Meet the Team - Interview with Wendy Seebohar

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Have any special hobbies?
Trail running, I love being outdoors in the peaceful surroundings. I do some of my best thinking during a run. Gardening, I am working on finding the right plants that the deer won’t eat. I don’t think there are many.

What is your business name and website address?
CnK Designs

Your shop address?
www.cnkdesigns.etsy.com

Do you sell in any shops other than etsy?
Yes, I do drop shipping for a few online boutiques and also have pieces in a few retail boutiques.

How did you find out about metalclay and then start working with it? How long?
I started with beading and learned about metal clay through magazines and online sites. It interested me for probably close to a year before I finally jumped in and tried it. I have been working with it for about a year and half now. I have taught myself with the aid of books and online classes.

What drives you to make jewelry?
I think I have a need to create. If I am not making jewelry I am decorating my house or landscaping the yard. I love to be surrounded by beautiful and unique things. It is very satisfying when something turns out as good or better than you hoped.

Blue Skies Ahead
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Are you disciplined or do you go with the flow and work when you feel like it?
At this point I pretty much have to be disciplined. With 3 kids and the number of orders I am filling I have to make sure I work each day.

Won any awards for your jewelry? for anything else?
Not for my jewelry, I have never entered any contests. Well, I won an award for a piece of pottery in high school and have a couple of trophies from running races.

Do you do any other type of art?
Not really. Just crafts with the kids.

What is your art sensibility - precise or organic?
I would have to say organic. I love rustic and weathered looking things.

Play bracelet
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When did you feel you had more confidence in your abilities?
Probably when I started having a hard time keeping up with wholesale orders and realized people were really buying my stuff.

What is your favorite tool for working with metalclay?
Carving tools for the clay and baby wipes for my hands and work area.

Where do you work?
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In the loft. It works well because I can sit and do a little whenever I get the chance and still be where I can be available for the kids.

What is your favorite thing to make?
I love creating the new pieces and seeing the final product.

Do you ever add commercial components?
Yes, chains and jumprings.

How do you work, and when? (for ex. assembly line or one at a time)
An assembly line of several different pieces at a time.

Do you have any kind of creative ritual?
I do love to have the music going!

How do you hold onto ideas that you don't have time to pursue NOW!
I have pieces of paper and notebooks all over. I write on whatever I can find.

Live Your Life
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Do you ever use a sketchbook?
Not really. I use the idea of a sketchbook. It would be nice if I could organize it all into one sketchbook.

Do you ever teach classes and where?
No but I have done little workshops before.

Do you make a living at it?
I make the living I need to make to supplement my husband’s income. I stay as busy as I want to right now with 3 kids.

Happy is What You Make It
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Do you do custom orders?
Yes. It is mostly semi-custom such as changing a word or quote on one of my existing pieces. But I have created a couple of pieces from scratch that went really well.

What are you working on currently?
Working on expanding my race memorabilia pieces… triathlon, marathon, etc.

What's next on your agenda to make?
I’m sure I will come up with something.

How do you make time for everything you want to do?
It’s really hard. Sometimes I don’t get to do everything that I would like to but choose the most important things instead. I think I am always doing two things at once.

Anything else you'd like to tell us about yourself?
I think I pretty much covered it.

Thank you Wendy,
It has been a pleasure getting to know you.

Her Heart Shines On
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