Featured Artist - Rue Kream of Peaches & Kream

- What’s your name and where are you from?

My name is Rue Kream, and I live in Massachusetts.

-What is your shop name and what does it mean to you?

My shop name is Peaches & Kream. When we moved to our current house nine years ago we were excited to find we had inherited an old peach tree. It yielded a huge amount of fruit, so I gave myself a crash course in canning. My sister made ‘Peaches & Kream’ labels for my canning jars, playing off my last name. So for me my shop name is all wrapped up in the taste of sunshine and the connection of family.

- What websites do you sell on how did you decide on which ones?

I sell on etsy. I’ve shopped on etsy for a long time, so I was familiar with the site and felt comfortable setting up shop there. http://ruetabega.etsy.com

- How long have you been crafting?

About ten years. Up until then I had believed I wasn’t a creative person. I was happy to find out I was wrong.

-Tell me any interesting things about you that you would like to share.

My kids don’t go to school, and I’ve written and published a book about unschooling (http://www.freechild.info/).

-What do you sell in your shop?

I make sterling jewelry, often incorporating everyday and vintage components, and I also make needle-felted items.

- Tell us about your crafting space.

We’re in the middle of creating a family studio. I love designing functional and beautiful spaces, so I’m really enjoying myself. It’s going to have a big built in shelving unit – about 11 feet wide – and enough work space that the four of us can each have a spot to ourselves while still being together.




-Do you belong to any guilds, teams or other indie craft organizations?

Not yet.

-Where do you find inspiration?

Everywhere. I love color and balance and texture and strive to really look at the world around me.

-Tell me a bit about your creative process

I have a million ideas banging into each other in my head all the time. Most often I write them down, which helps quiet things down in there. About half the time I sit down to create I have a specific idea I want to work on. The other half of the time I just get out a bunch of supplies and pick them up and move them around and let my hands lead instead of my head.

- Where have you learned to do what you do?

I learned to make jewelry by reading on the Internet. There’s so much information available. One site I found helpful in the beginning was wigjig.com. I learned needle-felting by just playing with the wool.

-What is your favorite item in your shop right now?

I’d say my Earth and Sky necklace

-Why is it your favorite?

http://www.etsy.com/view_listing.php?listing_id=21365467
Because it’s the one I’d be most likely to wear myself.

- What is your favorite part of your craft?

Flow. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flow_(psychology

- What is your least favorite part?

Poking myself with a barbed needle.

-How did you get started with your craft?

I first became interested in making jewelry when my older daughter got a wire jewelry kit as a present. She asked me to help her figure it out and I was hooked. I became interested in needle-felting when I saw some tapestries on the blog of another unschooling mom. (That artist was Julie Persons, who has a beautiful etsy shop: http://www.etsy.com/shop.php?user_id=44218 )

- What makes your shop unique?

Well, we all see the world slightly differently, and hopefully that comes through in my work.

-What advice do you have for other independent crafters just starting out?

I’m new to selling online myself, so I don’t feel qualified to give advice on the selling aspect yet. On the creative aspect, I’d say try new things. Don’t pigeon-hole yourself as ‘a painter’ or ‘a jewelry designer’. You can be lots of things at the same time.

-Where else can we find you on the web?

http://another-roadside-attraction.blogspot.com/