Meet Sylva, owner of
Favorite Blings and
Favorite Collectibles on Etsy. Sylva's combined love of collecting and passion for creating can be traced back to her earliest years. Her dad, especially, had a positive impact on her life, which translated later into the fabulous vintage finds and beautiful handmade gemstone and retro statement jewelry that fill her wonderful shops.
"I was lucky to have a nurturing dad who supported my creative efforts," says Sylva. As early as age four, she remembers her father applauding her singing. She doesn't remember his exact words, but says that his huge hugs spoke volumes! When she was 10 years old, he encouraged her fashion designs for her dolls, furthering her love of color, texture, and aesthetics. "In my teens, I made necklaces before it was cool to wear 'homemade,'" she adds.
"Dad gave me another gift," Sylva continues, "a love for things of the past." She and her dad "foraged in flea markets, sometimes before sunrise, finding cool, gorgeous, unusual, wearable, and wondrous old things back when pre-owned wasn't chic." They also went to porch sales, lawn sales, garage sales, and thrift stores. "We even got to the huge Englishtown, New Jersey, flea market at MIDNIGHT! No kidding!"
Sylva, who is a five-star seller on Etsy, introduced Favorite Blings first. "I had studied beading, improved my skills, learned new techniques, and opened my Favorite Blings shop to showcase my handmade gemstone necklaces," she explains. Recently, she also added retro-style necklaces, rounding out her modern handmade items with 80s classic jewelry.
A year later, Sylva launched Favorite Collectibles, where she began to showcase her collectibles and antiques, which she had carefully stored for many years.
To strengthen her presence in the marketplace, Sylva has also creative two off-Etsy websites, one linked to Favorite Blings (
www.favoriteblings.com), and one linked to Favorite Collectibles (
www.favorite-collectibles.com). She says that linking her Etsy shops to her two websites keeps her busy, but she feels that links matter. "It's also why whenever an item of mine is featured in an Etsy treasury, I mention the treasury name and shop curator in the item's description. I think making connections keeps us viable. Every little bit helps. So I link, link, link."
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