Mountain Girl Clothing: Interview With Silver Butterfly Studios

Monday Night Interview with Katy Lupien from Silver Butterfly Studio:

I'm in LOVE with Katy's creations and she is a wonderful example of being very busy with life's loving blessings but she is STILL making time to do what she loves and sharing it with others.

Spring Tree Necklace

Tell Us A Little About Yourself:

I am a 38 year old mother of two boys, my passion is making jewelry. I can get lost in my own little world when I get into my studio. I also own a small farm where we raise our own organic meat, vegetabes ,and eggs. So my life is very busy and my jewelry time is usually at night when my kids are in bed.

Bamboo Necklace

What drives your artistic process? What inspires you? Or who inspires you?

There is so much that inspires me. Nature, or things I find in my back yard. I come from a family of crafty women; my grandmother was a wounderful knitter, my mom used to sew all our clothes. I was always looking for something that was different to wear so I love to make jewelry thats organic looking and not perfect with mostly nature inspired themes. The people I meet at craft shows or on etsy that have been making a living doing what they love to do really inspires me, I hope someday to be making a living designing jewelry that makes people smile and feel good when they wear it.

Sterling Silver Sea Horse

Besides creating your art, what do you do?

I have been a hair stylist for 19 years and I own a hair salon as well. I work part time because of my boys and at night I make jewelry.

When did you know you were an artist?

Being a hairstylist is very creative work, but I didnt realize I had more in me until I started making jewelry about 5 years ago. I took a class in beading and made myself a cute pair of earrings than I started making earrings for customers at the salon. That wasnt enough for me and I was always looking for neat, one of a kind sterling silver jewelry, so I started working with pmc and fell in love! It wasnt untill recently when one of my customers was buying a piece of my jewelry and said "Boy Katy, you are really an artist" and those kind words made my day. I guess that's when I realized I was an artist.

Buddha Necklace

Where do you do your artwork? In a Studio space, spare room of your house etc? and how do you keep it organize?

My wonderful husband made a studio space for me in our basement. It is really great because when the boys go to bed I head down to the basement. I have my kiln and everything set up. It really is a basement but it works. I have shelves and a work bench and lots of clear plastic containers to store my things in. I also keep my craft show set up packed away in storage tubs which make it easy to travel to shows plus it keeps everything clean ( because of being in the basement). I always wanted to get a studio space away from the home but the convience of having it in my home and the cost (free) made me rethink that and now I have really bonded with my little space in the basement.

What are your loves and frustrations with having an Etsy shop? and do you sell/display your work anywhere else?

I love having my etsy shop but it's hard for me to keep up with listing new items so I think I get lost in the huge sea of jewelry on there. I have a small display of my jewelry at my hair salon and I try to do a handful of shows every year. I have had a few people contact me to put a number of pieces in their shops. That is my goal for this year to try to make my jewelry a full time business!