Giveaway by "Mother Nest"

Meet Jes from MotherNest. She makes beautiful intricate little nests and other lovely bead creations.

"Wear a MotherNest to keep your children close to your heart. To remember that you love them more than anything in the BIG wide world ... and more importantly that they will someday fly free."

1. Where are you from originally and currently live? The ‘where am I from’ question has always been a bit of a tough one for me though I suppose the most accurate (and current) answer is the west coast of Canada. As a child we moved from one end of the province of British Columbia to the other several times. Home (where the heart is) has always been Vancouver Island – which is where I am currently living with my family. The combination of vast snow covered mountain ranges, lush green rain forest, and wide open ocean has always called me back.

2. How long have you been selling on Etsy? I am fairly new to Etsy having created my first store at the end of September 2009. Online sales are not new to me however. I started selling handmade online eight years ago (shortly after my daughter was born) when I couldn’t find cloth diapers locally. I taught myself to sew and business took off. When my son was born I sold the diaper making business and took a hiatus from manufacturing and retail (for my sanity and to get him healthy). I am THRILLED to be back in the groove and really enjoying myself.

3. Do you have any other Etsy Shops? I do I do! I have two – www.mothernest.etsy.com and www.saharasky.etsy.com. With mothernest I get to indulge my jewelry beading habit and saharasky allows me to sew. Another store will be in the works shortly as I also sculpt art dolls. I know I know – too much on my plate. As I was explaining to a good friend today it’s actually all about momentum. So long as I keep moving I can keep it up. The day I stop is the day it all collapses around me.

4. Do you sell on Etsy full time or do you have a day job? I want online sales to become my full time job again. I have spent the last several years full time momming/child-caring it and would like to focus on more creative outlets for my full time income (wouldn’t that be lovely!?). Currently my day job includes renovating our house( I do all the framing, dry-walling, painting, flooring … everything except the electrical) , housewife(laundry, dishes, vacuum etc), chauffeur, gardener and chef. 5. Do you have any formal training in your craft, or are you self taught? I have a Bachelors degree in Fine Arts and a lifelong love of making ‘things’. The majority of the skills I have aside from that are self taught.

6. What made you decide to open up shop on Etsy? I decided to open up an etsy shop because I had started making things again and I needed an outlet. A place where even if I didn’t sell a single item I could at least show and tell.

7. Where did your shop name come from? The shop name ‘saharasky’ is derived from my children’s names. My daughter is Sahara and son Sky. MotherNest came from the fact that I was making nests for mothers. It seemed appropriate at the time.

8. Where do you draw your inspiration from? I draw my inspiration from everything around me. Things I see in my day to day life percolate for random periods of time and show up often quite unexpectedly. I have a love of nature that seems to provide the underlying notes for what I do and a love of color that probably comes from my art background. The two sometimes work well together and sometimes don’t.

9. Five things you love I love my family of course (which includes husband, children, etc). I love a warm cup of tea with a touch of honey and a good friend to chat with. I love mountain ranges – I get excited every time I see them (and that’s a lot) and the color indigo (the color of the night sky after dusk , it makes my spirit sing!) I love creating and seeing other peoples creations …

10. Five things you don’t I don’t like ego , because it is a false representation of the person behind it. I don’t like people who take advantage of others. … hmmm I can’t really think of more though I’m sure there are other things that annoy me. I’m just pretty easy going and try not to let things get to me. 11. What's your favorite place in the world? I have never traveled outside of Canada ( which is actually quite a tragedy as I had intentions of doing so right after university - but had a baby instead). I am fascinated by other cultures and would love to go somewhere where the ocean is bright turquoise and the sand silky soft – any suggestions?

12. If you could have a nice long conversation with anyone (dead or alive) who would it be? I would love to converse with my grandparents. I have none left. It wasn’t until they were all gone that I realized how self absorbed my teenage interactions with them had been. They had so much to teach me and I just didn’t listen. As an adult I became obsessed with my family genealogy and I know that both of my grandfathers would have loved what I uncovered. It would be the most thrilling discussion.

13. What would you like to learn to do? My plans for post University included traveling and surfing. In fact my roommate and I had signed up for summer lessons right before I found out I was expecting. The pregnancy was a very uncomfortable one (I lost weight instead of gained weight) so the surfing has been postponed ever since. It is still on my to do list.

14. What does the future hold for you and your shop? I want to see the variety of products that I make expand to cover a wider audience of people. Clothing and fashion design (especially for children) have long been a passion of mine so I hope to see the SaharaSky store move in that direction with the MotherNest store providing coordinating bejeweled accessories (and of course the supplies to make those accessories). Mostly I want the stores and the making of the products to stay a fun and inspirational part of my day and continue to meet other creative and lovely people. Having an Etsy store is a great conversation starter!

Jes has offer these beautiful earing up for grabs.

Sterling silver hand made hammered silver hoops, with very fresh and springy peridot, vintage swarovski crystals, and peridot colored glass leaves.


To enter the giveaway:

1. Visit MotherNest and leave a comment telling me what your favorite item is..

2. Follow my blog and leave a comment.

3. Follow Jes' blog and leave a comment

4. Follow me on Twitter and come back and leave a comment. (link on the right)

5. Become a fan on Facebook and leave a comment. (link on the right)

For extra entries:

- Heart MotherNest , come back and comment

- Tweet this giveaway and comment with a link.

- Blog about this giveaway and comment with a link

- Purchase something from MotherNest (5 extra entries)

Winners selected at random and announced Sunday February 7th on this post.

Contest is now closed

Good luck.

....And the winner is ...Lucky number 32
Congratulations Foxxfire!!