If you attend enough local markets, the mixed bag of vendors— candle makers, painters, farmers, clothing designers — starts to look the same.
Just when you think you’ve seen it all, you discover a vendor who puts a twist on something familiar. Someone like Angela Mosera — a North Dallas resident who makes purses out of wood and necklaces out of watches. Inspired by the 1960s purse designer Enid Collins, her passion became her career after she lost her job as an art director.
Mosera sells her items under the name Arrowsarah, her grandfather’s nickname for her that combines pieces of her full name (Angela Rose Mosera).
The New Jersey native who has called Texas home for 22 years recently discussed her work and answered questions for neighborsgo.
How long have you been working on box purses and jewelry?
I started making box purses in October 2008. I started making jewelry around March 2009.
When you were laid off, you really started focusing on your art career. Describe that experience and your motivation to create your jewelry and box purses.
I always knew that I wanted to do something creative, but I didn't really know what that was. I got my degree later than most do because when I was younger 
I wasn’t as focused on schoolwork as I should have been. So around the age of 28, I found a program through Texas A&M University-Commerce that offered degrees at night for working professionals. I decided to major in art direction. I didn't even know what it was … just that it had "art" in the title. Turns out that art direction is advertising. I was pretty good at it, so I decided to leave the job that I had had for thepast eight years and pursue a career as an art director. I worked for a large agency in Dallas and about two years after I started, the economy crashed andthey lost their biggest account … which also happened to be the account that I worked on. So, I was cut in December 2008.
I was so depressed because I couldn't find a new job and I needed some source of income. I had started making box purses before I was laid-off (approximately two months before, thankfully!) so I just started making them like crazy. And when I couldn't think of other designs to make forthem, I started making jewelry, too.
After a few months, around April 2009, I looked around and thought "Wow! I have a lot of stuff! What am I going to do with it all?" That's when I decided to start doing craft shows full time.
I also decided more recently that I don't want an office job anymore. I don't want to work my butt off to make other people happy. I'd rather work my butt off and make myself happy.
You take old items, such as clock pieces, and give them anew life as jewelry. How do you find these materials?
Everywhere. I have found pieces at Goodwill, garage sales, vintage stores, estate sales and online. I am an avid treasure hunter.
Do you ever have a box or jewelry that you’re so pleasedwith that you have a hard time selling it?
Yes! All the time! I spend a lot of time on each of my pieces, so I become attached to them. It's easier with the box purses because I can always make another one the same — it's just paint and wood, after all. However, I have a really hard time letting go of the jewelry sometimes. Because all of my pieces that I use are found objects, I never know if I will ever find the same pieces again.
In a Dallas Morning News profile five years ago, you said you wished “That people would become more aware of, involved with, and financially supportive of the arts.” Anything changed since then?
Are people more involved? I really think that they are more supportive of the handmade community now than in years past. Just within the last couple of years local markets have been popping up everywhere that showcase local artisans. It is really fantastic to see how many people come out to support these markets and the artists!
You mention Enid Collins as a big inspiration. When did you first notice her creations, and why did they catch your eye?
I first discovered Enid Collins on a message board about vintage merchandise that I was following a few years ago. I had neve rheard of her before and after I saw her fabulous purses, I needed to have them — and a lot of them at that! I have never been a purse carrier; and if I did carry a purse, it needed to be something funky and unusual. And her purses were both of those things. They were wood and they had great retro designs like owls, birds, trees, etc. on them. I started scouring eBay, garage sales and vintage stores for them. I accumulated a collection of around 25 of them and I started to carry one of the really beat up ones I found. I received a bunch of compliments on it and that's when I decided that I needed to try to bring them back with a modern twist.
If you could have any other skill, what would it be?
I would love to be a great singer. I love to sing all the time but other people don't love it when I sing. I was definitely not given that gift.
What advice do you have for an aspiring jewelry maker?
Just be yourself and take pride in your pieces. I never make anything that I wouldn't wear myself, and I think that really helps me create new things. If you don't love what you are doing, then it's going to show in your work.
Anything else you’d like others to know?
Just that I'm one billion times happier now than I was when I was working in corporate America. It is scary at times when there's a bad show or business is slow, but I have realized that if you do what you want to do and if it is what you are meant to do, everything has a way of working itself out.
MORE INFO: See more of Arrowsarah’s purses and jewelry at arrowsarah.etsy.com and “like” it at facebook.com/arrowsarah.
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