Friday, August 19, 2011

Live Adorned ~ Wedding Hair Accessories with Hawaiian a Flare

Don't Forget ~ Today is the last day for a chance to WIN 2 personalized ornaments ($20 value +  free shipping) from FlutterbyConnections.  Go to  post http://butterflyintheattic.blogspot.com/2011/08/flutterby-connections-give-away.html and look for how you can win at the end of the interview.  Thank you

Great News! For my readers:  use AUGUST20  for 20% off 1 item at ETSY shop Live Adorned http://www.etsy.com/people/LiveAdorned?ref=ls_profile

Beautiful handcrafted hair accessories created by Chun Hui Chen, owner of ETSY shop LiveAdorned, are an absolute necessity for any bride to be.  Chun's work can also be found at her new shop
www.liveadorned.com  Chun incorporates her Hawaii style into her designs making each piece a very feminine work of art.  Browsing through her store one thought comes to mind...Gorgeous!  I am proud to able to feature Chun and her shop in the following interview.
http://www.etsy.com/people/LiveAdorned?ref=ls_profile
Tell me a bit about yourself....
My name is Chun Hui Chen and I live in Honolulu, Hawaii.  I just got married on May 5th in Sonoma to my husband Marc.  I love to sing karaoke, skiing, swimming, and looking at wedding blogs - even though its been 3 months since my wedding!  I'm a proud Chinese-American, a product of hard working immigrant parents from Taiwan.
Apart from creating, what do you do?
I work in project development for a green energy consulting company.

What first made you want to create?
Getting engaged last year unearthed a passion for making handmade hair accessories. Believe me, prior to starting Live Adorned, I was hardly the “crafty” type – I could barely wrap a present! Maybe it started with the desire to save money, but it evolved into a vision to incorporate handmade details to make our wedding as authentic as possible. Aside from my hair accessories, I also made our favors, photobooth props, signage, and accessories for my MOH and flower girl. It was a wonderful creative experience and fueled my love for all things handmade.
 Describe your creative process?
 Inspiration is the foundation of the creative process. Once I have an idea, I’ll play around with materials, layering, shapes, and textures to design the final product. For me, filtering through the ideas is the most challenging part - I’m inspired by anything feminine, organic, and whimsical. A few recent standouts -  a French inspired photoshoot, an unusual flower, Vera Wang’s latest bridal gown collection. Inspiration truly comes from anywhere. I think that’s why I’m addicted to wedding blogs, even long after my wedding – the creative brilliance you find on these blogs on a daily basis is staggering. How can one not be inspired?
What handmade possession do you cherish most?
My handmade hair flower that I wore on my wedding day. It represents the culmination of almost a year of evolution from my very first piece. It’s a practical, yet equally sentimental way to commemorate my wedding day (without having to find a place to store my enormous dress!).  
How are you promoting your work?
I did a couple craft fairs at home, but found that my target audience is wedding blog readers, etsy shoppers, and newly engaged brides. I don’t have a lot of working capital to advertise, so I’ve been trolling the blog world to try to expose my work through interviews. Etsy is my main source of traffic so I’ve been working on sharpening up my store and focus on their updates for best search results. I also plan on contacting local bridal boutiques to generate wholesale business.
Where do you want to be in ten years?
I plan on opening up a brick and mortar store in Honolulu – there’s definitely a lack of selection in the wedding accessory segment. My store will feature not only my own products, but also other handmade products in other wedding categories – bride’s attire, grooms accessories, paper, décor. I’d also love to add bridal gown consignment - many people in Hawaii live in under 1,000 sqft, so storage space is very limited.

1 comment:

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Good accessories Lovely giveaway! flower piece is sooo pretty This is great updates for best search results.