Ok, first of all, I sincerely apologize for missing last weeks feature. Vacation was way crazier than I anticipated! As was the week leading up to it… I’m back in the swing of things now though 
Finals are over and I can catch up on the rest of life again!
This weeks artist – PiecesOfMePendants – is a shop I stumbled upon one day while browsing etsy. I instantly fell in love with her scrabble tile pendants! It was the first time I had encountered them and I just HAD to have some! I quickly sent her a conversation asking if she would mind if I featured some of her pendants in my jewelry – and she agreed! I was so excited! I’ve had a lot of fun creating the necklaces to go with the pendants and I thought it would only be appropriate for me to interview this wonderful lady as one of my featured artists. I hope you enjoy meeting Lisa as much as I have
1. Tell us a little about yourself and your story! What’s your real name, where did come up with your shop name, where are you located?
Where to begin, what to say? My name is Lisa and I live in London, Ontario, Canada, which is located about 2 hours from Detroit. For the past 10 years I’ve been doing accounting, which usually is among the least creative things one can do (unless one worked for Enron) and decided I wanted a change.
I’ve been doing a variety of crafts just for fun since I was a little girl and have always enjoyed the creativity involved so when a friend told me about Etsy I thought I’d try selling some of my creations online and it’s been a bigger success than I ever could have initially imagined.
2. What first got you started working with making scrabble pendants?
A bit of creative inspiration got me working with scrabble tile pendants. They’re easier to work with than dichroic/fused glass and allow for a wider range of design and expression.
3. Do you do any other crafts?
Over the years I’ve done a variety of crafts and creative things. Every Christmas for a number of years I’d make up elegant Christmas wreaths for friends and family and every once in a while would have people ask me to make one for them.
I love painting, mostly with oils, though I also do acrylic and watercolour painting as well. My favourite artists are Turner, Macke, Cezeanne, and other impressionists such as Monet, Manet, Sisley, etc.
4. Where do you find your inspiration?
This is perhaps one of the most difficult question for any artist to answer. I find creative energy in many of the things around me. Some of my pendants use high quality chiyogami and other art papers and I simply see a finished design in my head when I’m out looking for new supplies.
Others are my own designs. These designs are mostly experimentation; I start out with a rough idea and play with it until I have something I like. Often they’re simply a result of how I’m feeling at the time. I often listen to music while creating and I think I frequently draw inspiration from the lyrics and melody of song, which influences the design.
5. What are some of your favorite pieces you have up on etsy right now?
I tend to like the simpler, cleaner, more minimalist designs that I have. Among my favourites right now are Charmed, Green, Red Daisy, and Blue Tree but I also like the owl pendants as well; actually almost everyone does.
6. Where do you do your work?
I have a home studio that I work out of .
7. Tell the readers one random, fun, thing about yourself
I once had a farm in Africa at the foot of the Ingong hills … oh wait that’s not my story but I kind of wish it was. Actually I love old movies and vintage/antique things. I like the history of things, knowing that they had a history before me and wonder who owned them and what they’re story is. I love that my pendants are part of that now. I’ve sold pendants all over the planet and love the idea that someone in Australia or Russia or Sweden, or Idaho is wearing one of my creations.
Here’s a few of my favorite pendants that she currently has for sale. It was hard to pick – I wanted to start shopping!
This one is in honor of one of my best friends who said she LOVES it!
Believe it or not – I actually learned to type on a typewriter!
And this last one is in honor of another of my best friends who loves giraffes!
Ok – now a fun extra bit for this interview Remember how I said that I made some jewelry using Lisa’s pendants? Well – here they are!
Sorry – this one’s not for sale – It’s all MINE.
The story behind this is that my Grandfather is an immigrant from Cuba.
Lisa has a listing where she offers to make a pendant with a specific location.
Of course I had to pounce on it!
I’ve always been fascinated by other languages – so I thought it would be a lot of fun to use Chinese characters in some of my jewelry! This one says “Wisdom.”
And this one says “Hope.” I love the bright cats eyes beads I found for this one!
Remember those owl pendants mentioned earlier? I loved them too!
In fact – I rather had to buy this one, my first business dealt with Owls.
Of course I couldn’t resist doing a purple necklace
And last but not least – who can resist Tinkerbell?
