Tell us a bit about yourself.
I am a wife, Mum, IT nerd and silversmith/jewellery designer and manufacturer. I grew up in Albury but for the past 10 years have lived in the inner south east of Melbourne. I have been married for a bit over 5 years and we have two beautiful children aged almost 3 and 5 months. My day job is as an SQL Server "Technical Specialist", or "The SQL Queen" as we like to call me. There are two ways of doing things, my way or my way... Resistance IS Futile ;) That doesn't leave much time for my most neglected role of silversmith/jeweller. I only get to do that on weekends, and only if the kids are sleeping or being entertained by Dad. It means I have to plan my time well ahead but also not be too hard on myself about self-imposed deadlines.
What are five words which describe you?
Perfectionist, cheerful, funny (well I like to think so anyway), tenacious, tired
When and how did you first start creating/crafting?
I have always enjoyed creating and making things. I did textiles and design for my HSC (Edit: high school certificate for the final year of high school, for the non-Aussie readers), and while I love to sew and make myself clothes, it is not something that I do that often these days. My sister bought me a necklace on tigertail a number of years ago, and I was inspired by that to try and make my own beaded jewellery. Then on a holiday in Darwin and Broome in 2003 I fell in love with South Sea Pearls. I was in a jewellery store consulting with a sales person about having a pearl pendant made, after leaving the store my hubby said "I reckon you could do that". So as soon as we got back to our hotel I was on the laptop looking up jewellery courses. I did a short course the next term, and then enrolled in a 4 year part time advanced diploma which I started the following year.
What do you create and what are your favourite materials with which to work?
I make precious metal jewellery, predominantly silver, but that is mainly because gold is cost prohibitive. I did make our weddings rings which are both 18ct yellow gold and set with stones, and am slowly working away at my own eternity ring! I love colour and love to introduce it into my work with stones, enamel, other metals like copper and brass and patinas like verdigris. I have also made a range of jewellery with fabric set within the silver.
When and how did you start selling online?
I read about Etsy in "The Age" newspaper and after checking it out decided to setup my own store in late 2008. I have never tried any other online venues, but I have had my jewellery in some bricks and mortar shops.
Describe your store in five words.
Modern, eclectic, unique, sophisticated, elegant.
Who or what are the influences behind your creations
A very obvious influence is nature, I love spending time outside in the garden with my family. I am also a bit of a bower bird (a trait inherited from my Mum) and love buying stones and have quite a collection of loose stones amassed just waiting to be made into something wearable. For the stone pieces a lot of the inspiration is from the stone itself, the size and cut of the stone and allowing it to tell it's own story. I also like asymmetry and repetition and this is apparent in a lot of my works. I have a real soft spot for Art Deco too and you can see that occasionally come through in my work. I find it hard to describe my style as I think it is constantly evolving. In fact I often joke about my evolutionary design process as I start out to make one thing and it evolves into something else.
Where can we find you online?
Etsy: http://www.etsy.com/shop/Incalesco
Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/Incalesco
Blog: http://incalesco.blogspot.com/
*** Bonus: Erika is kindly offering a 15% discount to Two Cheeky Monkeys readers for ONE WEEK. To receive your discount, enter the code "BLOG_FEAT" at checkout. Valid until 6 August 2010. ***
When and how did you first start creating/crafting?
I have always enjoyed creating and making things. I did textiles and design for my HSC (Edit: high school certificate for the final year of high school, for the non-Aussie readers), and while I love to sew and make myself clothes, it is not something that I do that often these days. My sister bought me a necklace on tigertail a number of years ago, and I was inspired by that to try and make my own beaded jewellery. Then on a holiday in Darwin and Broome in 2003 I fell in love with South Sea Pearls. I was in a jewellery store consulting with a sales person about having a pearl pendant made, after leaving the store my hubby said "I reckon you could do that". So as soon as we got back to our hotel I was on the laptop looking up jewellery courses. I did a short course the next term, and then enrolled in a 4 year part time advanced diploma which I started the following year.
What do you create and what are your favourite materials with which to work?
I make precious metal jewellery, predominantly silver, but that is mainly because gold is cost prohibitive. I did make our weddings rings which are both 18ct yellow gold and set with stones, and am slowly working away at my own eternity ring! I love colour and love to introduce it into my work with stones, enamel, other metals like copper and brass and patinas like verdigris. I have also made a range of jewellery with fabric set within the silver.
When and how did you start selling online?
I read about Etsy in "The Age" newspaper and after checking it out decided to setup my own store in late 2008. I have never tried any other online venues, but I have had my jewellery in some bricks and mortar shops.
Describe your store in five words.
Modern, eclectic, unique, sophisticated, elegant.
Who or what are the influences behind your creations
A very obvious influence is nature, I love spending time outside in the garden with my family. I am also a bit of a bower bird (a trait inherited from my Mum) and love buying stones and have quite a collection of loose stones amassed just waiting to be made into something wearable. For the stone pieces a lot of the inspiration is from the stone itself, the size and cut of the stone and allowing it to tell it's own story. I also like asymmetry and repetition and this is apparent in a lot of my works. I have a real soft spot for Art Deco too and you can see that occasionally come through in my work. I find it hard to describe my style as I think it is constantly evolving. In fact I often joke about my evolutionary design process as I start out to make one thing and it evolves into something else.
Where can we find you online?
Etsy: http://www.etsy.com/shop/Incalesco
Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/Incalesco
Blog: http://incalesco.blogspot.com/
*** Bonus: Erika is kindly offering a 15% discount to Two Cheeky Monkeys readers for ONE WEEK. To receive your discount, enter the code "BLOG_FEAT" at checkout. Valid until 6 August 2010. ***
Oh what beautiful jewelry. I especially adore the silver triangle earrings in Erika's etsy store - they are stunning. The fabric set jewelry sounds very interesting!
ReplyDeleteI think Erika's wrk is beautiful too - as a hardly ever wear jewellery except for gold person. I still really admire the aesthetic and design. Cool post Deb. x
ReplyDeleteGreat feature Deb, thanks for sharing Erikas story with us :)
ReplyDelete