry.

Shop Feature! Sarah Cryer, The Indecisive Beader

Sarah Cryer, owner of Etsy shop “Sarah Cryer Beadwork” is a London-
based beadwork artist whose part-time passion for beadweaving has yielded big-time results.
A busy wife and mother of two, who also works secularly, Sarah uses her spare time to design
and create impressive geometric-shaped wearable art pieces. It is evident that her spare time,
is time well spent because she has won more than one Etsy Beadweavers challenge.
Sarah’s skill in 3D sculptural beading along with her love and excitement for beadweaving,
pushes her to produce high-quality, innovative designs. 

Whether you purchase a finished piece or a tutorial from her Etsy shop you know exactly what you are getting
because her item descriptions are thorough, her designs are precise and beautifully
photographed, and her tutorials are fully illustrated, detailed and clear.
Sarah was kind enough to do a Q&A, learn more about her work below.



Q. How long have you been beadweaving and how did you get started?
Sarah Cryer: I’ve been beadweaving for around 8 years - prior to that I was stringing and
playing with polymer clay, but then I discovered beadweaving and was hooked.

Q. What do you love about beadweaving?

Sarah Cryer: I love the variety of textures and forms I can make, the fact that I can work on a
tray on my lap (important in a busy house) and I find the act of beadweaving very therapeutic.
Most of all though I do really, really love the beads themselves - the shapes, the finishes, the
sparkle and just in the infinite, tiny variety!

Q. What moved you to become an Etsy seller and then a member of the
Etsy Beadweavers Team?

Sarah Cryer: When I first started selling it was on Folksy - a UK based handmade
marketplace. I still sell there, and do well with my finished pieces, but when I moved into
tutorials Etsy was the obvious choice with its digital download service and international reach. I
already knew about the EBWT as an author friend (Sophia Bennett) discovered you when she
was writing a young adults book about fashion and beading, and shared you on Facebook, and
I’d been watching member’s designs for a while.

Q. Which Etsy Beadweavers Team challenges have you won?

Sarah Cryer: I was joint winner of the first challenge I entered, only days after joining the team,
with my ‘Inspired by Chihuly’ Nasturtium Ring.
 

That was a big boost, and it’s still one of my favourite pieces - it almost beaded itself (although attempts to recreate in 11s instead of tiny 15s have since failed). Not long afterwards I won the ‘Abstract’ challenge with a large winged peyote bangle inspired by Monet’s Water Lilies  - that was more of a surprise as the piece itself was a bit of a battle and wouldn’t work the way I wanted it to - I had to challenge myself to let go and just see where it went. I’ve not had time to enter more than a few challenges since then as I’ve either been focusing on other projects or couldn’t
get pieces to work.

However earlier this year I won the Stitch and Craft Beads Butterfly Challenge Professional category with my ‘Semele’s Cuff’which was a huge honour and pleasure, and I’m pushing myself to enter their challenge again next year, and also a couple of other competitions - they
pull me out of my comfort zone, force me to work to the highest standards, and often result in
pieces suitable for tutorials which is great.

Q. You are a very busy working mom with a husband, how do you find time for
beadweaving?

Sarah Cryer: My house is very dusty - that probably accounts for some of the time! Seriously
though, when you have young children you don’t go out much, so the evenings we previously
spent going to the ballet or the opera, or enjoying drinks or meals out are but a distant memory.
I work three days a week, with two at home with the youngest boy, and also sing so usually
have at least one evening away at rehearsals. Once the boys are in bed though I can bead on
the sofa, or work on patterns and kits, and although I don’t spend as much time as I would like
on it, and can’t really teach or do fairs, it seems like a good balance for now. My 3-day a week
job is as an IT Business Analyst for a leading UK department store, so I get lots of transferrable
digital and more importantly shop-keeping and process efficiency skills from there which help.

I’ve learned a lot over the last few years about how to streamline the business side to free up
more time, and next month my youngest will be in pre-school three hours a day, so I’m planning
to spend one three-hour chunk on pretending to be domesticated, and the other on beading or
dressmaking (my other, rarely managed love).

Q. Why do you call yourself the indecisive beader?

Sarah Cryer: When I was starting to blog I didn’t have the confidence to use my own name as
the title, so I wanted to come up with an interesting pseudonym. I’m hopeless at getting on with
a project - I can easily spend days just choosing the beads, starting, stopping, unpicking, pulling
more beads, and my husband jokes that I spend more time choosing beads than beading -
hence the name. At the moment I’m even worse than usual - I’m going through a period of
experimentation with new techniques and have a horrible desire for perfection (born of pre-
Christmas tiredness) which means that the three pieces I’m trying to do are all spending more
time having new sets of beads pulled or being completely re-worked, than they are on being
beaded.

Q. How would you describe the type of jewelry you make?

Sarah Cryer: Bold but hopefully wearable, using a mix of off-loom techniques and beads.
Colour is incredibly important to me - I discovered the work of Kaffe Fassett in my teens and
have been working with bold, bonkers colours ever since - back then in patchwork, knitting and
needlepoint, and now in beads (which are even more fun as you have finish and shape as well
as colour to play with). I tend to tone that down a bit for my materials packs and finished pieces
that are for sale because not everyone shares my taste, but the pieces I make for myself do
tend to push the colour palette almost to the unwearable! I use Miyuki seeds and delicas, and
lots of Czech beads, although I’m largely resisting the shaped bead revolution for now, and I do
love crystals, although I tend to use them sparingly. My go to stitches are peyote and RAW,
plus that weird mix of netting & embellishment that so many use to build 3D structures - the
peyote is shaped, and comes from an early and continuing affinity with my friend Jean Power’s
amazing work, and the RAW and 3D work from Sabine Lippert and Marcia DeCoster - that
combination probably explains why my style is still a bit eclectic rather than focused, but I’m still
learning and enjoying the journey!

Q. What is your design process when creating/writing a tutorial?

Sarah Cryer: Only one of my current pieces was designed specifically as a tutorial, and that
was really an experiment to see if I could work in a focused way with that purpose in mind - I
managed it, but that one hasn’t sold well, and I think that is probably fair as it’s not as innovative
as my others, and I didn’t really enjoy the process. The successful tutorials such as the
Baroque Tape Measure Surround and Space Needle Case  were born
of pieces made as experiments in form, or technique, and often for competitions, where at some
point in the process or even years later I thought ‘yes, I could write this up, I think it might sell’.

As I don’t have lots of time I’m pretty strict now with what I do publish - the piece must be
individual rather than derivative, have been honed to provide the simplest technical beading
experience possible, and I need to be able to explain clearly in words and diagrams what I’ve
done. So that means at the moment that in my queue of ‘to write ups’ I’ve got several paused
because I can’t find a way to describe the 3D structure, another which is just too simple, and
another where the thread paths and order of steps needs some serious re-working before I’ll
consider publishing. So for now I’m concentrating on beading new work and hoping some of it
will end up being suitable - if it’s not, then I’ll still have some lovely beadwork at the end!

Q. What tips or advice can you share that has helped you run a successful Etsy
shop?

Sarah Cryer: Evolution not revolution - focus on the essentials at first and allow the peripherals
to evolve.
I would say the essentials are good product, very good photos to show how good your products
are, a simple look and feel, and engagement with your market. For me, a macro lense for our
SLR and a helpful patient husband sorted out the photography, to engage with customers I use
my blog www.theindecisivebeader.com and the associated Facebook page, and for good
product I have to rely on hard work and inspiration, and try to resist the temptation to list
everything I finish. Everything else - the business cards, packaging, paid marketing, etc is
pointless without those three essentials as no one will buy anything - you can evolve those as
you go along, gently trying out different options as you have sales to try them on, only then will
you understand how well you and your processes work. And I’ve probably also evolved to focus
my limited time on the things that sell - I’d love that to be finished work, but it’s not, it’s tutorials
and kits.

Q. What other ways do you market your finished pieces and tutorials?

Sarah Cryer: I mainly use my blog www.theindecisivebeader.com and Facebook page
www.facebook.com/theindecisivebeader/ . They cover my whole beading life - so everything I’m
making, including reviews of other beaders patterns & books, failures, UFOs, sewing, and life in
general rather than just being about the commercial side, which I hope makes them more
engaging for customers and friends. I also seem to get good conversions from the Etsy shop
updates feature, and good traffic through from Pinterest (SarahBeady) where I am a devoted
pinner of gorgeous pieces from other beaders (I try and remember to sneak in the odd pin of my
stuff and it seems to work). I’m also very lucky to have made friends, both in the flesh and
digitally, with some wonderful beaders both in London and across the world, and their support
on social media in particular has been hugely instrumental in getting some of my key pieces to a
wider audience, as well as being a lovely experience. Realistically though, that following is
largely composed of beaders, so whilst it works well for tutorials and kits, I’ve still not found a
really successful method for marketing finished work - I’d be interested in ideas and tips there!

Q. Have you made use of the EBW Instagram page?

Sarah Cryer: I’m very new to Instagram as The Indecisive Beader (a matter of weeks) so I’m
still feeling my way around a bit, but you’ll see me there soon!
Sarah Cryer may be “The Indecisive Beader”, but she is also proof that “it’s not how much time
you have to bead that matters, it's how you use the time you have to bead that makes the
difference”.

Shop Feature!: Star*Art Jewelry

Meet Pamela Troutman, she has been beading since 2000 and is the passionate and caring owner of “Star*Art Jewelry”.   Star*Art Jewelry opened in 2006 and is an Etsy shop that specializes in custom and functional beaded jewelry while providing excellent customer service.

Pamela has a bachelor’s degree in Studio Art from the University of Mary Washington where she learned engraving, drawing and painting, but she did not want to be a starving artist so she minored in Cartography (map making) and served the Department of Defense (DOD) for 34 years, retiring in 2014.  While employed at the DOD Pamela made lanyards to hold the identification badge she wore.  Star*Art Jewelry was born when her co-workers noticed the colorful necklaces and began placing orders. 

How did you come up with your Etsy Shop name?

STAR*ART was born when my passion changed from running a Shelter That Adopted and Rescued (STAR) ferrets to making jewelry.  When I met my first husband, he wanted a ferret as a pet.  We got one from someone who did not want theirs anymore. Then we went to a pet shop and bought it a friend. Other people heard we had ferrets and word got around, and when people no longer wanted their ferrets, they gave them to us.  At about 8 ferrets I said, “We can’t keep them all” so I started a ferret rescue.  At that time, the local animal shelters would not accept ferrets.  After 9 years, and 1300 ferrets placed along the east coast, plus working towards research to approve a rabies vaccine, ferrets are now being accepted at the local animal shelters and I closed my rescue in the late 1990’s.

The year 2000 was a big year for me.  I remarried, and became an instant grandmother.  I looked for a creative outlet that would fit in my townhouse and my time schedule and beading was that outlet.  I started simple, just making beaded necklaces for my ID badge.  Co-workers started to ask for lanyards, and STAR*ART was born.  Why STAR*ART? Well, I didn’t want to change my e-mail address at the time (starferrets) so I incorporated my previous hobby name with my new passion.

You began your venture in jewelry making with bead stringing, how did you become interested in other types of jewelry making?

Through the Northern Virginia Bead Society (NVBS), I took a class from Sherry Serafini.  I was then hooked on bead embroidery.  My first embroidery design was for a NVBS Bead Challenge in 2008 – we were given a bag of beads and had to use them ALL. From these odds and ends in the bag I created “My Elephant”.  

How do you market your jewelry?

“Custom and Functional Beaded Jewelry for Work and Play” is the tag line for my lanyards, but I think it applies to my beadwork as well.  Unique, never repeated, simple and elegant.

I use Etsy as a web site – for customers who see something and then think about it later – they can come back and purchase it.  Other than custom lanyard orders, I rarely sell off Etsy.  Most of my sales are at church craft shows or at ART A La Carte Gallery and Gifts in Occoquan.
I do post on Facebook – a lot of people enjoy my posts on the progress of something I’m working on.  I do not blog, unless you count some of my “Show and Tell” processes on my Facebook page.

You describe your custom jewelry as functional and comfortable, what is your design process?

Many people don’t think about customization, but I love being able to feed the artist in me by taking their desires and make something JUST FOR THEM. It means more to the person who wears the jewelry if they had input, and the closest I had to dissatisfaction was one person who wanted brighter colors, so I exchanged the piece and she was very happy.  I’ve done running themed lanyards, animal themes, names of children… the possibilities are endless.

The functional applies to my beaded lanyards – when you remove the clip it looks like a necklace.  The comfortable applies to my beadwork – I don’t use crystals much because they are sharp. I am very particular about what touches the back of the neck – nothing pointed or rough. I mainly use large clasps or magnetic clasps so the necklaces are easy to put on and take off. I don’t make things too heavy. I do put every piece of jewelry on to see that it hangs well, is balanced and comfortable.

Many of your pieces have interesting and unusual pendants, how do you meet the challenge of keeping your jewelry affordable yet interesting?

I shop on eBay, thrift shops, and such places for things I can bezel or embroider around.  If you don’t mind waiting a month for delivery, there are lovely gemstone cabs on eBay for just a few dollars.  I do a lot of embroidery or bead weaving in front of the TV, so instead of counting the hours spent to make something, I count the number of fire line threads I pull from the box and base the price on that.  I work with a “two-arm” length.

What is the story behind your “Pay It Forward” listing?

I believe in helping out a good cause.  It is also a way to find a home for some pieces that I can’t bear to tear apart but no one seems to want to adopt for themselves.  I am proud of all the jewelry I make, but sometimes the right person has not come by to adopt my piece.  These orphans become donations, because every piece of jewelry deserves a person to wear it.

It is evident that you know great customer service is critical, what are the top three ways you ensure customer satisfaction?

Ask questions, give suggestions, and offer refunds or exchanges. For example, I have a person who saw a bead woven necklace in the...

...but wanted it in other colors to match her “Mother-Of-The-Bride” dress.  I wanted to know what she liked about it – the drape (Russian spiral is a softer drape than peyote), the sparkle, the pendant?  Then I told her I had pendants she could select from, but maybe she would prefer me to use a pin or heirloom piece she already owned.  She loved that idea.  We will be meeting in the middle of May so I can see the dress in person, match the beads, determine the length and weave, and see what she brings as a focal piece.  This will be a great opportunity for me to take timeline shots and post progress reports on Facebook.  Also, create a listing on Etsy showing an example of my custom made process for necklaces (versus lanyards).  I do not offer refunds or exchanges for custom made beaded pieces, but I do for everything else.

What has been the most difficult thing about starting a handmade business, and what has been the most rewarding?

The difficulty is getting the sales. There are so many jewelry makers on Etsy.  There are too many beautiful designs.  It is difficult to stand out, this is one of the reasons I wanted to join the EBW team – the monthly contests, even if I don’t enter every one, inspire me to create something outside my normal thought pattern.  I find the monthly challenges get my creative juices flowing.  Those contests are also bringing people to my Etsy store.  So far, no sales as a result, but the boost in views and likes might pay off one day.  Sales are okay at the gallery because people can pick up and try on my pieces, something you can’t do on-line.  I do not teach or have my own pattern line so I do not have name recognition; I specialize in one-of-a-kind pieces.  Finding that one-of-a-kind person is the challenge.  The most rewarding thing is the custom orders – few and far between, but ever so worth it.  I enjoy making people happy and I love to create what they cannot do for themselves. 

Pamela Troutman is proof that necessity is not only the mother of invention but she is also the inspiration for creativity.  

 This is where Pamela gets creative:  

One of Pamela’s beautiful pieces:

To see more of Pamela’s beautiful work, visit the links below.

https://www.etsy.com/shop/starartjewelry
https://www.facebook.com/Starart.Jewelry

Interview with April Challenge 'Pompeii' Second Place Winner Edita Kricenaite of RebelSoulEK

  

See all the beautiful original submissions!

 Make sure to also visit these links!

Edita Kricenaite’s Etsy shop: https://www.etsy.com/shop/RebelSoulEk

Edita 's Facebook Page: https://www.facebook.com/RebelsoulEk

Edita’s Website:  http://www.rebelsoulek.com/

Hello Edita,My name is Patti, interviewing you on behalf of the Etsy Beadweaver Team. Your Lava neckpiece is a wonderful mix of freeform and bead embroidery and a lovely interpretation of the theme. How do you design your pieces, do you draw them out first or just follow where the beads lead you?

Thank you for your nice words. I don't always use the same scheme. Sometimes I see my future works on dreams, sometimes I get a complete image in my mind and cant forget it till realization, sometimes I take interesting material in my hands and simply allow the flow of brainstorming, like a visionary I let the same material to tell its own story :).
I don't always do sketches, but noticed with the sketches I make fewer mistakes, less jewelries needs to be repaired. However work "on a flow" brings me much more fun and more unexpected decision. I can say that the method of creation is dictated by my mood.

Who is your favorite artist or bead artist, and why?

My favorite bead artist is Guzel Bakeeva (GBD). Her works are romantic and bold, modern but at the same time has that antique taste, and all of them are very artistic, original and unusual. Her shapes and color palettes are simply amazing. As I look at her works I feel that energy of maximum creative potentiality! I wish people looking at my work in similar way.

What are your favorite styles or stitches in beading, and your favorite materials to use?

My favorite style I can call "guns'n'roses". I mean I like romantic, slightly medieval style mixed with modern drama, freedom and a little drop of aggression. I don't like than my work seems to be too sweet. I love contrasts. Every time I seek to impress myself.
I usually choose bead embroidery, but also like bead weaving stitches (mostly herringbone or peyote). It’s hard to choose favorite materials, I like to use something new and something very shiny. I also like natural materials such as wood, semi-precious stones, copper, brass...

Do you listen to music or watch movies while you work on your beading?

I frequently watch movies, TV shows or listening to educational lectures. Very often my laptop is my worktable, and it is constantly covered with seed beads...

Is there a technique you are looking forward to learning more about?

I would like to insert more bead weaving element to my works. I think the most beautiful are mix technique works. For now I mostly use bead embroidery, because it is a less time consuming technique than bead weaving.

What do you like best about working with beads? What do you like least?

The most fascinating thing about beads is how very small seed beads can make a large object. Order out of chaos;). I also like to play with colors. Working with seed bead calms me, teaches patience, sometimes I feel when my mind falls into a trance. I love that state of being here and now. 
I like least ... when my embroidery thread ends! Each time this fact irritates me!!! I know it is stupid :D. I also hate when some very expensive beads accidentally spill on the floor... Well you know that feeling ...


What led you to working with beads? Do you have an arts background or training?

In Lithuania (my birthplace), we have a proverb, "The apple does not fall far from the tree." Meaning: Children Observe daily and - in Their Behavior - often follow the example of Their Parents. My mother embroiders pictures with seed beads. Previously I made fun of her hobby. It seemed a useless occupation and a waste of time. Then my own life turned so that I fallen in love with this hobby too.
After studies at Academy of Fine Arts (Bachelor of Architecture) I moved to another country (Italy). There I lived for a few years without a job and friends. At first I had to learn new foreign language, to make tons of new documents and adapt to the new way of life. It was a very difficult time for me with a lot of free (and boring) time! Then suddenly I found Bead weaving online courses and enrolled there. It changed my life. So far, my course teacher Vitalija Velyviene became one of my best friend and counselor in seed beads (and my own) life.

Italy is a beautiful country, and offers much to inspire, such as Pompeii. Is there another country you desire to visit, and why?

If only I could my entire life to dedicate to the trips and exploration of this world! Currently, I wish the most to see India, Japan and Australia. I like to travel to completely different environment where everything seems like a dream. I like to experience culture shock, because it makes me feel like a child, where the whole world is undiscovered miracle and full of opportunities! Such an inspiring feeling!

Is there anything else you would like to share with the EBW community?

I wish all members good luck, inspiration and lots of sales. 
I wish this lovely activity becomes the main job to every of them.
I wish each of them could unfold their uniqueness, sense of love and beauty. 
I believe our creativity could make this world a better place! So keep calm and don't stop beading :* .

Thank you so much. It is nice to learn about you and your methodology. I can't wait to see more of your bead work. Good luck with all your future endeavors.