Meet Etsy Owner KayzKreationz

Where are you from and tell us a little about yourself?
I’m originally from Missouri. But I’ve been in Texas now for 34 years. My hubby says I have a worse Texas drawl than he does now and he was born and raised in Texas. We live out in the country near a little village called Salado. It’s widely known for it’s fantastic art and craft show it has every summer. We had a Car and Truck customizing business in Killeen for about 30 years and sold it almost 4 years ago. Killeen and Salado are right in the middle of Texas, about 60 miles north of Austin. We raised 2 great sons and have a wonderful daughter-in-law that also does jewelry. She has a shop on Etsy too, although she doesn’t have anything listed right now. We live on a small Texas ranch where we do wildlife management. Which means we plant grasses, vines, plants, seed, etc. to attract the wildlife back. Since our acreage is small (only 30 acres) we manage for small wildlife, butterflies, birds and such. Although we typically have 15-25 deer out back at our watering trough and along our road when we drive in at night.

Why did you start your Etsy shop?
I love making my Stained Glass, Mosaics and Fused Glass Kreationz for Home and Garden. But my hubby said I was making too much and we didn’t have room for it all. LOL. I’d always dreamed of having my own little business selling my glass. I’d gone to several craft shows, but it is so difficult with glass, trying to travel with it, set it up and then pack it all back up again. In fact I have one particular Stained Glass panel I’d love to be able to list to sell. But I’m not sure how to go about packing it up for shipping if it did sell. Anyway, I’d heard about Etsy on a glass forum I was on, so I decided to start my own shop. It took me almost a year though to get up the nerve to try it. I was afraid no one else would love my glass as much as I do and no one would buy it.

How did you come up with your Etsy shop name?
 I’d done some sewing with a friend for people and had called my business “K’s Kreations” because it fit with my name without having to use my full name. But when I went on Etsy to find a name, that was already taken. So my hubby said I should try it with the “z’s” and that was available. Also, since I like doing so many different things with my glass and beads I felt Kreationz was better than Kayz Stained Glass or something like that. It also wasn’t quite so limiting by calling it KayzKreationz.

What is your favorite item in your shop and why?
That’s really hard to say, because I get an attachment to every piece I make. But right now, even though I’m not a big fan of blue, I’d say my favorite piece in it now is my Blue Fused Glass Strip Plate. Because it takes more skill to make something like that. It’s made up of rows of ¼” glass strips laid on their side with some smaller cross strips right at the top in the middle, then fused inside of a steel mold. Once that is done, it’s taken out, beveled on the edges, sandblasted to smooth out the face and the back, put back in the kiln to firepolish. Then it’s fired a 3rd time on a ceramic mold to slump into the dish shape. I think it turned out really well. It’s had lots of views and hearts, but so far no one has wanted to make it theirs.

Do any of your pieces have a memorable story behind them?

I don’t have one listed right now, but my Sandscapes are usually memorable. One in particular, was especially memorable, because my hubby and I had taken a short vacation to Cancun and were there just before Katrina struck Louisiana. In fact, it came very close to a little island we’d gone to for the day. And because of the strong surf, lots of great seashells were washed ashore. I probably walked for an hour or better in the rain and wind to pick up shells. And I was able to use some of them to put in several of my Sandscapes. Plus I also made one that I take for display to craft shows, that has rattlesnake rattles inside it from the rattlesnakes we had to kill when we first started clearing our land for our small ranch. And that’s where I get a lot of my ideas. I love making things to use in my house or especially my garden, like my Mosaic birdfeeders, my windchimes, my Garden twirler’s, plant stakes and such. I’m working on some Fused glass hummingbird feeders and some toad/frog houses for the garden and some re-designing of some pieces.


What message, if any, do you want to convey with your art/craft?

The joy of glass and the joy of gardening, I guess. I love being outside and enjoying my craft/glass in my yard and garden. I’d love to learn to weld to add to my craft.

How did you decide what medium you wanted to work with?
I’d tried several different crafts, but once I started with glass, I knew that was the one I wanted to stay with. But I also enjoy beading and macramé, so I’ve tried to add those things to my glass. I did a suncatcher with a small piece of abstract fused glass and hung it from a macramé beaded hanger with beads strung on wire and hung from the side of it.

If you had to choose one other medium in which to display your “creativity”, what would that be, and why?
Probably either the beading or the macramé, because I enjoy both of those also.


Why should people buy handmade?
Handmade is so much more unique. You have something that no one else has, a one of a kind piece. Plus it’s a reflection of you and your likes/dislikes. And a reflection of the artist. And it’s a great way to support small businesses and artists.

Any advice on selling things handmade?
Work, work, work. LOL. There’s a lot more to it than I realized, even after having had a retail business with my hubby for 30 years. But with handmade, it’s not enough for you to love your art. Others have to love it, too. So I still struggle with finding my niche market and then doing the marketing. But read everything you can find and then just try everything you think will work. Sooner or later you’ll find what works for you. But don’t lose your joy, or it won’t be fun anymore.

Do you have plans for expansion?
I’ve opened shop on two other sites, but not sure I can make enough to keep all 3 going. So I don’t know if I’ll keep them all or not, but at least that way I have my name reserved on them. I’d love to have my own website to sell from and do have the domain name. Now I just need to figure out how to build the website and get a shopping cart on it to sell from.

Any other sites you can be found on?
I have my Etsy shop, KayzKreationz. I’m also KayzKreationz on Artfire and Zibbet both. Plus I have a blog, where I blog about other great Etsy shops I find, my glass, family and our wildlife management we do. It’s KayzKreationz.blogspot.com And I’m KayzKreationz on twitter also.

Anything else you would like us to know?
Just for anyone to feel free to check out my glass. If there’s something there you’d like customized, let me know. For instance, my Beer Bottle windchimes seem to be my big sellers right now. And I can make them with any beer bottle. If I don’t have it, you can send me the bottles and I can make it for you. I recently had a custom request for a “It’s 5’Oclock Somewhere” windchime, with a Miller Lite, Bud Lite and Coors Lite Beer bottle. So feel free to look around and just ask. I’m working at getting more of my glass listed, too. Although pictures are difficult for me. I have a hard time to get good pictures without the glare, but I’m working at it.