As part of the kickoff of the monthly featured artisan feature, I am happy to bring you the second featured artisan: Sarah of Small Shiny Objects. Sarah creates beaded jewelry and other beaded gifts that she describes as ‘comfortable elegance.’ In Small Shiny Objects you will find necklaces, earrings, bracelets, crystal suncatchers and a couple of crafts from her little girl Laura! Most of her jewelry is made with a combination of semi-precious stones, Swarovski crystals, czech glass beads, and silver or gold-filled wire.  The occasional vintage piece makes it in there as well, when it suits her fancy. While she does not have a blog, she is frequently on the Etsy forums!

Now let’s see how Sarah responds to this month’s 20 Questions!

Sarah’s 20 Questions:

Let’s start at the beginning. What is your earliest crafting memory?  
My mother and grandmother would always find something to do with the materials we had at hand, whether it was crafting dolls out of wooden clothespins and cloth scraps, or cutting out ornaments from old wallpaper samples.  It was always something new!

What did you want to be when you grew up and why? 
A rock superstar!  Or at least independently wealthy - although neither of which look particularly imminent right now.  

What has been the most outrageous influence on your designs?  
My years in the theater, I suppose.  I fell in love with a lot of the old hollywood glamour, which inspires some of my fancier pieces, for sure.  I’ve been told more than once that I have a flair for the dramatic, whether in jewelry-making, or just in general. 

Did you have mentors? What did they teach you?  
My best friend Heather started me beading…her specialty was french beaded flowers and these lovely chandelier ornaments.  She taught me quite a few tools of the trade, and most of my wire-wrapping technique was learned through her as well. 

What advice have you been given that you’ve easily ignored?  
Don’t try to handle too much at once - I never did listen to that, I think!  LOL 

What does your work mean to you?  
Beading is almost meditative to me…I concentrate on what I’m doing, and that focus helps clear out a lot of the clutter and distraction that usually rattles about in my thoughts.  Being able to make any money from the results of it is just an added bonus.

What is your biggest pet peeve? 
Cell phone drivers.  It’s illegal here now, but it still happens all the time. 

What is your greatest accomplishment? 
My kids.  They never cease to make me proud.  Crazy sometimes, but proud always.

How old are you and what’s the best part about being that age?   Thirty-five…I’m just old enough to stop changing diapers, and not nearly old enough to start wearing them. 

Have you ever lied about your age?  
Yes, but not on question #9.  Really! 

Describe your perfect day.  
A day off work, sunny and cool, walking on the beach with my family, then curling up with a good book and a piping hot cider at home.  

What were the fashions when you were a teenager?  
I was a total 80’s child, so most of my clothing was spandex, plastic or polyester, or some combination of the three.  I wore a lot of bright aqua and hot pink, and just barely adhered to the 4″ rule at school (there was a rule that all hair had to be no higher than 4″ off the top of the forehead.)  It cracks me up to see some of that stuff coming back now.  In later teen years, I went “alternative” and wore purposely damaged jeans and faded black T-shirts, nearly every day.  

Did you have a teen idol growing up?  
Robert Smith of the Cure.  I still love him!   My mother will tell everyone I had a big poster of Jon Bon Jovi, but I’ve denied it to this day. 

Are you married or in a relationship? If so, tell us what your partner’s favorite piece is and why.  
Yes, I’m married, to a wonderful guy,  He loves snowflake obsidian, so he liked the “Black Hole Sun” bracelet I recently made.  

What makes you laugh the most?  
The stuff my kids come up with, like crazy games or songs they make up on a whim.  They’re more entertaining than cable, most of the time! 

Tell us about an embarrassing moment.  
My mother was walking with me through a grocery store, and giggling at something half the time.  I found out just as we left the store that she’d pulled a “grade A beef” sticker off one of the packages and stuck it on my behind, halfway through the store.  I let her buy her own #### groceries now. 

If money were no object, what would you buy?  
A bigger house, with a gardener to take care of the lawn.   

What is your most fervent desire regarding your art?  
That I never stop improving at it. 

Tell us your favorite joke.   I don’t know if I should, in mixed company. 

What would you like us to remember about you?   My impeccable spelling skills throughout this profile.  Am I detail-oriented, or what?