My Interview With Elizabethslace

Today I am interviewing Elizabeth from ElizabethsLace. so please welcome, Elizabeth. :)

M: Please you tell us about yourself and your back ground?

EL: I am 39 and a happily married mother of fifteen-year-old twin boys. I have a degree in Business Administration and work as a tax accountant, but have taken art/craft classes consistently since I was little - all different kinds. I find the drive/need to be creative overwhelming at times - I really enjoy crocheting, calligraphy, cross stitch, and sewing - but I am completely addicted to tatting - a form of lacemaking I learned from my grandmother.

M: Can you tell us a bit about your work and how did you start your etsy shop?

EL: I grew up watching my grandmother do her tatting (lacemaking) around handkerchiefs and pillowcases. She also did some doilies. It was amazing to watch her fingers flying and lace coming out the other side. She wanted to teach me when I was young, but I was a typical teenager and wanted nothing to do with it at the time. By God's grace she lived long enough that when I, at 22, decided I was ready to learn, she was still able to teach me. I haven't put it down since.I wanted a contemporary way to use and display it - hence the jewelry.I have been doing art/craft shows with my tatted jewelry for fifteen years. I originally joined etsy so I could buy hand-dyed threads for use in my jewelry. After a while, I thought I ought to at least post some things to sell to make up for all the money I was spending. Unfortunately, with doing shows full time it's had to keep up with both, and the etsy shop suffers a bit. I do direct existing customers from my regular website to my etsy shop because etsy is where I tend to display some of my newer pieces.

M: What usually sparks off an idea?

EL: I have many inspirations - probably one of the most common is vintage books my grandmother had - there are no tatted jewelry patterns in them, but I look at a doily and can see a section of it that I think would make a beautiful necklace. They generally have to be reworked (knot count more than anything) to accommodate the beads I want to use. I do also use some modern patterns from other tatting designers - not jewelry designs, but motifs I incorporate into my own style of jewelry. I also find inspiration in other types of jewelry, patterns on clothing, and traditional shapes like hearts, crosses, butterflies or flowers. With things like this I am often designing the pattern from scratch because it's hard to find patterns in the size or shapes I want them.

M: Please tell us about your latest products.

EL: At the moment, I am completely addicted to variegated threads. I remember when I first started tatting, I associated variegated thread to my grandmother's tatting, and so I thought it a bit "old fashioned" and I avoided it like the plague. Today, with dyed silks and cottons, the colors are so glorious and once I start with my variegated threads it's hard for me to get back to my staple colors like brown, black, and olive green. You can see some of the examples of these types of thread being used in my etsy shop.

Thank you Elizabeth for letting us into your shop. I find your style very refreshing and also amazing www.elizabethslace.etsy.com