Question & Answer

Tell us a bit about yourself.

I am 29 years old going on 21. I work as an accountant for a travel agency, but my dream is to work in the dental field. I just completed a one year program for dental assisting and plan on looking for either a job, or an internship - whatever comes first. I married my soul-mate on 6/7/08. We reside in Deland, FL with our 2 dogs. I could not imagine living anywhere else. I just can not picture myself trudging through snow...Yucko!

Apart from creating things, what do you do?

I live in Florida so most of my free time is spent doing some type of activity in the sun. My husband and I have season passes to all of the Disney parks, including the waterparks. Orlando is just under an hour away from where we live. Every other weekend we drive down and go to the waterparks and also stop by some of my favorite shops and malls.

What first made you want to become an artist?

Both my mom and grandmother have always been crafty. I think I inherited my creativity from them. My mom is a teddy bear artist, she also sells on etsy www.crocheteddybears.etsy.com I started by cross stitching at a young age. Later in life my mother taught me how to crochet.

Please describe your creative process.

I turned our spare bedroom into a movie theater/ studio for my Etsy projects. My husband was on board since I mentioned the room would contain a 50 inch flat screen plasma TV and a Blu-Ray player. I painted the walls pink, which he was not to happy about, but sometimes you just have to compromise...Especially when I am used to getting what I want. When it is time to create I go into my studio. I have a comfy chair and a large craft table topped with all kinds of flowers, leaves, and sparkly objects. My husband usually accompanies me. We either pop in a blu-ray or we also have Netflix, one of the greatest inventions ever. No matter what I need something in the background to be able to start designing. Then I plug in the glue gun, pull out a comb, and start layering flowers until it turns into something pretty. Sometimes I google and print out pictures for inspiration.

What handmade possession do you most cherish?

When I first designed my studio I begged my mom to make me a few handmade items. You would think that it would be an easy request, after all I am her daughter! My mother had a lot of special orders she was doing for some of her repeat customers, so it was hard for her to find the time. She did surprise me with a tiny handmade monkey for valentines day. It has the cutest face. The eyes she used were hand-painted by another etsy artist.

Name your top five books, movies, musicians, and websites besides Etsy.

Movies:

Alice in Wonderland, Harry Potter, Twilight, Night of the Living Dead, & Texas Chainsaw Massacre

Books:

Twilight, Harry Potter, Anything by Stephen King

Websites:

Facebook, Twitter, Youtube, forever21, & wetseal.com

Music:

Lady Gaga, Sean Kingston, Katy Perry, Justin Beiber, & Madonna