I make things. I’m a crafty, DIYer. I was always trying to make stuff as a kid. I’d alter my clothes, sewing them poorly by hand. I spent several afternoons trying to make a “Troop Beverly Hills” camping backpack. (A classic 80s film featuring Shelley Long and Craig T. Nelson.) My family was not even close to being well off financially. Truth be told, we would have loved to have been lower middle class. We never ate out at restaurants and we didn’t buy a lot of new items. If it could be fixed, hemmed, glued or repaired somehow, we figured it out. So my adult craftiness, DIY mentality isn’t surprising.
Several years ago I injured my neck at work and had to take a few weeks off. I was under doctor’s strict orders to not move around or lift anything. I’m always doing 27 things at one time and I was going stir crazy. There was a small craft store near our home and Gulliver convinced me to buy myself something to pass the time.
I bought some polymer clay and some jewelry stuff. I played around, made mistakes, got frustrated, made some things and came across Etsy. Etsy is an online marketplace for artisans to sell handmade goods, just in case you didn’t know. I sold a few things, did a few craft shows, sold a lot of things, got busy with life and work and sort of left it by the wayside. Last summer, I was making some handmade things for my sister’s wedding, I thought “Hey, I’ll put some of these on Etsy and see what happens.” I started selling almost immediately and it has become a great source of part-time income for a about a year.
I create a lot of wedding and bridesmaid jewelry. I love creating one of a kind pieces as well. Now that grad school is done, I’ll have more time to create. It makes me so happy to be able to make things or people to wear and enjoy.
Here’s a sample of some of my pieces.