Feature On Lesbijouxcrealune

1)How did you first hear about Etsy?

I first heard about Etsy from a buyer at a street fare. She asked where she could buy my jewellery and I told her I had a few boutiques in the area, but that I was looking for something wider range. She mentioned she had a friend that’s been selling on Etsy for a while and doing very well. She suggested I should check out the website and here I am.

2)Tell us about a little about yourself and your favorite craft/art!

Let’s see… I’m from Québec city and now living in Montreal. I did a lot of travelling and hope to do more in the future. I’m an art lover, I’ve always been attracted to all forms of art, weather it be visual or other. I’ve now been designing and creating jewellery for over 10 years.

3)How did you get started as a designer?

For as long as I can remember, I’ve been surrounded by creative people. My mother, being an artist herself, always encouraged me. I started doing photography at the age of 11 (I built a black room in my parent’s basement.) Then I started scrap booking and the drawing and making cards. In 1997 I decide to take a small jewellers course, which I cut short because I decided to go to Costa Rica for a year to manage a friend’s business. Everything happens for a reason because I met a few people in Costa Rica that made jewellery. A few months after I’d helped out at my friend with his business, I joined my new friends and started making jewellery to pay my next meal and so on and so forth. A year later, I returned to Montreal and took another jewellers course and I then started doing art fares and selling to boutiques.

4)What inspires you to create?

4-Many things inspire me. New materials and metals, I love coming home with new materials! This definitely inspires me. Change of season, events, colors. Music certainly inspires me. I usually listen to a lot of music when I design. That’s probably when I’m most creative. That and when I return from a long walk. My moods change a lot, which explains incorporating different styles and mediums into my work and the fact that I like exploring new techniques. My greatest desire is to keep evolving and always be inspired. Some day hopefully, I may live mainly from my art.





5)How do you get the word out about your shop and Etsy?

I’ve never been too good at selling myself. I know though that my jewellery is appreciated because my clients keep coming back. I’ve been selling at street fares for years and the same clients keep coming back for more. I’ve been distributing plenty of my business cards, which is my way of promoting Etsy and myself. I’m starting to take part in some of the forums in order to promote myself and I spread the word about Etsy to friends, family and a lot to people I meet. I opened my shop on Etsy in mid July and I’m happy with sales and feedback. I would appreciate if people took the time to leave more feedback, but I am grateful to those who do leave it.

6)Any advice you would give to aspiring designers?

Explore; try different mediums until you find what you are most comfortable with. Have confidence in yourself. Being creative is such a wonderful way to express ourselves. Open your mind. Open your eyes. Don’t be too hard on yourself. Be patient. When it’s not working; take a break, come back to it later. Try new things. Have fun.

I have a great SALE section, so please visit my shop at: http://www.lesbijouxcrealune.etsy.com/ to view my other items.