Rita Lovely was the first place winner of Zibbet’s Wedding Challenge back in May. Her set of wood burned table numbers in her shop Twist Of Nature won her the first place honor.

Rita lives in the gorgeous state of Washington on 8 wooded acres. She makes all her wood products from trees or branches that have come down due to natural causes. She never cuts down trees. Congratulations Rita!

Please enjoy the interview, leave Rita a comment, and then use the Share Tools so others can read it, too. Please spread the Zibbet Love!

1. Tell us a bit about yourself?

   I have had a hard time in life finding where I fit and even more time moving around trying to find “home.” I think I finally found it. I live on 8 acres of wooded property on an island in Washington State.  Hate the rain but love the nature, and you can’t have one without the other. So I am happy.  I have a small group of amazing friends who encourage me and support me in my attempts to have a go of it with my craft.

2. Apart from being ‘creative’ what do you do?

   I have had a life full of different experiences.  I have been a bartender around the world, worked behind a desk, done a little construction and raised a wonderful boy who I couldn’t be more proud of.  Currently “what I do” is create full time and I love it! Honestly this opportunity came to be because of the current economy.  I am so happy to do this full time and I hope I will always be able to take the time to do it. I am always coming up with new and unique ideas so it is absolutely FUN every day!

3. What inspires you to do the kind of work you do?

   

   The children we all were, that is what inspired me to get started.

   Do you remember when you were young and you made something at school for Mother’s day or Father’s day and brought it home and they loved the little chunky thing with colors everywhere typically outside of the lines?  They would put it out proudly for everyone to see and they still have it to this day (even if it is in tissue paper in a box somewhere now).  They keep it because they know you made it and put your heart into it.  Well that is my inspiration.

   Lately it has been hard to buy presents for my loved ones so I had started making things from nature around me. I wanted to turn the chunky little piece made from the heart into a “WOW that was made by hand” piece that you just can’t get from a store made in mass production from a machine.  I still put my heart into every piece and it is exciting to get a special request from someone to make something unique for them and their loved ones to enjoy. For a moment I feel like they are part of my family and I would do anything to make them smile and make it perfect for them.

4. Do you look up to anyone? Who? Why?

   I honestly look up to all crafters, creators, architects, computer programmers, musicians, and artists of all kinds. I admire people who have talents and take the chance to put their unique style out there for others to see and appreciate.  It may not be everyone’s taste, and like all great artists may not be understood, but they do it because they love it and have a vision and just go with it, even if it is received with criticism. You may think computer programers should maybe not be included in this list, but really don’t they do the same kind of thing on a different level.  They create through their ideas too.

5. What other passions do you have in your life?

   I like to bake, and cook, but my other real passion in life is watching my amazing son grow. He has so many talents of his own it is so much fun to encourage him to try new things to find his own path in life.  He loves music and currently can play 9 different instruments from the cello to the trumpet.  He has an amazing grasp of math, and loves every animal there is on the planet.  He has the biggest heart, and the soul of a person 3x his age. I just had the realization not long ago of how fast time is passing and that the next four years will go by in the blink of an eye. I am excited to see how his life will play out.

6. What do you like most about Zibbet?

   What Zibbet offers to us all is an outlet for our imagination to come to life through our craft, to be seen and hopefully enjoyed by others.

7. What ‘new’ things would you like to see added to Zibbet?

   Since I am so new to Zibbet it isn’t my place to think of anything that could be beneficial at the moment.  I am still learning the in’s and out’s of what Zibbet offers, and if I were to think of something new, it may be something that may already exist that I just haven’t run across yet.

8. How do you promote your work?

   I am still learning the promotion piece of selling my items online.  I will take advantage of bloggers, facebook and twitter I suppose, but I would like to ask more questions and find out the tried and true methods that work for people before spending a lot of effort on something that may not work for me.

9. How would you recommend other Zibbeters make the most of Zibbet.com?

   Again I think I am not the person to give advice to Zibbeters because I am so new, but what I would encourage is that we should all continue to do what we love because doing what we love is an outlet that keeps us happy. No matter how bad my day can get, if I finish something I have been working on and I think it turns out how I want it, I am usually happy for the rest of the day and excited to share it with everyone I know.

10. In the future I’d like to be…

    Well I am still looking for a “desk job” because realistically money makes the world go round, but it would be a dream of mine to rent a 3,000 sq/ft building not far from my home and do what I am doing on a larger scale everyday.  Who knows - it may happen - my son and I drove by that building not long ago, stopped and I said to him as I looked at it “I know it’s a pipe dream” but asked him to write down the phone number.  When we got home and he gave me the note it said “Mom’s pipe dream.” I live in reality, but it can’t hurt to dream.

Tags: Featured Zibbeters, Twist Of Nature