Hobby Turns Into Full Time Business
My name is Jen, I live in Sugar Land, TX or some children like to call it Candy Land.
I'm a complete self taught jewelry artist and have been making jewelry for 20 years.
I first started making jewelry as a hobby while in Fine Art school. It was Christmas, I was a broke college kid and I wanted to make gifts for my friends and family. I settled on handmade jewelry. I thought, how hard could it be? Little did I know, there is a right and wrong way in designing and constructing it. I have learned MUCH in my 16 years of jewelry making and I have long since apologized to those gift recipients. That jewelry is now dubbed "Jen's vintage pieces." (just a polite way of says crap pieces.)
Thankfully, my styles have evolved over the last 16 years and I'm always eager to learn new and interesting jewelry techniques, thanks today to YouTube ;) My latest venture is hand stamped jewelry making.
I went on to graduate with a BFA with a teaching certificate in 1999. I taught public elementary Art for 6 years and found that jewelry making was a major after school stress reliever. I got married in 2004 and had my first child in 2006. Tragically, we lost him in an accident in 2008. It took a while but again, I turned to my Art for solace. We went on to honor Ian's memory by having his sister in 2009 and his brother in 2010.
In 2011 I found ETSY and I am happy to say my hobby has become a full time business. Today, I keep busy with my little ones and travel the state of Texas selling at Fine Art Fairs and Festivals selling my jewelry. I get to wear my PJ's to work, I commute from the coffee pot to my home studio, life is still good!
