Featured Artist ~ Ana from The Pretty Peacock

I was so excited when Ana agreed to do this interview. She's a talented artist who's selling her own Handmade, Hand Stamped & Personalized Jewelry at her personal website
The Pretty Peacock and Etsy store. All her pieces are made from high quality metals
which are Eco-Friendly. Now let's see some of my favourites...

The GOLD Family Tier Pendant

This is my favourite piece from her shop. This pendant set has 1" gold filled disk (Gold fill lasts longer than gold-plated and is less expensive than solid gold jewelry), a 3/4" gold filled disk and a 1/2" gold filled disk. And there's a gold plated Swarovski crystal birthstone which adorns the top of the disks.

Sterling Bear Pendant with Birthstone

This cute pendant will make a great gift for any little girl!

This sterling silver bear measures 13mm wide by 16mm tall - a very wearable size for a little one all the way up to an adult! You can personalize this piece with a short name or initials, which is the more popular alternative.

Petite Circles of Love in Sterling Silver

This is a very beautiful necklace.
This pendant set comes with two, tiny (10mm) sterling silver circles with the names of your little sweetie peas stamped along the bottom curve (as pictured). A Swarovski crystal birthstone is wire wrapped on a lovely sterling silver head pin, for that perfect bit of sparkle.

Time for...The Interview!

(Read till the end and receive a surprise!)

1. Hi, please tell me more about yourself.

I am the mother of two lovely little hoodlums (6 and 3) and the wife to a techie-geek extraordinaire (and also my #1 fan/supporter). I live in the beautiful Pacific Northwest and have finally accepted the fact that suburbia isn't all THAT bad!! I sing to relax and calm myself down, I am shamelessly addicted to Rock Band, I prefer overcast(but not necessarily raining) days over gloriously sunny ones, I don't like to cook - but love to eat!! I can only eat cookies when they are still warm and I can't sew - not even a button back onto a shirt.



2. How was your shop started?
I come from an East Indian family where my two career choices were to either become an engineer or a doctor...I gravitated toward neither and after speeding through my undergrad, getting a double major(academic over-achieving is a requirement, after all!!), and getting admitted to law school - I decided that none of it was for me. I worked in corporate America up until I had children and then had the luxury of taking a step back and focus on feeding my creative soul.What brought me to creating jewelry is a long story, but something that should have been apparent from the start. Sometimes you just need the journey, though, to make things fall into place just right.


3. What inspires you?
I love words. Lyrics to songs, poetry, funny phrases that come out of my children's mouths...It's amazing how words can bring you back to place in time or just make you stop in your tracks and ponder.


4. What handmade possession do you most cherish?
I designed my wedding ring, and it was then created by another artist.It is, in my opinion, just perfect. It uses the small solitaire my husband bought for me when we were 19 and is set in a gorgeous platinum band that is so thick and heavy and unique...and then has about a million sapphires (we were married in September) set all along the edges of the ring. It is phenomenal.



5. Which items in your shop receive most compliments from customers?
My fine silver work (I call it my "GOOD KARMA Collection") is really well received. I always try to do something unique - there are few things that haven't been done in jewelry, but I do try!http://www.theprettypeacock.com/good-karma.html My more modern pieces- Love you to the Moon Pendant:http://www.theprettypeacock.com/pendants/love-you-to-the-moon-pendant.html,Regal Family Tier Pendant:http://www.theprettypeacock.com/pendants/regal-family-tier-pendant.htmland my Eternity Bangles:http://www.theprettypeacock.com/bracelets/eternity-bangle.html are very popular. I love doing custom work/designs...people have the most amazing ideas and visions of what they would like to own and it is always so rewarding to create someone that special treasure.


6. What is your favourite material used in creating your products?
I love fine silver - it's eco-friendly, it starts off as a clay and then becomes pure (99.9% silver vs. sterling's 92.5% silver content)and is just incredibly versatile. I like anything that allows me to
create what is in my mind's eye.


7. How do you promote your Etsy store?
---- Can this be : How do I promote my Website??? ----My website is relatively new, so I'm still learning on how to promote it and bring traffic to it. Having a blog:http://theprettypeacock.blogspot.com/, doing giveaways/features another's blogs, making sure my items are tagged correctly and making sensing of Google AdWords have all been helpful!


8. Make a wish!

I wish that my house would self-clean. I don't ask for much!! :)



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Now, for the surprise! Be ready...

Dear readers...Ana, the generous owner of The Pretty Peacock has agreed to give all of you a 5% discount on your entire order from her store http://www.theprettypeacock.com starting from today, 9th April 2009 to 16th April 2009. Please be sure to enter the discount code : AIK when checking out.

~Jewelry should tell a story, invoke emotion, be a touchstone, a tangible memory - not just a bauble that matches the outfit for the day.Here, at The Pretty Peacock, we believe in creating meaningful treasures with your words, loved ones' names, dates, quips - anything that speaks to you, or want close to your heart. ~

http://www.theprettypeacock.com
Handmade. Personalized. Treasures.