Featured Crafter: Elizabeth Voss {Raw Olive}

What led you to this particular craft?

Raw Olive was born out of a desire to find pure, natural body products for my family. I was shocked to learn that a lot of the "natural" products offered at health food stores still included potentially harmful ingredients such as parabens, sodium laurel sulfate, and petroleum. I started experimenting in my kitchen with natural ingredients that were already in my cabinets such as cold-pressed olive oil, raw sugar and raw honey, to name a few. Soon enough, friends and family were hooked on some of our yummy creations.

Raw Olive has become a perfect marriage between my love for cooking and all things natural.

What is your process like?

The creative process is what I enjoy most. With three girls, 7, 9, and 12, I am constantly trying to create products that I feel comfortable with them using. Once I have an idea, I experiment in the kitchen until I am happy with the final product. Once complete, I test the new product on my family and audacious friends and hope it's a hit.

What do hope to achieve with your work (professionally and personally)?

With Raw Olive, I am devoted to educating people about the dangers of chemical-laden body products and providing a pure, natural alternative. I strive to provide products with as many food-grade and organic ingredients as possible. My mission is to create handcrafted, natural body products that are safe for the consumer and the environment. If I do this, I have succeeded both professionally and personally.

What advice do you have for other aspiring crafters?

Do what you love and offer a quality product. Whatever you are trying to sell has a little piece of you in it, so you need to be proud of your products. I'm also a big fan of Etsy. I started my shop a few months ago and absolutely love the forum for selling. Etsy crafters are incredibly creative and inspiring.

Do you consider yourself an "indie crafter"?

I am totally an indie crafter. I love the freedom of owning my own business and having total control from beginning to end. Sadly enough, the corporate giants have compromised their quality with cheap, and potentially dangerous ingredients in order to greedily make money. I don't subscribe to that. We need more environmentally and socially responsible companies to step forward and lead the beauty industry.

Tell us something that not many people know about you.

I sometimes race mountain bikes and don't like to lose!