Mothers on the Mountain

My name is Kelli and I have the shop Mothers On The Mountain here on Etsy.

I am from Monterey, living in Carmel Valley, but my head is back in Big Sur where I lived for 10 yrs raising my children (still doing that!) and loving the solitude! 

The name for my shop came from joking around with my brother who is a techy guy. It was around 10 yrs ago, back when I was making clothes to sell for toddler sand he was trying to convince me to get a website. I was still stubborn about computers back then and laughed at the thought of it. I jokingly said “what am I going to call it? Mothers on the mountain? Hahaha” Well, we got off the phone and with out telling me, he secured the name for me on the big world wide web! Well, 10 yrs later...here I am on Etsy using the name and I have a Facebook name now and currently a website in the works..guess I'm not stubborn anymore!

The five things I want folks to think of when they see my products are:

1. Beauty. In what ever form it comes to the individual. I want their eyes to enjoy what they are looking at.
2. Quality. I want them to think that this person making these items, takes their time to make sure it's going to look good and work well too.
3. That I've taken my time to pick out the right materials to put in the item, i.e. the stones/beads I use in my jewelry, or the yarn or fabric I use in my crochet items.
4. Fair pricing. I try to price my items for the price I would pay if I saw them in a shop.
5. Imagination. Some of my stones I use lead my mind to wander to where they came from or what kind of natural scene is resembles. Let your mind wander when you look at the pieces I make.

My supply addiction is silver and turquoise! Next comes sugilite. Blue glass beads too. I love the green turquoises the most.

When I'm not being an artist, I am being a mom. I have 2 children, a 12 yr old boy and a 8 yr old girl. I also watch my 6 yr old niece after school. The house, the kids the after school things...I stay busy! I love love being in nature, going to the river or the beach or the mountains. I love crafting and reading and baking too. Or just having a cup of tea with a good friend.

The item I enjoyed the most to make (at this time) was the new earwires,( I call them curly earwires) because I was so excited that they were so easy to make and the possibilities of beads of I can hang from them! I found the tutorial here on Etsy!

I'll have to say that over the years, I've always created things, just not really motivated to make enough to sell because I didn't get what it was worth when doing consignment or wholesale. I didn't have time to do craft shows either. It's actually when I started on Etsy and I actually got sales, both on Etsy and off, that I really felt inspired and motivated! I even just signed up for a jewelry/metal class at the local college to learn more! 

The piece of advice I would give to a new shop owner is to take time with your pictures. Make sure you are giving the customer the best views of your items so they can really see what they are thinking of buying.

The other place to find me on the net is my Facebook page:
www.facebook.com/MothersOnTheMountain

Also I'm on Pinterest:
pinterest.com/kpool/