Funny Little Bird

Be sure to visit FunnyLittleBird's http://www.etsy.com/shop/FunnyLittleBird  lovely handmade vintage jewelry shop lovingly made from vintage and found items.

by FunnyLittleBird

I have to admit that I am a completely scatterbrained jewelry designer and a lot of my jewelry is created by accident. My desk is always a mess and I frequently will set one part or piece next to another and then realize, those actually look great together. Although I do have an actual workspace, I don’t always utilize it the way one might imagine. I tend to assemble jewelry wherever I am. If I’m working on a necklace and I have to go into another room to get something, I tend to just walk and assemble. I probably picked this up from working at a bead store for 5 years where multitasking was a necessity.

I began designing jewelry while working at Bead It, a bead store in Austin, Texas that specializes in vintage and antique beads, parts and pieces. Prior to working there I had no interest in jewelry, let alone designing it. The history of my materials is what really sparked my love for making jewelry. Working there, I learned what made the pieces and beads worth more than the craft store bulk selection. I have only recently made the transition from bead (and parts) collector to jewelry designer.

I adore Etsy and my virtual shop. It’s a lot of work, and there are over 200,000 sellers on Etsy, so many of which are talented, hard working individuals. I’ve found that participating in the forums, reading seller blogs and the Seller’s Handbook are all really helpful tools. Also getting on social networking sites, joining Etsy teams and always having business cards ready are some of the best ways to increase exposure.

Being a designer, I’m not in it for the money, I can honestly say that. I want to offer people truly original creations and impress people with a little bit of history (as well as treasures to be coveted because you can’t get them in the mall or out of a catalogue). The idea of selling someone a necklace only to have them walk down the street and see someone wearing something similar seems disheartening. I get bored with trends pretty quickly and am always working hard to stick with the design that seems the least obvious. I strive for the strange and the imaginative. I am always aiming for the extraordinary.

http://funnylittlebird.etsy.com/


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