Wednesday, May 15, 2013

Artisan Spotlight - Antiquity Travelers

7 Questions is our spotlight on our favorite artisans. Please welcome... 
Cynthia of Antiquity Travelers


 








What do you sell in your shop? I sell jewelry. It is all handmade using items like semi-precious stones, pearls, shells, art glass, enamels or the occasional beachcombing item like sea glass. I use gold, silver and copper earwires as I have allergies to base metals, and so I swear by not using them for the items I create.  I rarely duplicate an item as I create each piece as an artistic outlet.

What is your favorite thing about etsy?  I love the ease of being able to set up a shop to sell my jewelry, but still continue to create and run everything out of my home. I don’t think I would have ever built up a following like this, or so quickly if I had needed to build my own website.

What is your least favorite thing about etsy? The fees, of course. I’m lucky that this is a hobby for me, and I don’t need to focus on the margins. I am just trying to afford my bead-a-holic tendencies so I can buy more beautiful beads! But because this is a hobby for me (I have a day job) I also don’t have as much time to dedicate to pushing sales volume in my Etsy Shop. So the fees rack up, without the offsetting of sales. 

What does your studio/workspace look like?  Originally I had taken over a corner of the living room with all my bead tins and baskets of supplies. But about a year ago, I cleaned out the kid’s playroom and took over part of that room … complete with a table that seats 6! So I have lots of space to spread out. But honestly, it usually just means my mess gets bigger!

What do you do to relax?  If I’m not hanging out with my kids, then you’ll find me beading! I love to make jewelry. Some people knit to relax, I don’t knit. But I do find it relaxing to bead weave.

What accomplishments are you the most proud of? Well, if we’re talking about my jewelry, then I would say that I’ve recently had my first published design in Stringing magazine. I’ve submitted a few more pieces and I’m hoping that another design or two might make it into a magazine. Fingers crossed!

What are some of your goals for the next year?  I have an idea for a book series, and so I’m hoping that I’ll get the chance to ‘pitch’ the idea to a publisher. Who knows what might happen!

Find more of Cynthia here:
Blog: http://antiquitytravelers.blogspot.com/
Twitter: @AntiquityTravel

10 comments:

Duni said...

Great feature! I'd recognize Cynthia's pieces anywhere - she uses such unique beads in her work!
The book series sounds intriguing :)

Memories for Life said...

Congrats on being published this year! And the book series sounds really neat...can't wait to see how that goes!

BeadedTail said...

I enjoyed learning more about Cynthia! What a great workspace! It's so neat! Mine is a mess all over the dining room table! Good luck with the book series!

pasqueflower said...

Congrats on the magazine feature, Cynthia! And good luck with the book series. I am in awe of your energy -- kids and a day job - and still doing very well with your creative enterprise! (I think it is more than a hobby when you're published!)

Eyelah said...

Nice post Cythnia!! You're jewelry is so pretty and detailed. I would love to read what the book series your thinking of writing.

Judy Nolan said...

It's really true, isn't it, that our need for space expands as the size of the space does. Congrats on getting your first design published in a magazine, and good luck with future designs!

Kathleen said...

Wonderful feature - nice to get to know you better. Congrats on the feature in the magazine! Yay!

DancingMooney said...

Yay for getting your jewelry featured in a magazine, that's fantastic! And, nice to meet you, I'm a newbie here. xo! :)
♥ Janell

AntiquityTravelers said...

thanks everyone for such lovely comments ... the BBA group is such a great group!

ha! Sharla ... that picture of my work space was taken right after I clean up and took over. Hasn't looked the same since!

Erika said...

Congratulations on getting in the magazine!