Special Edition: A Fellow Crafter and Jewelry Maker

Padfoot Jewelry by Lauren Sampson

Today I am having a feature post about a close friend of mine who makes beautiful jewelry. Her shop name is Padfoot Jewelry and is located on etsy.com. Most of her stuff is inspired by nature and is just absolutely gorgeous. Her and I had a chat not to long ago and here is our interview.


HummingbirdLoves(HL): What spurred you to start up your own etsy shop?


Lauren Sampson (LS): Honestly, it wasn't even an initial thought.  My best friend and boyfriend convinced me that what I was making was good enough that others may want them.  And it took a lot of convincing, trust you me!

HL: Why did you pick jewelry making as your craft to sell?

LS: Really what I was looking for was a hobby.  I felt like I needed some way to channel my rudimentary but enthusiastic artistic flare.  I'd dabbled in jewlery making in the past and hadn't been a total failure at it, so decided to pick up from there and see how far I could take it.  (I still don't know how far it'll go!)

HL: Where does your inspiration for each piece come from?

LS: My friends and the weather.  For example, the weather just took a turn for the chilly this week.  I'll be focusing my colors towards the winter palet of blues, clears, whites, etc.  Couple months ago, it was browns, greens and oranges for the fall.  And when all else fails...I pick a friend to "make" something for.  Probably half of my pieces are inspired by someone.  Whether it's a best friend who loves teal, or my mom who wears longer necklaces with deeper hues.

HL: Which one is your favorite so far?

LS: In and by far...the Harvest Necklace.  One that I refuse to sell.  Its mine.  All mine.  :)  That's the fall one that I made...see colors above.  Three strands all different colors secured with a toggle clasp (which...love toggle clasps btw).  It's really elegant and probably my best piece.  I'm proud of it and it's a great reminder for me of my potential.

HL: I noticed each one has a name, How did this come about? 

LS: If I answered that alcohol and a couple good friends were involved, would I get judged?  Everything I make means something to me.  Maybe this will go away after piece 100 but I hope not.  Creativity and being artistic comes in many forms.  It's a creative thing that I love: to find the hidden meaning in things.  Each necklace, tells a story...whether it's a novel or a picture book doesn't matter but they all say something.  It felt natural to me that I give them all names.  

HL: How long did it take you to get everything setup?

LS: Months.  I'm 3 into it, and would say I'm finally starting to get into a routine.  The biggest initial hurdle was finding a space to call my own.  My craft table.  I needed some area that I could set up shop and not have to constantly be a nomad about where I worked.

HL: What was the hardest part about opening an etsy shop?

LS: Pricing.  THANK GOD I HAD A FRIEND HELP ME!!!  It's really hard to put a price value on something you make.  You can't objectively look at it and decide it's worth.  And because it's hand made there are a plethora of other things to think about that say, Macy's, wouldn't give two shits.  Every bead you pay for, your time, materials, etc.  If i truly had my druthers, I wouldn't have opened the shop for that very reason.

HL: How does it feel to have your shop up and running?

LS: Euphoria mixed with a healthy dose of anxiety, scattered with self-doubt and overshadowed by overall accomplishment.

HL: What is your favorite thing about this whole process?

LS: Hearing from people who didn't even know I was into jewelry but looked at my shop and said it was really good.  Huge confidence builder I wasn't entirely expecting (but hoped for), as that'll carry me into making more jewelry.  It certainly spurred my creativity to realize that my beading genius was one I should share.

HL: As your shop is still in its infancy stage, what advice do you have for others wanting to start their own shops? 

Patience.  Above all else, patience.  It's not just going to happen.  The age old "Rome wasn't built in a day" and let's face it, Rome took ALOT of work.  Something you have to be willing to put in.  You have to have a goal and work for it.  It took a long time to make the products, then taking pictures, writing descriptions, calculating costs, saving receipts, determining the target audience, the right place to advertise my goods....everything.  And it's daunting.  My advice is to get some help.  Barter for a friend's assistance with food, drink, or something from your store to get help.  Without help from Hannah and Dylan, it 100% would not have happened. 

More advice, and something I'm learning just now...Even though I'm not sitting at the craft table actually making my products, doesn't mean I'm not helping the end goal.  I haven't made a necklace in two weeks.  Yes, it's killing me...but there were other things that had to be done regarding the store and materials, etc.  Sometimes, much to my dismay, there are things about my hobby that I don't like doing.  Pricing, taking pictures, waiting for them to sell :)  but it's important to keep the mentality that ANYTHING you do towards your hobby counts and should be seen as an accomplishment rather than feeling deterred because you can't/didn't do any actual crafting for a bit. 

Finally...if you hit a lull....don't panic.  Like all things in life, artistic creativity ebbs and wanes.  There are days where I sit to make a piece of jewelry, needing that down time, and nothing comes to me.  But then, a week later, I sit down and make 3 things.  If you feel like you're losing your touch, if you feel like you're frustrated, if you feel just blah about it...step away.  Take a little break and do something else that feeds the hobby for a while.  Look online for ideas, go to stores, buy books, talk to friends, but don't get dismayed!  Chin up and the kinks will work themselves out.

 ~~~

Thank you Lauren for your time and Good Luck with your shop and future endeavors!!!

Finally Friday #7: Reasons I love Wisconsin...

This year I have spent a copious amount of time in Wisconsin thanks to a very special man of mine. Every time I make my way there I find it beyond difficult to return to the east coast. Between his amazing family, the circle of friends I have there and him I feel perfectly at home in the farm painted landscape. I often feel as though it is a completely different world than the one I live in Massachusetts. It's hard to specifically pin-point my favorite things about the state but I will try.

There are many attributes that have sucked me in :

1. The Landscape-Growing up in a rural environment and having a dairy farm only a mere mile down the road in either direction provides you with a sense of reality. Seeing where the milk that you drink and use in recipes comes from, truly grounds you. Yet, like everyone else I had an itch to try the city thing and soon learned I was much more at home among the trees and fields, not sky scrapers and traffic. I felt at home from my first visit. Something about seeing the sun set across an open field just brings a sense of peace.

2. The People- After living in various areas of the northeast I have come to notice a constant level of stress. In traffic , walking down the street or simply shopping at Target they are rude and self center. Ok, not all of them but as a general population compared to the folks of WI they are. I have never had a bad trip to a store or at a party while in WI. They are warm, welcoming and if they think you are feeling out of place they try to include you or help you  out. It's simple as the rural environment to the urban. Its choice and I choose rural.

3. The Food- Culver's Deep Fried Cheese Curd and Pumpkin Spice Shake... Enough said. 

Creative Crafty #9: Little Red Riding Hood and the... Badger?

Halloween this year I decided to Google for ideas. My final Googling adventure began with the keywords of "red head halloween costumes". Ah the things you can Google.  From there I sorted through the various links to find a costume idea for myself as well as finding something that could be made into a couples costume for my boyfriend. I found my top three and quickly sent them to my boyfriend to pick his favorite. His choice? Little Red Riding Hood and the Big Bad Wolf.

Of course, I was sorting the idea over with a coworker and he suggested instead of the Big Bad Wolf (which would take forever to make) my boyfriend should be Teen Wolf. I loved the idea and knowing that it would involve a lot less fabric and time I jumped on it.

Much like when I was a kid, my first move was to visit Jo-Ann Fabrics and flip through the pattern catalogs looking for the costume I wanted to make. When I was little my mom would do the exact same thing with me. She would sit me in front of the catalogs and as I flipped through them she would gather the items she needed on the nearby isles. Once I found the one I wanted we would buy the pattern and material and head home to start on it. This time I was the one making it and left to choose all the fabrics on my own.

le

End Result-Little Red Riding Hood

I made a few changes to/from the pattern. Instead of the petticoat underneath the skirt I added layers of red tulle. Also I did not make the blouse in the pattern and instead just wore a white cami. Personally, I loved how it came out and it was some of my best craftsmanship. Which took me a while to make! Haha

After taking the time to do excellent craftsmanship in following a pattern I had little time to make the wolf costume for my boyfriend. He also wasn't a big fan having to get all dress up so I tried to keep it very simple. I made him sleeves with attached paws, a "turtleneck" and ears. The sleeves were attached to each other with elastic across his back much like you would do with a 5yr old's mittens. At the end of the sleeves were paws with claws and to keep it simple each finger had a covering that attached with elastic once again. I made a loose fitting turtle neck that slipped over his head and fill the gap from his shirt to his beard. Lastly I made fur ears that slipped over his ears and fastened with double stick tape.

Little Red Riding Hood and Teen Wolf

His homemade items along with his fake teeth I had found, black gloves and a black nose that we gave him he was quite convincing. Or so I thought... His chosen t-shirt to wear was a Wisconsin Madison t-shit whose mascot is a badger, which spurred people all night to ask him if he was a badger. After awhile we decided to just go with it and so came Little Red Riding Hood and Bucky the Badger.

A special shout to everybody in Platteville WI: Almost all we saw had homemade costumes as well!!! I loved it!

~Happy Crafting!~