Designer Spotlight: Cindy Kuo
A brief story of what you do and why you do it.
I have an online store on Etsy named Tree Craft Diary, which specialized in handmade jewelry. The thought of opening Tree Craft Diary shop was begun in a few months after I worked in Singapore. I felt that doing and creating handmade stuff is still my biggest passion and I had a vision that one day I will be running a handmade product biz. Therefore, by compiling the ideas on my dream diary day by day, I finally decided to take the first step to draw myself closer to my future desire.
How did you get into jewelry design?
I like challenge and I always love to try something I have never done before. I used to play around with the material of felt, paper, cross stitch which to be honest, I never thought of creating jewelry in the first place. But then on occasion I would see people making their own jewelry and it looked cool to me, so…AHA! So the inspiration to give myself a chance on making handmade jewelry was born. Since I have some design knowledge and background, designing jewelry should not be a problem to me and eventually I started my career with handmade jewelry. My passion through jewelry grows stronger and I believe women nowadays will not feel complete without wearing jewelry with every type of dress. I have faith in myself that I can give women the precious feeling of being special fabulous by wearing my jewelry pieces.
What makes your collection unique?
I use more of the gemstone material to create my pieces, combine with pearl, bead, charm and wire to make it more attractive. Most of my gemstones are Agate, Carnelian, Tourmaline, Turquoise and gradually will add more materials in the future.
What are your inspirations?
Everything can be my inspiration. Whenever I get stuck on creating, I just need to flip some magazine pages, look around my workspace and imagine the thing I stare at is a piece of jewelry, then I will turn that into my new inspiration.
How are you making a difference in your life?
Do things that can make me happy and satisfied with, or seeing things from different perspective will turn the bad into positive one.
What's something unusual about you that makes you “you”?
I am a very well-managed girl, obsessed with clean and tidiness. Does that count?
What's the biggest struggle in running your jewelry business like a business?
I find no problem with getting ideas on creating and making new pieces of jewelry, but the crucial part on running a business is how to get noticed and found by the public. The marketing and promoting are the biggest challenges for me.
About Cindy
I was born in Jakarta-Indonesia, gained my first degree in Bachelor of Art and Design in Kuala Lumpur-Malaysia, and was working as a product designer in Singapore before I decided to come back to my hometown to dedicate my precious time embracing my passion as a handmade crafter in jewelry design.
Etsy shop: https://treecraftdiary.etsy.com
Tumblr: https://treecraftdiary.tumblr.com
Pinterest: https://pinterest.com/treecraftdiary
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/TreeCraftDiary
Twitter: https://www.twitter.com/TreeCraftDiary
