Today's featured artist is Andrea N from Custom Adornments

Who are you?

That's a difficult question for someone as existential and eclectic... but the short, standard answer is Name: Andrea N. otherwise known as Custom Adornments on Etsy.

Where are you located?

I'm currently living in the Mid Hudson Valley region of NY; nestled in Harriman State Park off route 17.

What do you create?

One of a kind jewelry and accessories with loads of old vintage beads and parts incorporated into most of it and semi-precious (sometimes precious) stones in everything.

Are you able to support yourself with your creations?

Not yet. Or maybe I should say, not right now. I've actually been making jewelry for a shop I run for the last 5 years - so I WAS making a living from it. We moved the location from Manhattan to Beacon and now I'm struggling a little. Which is why I decided to open the Etsy store. That and what I make for the retail store is all with pearls. I wanted to sell my one of a kind, non pearl creations as well.

Where do you sell your creations?

I sell them from pearldaddy http://pearldaddy.net/ and my Etsy storefront http://customadornments.etsy.com/ and plan to try out a craft show or two in the near future as well. Plus, I have my first jewelry party planned for April - well, actually, first two http://customadornments.com/ for information on throwing one of those.

Where do you create?

I work at home a lot, but I also have a work space at the shop where I make a lot of things when it's slow.

What inspires you?

Everything. An amazing sunset on rusty metal buildings. The stark winter landscape. The materials themselves. Music. Artwork. Sometimes ideas come to me in my sleep...

What are your goals?

I never really think of myself as having goals outside of immediate subsistence and my innate need to create. That said, I would really like to get to a point where I'm mostly traveling around the country making custom jewelry and digging in the dirt finding my own materials to make it with... among other things.

What do you friends and family think of your creations?

They're the reason I'm trying to eek out a living doing it! I just made a birthday necklace for my sister. My sister almost didn't get her necklace because I had to send it to my mom so she could give it to my sister. My mother wound up showing it around and, EVERYONE wanted it for themselves. Not an unreasonable thought, since my sister is NOTORIOUS for returning presents. Too bad for my family and their friends, my sister LOVED it! I've been making jewelry since I was a little girl and was giving everyone jewelry as presents since I was at least 19 or so. It's only in the last 5 years, mostly by accident and their encouragement that I'm making jewelry to sell publicly. In fact, one of the jewelry parties I'm doing next month my mother is throwing - when I go out to visit in April - and she's already making requests for what she wants.

What do you do when you are not creating?

When I''m not glued to Etsy you mean? Well, I'm awfully busy with the shop - which is also now an art gallery - so i do a lot of the promotional and whatsit for that from home as well as at work. I used to dance and I occasionally still make musical overtures - which is to say, I make musical noise. I like to hike and travel and explore in general. Right now though, I'm mostly just working and trying to get my Etsy shop off the ground, as it were.

Is there anything else you would like to share with us?

Some cookies, but...

Thanks so much for featuring me on your blog.

I just started a blog myself, but I'm still getting the hang of it and figuring out what I want it to be. At the moment, it's mostly a stream of consciousness how do you do with my jewelry included in the mix: http://itsartdamnit.blogspot.com/

Co owners are co featured artists today.

Who are you?

Lynn Frauenholz and Brandy T Shaw, co-owners and fashion designers for 2 Girls & Plastic.

Where are you located?

We are in the Seattle area.

What do you create?

We alter vintage clothing and modernize it to be fashionable in today's market, as well as make accessories for women and men.

Are you able to support yourself with your creations?

Not just yet, we both still have our full time jobs but are gearing up for a big site release this spring. As well as two collections to be released, one in the spring with the site and one in fall. If all works out in a year we will be doing this full time.

Where do you sell your creations?

Currently we are solely on etsy, though we will have a shop on our site. We are looking into what boutiques and stores we would like to sell through in the Seattle area, as well as in LA and other locations. http://2girlsplastic.etsy.com/ http://www.2girlsplastic.com/

Where do you create?

We have a very small room in Brandy's house that is out creative space. it's a bit cramped but it's 100% ours, so we are happy in it. there is enough room for a sewing machine, surger and storage so we are making the best of it. Oh, and Brandy's giant painting that she's almost done with has it's own corner.

What inspires you?

We are inspired by so many different things as we bring our personalities into our designs. The important ones are: retro fashion, dressing up, vintage millinery, Betty Page, tattoo art, John Galliano, Japan, Paris, romance, and things that exist beyond trends.

What are your goals?

To try and take over the world, oh wait.. no thats not it. Haha! Our goals are to open our shop in April, get a real photo shoot under our belts, and to create fabulous clothing that all people regardless of size can wear and feel confident in. we really want to bring back dressing to look good, not just to be clothed. there is no fun in that.

What do you friends and family think of your creations?

Everyone in our lives is really supportive. When we let people know what we are working on they get really excited and want to help us in some way. It's a great feeling to know that we have so many people rooting for us to succeed.

What do you do when you are not creating?

Lynn crafts, reads fashion magazines from cover to cover, studies Japanese, games, and drinks copious amounts of tea. Brandy paints, sews, knits, crochets, plays with her dogs and spends time with her husband.

Is there anything else you would like to share with us?

We have nutty humor with each other and have never made it through a drive-thru without fits of giggles. In addition, we both blog about life in general and most importantly what we are working on for the business. we want to share what we do and get people excited about art and fashion. we encourage people to visit our blogs and ask us questions if you ever want to know how we have done something. Our blogs: http://brandy.2girlsplastic.com/ and http://lynn.2girlsplastic.com/