Friday, March 20, 2009

Feature Friday: Natural Earth Jewelry

This week's featured seller Diana from Natural Earth Jewelry.  I was impressed by her many years of experience in her craft (25!) and her generous ongoing sales (check out her shop announcement for more info!) Read on to learn more about Diana and her shop!



First and foremost, what is it that you make/sell?

My name is Diana Parker and I make jewelry from mostly natural materials such as gemstones, shells, wood, bone, horn, and more. I've even used beads made of grass! I started out making jewelry over 25 years ago, and have progressed from making simple strings of beads to more complicated pieces, all of which are one of a kind. The bulk of my pieces are fairly uniform in color and style with bright colors and patterns, but lately I've found myself changing to more radical designs, kind of like "elegance meets bodacious". Each piece is taking me in a new direction right now, and I'm excited to watch them transform into wearable art.


What do you most enjoy about your craft?

I enjoy the spontaneity of it! Rarely will I sit down with an idea of what I'd like to make, and it never turns out as expected. As each bead or component is added, the jewelry really takes on a life of it's own and seems to tell ME what it should look like. I've learned to listen and watch very closely!



How has your experience on Etsy been?

Etsy has been a real turning point in my life. Never before has a website caused me to visit it over and over every day. Even if I wasn't a seller, I'd be on Etsy browsing constantly. There's always something new to see, always someone to inspire me, always new friends to meet. I sold for years on ebay, and besides meeting a few wonderful people, the experience left me with a strong desire to get my jewelry off of there and into a new community that focused on creativity and art rather than profit and loss.


What would you like to see from the CNY Etsy Group in the future?

I'd like to see more cross promotion. Maybe we could all send business cards, advertising posters, free samples or the like to one of us every 3-6 months, and that person will make up "care packages" with everyone else's promos. Each of us would enclose shipping and packaging expenses, and in return we'd each get a package shipped to us made up of promos for everyone else on the team who wishes to participate. We would distribute the materials on bulletin boards, craft shows, anywhere that would allow us to post advertising. Each of us would get a lot of advertising in areas we wouldn't normally be exposed to, all for the price of shipping and packaging costs.

Thank you for this opportunity to show you what Natural Earth Jewelry is all about!

To see more of Diana's work, visit her shop!
She also has 2 other Etsy shops that she sells in as well:



If you have any more questions for Diana, ask them in the comments section, and she will answer them for you!

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