New Year New You Giveaway - Pure Dichotomy

Today I have a great new giveaway from an amazing Etsy seller - Wendy Wetherbee of Pure Dichotomy

And she has been generous enough to donate this amazing Delicate Pink Carved Shell Ring to my 'New Year, New You' giveaway.

So here is a little about Wendy and her store so we can all get to know here a bit better.

Whats your name and where do you come from?

Wendy Wetherbee, from the incredibly wilderness rich state of New Hampshire in the United States.

Tell us a bit about the real you?

Wow, that's a loaded question. I am an artist and designer who is inspired and fascinated by nature and wildlife. The creatures and places in Northern New England feature prominently in my work because it is my own personal habitat, and a large part of who I am.

I am a graduate of the School of the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, Massachusetts and a fine artist at the core, working in a variety of media including photography, painting (both acrylic and watercolor), and metalsmithing (generally sterling and fine silver jewelry).

By day I am founder and partner of Wetherbee Creative & Web (creativeandweb.com), a full service design and marketing studio that helps businesses and non-profits promote themselves and be successful. And by night, I listen to the call of the coyotes and great horned owls and create work that I hope inspires others to value, understand and embrace the importance of the circle of life that we are all as humans, merely a part of.

Is there a story behind the name of your store?

Actually yes. I consider myself a walking dichotomy (the merging of two completely different things). I am extremely lucky to have a incredible family that merged two different lifestyles. My mother is from "country", rural Western Pennsylvania, and my father is from the "city", just outside of New York City. Both cultures meshed and I learned a great deal from both, and having experiences in both cultures (and others in between) and formed me into the person that I am. I also love the concept of the word "dichotomy" its literal astrological meaning is used to describe the moon when it is exactly "half full". "pure" in my shop name stems from the concept of using pure silver in much of my work as well as other natural materials.

How long have you been making your designs?

I have always been an artist, and have "made" things for a long time. My grandfather taught me to solder silver many years ago, and I just took to it. I guess if you add up the years I've worked in the medium of silver for well over 25 years, however I took a break about ten years ago to concentrate on painting and photography and picked metalwork back up again recently.

Do you have any formal qualifications for your craft or is it just a hobby?

I studied fine art at the School of the Museum of Fine Arts Boston, it was a fantastic college experience. I learned some silversmithing there, but my focus was on antique process photography. So, other than some inspirational lessons in silversmithing from my grandfather, I am mostly self taught. I recently studied Metal Clay techniques with Michela Verani an amazing artist here in New Hampshire. Although I am an artist through and through, I consider my Etsy shop a hobby. I have limited time to make art unfortunately, so for now its very secondary to the rest of my life – running my own design and marketing studio (http://www.creativeandweb.com) and raising my son takes most of my time these days, but some day I'd like to focus more on it.

What is your favourite material to work with?

Well, talking jewelry, I'd have to say silver and semi-precious gemstones. I love turquoise and labradorite, but I'm a stone junkie and get inspired for a lot of my work just by falling in love with a wonderfully cut cabochon.

Of your items, which is your favourite and you best seller

My shop is pretty sparse right now – some of my favorite pieces belong to other people now, but here is one that is definitely one of my favorites - http://www.etsy.com/listing/66703060/silver-branch-and-oak-leaf-pendant-with

My best seller is actually this ring – I've made a number of them for people, one woman ordered two, one for herself and one for her best friend. http://www.etsy.com/listing/67757310/spiderweb-turquoise-sterling-silver-ring

Where do you get your inspiration?

Nature, plain and simple.

Do you have any favourite etsy stores?

Yes several – I love the soaps from Wicked Soaps - http://www.etsy.com/shop/WickedSoaps?ref=ss_profile

Im completely in awe of this man's work - http://www.etsy.com/shop/jasontennant?ref=pr_shop_more

And overall, I love to look at the variety and quality of art and handcrafted items up on Etsy. There are so many jewelers that I follow the list is immense. So many wonderful items being made and offered. The talent and inspiration is endless.

What are your plans for 2012? Any New Years resolutions?

Normally I stay away from resolutions because they cause guilt when I can't live up to them. but this year, I am going to try to market both my design studio and my artwork in more effective ways. Make more (and better) use of social media, and possibly star an art blog!

What’s your favourite flower?

As an avid gardener this is a tough question – usually I would answer this question by saying – whatever is in bloom!

But I love native wildflowers the most – orange hawkweed is one of the ones I couldn't have enough of.

Onto the giveaway bit!

The winner will be chosen at random and will receive one of the Delicate Pink Carved Shell Ring above.

This is open internationally, just remember to leave you email address in one of the entries so I can contact you.

Mandatory entry:

You must be a follower of my blog via google friend connect and leave a comment here telling me what is your favourite item from Pure Dichotomy.

Extra entries may be gained by:

Follow Pure Dichotomy on Facebook (1 entry)

Follow Daisy Dayz on Facebook (1 entry)

Blogging/Twittering/Facebooking this giveaway (1 entry each)

Following Daisy Dayz on Twitter (1 entry)

Follow Pure Dichotomy on Twitter (1 entry)

Please leave a separate comment for each include your twitter tag, Facebook name where relevant, or they will not be counted.

This competition will end at midnight GBT on the 23rd January.

Good luck!

And why not enter one of my other giveaways - if you haven't already

Win a Jar of Handmade Hearts customised Make-up Bag

Win a Boux Avenue Gift Set

Win a Burt' Bees Gift Set

If you are interested in becoming a sponsor of my blog or sponsoring a giveaway please feel free to drop me an email at daisydayz25 at googlemail.com

Daisymay X