Howdy, y’all! It’s Mer’s intern, taking over for Mer, who has gotten increasingly whiny. Seriously. Someone needs to buy her some of the things she’s blabbering on about for More For Mer!* if only to shut her up.

Just kidding, all her whinging is endearing.

Not really.

Anyways.

Speaking of More For Mer!*, she has tasked me with writing tonight’s producty-reviewy-promoty-thingy. This time, it’s for a company know as Epheriell Designs. This is what she has to say about herself, with sidenotes by me in bold.

Hi all, I’m Jess, and I hail from the countryside about an hour north of Brisbane(Australia – the backwards cousin of the backwards cousin of America). My husband Nick and I are currently living with my parents while we subdivide their acreage – then we’ll be building our own home here, too! We love living in the country, it’s so quiet, with birds and animals all around. We’ll often take our cat for a walk around the property of an afternoon (no, not on a leash – he’s just very much a people-cat and will follow you around everywhere when he’s awake!).

Once upon a time I was going to be a research scientist. Then I was a teacher. Now? I run my business full-time, making jewellery, blogging, and launching a new Aussie zine called *bespoke*, all about handmade, vintage, photography, art, micro-business, eco-friendly goodness and much more – all in a sweet little A5 sized package that you can take anywhere(…wow. That actually sounds really cool)! I also build the odd website for fellow crafters. In short, I’m amazingly busy, all the time, and love, love, love it!

Until September 2008, I didn’t think of myself as a creative person at all! I was a scientist, a teacher – a logical, rational person… and I never felt totally fulfilled(I was going to write something controversial, but I figured that saying “BEARS” would be good enough. BEARS.).

Then, I went to Fiji. My boyfriend (now husband) Nick and I met a lovely fellow Aussie family. We became friends, and the day we left, the mother of the family gave me a novel to read – she’d read it, and decided to pass it on. I can’t remember what it was called, but it was a story about a woman who owned a yarn store in New York. When I finished that book, I decided to try knitting… and that’s where it all began(I should have read this beforehand. She seems awesome! I want to knit. I want that to be where it all began.)!

I discovered that I LOVED creating, making, working with my hands. The previously empty part of my ‘self’ was filled, and I finally became a whole person. I went from knitting to crochet to beads to resin to metal… and fell in love with metalworking(I know what she’s talking about, but it just seems like she should be making swords.). The Epheriell style as it exists now really started to come into being in mid-2009.

I love twitter, and it’s the best marketing tool out there! I have made so many friends (and sales) through twitter, and there is no way I could have launched *bespoke* so successfully if it wasn’t for the power of twitter and the connections I’ve made. It even landed me a radio interview (http://epherielldesigns.com/hello-radio )! (I have put 3 links to her Twitter – @jessvanden – in this post. Because Twitter is fun. And you guys might know that. So follow her. I guess?)

Info about Epheriell

I make sleek, contemporary jewellery using predominately recycled sterling silver – silver that is sourced from industrial processes and refined again to make eco-friendly metal! I love that I can use recycled materials in my designs. My work is modern yet fun – I want my jewellery to become people’s ‘go-to’ jewellery – something you love to wear every day, not just put away for a special occasion. I’ve had many people tell me that their pair of Urban Eco earrings have become the pair they wear every day, which is fantastic! (http://epheriell.com)

So that was barely altered. Anyways. I have no experience picking jewelery at all. Dangly bits for me are just zombie bait. So I had Mer choose her 3 favourite pieces of jewelery from Epheriell Designs. These are they.

So there. And turns out I do appreciate some jewelery. Here is my favourite.

Click on the pictures to be taken to their entries in Epheriell Design’s shop. Tech wizardry right there.

And to end this post, everyone got a lil’ crazy. Here are some questions Jessica answered for us here at Oh, THAT Meredith.

Oh, THAT Meredith: Is it too late to ‘pologize?

Jess Van Den: Never, but that’s not something I’m very good at!

OTM: Is this the real life?

JVD: Or is this just fantasy?

OTM: Favorite superpower?

JVD: Flight, totally! How cool would it be to soar up above it all…

OTM: What is your opinion on Nathan Fillion?

JVD: *fans self…*

On that last one, I can’t blame her.

Until next time.