My featured Etsy designer is.....

onegirl designworks. Here are some examples of her amazing designs...



Here is an interview with Leslie:

Q. Where were you born? And live now?
A. I was born and raised in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada and moved to Vancouver, Canada when I was 26. There I met a fabulous curly-haired carpenter from Australia and now, 5 years later, I happily call Melbourne home.

Q. What is your marital status?pets?children?
A. Married to the carpenter with a 10 month old dachshund puppy called Baxter.


Q. How long have you been doing your designs?
A. My current designs are constantly evolving as I spent many, many years just making the same thing over and over again (hand-boundleather books). Now I'm much happier producing one of a kind creations and having the opportunity to try out new ideas on a whim.


Q. Why do you love your craft?
A. I honestly feel a restless desire to create. It ebbs and flows but is more or less always present and hard to focus into just one area. I love being able to jump from area to area, creating entirely different products along the way. I currently have sewn, knit, resin jewellery,pattern design and photography projects all on the go at the sametime.


Q. What /Who are your inspirations?
A. I really have so many inspirations but nature would have to be the biggest. I'm constantly picking up treasures - on the beach, my dailywalk, in photography form. The colours and textures of Australian flora are especially inspiring.


Q. What would you like to do 5 years from now?
A. I'd love to have my own self supporting studio, creating whatever strikes my fancy but on a full-time basis. I'm finding the balance between working full-time, creating part-time and having a fulfillinglife in between a real struggle lately and dream of the days when I hopefully can spend a full 8 - 10 hours a day on designing for myself and cruising around the internet.


Q. What are your interests and other hobbies?
A. Aside from the 200 crafts I'm interested in, my one true love is thrift/antique shopping, I especially love to hit a few country towns for the really good treasures. My other future dream is to spend my days attending auctions and estate sales and then reselling on eBay once my own house is full to the brim.


Q. Would you rather shop for clothes/accessories/shoes or decorate andshop for your home?
A. Ooooooh... tough question. Probably clothes as I always get a bit of sticker shock when looking for house items, except when I'm thriftshopping... Oh, I don't know, I'm a bit of a sucker for shopping of all kinds, I guess!


Q. Do you love to listen to music while you work? What do you liketo listen to?
A. I usually "listen" to the tv while I create, it's a bit of a habitI got into while living on my own and am finding it hard to break.When the cricket is on, however, you will most likely find me tuckedaway in my craft room listening to The Shins, Ben Folds, Stars, NekoCase, Young & Sexy or any one of a hundred other similar bands.


Q. what is your chinese zodiac sign, eg. Year of…..?
A. Scorpio through and through. I think year of the rabbit?


Q. Favorite foods/drinks?
A. Mmmmmm, food. Pretty big fan of most food, especially Japanese andMexican... Smart Food cheese popcorn is pretty high on the list eventhough I can't get it in Australia... I used to be a big beer drinker(Big Rock Grasshopper whilst in Canada) but the past few years haveseen a huge move towards red wine (had some stunning Oomoo Shiraz justthe other night).


Q. dog or cat person?
A. I'm an all animal person, except maybe guinea pigs. They freak me out a bit.


Thank-you Leslie, for sharing your story! I will be featuring fellow Etsyian artists/designers regularly, since there are so many wonderfully creative people there. If you wish to see more of Leslie's work, please have a look at her Etsy shop . Visit her blog: onegirldesignwrks and Etsy shop.