An interview with Kingfishercrafts

This week's talented artists are Kathy and Alistair of Kingfishercrafts. They make gorgeous beaded jewelry. A treasure to wear and an awesome one-of-a-kind gift!
Is there a story behind your shop name?
We are named for the Belted Kingfisher that stalks our creek for minnows.

What made you decide to open your own shop?
We opened our shop because we moved to the deep woods of North Carolina to escape the New York Rat Race. We now commute to work in fuzzy slippers.

What is your favorite material to use?
We love beads. Kathy even had a dream a while back that she was eating beads for breakfast. Yum!

Talk briefly about your favorite item:
Our favorite item changes daily. But right now we love our Evergreen Chandelier Cluster Necklace.

What are your creative inspirations?
We draw inspiration largely from nature: Sticks, stones and bones.

Are you a crafter full time or part time? If full time, how did you make the leap?
We are full time crafters right now, trying to put into action the best principles of successful Etsy store owners. This means a daily schedule of operation: time creating, time shooting pictures, time blogging/networking, etc.

Who encourages you to create?
We are encouraged by each other first and foremost but next by the kind and supportive voices in our heads. "You're really good at this." "Wow, you should share this gift with the world." "If you don't get to work you will starve."

Do you have any advice for other shop owners?
Too soon probably for advice since we have only had a few sales so far. But since you asked, Taking good pictures. Since all we have on the internet are largely visual cues, taking good visually interesting product shots is vital.

Do you have a blog or website?
We are working on a blog write now as I continue to read and absorb Andy Wibbels great book - Blog Wild. http://kingfishercrafts.blogspot.com/
We recently launched another store selling Fairy Dolls that we are really excited about:
http://www.thefairyfrontier.etsy.com

Tell me any other interesting things about yourself you'd like for me to include in your article:
Although our stores focus on Jewelry and Dolls we love all things handmade. Kathy is an incredible puppet, mask and costume maker and I am a photographer/videographer and emerging media adventurer. Its an exciting time to be alive regardless of the world's current state of affairs and we have always believed in embracing the new. Feel free to reach out to us we can be a useful resource and we love to support others in their pursuit of happiness.