"Moonstone Shop - The magic essence of creativity" & Giveaway

Welcome everybody to a new interview belonging to "The person behind the letter-writer". Penpalling & Letters today's guest is Laura! Laura will not only tell us about her handmade abilities or let us enter her magical world of handmade creations, but has prepared a heartful surprise to all the readers of Penpalling and Letters and "Moonstone Shop - The magic essence of creativity".

- Hello Laura! Welcome to Penpalling & Letters! Thanks for visiting us here and for taking part in The person behind the letter-writer! We are looking forward to get to know you, your penpalling experiences and hearing about your handcrafts! Would you like to present yourself?

Hello! My name is Laura and I am a 33 year-old Romanian woman. I am a professor of French Language and Literature in my every day life, a profession that I have had for ten years already. I am also a jewelry maker (which is the reason why I am here), activity that I have started more recently.
I am a magical spirit, I love art, books - I am interested in esotherism, magical arts, legends, mythology, folklore and traditions – I love theatre, good music, I adore mountains and forests (I live in Transilvania) and nature is my sanctuary. I am creative. Besides jewelry making I also love to make art-Decos, ATCs, all kind of collages and mixed media. I am faithful to alternative themes - magic, fantasy, dark and introspective, creative-twisted themes which can be interpreted freely, mythology and folklore, nature and seasonal, literature inspiration, emotions...
I started writing letters when I was fourteen years old, that means twenty years ago. Meanwhile, I substituted my penpalling activity with the mail-art activities (especially swapping art-Decos). I still have a few penfriends and I love them because they are very old friends. Currently, I am not making new penfriends because I could not possibly have the time to deal with so much mail. So, I am focused on swapping privately but also in an organized way, via Yahoo groups. The things that I swap depend on my partners, but they are mostly art-decos, deco-supplies, small gifts and other nice and creative things.

- Laura, could you tell us what do you create and where do you find your inspiration?

My jewelries are mostly touched by magical and nature inspiration. They are that kind of things that fairies and enchanted spirits wear. I also create amulets, runes and other magical suff, every time I have the proper energy for them.

- Which kind of materials do you use?

I love working with clay, as you can see in my most recent creations posted on my site, and I intend to keep on focusing on using clay in the future, too. I also use beautiful beads, pearls, semiprecious stones, gems, cristals, wood, fabric, lace, ribbons and metallic accessories.

- Do you build a pattern in your head before getting started or do you work on the item "improvising", just as inspiration comes?

No, I do not build patterns before starting a jewelry. But I always have inside my head a some kind of an intuition about what I want to do and... I just follow it!

- For how long have you been working into handmade jewelries by now, Laura?

For about two years now, althoug I opened my online shop only six months ago...

- How much time do you dedicate to each item until it is finished?

That depends on how much available time I have for this activity. Earrings are small and easier to make, but necklaces can be very tricky, especially when I make clay-pendants: the process takes time, the air dry clay that I am working with needs a proper time to dry several times (immediately after shaping it, then after painting it, after varnishing it...).

- Do you present your creations in an online website where it is possible to check them?

Yes, like I said, I have an online little personal shop – "Moonstone Shop" (I am very proud of it!) - where I upload some of my jewelries. Not all of them, because I also receive special orders: people that ask me to transform their idea about a jewelry into reality and, in this case, I do not upload the products in my shop considering that they are or will soon be sold anyway. "Moonstone Shop" is a place to sell some of my jewelries, not a portfolio.

- Which creations interest your customers the most?

The magical things are very much loved. I sold my runes and most of the amulets very soon after uploading them into my shop (I am now in the process to create new ones). Also, people seem to like vintage inspired jewelries. I am not into vintage very much, but I created and will keep on creating designs upon request and wishes of a customer, as long as I have proper supplies.

- Could you explain us how purchasing, payment and shipping work in Moonstone Shop?

It is quite easy for everyone, they do not need Paypal or a card. The customers have to send me an e-mail about what they want to buy from my Moonstone Shop and I will send them a confirmation e-mail with the sum of money that they have to send me (the price of the object(s) plus the shipping costs) and also the informations for the bank transfer. If they have a card, they can send the money directly, if not, all they have to do is to go to a bank in their own city/town and send the money from there. The bank transfer is not so complicated and it works for everybody. All these informations are on my site (see the tabs in the homepage) but, of course, I am here for any further explanations. If there is somebody who prefers to pay using dollars instead of euros, I can convert the price anytime. All they have to do is contacting me.

- Can we find "Moonstone Shop" in Facebook, Twitter... as well?

The main shop is located on Blogger, here: "Moonstone Shop". I can also be "liked" on Facebook, here: "Moonstone Shop" in Facebook.

As mentioned at the beginning of this post, Laura has a little surprise for everyone reading this interview and checking her cute shop, "Moonstone Shop": a giveaway, consisting of a complete set of jewelries, "Fairies Falls" (necklace, earrings and bracelet), created with mountain crystals, glass silvery beads, pendant with little stones, silvery chain and metallic accessories. A very delicate set, made for magical summer evenings.
Everybody who participates has a chance to win this set! Just go to Laura's Moonstone Shop's most recent post here: "Moonstone Shop" Giveaway and follow the "rules"! You also can see pics of this beautiful jewelry-set Laura offers in her Shop. The deadline to participate in this summer giveaway is July, 15th at midnight (Romania Time/GMT+3). The winner will be announced on July, 16th 2011.

Good luck everyone and hopefully you enjoyed meeting Laura!

Laura, many thanks for taking part in The person behind the letter-writer! It was a great pleasure to work together with you to present this interesting interview and contest to the readers! You know you are always welcome to Penpalling & Letters whenever you wish to be back!

If you would like to read more posts from "The person behind the letter-writer" section check the links you can find at: The person behind the letter-writer.

If you are interested in being featured in "The person behind the letter-writer" because you have a cute shop, you are crafty and would like to present your creations, you have an ability and would like to tell us about it... contact me at: penpallingandletters[at]gmail[dot]com and we will work it out!