How Owl Tree Jewelry began
I'm T, a New York'er originally from Pasadena, CA. I've been creating jewelry for over a decade. In my 20's, before I started creating, to make a few extra bucks, I sold for a 3rd party jewelry company which sparked an interest. I wanted to create my own! Sturdier, better quality pieces. Lots of trial + error, but that's how you learn! As a banker at the time, I wore my pieces to work. Compliments + requests to purchase began to flow in. Down the road I set up at farmers markets, home shows, so on. It was fun but time became an issue. I started going to school for massage therapy, then began my career as a licensed massage therapist.
I was drawn to gemstones the same way I was to massage therapy, the healing aspect, the good vibes. There are so many healing properties in stones. Healing is so important, it is crucial. We're always told "Be Strong!" but first we must heal. Healing isn't pretty, it's raw + rigid, it's messy, but we must heal so that we're able to stay strong.
The children's hospital + animal rescue:
I had struggled with unexplained infertility, saw childrens' wish lists one day, decided to give back, get some good karma maybe. They had back to school sales. I bought crayons, markers, glue, books and began to donate to the children's hospital. The very grateful hospital coordinator said, "You won't believe how quickly we go through these things trying to keep the kids busy.." It was such a humbling experience, made me want to donate more the following year.
In the mean time, decided to adopt a rescue dog. A client of mine sent me a link to the FreeToBeMe rescue on Facebook. Long story short, I discovered how selfless + passionate these people are helping rescue animals from horrid puppy mills + hoarding situations. I saw it first hand with my rescues Wilma + Fred for months. Unable to walk on a leash, terrified of toys. My dog Fred has a paw missing. Wilma, who was absolutely my little princess had cardiac arrest 22 months after I adopted them. Purchasing from pet stores keep these awful mills going, it's heart wrenching! In an effort to help, I donated jewelry every year so they could raffle them + keep proceeds. Soon enough, my inventory was depleted. I wanted to donate again. I wanted to create, sell online, which genuinely is SO much work. I needed a reason.. What better reason to follow a dream than the fulfillment of giving back to organizations so near + dear to my heart! Thank you for taking the time to read ALL that. Believe it or not, I shortened it some.. Lol!
-Tal
