Meet Etsy Jeweler & Rock Hound: JasperPoppies

California resident Mark works as a printer by day and on his unique handcrafted jewelry for JasperPoppies by night. "I like to fiddle and fuss with rocks," he admits, "cutting, grinding, drilling, polishing." He even mines the Jasper for his rustic creations in a small town by the name of Morgan Hill. "My Grandfather turned me on to rock hounding when I was 5 or 6 years old by taking me to Lake Superior to hunt for Agates," he explains. While he's only been making jewelry for a few years, he's created some beautiful pieces. "My process for creating is pretty simple, as far as design is concerned. I will usually size up a piece of rough material and make a couple of preliminary cuts to determine which part of the stone I want to work with. After this I really just try to shape the stone to flow with the naturally occurring movement within the stone itself. I definitely like to keep my silverwork simple to let the stone remain the focus of my pieces." He has found Etsy to be a blessing - and is thankful he accidentally stumbled across it. "Immediately, I was struck by the awesome creativity and presentation of the sellers on Etsy, not to mention the ease of navigation within the site. I figured it would be a great place to set up a little shop and maybe sell a few of my pieces." He acknowledges that great pictures are key - and that he is still learning to improve his. "Good pictures and listing as often as possible seem to be pretty important, as well as getting great feedback and information in the Etsy forums." Please check out his shop: http://jasperpoppies.etsy.com/

-Wendy Baylis

Dharma Designs

http://dharmadesigns.etsy.com/