We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful Carol Tenwalde. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with Carol below.

Carol, appreciate you joining us today. One of the toughest things about progressing in your creative career is that there are almost always unexpected problems that come up – problems that you often can’t read about in advance, can’t prepare for, etc. Have you had such and experience and if so, can you tell us the story of one of those unexpected problems you’ve encountered?

As a lifelong crafter, one of my greatest joys was to give gifts to my friends and family of my latest creation. Seven years ago my hubby had a hip surgery that didn’t go as planned. For eight months he could not stand without my putting a leg brace on him. Thus we both became shut ins. I need something to save my sanity so I decide to start a jewelry business. That was an easy decision as I had a Casita full of beads from a previous project.

I started with doing bead embroidery with tiny seed beads. But at the end of the day, it never felt like it was my creativity because you had to follow a pattern. Jewelry being a very crowded field made it difficult to standout and be unique. I struggled and struggled. After much trial and error, I invented a technique I call The Twisted Sister. The TS combines wire wrapping and twisting of beads and stones to make a very chunky, sculptural statement piece yet they are very light weight.

The Twisted Sister has blossomed into many interesting and unique designs!

Carol, before we move on to more of these sorts of questions, can you take some time to bring our readers up to speed on you and what you do?

I have been crafting all of my life and I have my parents to thank for this talent. My Dad loved to make Halloween costumes and my Mother would transform the American Legion Hall each month into some spectacular venue for their dance club.  I single handedly have the Guinness Record for Kleenex carnation flowers.

After retiring from technology, I was free to explore every whim and I did. They say it is not the destination but the journey but for this post it’s my latest destination – Beads and Beading. If you are a serious crafter you know that any hobby needs a serious stash. When you are inspired to create something you can’t slow down the process by shopping for your items. I thought my knitting and crocheting period was bad but OMG beading requires a HUGE stash of stuff. Thus this crazed Beadaholic was born.

Let’s fast forward to 7 years ago. My wonderful husband had a hip surgery that did not go well. He and I, as his caregiver, were pretty much shut ins for at least 8 months. I desperately needed an outlet for all my home time and so I decided to sell my jewelry creations online. This was a perfect solution. Everyday I was there to watch and help my husband steadily improve albeit glacial and I had plenty of time to create. The triple bonus was all those necklaces needed tons of BEADS! At last, we are ready for The Twisted Sister Journey. It all began when I got hooked on bead embroidery. Beautiful stuff but REALLY time consuming. Weeks to finish one piece and the rage was and is now really chunky collar and bib statement necklaces. Seed beads were just not going to cut it. So, I started noodling around with wire and larger beads.  I liked the wire because it gives the piece dimensions that you would never get with bead stringing. After many failed designs and attempts, I came up with this twisted wire wrap technique I call “Twisted Sister”.

If you like to standout from the crowd and love to get tons and tons of compliments then you need to wear a Twisted Sister creation. As I tell my clients, if you don’t make people smile and get all those compliments then you can just return it to me with a full refund!

A few years back I discovered Sari Silk Ribbon that is made from Recycled Saris. The colors of the silk are beyond yummy. I loved the fact that I can buy the ribbon from a fair trade organization that pays the Indian woman to rip the sari into strips. sew the strips together and wrap it into a skein. The silk makes up into amazing statement necklaces and earrings. Besides being beautiful the pieces weight NOTHING! I hope you will check them out!

In your view, what can society to do to best support artists, creatives and a thriving creative ecosystem?

I can only speak for myself but 4 years ago when I moved here from the Palm Springs area I was introduced to the Sonoran Arts League. I joined it immediately and have never looked back. SAL has opened my business up to so many new and different venues and opportunities. Plus, I feel that Arizonan are very open and receptive to the arts. I also thing that The Hidden in the Hills venue is so special not only for the 200 artists that participate but to the community at large.

What do you find most rewarding about being a creative?

The most rewarding is having customers tell me how much joy wearing my pieces brings them. That swells my heart. One of my favorite stories is from a very shy woman who told me she was dreading going to her sons wedding back East. She complained that she wouldn’t know anyone and what would she talk about? I convinced her to wear one of my Bubble Twisted Sisters and told her the entire story behind it’s creation. After the wedding she called me to explain what a success it was. She also confided that she felt a little guilty because she felt like she stole a little glow from the Bride!!!!

Contact Info:

• Website: https://blingbeadedbaubles.com/
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/blingbeadedbaubles/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/BlingBeadedBaubles
• Other: My Etsy Shop https://www.etsy.com/shop/BlingBeadedBar?

Image Credits
Richard Koretz