Welcome to the weekly Feature and Giveaway! Every Monday, we’ll be featuring a lovely craftsperson, artist, or  artisan – and every week you’ll have the chance to win something from their shop!

This week we welcome Michelle, from MaruMaru – all the way Honolulu!

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Where do you live?

Honolulu, Hawaii

Where do you do your work?

I make my charms right here at my desk

What’s your favourite place in the world, and why?

Although I haven’t been there yet, I would love to visit Paris, hopefully on my honeymoon if I ever get married.

Tell us a little bit more about yourself! Your ‘day job’ or business, family, hobbies…

I work only a few hours a week at a hotel in Waikiki, so I have a lot of free time to make jewelry as well as hang out with friends. When I’m not playing around in my jewelry supply box, I’m at the movies or drinking champagne!

What did you want to be ‘when you grew up’?

When I was 9, I told my mom I was going to go to Harvard and then become a journalist for the Wall Street Journal.  lol that never happened of course…

How did you first get into your craft/art?

I started two years ago and just had my 2nd Etsy anniversary last month. I started liking jewelry when I began working in the jewelry department at a well-known retail store. At first, I didn’t see what the big hype was over jewelry until I would stand for hours at a time and become anxious to try a few things on. When I wasn’t helping customers, I was trying on jewelry whenever I could and soon enough I put everything I liked on hold so nobody could buy them! I’m really picky about jewelry, so whenever I’d buy a necklace, I’d use my pliers to take off or add parts to it to make it just right.

What do you make?

I make vintage and retro style jewelry such as rings, lockets, flower cabochons and more.

What are you most proud of making?

I’m proud of all my pieces. I’m even proud of the first pair I sold on Etsy of these small button heart earrings for only $2.

I love…

my fat tuxedo cat, Neko.

What’s your favourite word?

Crispy lol The other day, my friend was pumping gas into her car, and this guy pulls up and gets out of the car and says to her, “Girl, you crispy!” haha

If you could sum yourself or your work up in one sentence, it would say…

Everything is clearer when you’re in love

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Visit Michelle Online!
Shop: MaruMaru
Website: http://MaruMaru.etsy.com
Twitter: http://twitter.com/marumarudesigns
Facebook Fan Page: http://www.facebook.com/pages/MaruMaruetsycom/45920829452
Facebook: http://facebook.cm/marumaru
MySpace: http://myspace.com/marumarudesigns

This week, Michelle is giving away a pretty rose ring from her shop..

Melissa is happy to ship internationally – but there are a few exceptions. Please see her shop for details.

To Enter:

1. Visit MaruMaru, and come back here leaving a comment about your favourite piece from the store.

2. For additional entries, leave a comment saying that you: followed or subscribed to Epheriell Designs (or already do); have Twittered about the givewaway; have shared the giveaway with friends on Facebook, or; you have written a blog post about it.

3. Entries close next Sunday night, the 30th of August, at 12pm Australian EST. Winners are announced the next day as part of next week’s Feature and Giveaway post.

Remember to leave me a way of contacting you.. and Good Luck!

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The winner of last week’s giveaway – Wanda – congratulations!

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Want more Epheriell-y goodness? Subscribe to my blog updates! Or follow me on Twitter!

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I have come to the realisation that I should really stop beating myself up when I have a lull in my creativity.

Apparently this is a common thing – time for you to take a step back, give the old brain a break, and come back to what you love refreshed.

Getting bored is always my enemy. I can only do the same thing for a short period of time before it loses its gloss, and my little monkey brain finds something else new and shiny to focus on. I fear that this will have (or has had) the consequence of turning myself into a dilettante/Jill-of-all-trades… although I prefer to think of myself as a ‘renaissance woman’

I’ve always enjoyed learning new things, though my passion for creative pursuits is a relatively recent development. I spent the majority of my childhood squirreled away reading something – usually science fiction of some description. This led me to harbour dreams of becoming a writer – along with the millions of others out there! I remember I did one creative writing subject for my English major in my Arts degree (which I did at the same time as my science degree for the simple fact of wanting to study so many things that one degree wasn’t good enough!). One of the lecturers made it very plain – “unless you have a burning passion to be a writer – don’t bother. There are already so many people who have the desire that it will be a waste of your time if you try to compete against them.” Hmm. Words of wisdom or words to ignore?

I always tend to throw myself into something new to the point of becoming obsessive – and then I burn out, lose all interest and give it up. Thankfully, I’ve realised that this is a normal part of the process for me – and that in a few weeks/months time I will slowly begin to pick it up again, albeit at a more sane, realistic pace

So, to those of you who’ve wondered where I’ve been, that’s your answer. I’m still making stuff, but only a little here and there – I’m working on a scarf at the moment, and I’ve plans for a few pieces of jewellery – but I’m also enjoying my newest obsession – painting! Expect to hear more from me about it in the coming months. I’ve bitten the bullet and signed up for a 9-week painting course at the Brisbane Institute of Art, in an attempt to prolong my interest by actually learning techniques and skills properly! Oh, and I also plan to take a silversmithing course in May sometime – that will be a fantastic experience also – and will hopefully teach me some new skills to inspire some more wonderful metalwork!

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