GIVEAWAY: illusy jewelry

Happy November! It's holiday season, which means it's a time of gifts, shopping, joy and happy celebrations. In my October Favorites post I showed you my new favorite piece of jewelry - a hand stamped necklace with B and K initials for Ben and Katie. I absolutely love it and have been hearing compliments about it since I received it. Today I have two surprises for you - 1.) you get to meet Janet who owns Illusy jewelry store and... 2.) you have a chance to win any item from the store! Holiday season it is. :-)

Here's an interview with Janet where we talk about her jewelry, shop and big dreams:

Janet, you are currently in Torrance, California, right? Are you originally from there?

Yup! I'm originally from Torrance, CA. I lived in San Francisco for a couple years before moving back to Torrance recently.

How did you develop your style?

I can't remember a time when I didn't do something related to crafting something from hand. As a kid I was stringing rose petals to make bracelets, from there it just never stopped and I went to art school for small metal arts jewelry.

What inspired you to open a shop?

I always knew I wanted a shop, just because it meant I could make jewelry and do something I love, but there was one incident that made it clear of wanting to open a shop. I was making my own jewelry all throughout school and a friend purchased a necklace as a gift for her sister in Korea. Her sister sent a picture of herself wearing the necklace and it was one of those wow moments for me. The idea that somewhere, someone would be wearing my jewelry was amazing. Plus right now I'm shipping to places I've never even heard of, how cool is that!

What do you use to make your pretty jewelry?

My main material is metal (sheet and wire). I try to source all my findings/beads from local stores and make it a habit to visit my supply stores regularly for new items.

I also do a lot of hammering, sawing and soldering. Depending on the jewelry piece it can vary from wire wrapping to soldering.

Any big dreams for your future?

Yes! Illusy is actually only one part of the shop and has a sister shop called "Flat". I had two very different styles of jewelry that I made and so I decided to split it and make Flat and illusy. I'm working on jewelry for Flat at the moment and hopefully it will open in the near future.

Other than that, traveling to some of those cool places I never heard of is something I'm planing for the future :)

Thank you for the interview, Janet! It was great to learn a little bit more about your shop and how all this magic happens. Good luck with Flat! I can't wait to see what you have there.

And now... giveaway time! Win an item of your choice from Illusy shop! The giveaway is open internationally. To enter you must be a Google Friend Connect follower of Chestnut Mocha. Good luck!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

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