Meet Peta Chase | Creative Artisan

We had the good fortune of connecting with Peta Chase and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Peta, we’d love to hear more about how you thought about starting your own business?
When I first discovered the whole process of making earrings from polymer clay, I did not have any intention of starting a business. Actually, my initial thoughts were that this would make a great hobby or resourceful way for me to make my own jewelry. I had always thought about making my own jewelry so that I could always have the perfect item to match whatever outfit I was wearing. But as I was researching more and more about the process and resources needed, I realized that much time and finances were required and if I was indeed good at this craft, then I could actually sell the products and thereby turn it into a business. And that is how Beautiful Birdie got started.

Can you open up a bit about your work and career? We’re big fans and we’d love for our community to learn more about your work.
I make fashion jewelry using Polymer Clay. Polymer Clay is a synthetic modeling clay made from PVC. The clay is manipulated by hand and with special tools and baked in an oven. An array of other components such as foil, jewelry findings and resin are added to embellish the pieces. Each design is uniquely crafted from my creativity that flows from the many things that inspire me, including fashion, trends, nature, art, culture and people.

What excites me about the craft is that there are no rules or limitations in what can be created in terms of colors, shapes and designs. So there is complete freedom to create whatever I’m led to create. I particularly love to create custom pieces for persons. They may show me an outfit or give me an occasion. The majority, if not all of the time, I get free reign of what to produce and so I pour out my passion and creativity into it. It excites me to make something for someone that is just for them and to see the reaction to the piece when I meet and even exceed their expectations.

I still consider myself to be very young in the trade as I only got started in June of 2022 but there was still a process of learning how to manipulate the clay, finding the right tools and so on. There were many late nights baking and re-baking and burning and having to start over until I got the color or design I really wanted.
One of the biggest challenges for me was obtaining the materials I required. Since I live in a small country in the Caribbean, resources are extremely limited. In fact, 99% of what I use, had to be imported in my country. This meant that I incurred extra costs for shipping and sometimes having to wait for three weeks or more in some cases to receive my materials. This still remains one of my biggest challenges but I try to plan ahead as much as possible so that I do not encounter the delays in receiving the items.

I have definitely learned to be more patient. Creativity is not something that can be rushed. So instead of focusing on just pushing out products to get sales, I focus on the craft and producing items of great quality and style.
I take immense pride in what I create. I am a perfectionist. Sometimes that can be to my demise but in terms of what I produce, this is definitely a plus. This means that you would always get top tier creations from me, knowing that much effort, passion and pride goes into every piece.

Shoutout is all about shouting out others who you feel deserve additional recognition and exposure. Who would you like to shoutout?
I would definitely have to shout out my husband for being my biggest cheerleader and support system. He was the one to push me to hone the skill and to make a business out of it. He was also very gracious when it called for much of my resources like time and money.

Instagram: beautifulbirdiexoxo