Woman converts her love for beads into pretty profit
Working with glass beads, turquoise, pearls and Swarovski crystals is jewelry maker Carla Ferrara's passion.
The Plantation mom's brightly colored, glittering creations are found in a dozen shops and boutiques throughout South Florida, including the women's resort wear shop Palm Produce, as well as wholesale shows.
But Ferrara's scope goes beyond South Florida. A representative who spotted her jewelry in Boca Raton's Mizner Park sells it in Germany. Ferrara's pieces also are sold at Cemi Jewels in Dorado, Puerto Rico. And she travels to Seattle to participate in a craft show each November, where she adds home parties to the jewelry-selling mix of eclectic pieces with a Southwest, African or modern feel.
Amazingly, Ferrara plows into the creative process without putting ideas on paper.
''I never sketch first,'' she said. ``I'll be up at 2 in the morning trying to figure how to put a piece together. I'll get in my studio with my music and a candle burning and a bed for the cat. I work every day except Sundays.''
Her studio is a comfortable room at home, crammed with the tools of her artistic trade, including floor-to-ceiling collections of beads in clear plastic containers. A bookcase holds not only favorite books but cherished family photos and small cat figurines. The space is charming and cozy, with two windows filling the room with light. Finished bracelets glisten on racks, each piece distinctively embellished with glass stones that look yummy enough to eat.
When people see Ferrara's jewelry, shown recently as part of the Third Avenue Art District's annual Artwalk in Fort Lauderdale, they often get excited.
''I met a woman at Kinko's when I was making photocopies of my jewelry,'' Ferrara said. ``It turns out she was from Ohio and visiting her father here. She liked my pieces so much that I invited her to my home, where she spent $500.''
Ferrara's parents were amateur artists. After her mother died from breast cancer at age 36, she and her two sisters were raised by their grandmother, an influential force in her life who was a fashionista and creative herself. She taught Ferrara how to crochet. As a result, a basket holds a dozen of Ferrara's crocheted scarves, some embellished with beads and stones.
A special box holds Ferrara's private treasures, pieces so beautiful or rare that she can't bear to part with them.
The Plantation mom's brightly colored, glittering creations are found in a dozen shops and boutiques throughout South Florida, including the women's resort wear shop Palm Produce, as well as wholesale shows.
But Ferrara's scope goes beyond South Florida. A representative who spotted her jewelry in Boca Raton's Mizner Park sells it in Germany. Ferrara's pieces also are sold at Cemi Jewels in Dorado, Puerto Rico. And she travels to Seattle to participate in a craft show each November, where she adds home parties to the jewelry-selling mix of eclectic pieces with a Southwest, African or modern feel.
Amazingly, Ferrara plows into the creative process without putting ideas on paper.
''I never sketch first,'' she said. ``I'll be up at 2 in the morning trying to figure how to put a piece together. I'll get in my studio with my music and a candle burning and a bed for the cat. I work every day except Sundays.''
Her studio is a comfortable room at home, crammed with the tools of her artistic trade, including floor-to-ceiling collections of beads in clear plastic containers. A bookcase holds not only favorite books but cherished family photos and small cat figurines. The space is charming and cozy, with two windows filling the room with light. Finished bracelets glisten on racks, each piece distinctively embellished with glass stones that look yummy enough to eat.
When people see Ferrara's jewelry, shown recently as part of the Third Avenue Art District's annual Artwalk in Fort Lauderdale, they often get excited.
''I met a woman at Kinko's when I was making photocopies of my jewelry,'' Ferrara said. ``It turns out she was from Ohio and visiting her father here. She liked my pieces so much that I invited her to my home, where she spent $500.''
Ferrara's parents were amateur artists. After her mother died from breast cancer at age 36, she and her two sisters were raised by their grandmother, an influential force in her life who was a fashionista and creative herself. She taught Ferrara how to crochet. As a result, a basket holds a dozen of Ferrara's crocheted scarves, some embellished with beads and stones.
A special box holds Ferrara's private treasures, pieces so beautiful or rare that she can't bear to part with them.
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