Interview with... The Bijou Dragon
Nic is a regular on the Crafteroo forum, and shares lots of useful tutorials on her website, from cardmaking to glass pebble magnets. She is currently updating her website, where she sells semi-precious jewellery which is elegant and timeless in design.
Who are you and where do you come from?I am Nic, I was born in Manchester and lived in Macclesfield in Cheshire most of my life but moved down to London to live with my Fiancé in 2006.What do you do in your spare time other than craft?Now then, how long have we got? I enjoy Medieval Re-enactment and when actively taking part I portray a 14th Century Lady of great wealth alongside my Fiance who portrays a Knight in the court of King Edward III. I collect and read books, collect playing (and other kinds) of cards and I enjoy car modding and am currently working on my 17 year old Mazda 323F. I also keep tropical fish and own two Cockatiels which take up quite a bit of my time. I also design and develop websites and am currently working on a completely new look for my Bijou Dragon website which I hope will wow the customers a little. I build and maintain PCs, play PC games and enjoy working with anything technical either hardware or software related. I have a rather time consuming addiction to Photoshop CS3 as well which can suck up several hours at a time. There's also cooking and brewing beers, wines and Meads... there's not much I don't do to be honest!Please tell us a little bit about what you make.Well, I started making earrings as a hobby after buying some cheap ones from e-Bay which weren't terribly wonderful. I decided I could do better so I started making earrings then moved onto bracelets and finally necklaces. Up until now I have worked in Silver Plate but I have slowly moved onto Sterling Silver and will be moving over to predominantly Sterling Silver items in the future.What do you enjoy making most?I enjoy making anything with Sterling Silver and either Semi Precious stones or Swarovski Crystal beads. Being a bit of a magpie I greatly enjoy making anything shiny or shimmery and I enjoy the healing aspect of certain semi precious stones.What part do you dislike the most?Currently I dislike inserting small pieces of php code into my new website design which clashes with some other, earlier inserted code which makes my shop disappear in a poof of electronic tomfoolery. But I really dislike trapping little bits of my finger in pliers, it makes my eyes water.What are your main inspirations for making a piece?I don't tend to work from inspiration alot of the time I just generally sit down and go with the creative flow but on occasion I take inspiration from the current season and try to come up with something that will make people immediately think of say a particular season or a particular historical period.Do you plan out your designs or do you get stuck in straight away when inspiration strikes?A bit of both once again. Sometimes I just sit there with the beads in front of me and make whatever comes to mind but occasionally I see some special beads which require a little designing before hand but these tend to be the one off pieces I make that cannot be repeated due to say the hand crafted aspect of the bead or beads.What are you currently making?I am currently working on a beautiful Purple glass bead and Sterling Silver necklace, earring and bracelet set along with a Lampwork bead Sterling Silver bracelet which will feature on my new look website.Do you make custom orders?I do on the proviso I can source the materials needed and it is within my capabilities or area of expertise to make the item requested.Where can we buy your work?You can pop along to http://www.thebijoudragon.com we're always happy to see you!