FEATURED SELLER 5/8/15
ChicShedJewelry
Chic Shed Jewelry is craft, fashion, design, art, and happiness all in one store.
As a child, my mother always encouraged my creativity. She was a nursery director at church and was responsible for doing crafts with the church kids among many other things. For example, we would go out in the fall and pick up pine cones in the park, and then she would set up tables with glue and string and glitter at church for all of us in the nursery to make pinecone ornaments out of for Christmas! She bought me crayons, markers, paints, charcoal pencils, pastels, water color sets, an easel, sketchpads, everything! She has my art from growing up framed all around her house to show off, from paintings to little ceramics and what not.
I knew I adored art. In high school, I had an art teacher who said (when I was a sophomore) that I was the second best artist she had (the first best was a senior). And she encouraged me to go to this art college I believe in Pennsylvania. But at the time, I was pretty set on writing fiction. Not to mention, I couldn't imagine how to support myself doing art.
Well, I went to college for writing and teaching English. I hated it. Well, I loved writing, but not the teaching part, and again I couldn't imagine something like writing (like art) could make me money. So I finished college but got a general studies degree, completely confused about what I wanted to do in life. Well, I was married, and I got pregnant in 2014 with my son, and I figured, well, this is it. I'll be a stay at home mother. But by only one month into motherhood I was in tears desperate for something that was mine. Something that defined me and belonged to only me. I needed something apart from my family to make me happy.
My husband has had a collection of shed antlers in a box he collects for years. And at a craft show a year ago from the time I started my business, I saw some deer antler jewelry (not like what I make, but same medium- antler). I didn't buy a piece but I wanted one, and even told my husband I did. Well, he had a deer skull and for whatever reason I asked if I could paint it. He said "If you do a good job" and let me. So I did and he liked it, and I asked if he had more skulls. He said he did, and we got started talking about shed antlers and making jewelry from them. He knew someone at his work who made key chains and knives from antlers, but jewelry was something we both knew could sell and I would have fun making. I thought "I can do this" and went at it, making jewelry, buying things to make it. I had sold my car recently and had about $250 to spend on starting a career. So I just started small and began this etsy shop with the jewelry I made on March 31st, 2015 and began advertising every way I knew how. Less than two weeks after opening I got my first order, and now, less than a month after opening, I have a custom order in the works, family buying my jewelry, and my husband getting me orders from his work for his friends.
God has been with me the entire time, from when I was a child and knew what I loved. To confusing teen years and distracted, lost young adult years, full circle to 25 years old and starting my own small business. Yes I know it's very tiny now, but I truly believe in my art and deer antler jewelry, and that this is what I'm supposed to do.
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