Shop feature - Kristine of Gulickkr on Etsy

Hair-pin/Shawl-pin

Purple and white amethyst pendant

Kristine of Gulickkr on Etsy has been creating beautiful jewelry since 2008.  It started as a labor of love and a way to support her dad's new-found hobby.  Her dad was inspired by a TV show and decided to go mining for gems.  He found many beautiful stones but also found that it was very expensive to have the stones cut and set into jewelry.

Sterling silver wire wrapped purple pendant

 To save money, he decided to join a rock club and took a lapidary class where he learned to cut cabochon out of stones. A cabochon, from the Middle French caboche (head), is a gemstone which has been shaped and polished as opposed to faceted.  He learned how to cut the stone slabs and grind and polish the stones into beautiful one of a kind pieces.  Kristine, along with her dad, then took a wire wrapping class.  Together they created beautiful jewelry.  Dad continued to make the cabochon pieces and Kristine developed her love of wire wrapping.

Sadly, Kristine's dad passed away from cancer in 2010.  She still has a few gems that her dad created but now she buys all her stones from fellow Etsy stores, rock and mineral shows, or jewelry suppliers. To honor her dad's memory, and to help raise money for cancer research, Kristine donates 10% of each sale to the American Cancer Society.

I asked Kristine, what advice she had for new Etsy sellers:
"Advice that I would give someone new to Etsy is to be patient and committed. It takes time for your shop to get noticed. It is frustrating waiting especially for that first sale, but it will come. Just believe and it will happen. The biggest thing that I learned since opening my shop is that it really is a full-time job. It takes time to make items for your shop, but it takes even longer to commit to marketing and getting yourself known. It is so important to invest that time in your shop."

Plum crocheted shawl

What's new in Kristine's shop?

Gemstone wire wrapped gemstone tree

"I  have started a few new lines since opening my shop. Since November, I have launched a line of chainmaille ornaments (seasonal item only), gemstone trees, and hair/shawl pins. The hair/shawl pins have been really popular, so I would like to continue adding more styles of these pins to my shop. Also, to compliment the pins, I just starting selling crocheted shawls (as of two weeks ago). I have loved crocheting since I was a little girl, and am having so much fun working on shawls now. So that is the main focus of my shop right now (building up inventory of the shawls)."
I have chosen just a few of the beautiful listings to feature here.  I recommend you take a moment and check out  Kristine's Gulickkr shop on Etsy. Click here for Kristine's facebook page  and here for twitter.

Shop Feature - Gentle Whispers Visual Devotions by Kelly Bermudez

Queen Esther Watercolor Print

 
Kelly, of Gentle Whispers Visual Devotions is fairly new to the art field. I met Kelly through the Etsy CAST team which is a group of Christian shop owners on Etsy.  She was a Police Officer for 8 years when The Lord asked her to change career paths.  Kelly says, "It took me a long time to obey because I had never painted before....and didn't know where to start. I never even picked up a paintbrush until about a year ago. That was a pretty amazing journey in itself."  Visit Kelly's shop to check out her art work.  The Lord has truly blessed her with an amazing gift.  I'm so glad she was obedient to the Lords prompting and trusted Him to step out in this new direction.

 I asked Kelly the following questions about her art:

Do you have any specialized training?

I have no specialized training other than a watercolor class that I actually just started taking. I guess you could say I am self-taught. 

Kiss Me Watercolor Print

How and when did you get started with ETSY.

I opened my shop last summer but it really just kind of sat there until about January. I was sick for quite some time, but now I am getting better and I am able to invest all my time and effort into my business.


Can you tell me a bit about the process you use for your art? What materials do you prefer to use.

I love to work with Watercolor, Acrylic and Mixed Media. It really depends on what I am doing the painting for. I mostly use watercolor because it is less messy and easier for me to store.  

Love Birds Sunset Watercolor Print

What are you working on -- Anything new to watch for?

The Lord has asked me to illustrate Song of Solomon. He has asked me to study it in depth and then to illustrate it. I am in the beginning stages of this, so eventually I would like my shop to almost be like a storybook of this Love Song. This is the vision the Lord has given me for my shop. This is where the “Gentle Whispers Visual Devotions” comes in.

Sleeping Love Song of Solomon

I really enjoyed doing this feature and getting more familiar with Kelly's art.  I hope you did too.

Here are Kelly's links:

Etsy profile page:
http://www.etsy.com/people/kellybermudez

Facebook:
www.facebook.com/pages/Kelly-Bermudez-Paintings/169726423093919

Blog:
kellybermudez.blogspot.com/

Twitter:
twitter.com/#!/kellybermudez10


Would you like to be featured on my blog?  The easiest way is to leave a comment.  I chose Kelly to feature from a comment she left on a previous blog post.