Meet the expats: Water lily jewels and designs

The lovely Eva from Water lily jewels and designs sells handmade jewelry and vintage items.

I've always admired her jewelry and particularly love the pieces she's given a new lease of life. Combining components from vintage pieces and her own work.

She's an absolute sweetheart who makes the most beautiful treasuries and runs her shop full time.

Eva was born Nottingham, England but raised in the U.S. 4 years after she met her boyfriend she moved to Germany to be with him, in October of 2009.

Eva was kind enough to answer some questions on her experiences as an expat for me.

Why did you move?

My fiance is born and raised here in Germany, and, well... he was here. Plus he has a good job with a company here, whereas the work I do can be done anywhere. So it was logical for me to come here!

Biggest challenge being an expat?

Learning the language, without a doubt. And being able to understand it when native speakers use it! They tend, naturally, to speak so quickly that my brain lags behind on processing it, so it sometimes takes me a minute or two to puzzle out what they said. And that can make a person feel a bit stupid and slow. But bit by bit, it's coming together. In fact, I always get a little sense of triumph when I understand something without feeling like I need to run for a dictionary!

Biggest joy being an expat?

The new culture. Seeing how people do things differently. I firmly think that teenagers, at some point when they become legal adults, should go to another country for a period of time to live and experience something completely different from what they are used to. It is mind-opening!

Find Eva:

• Twitter
• Etsy shop

Keep your eyes open, I heard a rumour that we'll soon see Eva's other crafting talents in her shop.

Are you a soon-to-be, been-there-done-that or currently an expat? If you sell on Etsy come and join our team.

Post by: Jacqueline Fouche (Tangentine)