Etsy Seller Spotlight...kjoo

I have fallen in love with the jewelry by Maria João Ribeiro. I love her use of texture, color and the organic feel of her pieces. Now, to decide which piece I will purchase...so many choices. Here are the answers to some questions from our convo...

1. Tell us a little about yourself.
My name is Maria João Ribeiro, I am Portuguese and I live in Portugal in a small vilage 50km from Lisbon called Palmela.
I have a graduation in Graphic Design, but at the moment I am almost full time dedicated to my jewelry.



2. How long have you been creating your jewelry?
I started creating my jewelry at about 2 years ago.

3. Where did you learn your techniques?
The crochet basics, I learn from my grandmother, when I was a child, and just them I started mixing and "inventing" new techniques. The felt, I first learn from some free internet tutorials I find online and now I have several books, mainly Japanese felt books, that have several tutorials.



3. Do you sell your creations anywhere besides Etsy?
At the moment I have some shops in Spain that have some of my jewelry in stock.

4. What is your inspiration?
That is always a difficult question, I guess, everything can be an inspiration... I like to observe nature and also I am very inspired by African tribal jewelry, or Berber jewlory.


5. Do you do any other kinds of arts/crafts?
I love to do illustrations, but just for myself, and I am always "inventing" new thinks, can be objects or clothing transformation, but just for personal use.

6. What piece in your collection is your favorite?
I have always new favorites, I am always trying to improve my techniques, and working on new ones. But if I have to nominate something I guess I will go for this piece:


I made this necklace using embroidered felt beads I bring from Morocco. My goal was to use the beads in a way that they can be center of attention. I was very happy with the result.

Thanks so much for sharing Maria.