Friday, February 15, 2008

Friday Features--Veronica Willingham Jewelry


Good morning everyone! Today is our first Friday Feature, and today we are featuring Veronica of Veronica Willingham Jewelry. Veronica has a home studio in Aurora, Colorado, with customer all over the world. Veronica has been generous and gracious to offer a wonderful pair of her earrings as today's giveaway (see the bottom of the post). Let's get to know a little more about Veronica now.

TDB: How long have you been selling on Etsy?

Veronica: I have had my jewelry line at Etsy since April 2007. I also have a bead site (veronicabeads.com) on Etsy as well, which I started after the fantastic success of my jewelry site.

TDB: When did you start your craft?

Veronica: I began handcrafting my line of jewelry back in 2001...at first a hobby it soon turned into a full fledged business. "You can only wear so much jewelry yourself", my husband would say. So I guess the natural progression would be to make it a business. So I did.

TDB: What inspires you?

Veronica: I wish I could nail my inspiration down to one consistent thing, but to be honest I really work in the moment most times. Be it I get a vision in my head of a partial piece that I have to work up into a finished piece; or I see a shape, a color, an article of clothing, heck the architecture of a building...I have always had a need to create, so maybe overall it's the need to create that inspires me most.



TDB: If you could learn some new skills, what would they be?

Veronica: Woah, you ask excellent questions. I plan on attending the Gemological Institute of America (GIA), to further my skills in jewelry design using CAD and other methods. While at GIA I also plan on getting my Graduate Gemologist (GG). To be around more gemstones and persons skilled in the gem/jewelry trade than I have ever have been; just the idea of it all, it makes me swoon.

TDB:What are your favorite materials to work with?

Veronica: Gemstones, gemstones, gemstones and more gemstones;) I have always had a passion for semi precious and precious gemstones every since I could remember. From ruby sapphires, emeralds, kyanite, kunzite and everything in-between, I don't think I could live without them. I remember back to the day I first discovered gems. I was just a teenager at a school outing at Six Flags and I went into one of those old mining towns. Back in the corner of the general store was an old barrel full of a mix of stones and there I dug my hands in and there I stayed, until I was dragged away. Gems are more than just a shiny pretty for me I feel a true connection with them.

TDB: Are you on any Etsy street teams?

Veronica: I am not currently on any Etsy teams. As I have been in the process of focusing on branding my company, my time is very limited. Focus and attention to detail is crucial to me...I feel it important to put our hands in only as many fires as one can handle.


TDB: If you could travel anywhere in the world, where would it be, and why?

Veronica: I have always had a dream of traveling to anywhere in the world that gems are mined. So as you can imagine, I have a lot of traveling to do. To Bangkok and beyond, baby!

TDB: What other things do you enjoy, besides creating jewelry?

Veronica: Wow you are really assuming I have a life outside of jewelry ;) As sad as it may sound I really don't. My business is run out of my home studio; so I am able to have my daughter and husband close to me. My husband Rodney helps with jewelry design, casting and assembly. My thirteen year old daughter Taylor will soon be helping me with wax carving. They are both amazing artists in their own right.

************************************************************

Veronica's Giveaway:


These earrings are sea foam chalcedony with 14k gold filled accents and earwires. They are valued at $42.00. And as always shipping is complimentary at veronicawillingham.com.

The Not-So-Small Print: To enter for your chance to win these gorgeous earrings, please leave a comment with a valid email address and your name. Only ONE entry per person please. Any duplicate entries will be deleted. This contest is open to anyone in the world. This giveaway is now closed, and we have drawn a winner!

I can't wait to get my very own Veronica Willingham Jewelry, which I ordered yesterday! Did you see that she has FREE shipping???

42 comments:

Anonymous said...

What a fun giveaway! :)
(I also like the green piggy bank-I so need to get myself a piggy bank!)
Mel (enakitty@yahoo.com)

Lisa Holman of XSBaggage and Co. said...

Wow, her jewelry is gorgeous! And I love that her husband and daughter help her with the process! So great!

xsbaggage@gmail.com

Beki - TheRustedChain said...

Oh I love giveaways! I'll share this on my blog as well.

(The pics show up as red x's though.)

AbbieRoad said...

I've been admiring Veronica's work every since I first found it on Etsy!
I want to be entered to win!

abbieroadart(at!)gmail.com

(at!) = @ I just want to protect from spammers!

Thanks!
Abbie

Weird Bug Lady said...

Awesome, great feature! Giveaways are always fun, hehe.

Brigette - buggirl4ever@gmail.com

Anonymous said...

Beautiful earrings!!
Janine - queenbeejanine@hotmail.com

Anonymous said...

Love Veronica's jewelry. And the feature too.

Jennifer
decklededgebindery@yahoo.com

Nicole Solo said...

These are so beautiful! Great prize for this giveaway :)

my email is nicole at soloartworks.com

thanks!
Nicole

Anonymous said...

How pretty!
jill . perryman @ gmail . com

Jillian's Bella Rosa Antiques said...

Beautiful! Perfect for the beach this summer.. Please enter me in the drawing!!! Can't wait for summer!

Name:
Jillian

Jasdanser12 at yahoo.com

Mel said...

I have to say her work is stunning. Thank you for sharing cause now I have a new shop to heart and keep an eye on. :)

Mel said...

in case my email doesnt show....

melodyofdavid@gmail.com

My Trendy Tykes said...

OH MY!!!! Those are beautiful as all her jewelry is!

Linda

Harmony said...

Her work is downright gorgeous!

I want to win!

Harmony
harmonytanguay@hotmail.com

Beki - TheRustedChain said...

Sorry, I just realized that I didn't say anything about the stunning jewelry! I thought it but hit post before I typed it out. (darn multi tasking!)

The jewelry is absolutely gorgeous! And she's a very generous seller to give away a piece.

Unknown said...

What a lovely feature, Angie!! And gorgeous jewelry!! I would love a chance to win!

ElegantSnobbery@hotmail.com

Also, thank so much for the wonderful birthday wishes you left me!! Yay for birthdays!!

Shell said...

What gorgeous jewelry, and awesome contest!

shellsnoel@aol.com

Mendy at Modern Charm said...

Beautiful earrings!

moderncharm@cox.net

Sew Gracious said...

These earrings are beautiful!!

pam at sewgracious dot com :-)

Brittain Road said...

beautiful jewelry, i like the simple sophistication. Best of luck learning CAD, it's such a useful tool.

Unknown said...

beautiful jewelry. what a fun giveaway. oh, and beautiful blog by the way!

octavineillustration@gmail.com

JEWELGIRL said...

Jewelry, I can never have enough,
your designs are fab. I can tell
you put a lot of yourself into every piece you make, it shows.
I would love to own this lovely
pair of earrings! Jewelgirl

Anonymous said...

What a great giveaway! I love these earrings!! The other jewelry featured is beautiful as well!
adkinsc123@lycos.com

Jeanette J said...

The pieces are very lovely. Please enter me to win

OMB said...

Her work is gorgeous.

Bebemiqui said...

Very pretty earrings...Bangkok is an experience!

Anonymous said...

That is some very lovely stuff! A lot of attention to detail and beautifully photographed as well!
Cheryl - xuxu_ns@yahoo.com

Maude Lynn said...

Really, really pretty!

kelli (at) pfrog (dot) net

Mrs.Kwitty said...

Beautiful jewelry--really gorgeous!! Please enter me in the drawing (I have my fingers crossed!)
Smiles, Karen

kmwittkop@aol.com

Chungyen Chang said...

Good luck to everyone. Those earrings are really nice. :)

ciscomatisse@gmail.com

wordlily said...

Whoa, gorgeous earrings!

http://skarph.com/blog

CurlyGirlCrochet.etsy.com said...

I would LOVE to win this beautiful pair of Vernonica Willingham earrings! Please enter me in your drawing (fingers crossed!).

Thank you very much!

Stephanie said...

Okay these are so beautiful! Pretty Please Pick me!
grayjones5@yahoo.com

Stacey Moore said...

love those! thanks

AnnieRoso said...

Those are precious! Sign me up!

westbys at swbell dot net

Gloria said...

Wow, these are gorgeous! Please enter me into your contest :)

saddeyezz at yahoo.com

Unknown said...

OOH these pieces are sooo pretty!
~Heather
Daisy-Head-Maisy design

windycindy said...

Thanks for such a fun contest! The earrings are stunning! Thanks for introducing me to a wonderful site!
Cindi
jchoppes[at]hotmail[dot]com

Susan said...

Oh my word, what beautiful work! Thanks for offering the giveaway.

Amber said...

What a great interview with Veronica! And I would love to win her gorgeous earrings. Please enter me in this very generous giveaway.

My email address is hurdler4eva [at] gmail [dot] com

Anonymous said...

Gorgeous work!

lvgallerycreations@msn.com

Vanessa :)

erin, maker of chimes said...

Giveways are so fun, but I love that I've found some new things to add to my own birthday wishlist :)