Clarissa in 1000 Querce's photostream

I am Italian, born and raise in Torino until I came to the US in 1996.
I have a Ph.D. in biochemistry and an M.B.A., but I am an artist in my heart. I adore knitting, cross-stitching, and making bead-crochet necklaces or scented soap (it's all about chemistry :o). I also love watercolors and make my own decorated cards when time allows...

I started "Le Creazioni di Clarissa" in Spring 2004 with home-made soaps and oils that I created in my kitchen and sold to a craft market in Boston. Being a chemist really helped in understanding the reaction between oil and sodium hydroxide (lye), and in optimizing the soap with the appropriate kind of oil.

I then started to add cross-stitch bibs and kitchen towels. Once, in the stand near me, I saw this woman making and selling beautiful bead-crochet necklaces, and that is when I got intrigued by this technique and decided to learn it. In the next two years, I traveled a lot and crochet several necklaces that I gave to my girlfriends as a present. They loved it!
I then decided to open a store on Etsy
www.clarissa68.etsy.com