Tell me a bit about yourself
I am a stay at home mom with two little ones and we live in a small historic town called Harpers Ferry. I have been making jewelry since I was a kid where I loved to wrap polished stones and take apart flea market and yard sale finds. I have prob about twenty years under my belt. I worked in the corporate world before I had kids and it seemed like the best decision for our family for me to stay at home with them. When my youngest turned two and I was able to have a bit more free time I started making jewelry again. I posted some of the things I made on Facebook and my friends and family started wanting me to make them things. I decided with their support and encouragement to start a facebook page and then I started doing a few shows and then decided to launch my own website in Jan of last year and its been great. I really love making unique items and my customers are the best.
Tell me about your shop and what you make.
My shop is called Dena Liston Designs and I make beaded jewelry, wine charms and now dabble in fabric button earrings. I love all things vintage and never throw anything away. I take apart old jewelry and remake it. Recently I have been collecting silk and poly scarves and upcycling them into charm bracelets. I also just recently came up with my own design for a shambala type bracelet that incorporates the look of a bangle but fully adjustable. Any 4mm to 12mm round or oblong beads will work with this design and I love to make them.
What inspires you to make what you make?
I am inspired primarily by art and nature, the fierceness and beauty of it move me to create items that are timeless and unique. I also name all my pieces after women. I primarily design for women and was blessed to have some amazing women in my family as well as great friends to be my muse. I love that someone will pick an item of mine and it look amazing on them, like it was made for them. I love that my pieces are all unique. I have sort of an issue with remaking an item exactly like another. I offer the same kinds of jewelry but rarely are any pieces duplicated. It challenging but I love that it forces me to think out of the box and come up with new ideas. If only there were more hours in a day!
Anything else you would like to share with us.
I pour my heart and soul into each piece...I want my customers to be completely satisfied and work hard to make it so. I love that I get to do this for a living and i cherish each opportunity to bring wearable art to everyone. I try to make my pieces affordable and keep with spirit of reusing and recycling things that might sit in drawer for fifty years or worse yet pitched. My motto on my blog reads " I want to better my world and make it sparkle at the same time. I love junk and "trash" and defying the terms daily. We can reuse and we can remake and we can enrich our experience by realizing that sometimes we don't just throw it away but give it new life."
Fun Questions:
Favorite Color:Greens
Favorite TV Show: Sons of Anarchy
Favorite Season:Fall
Favorite Ice Cream Flavor: Rocky Road What did you want to be when you grew up? an archaeologist
Find me here:
http://denalistondesigns.com/
https://www.facebook.com/denalistondesigns
http://instagram.com/denalistondesigns
https://twitter.com/DListonDesigns
http://denalistondesigns.blogspot.com/
Thank
you Dena for stopping by and sharing more about your shop!
Take
a
minute and go check out her shop. Come back and share with us what your
favorite item in her shop is. I won one of her bracelets like those in the last picture. It is beautiful! Her work is amazing and I love showing off the bracelet to others.
Thanks so much for the feature today. I loved making your custom bracelet and sharing my story with you.
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