Megan - Spice Of Life - Shares Her Artistic Journey

Megan has graciously extended a discount to our readers. Find details below.

Section 1 Tell Us About Your Crafting
1. How long have you been crafting?

Forever, but jewelry specifically since late 2007. I was blessed in elementary school to have a phenominal art teacher. Mrs. Runnels let us experience everything
from coiling, glazing and firing pottery - to batiking fabric and carving our own lino cuts.
The broad discovery of techniques in grade school led to a life long love of art. I arrived at creating jewelry in a roundabout way. Photography was my primary artistic outlet, and became even more a focus on the birth of my first child. Scrapbooking entered the scene, and not content to just slap the pictures on the page, each one had to have handmade embellishments, too. At that time, wire embellishments were just gaining in popularity - it was so pretty on the page it made sense to turn it into jewelry as well. I've always loved working with color - and the amazing array of gemstones available results in an almost endless palette to work with.

2. Do you have childhood memories of a crafting success or failure?

When I was in first grade I won first place in the Indianapolis 500
Art Festival for an oil crayon drawing of an iris. I wore a super
frilly lavender dress loaded with ruffles to accept my big blue ribbon
on stage at the Childrens' Museum of Indianapolis. Let's just say my
fashion sense has changed since then...but I still love Irises!
Hand Forged Sterling Hammered Heart Necklace in Pink Gems


3. Do you have your own workspace?

I'm supposed to, but to my husband's chagrin I have something jewelry related in almost every room of the house...I fuse on the stove top in the kitchen, heat
harden my argentium in the oven, tumble pieces in the bathroom, ship
from the dining room...the only place there probably isn't something
jewelry related is in the kids' rooms - and if there is something
there, they need to put it back.

5. What inspires you to create new pieces?
Most of my pieces start with a focal stone and evolve organically from there. I'm constantly trying new techniques and wanting to learn better methods to create
the multitude of ideas I have floating around in my head. Every once
in a while I'll see a striking color combination or shapes and
patterns in nature that I try to capture in a piece.

Section 2 Tell Us About Your Homeschooling Life

1. Are you currently home schooling?
If so how many and what ages/grades? I'm currently homeschooling three children, ages 10, 7 and 6. We work to abilities instead of grade levels.

2. What challenges do you face when combining homeschooling and home
business?
Time management - finding enough time in every day to
conquer school, household tasks, and business issues is a constant
battle. Most days - the housework loses....

3. What advantage do you think you have by combining homeschooling and
home business?
If we weren't homeschooling, I probably would not have
survived the crazy rush on personalized family tree necklaces I
received between Thanksgiving and Christmas - Since we homeschool our
schedule can be more flexible and relaxed during peak business times.
We take December off, but are still going strong through July, so it
all works out.

4. Do you have a favorite curriculum or style of teaching? We're
unschoolers/ interest based learners - I just sent my oldest off to
grandma's with a vintage camera and a basic lesson on using it - we'll
get the film developed and talk about color theory, the science and
chemistry of photography, the technical aspects of things like
aperture and depth of field, with charts and math rolled in.

Section 3 Tell Us More About Yourself
1. What is your education background?
I have a BA in Psychology, which I completed the year after my son was born.

2. Did you do other work before you began selling your handmade arts
or crafts?
I've been home with the kids since my first child was born - other than a very brief stint as a scrapbook consultant (it was good for discounted supllies even if I didn't sell anything to anyone else!) I'm blessed to say no.
Handwoven Sterling Silver Hoop Earrings

3. Why did you choose to start your home business?
After my husband's second job loss in less than five years, if I wanted to continue to pursue my 'hobby' I had to make it pay for itself - it morphed and
grew from there! I'd love to get to the point where we can pursue the
business as our primary source of income and my husband can handle the
'office' side of things so I can just make things...sigh, that seems a
long way off right now.

4. Do you have a favorite Quote or Verse?
Jeremiah 29:11 is my favorite verse - 'For I know the plans I
have for you," declares the LORD, "plans to prosper you and not to
harm you, plans to give you hope and a future." '

5. Are you currently reading a book?
We'll be moving soon, so I'm reading 'Home Rules' by Nate Berkus so that I've got some guidelines for redecorating. I love that he emphasizes the use of color and
makes suggestions about where to splurge in your budget and where you
can cheat and go cheap but still get a great look.

Raw Green Garnet and Argentium Sterling Silver Necklace

***You'll find Spice of Life Designs on facebook
*** I rarely twitter these days, but you can find me on Twitter
***My organically styled jewlery handmade in argentium sterling silver
can be found HERE also HERE
***and in my recently reopened Artfire shop.

***I also have an email list that I use to promote new designs, special offers, and my favorite thing - coupons!
You can sign up for the Spice of Life Designs
Jewelry by Megan Martin mailing list

AND Now For The Fun Stuff
Megan is offering a 20% discount to our readers. The coupon code is - SHEsAwesome .
Just type it in when checking out. The coupon is good until March 1.


Posted by Sonja