Pretty Things Spotlight: * BD Designs *

UPDATE:
RHUBARB SKY is the lucky winner of the 3 petite stacking rings by BD Designs!

A special "Thank You" to everyone who entered...& be sure to enter this week's give-a-way too {there's a link to it on the right side of this blog}.

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Christen Largent of BD Designs is a self-taught artist who lives in the woods, amongst nature...and that's just where she prefers to be.

She uses her natural surroundings along with her never-ending curiosity of all things strange and different to inspire and motivate her in creating her gorgeous jewelry designs.

Handcrafted of precious metals such as sterling silver, copper and gold, her work is an accumulation of experimentation, inspiration and time spent studying new and different materials, shapes and textures.

Her clean, simplistic approach to adornment allows for her designs to appeal to everyone...and she will inscribe most of her pieces with any saying, lyric, poem or words that are special to you, making your piece truly unique and special to you.

“Create from a place inside of you that is devoid of all of the negative things you hear...create from the place inside that creates for the mere joy of creating. It will show in your work!”

Spotlight: BD Designs

★ Tell us a bit about you… My name is Christen Largent. I live west of Toledo, Ohio in the middle of no where in a place called Monclova — it’s not a town, it’s a township. I am married to a wonderful man and have 2 awesome kids. This year my husband and I will celebrate our 15th year of marriage!! [I can’t believe it!]

★ What inspires you? I live in the middle of the woods and have since child hood, so I’m a nature girl. The things that most inspire me are “oddities” in nature…like a weird bug, a plant that just springs up out of nowhere or the shape of a seed pod…. I tend to notice everything (much to the dismay of my children) and it all gets trapped up there in the great beyond of my brain. Later, it somehow finds its way into my work. I also love words…since I was an English/Lit major in college. I don’t claim to be a writer, but I‘m fascinated by the way writers [especially classic poets] string words together to make “music” of the written variety. This music has also found its way into my work.

★ Apart from creating things, what do you do for fun? I am a SOLID perennial gardener! I was well trained by my mother! I not only know how to make perennials grow and come back every year, but I can identify a whole lot of plants in general! She was a great teacher and inspired me to be creative in the planning and planting of all my flower gardens! I also have 2 very beautiful, very ACTIVE children Meghan & Liam [ages 11 and 4], so you can imagine where the rest of my “free time” goes!

★ What has been your most memorable moment selling your art? This past Mother's Day, a customer convo’d me after giving her mother the pendant I had made for her Mother's Day gift. Her relationship with her mom had been a bit ‘on the rocks’. When she gave the pendant to her mom, her mom “bawled like a baby” and they proceeded to talk for HOURS, ultimately patching up their relationship! Her story made ME cry, as it’s HUGE to know that something you’ve created could touch someone so deeply!

★ Any advice for fellow artists... Keep trying...don't give up because you're not selling. If you love what you do [or just love creating in general], selling is not the most important thing, although it's nice to be able to pay the bills. Create from a place inside of you that is devoid of all of the negative things you hear...create from the place inside that creates for the mere joy of creating. It will show in your work!

★ If you could be any character, who would it be and why? You know, I'd like to think of something clever to say here, but really, I've always just wanted to be "Anne of Green Gables" – She was strong, feisty, spoke her mind, spoke MOST eloquently and was perfectly peaceful in nature...all the things I'd like to be! And, she could also smack a slate over an ignorant guy's head like a pro! :)

★ Tell us your future plans for your business... At this point, I'm happy to say, that I am acquiring a few wholesale accounts, which was a big goal of mine. My plans are to stay busy enough to pay for my kids' college tuition and contribute to our retirement fund so we don't have to eat cat food when we retire! :) …And to continue to LOVE WHAT I DO EVERY DAY!!!!

★ Anything else you'd like to add about yourself or your work, etc… I am very grateful for Etsy. I was doing moderately well before Etsy, but with a handmade marketplace of over 1 million users, it just keeps getting better and better. It’s taken a lot "starving" out of "starving artists"! Where else does an average Joe artist get a shot at selling on a daily basis…It's a great thing!

★ Etsy Shop: http://www.bddesigns.etsy.com
★ Member of the Etsy Street Team ‘AJC’ (Art Jewelry Collective).

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This Give-a-Way has ended...

Christen of BD Designs is very sweet to send 3 petite stacking rings to this week's give-a-way, RHUBARB SKY!
Rhubarb Sky will be receiving 3 rings sized to her preference {2 in sterling silver and one in copper}. Each ring is hand-formed, soldered and hammered by Christen in her studio. These simple, yet elegant rings are easy to wear and perfect for the person who loves the versatility and freedom of stacking rings.

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CONGRATULATIONS!