Kathy Hardy is a self taught Artist/Jewelry Designer and has been making jewelry for over 25 years. She is also a certified Website Designer, Limerick Writer & Amateur Photographer. Her work has been enjoyed by people all over the world and from all walks of life. She prefer working with organic materials and lots of texture, also, she has a special affinity for earth tones and natural stones. Over the course of an email interview with us, she disclosed her passion for creating jewelry that is unique in its own way.

1. When and how did you discover that you have an aptitude for jewelry designing?

Kathy: I’ve always made stuff, even when I was a little kid. For Christmas & birthdays, I always wanted easy bake ovens, rock tumblers, shrink art kits, anything that I could create something with. I never wanted dolls or play houses. Plus, I have always loved beads & rocks. About 20 years ago there was a craft store here in Baton Rouge that started carrying & selling semi-precious stones & really nice beads. One of the girls working there showed me how to make an earring and a friend of mine showed me how to use a crimp bead. Those are the only 2 “lessons” I’ve ever had. I had been making stuff for about 6 months and there was a contest at that craft store for jewelry designs. There were 6 different categories you could enter. Well, I entered all 6 and won all 6! I won a total of $500 in gift certificates, which I promptly spent on beads & supplies. That’s when I started making & selling stuff. The rest is history.

2. You have a remarkable assortment of jewelry, mostly embedded with stones, any special affinity for them?

Kathy: I love rocks & beads. Anything earthy & organic is usually what I go for. I’m not that crazy about “shiny” stuff {crystals or precious stones}. I would rather be in a creek or river looking at rocks than anywhere else in the world.

3. Kathy, please tell our readers about ‘Dictionary Word Pendants’?

Kathy: Well, I’m a little bit of a geek & computer nerd. I love words and in fact write limericks for fun. I have this awesome little “Dictionary/Thesaurus” program on my computer than I’ve had for years {the best $9.99 software I’ve ever purchased}. A lot of times I would make cards for people and “copy & paste” the definition of a word {love, friend, yearning, etc.} onto the card. So roll back to when I was a kid making shrinky dinks, add my now love for digital scrapbooking & my love for words and “wahla” ~ Dictionary Word Pendants.

4. I can’t stop myself wondering at your artifacts, who or what is the inspiration behind your creative fecundity?

Kathy: I guess that would be Mother Nature and my Daddy. He was always making stuff & creating things. Plus, I was bad when I was a kid, so I was punished to my room a lot. Little did my Mother know, I was in there making stuff and loving every minute of my punishment.

5. Amongst your created pieces, which one is your all time favorite?

Kathy: That would have to be my little “Shrunken Ex-Boyfriend”. He’s my best seller and my most favorite ever. Plus, he’s just so darned cute!

6. Can you walk us through the general steps you take when you’re designing a piece?

Kathy: Steps? How about chaotic organization. A lot of my creations are things I dream about at night. I usually get up and start working on them while my coffee is perking. I have beads everywhere {literally}. So most of the time I just sit at my desk and start looking around at beads & then something will jump out at me and I’ll make it. I tend to go in spurts with necklaces for a few weeks, then earrings, then bracelets. Every now and then I’ll get a burst of creativeness and sit there all day making one thing after another. I have to be in a certain mood. If I sit there for more than 15 minutes and nothing is jumping out at me, I go on and do other things, like clean house or something.

7. Is there any kind of motif running in your designs?

Kathy: Just about all of my necklaces are hand knotted and they all have the same little abalone shell button & seed beaded loop clasp. That has become sort of my “trademark”. People love it because there is no metal. So many people are allergic to metal and can’t wear necklaces. They don’t have to worry about that with my pieces.

8. Apart from jewelry designing, what other stuff interests you?

Kathy: Photography, website designing, digital scrapbooking, outdoors & nature.

9. May we have the honor of knowing your future plans with respect to your designs? And presently, what are the interesting things that have hooked your attention?

Kathy: Well my Husband and I are getting ready to move to “Pisgah Forest, North Carolina”. Talk about inspiration! I can’t even imagine what all my brain will start working on. It’s all up in my head and I never know what will come out until I start making it. I never “plan” any of my designs ~ they just kinda happen. I do want to start working with metal when I move and learn how to make some pendants out of things I find in nature, so those are my future plans! Lots of nature inspired, artistic creations.

10. Any maxim you’d like to leave for our readers?

Kathy: Always be true to yourself & your creations. So many people try to copy other designers and do things that they may not really be passionate about and it will be reflected in your work. You have to love what you do and be passionate about it. That’s when the true artist in you will come out. People ask me all the time, how do you know you can put all those colors together and make it turn out looking great? And I always have to quote Matt Damon in “Good Will Hunting” - I tell them “I just see it”. That’s the only answer I have. If you can’t “see it”, maybe you’re not cut out for it and your true calling is something else. There is an Artist in every single person ~ you just have to seek it out.

11. Finally, we would like to have your thoughts on the Instablogs News Network and all its related sites. Which one is your favorite?

Kathy: Honestly, I’m new to all of the blogging, news networks, etc. I don’t read any of them. When I’m at the computer, I’m usually working on my website, emailing customers, or making scrapbook pages. It’s too much like TV and I don’t watch TV either.

Quick bits:

Kathy: Mass Production.

2. When you get angry, you ......

Kathy: Take a Nature Walk.

3. If given opportunity, you’d like to design something for?

Kathy: Cameron Diaz.

4. Do you have a signature style? If yes, what are the hallmarks of the style?

Kathy: Funky, Hippish & Earthy.

5. Your wildest dream would be?

Kathy: To become a famous designer.

Thus, I’d like to conclude by thanking Kathy for sparing out time in doing an interview with us, it is really appreciated and would like to wish her luck for all her future endeavors.90701