JewelryByAprilee

"1. How and when did you start making your craft as a business? My business started back in January 2009 listing only a few pieces into Artfire (I only had maybe 5 bracelets then). About 2 to 3 months later and with a few more pieces in hand, I expanded to other venues, and eventually I started my own website. At first I wasn't planning on making this a business, but because I love to shop and I found myself with oodles of jewelry making material, I had to make some money for my spending habit. Plus this allowed me to stay home to work and take care of my children (3 girls) at the same time. I have a background in office management/human resources, accounting, retail marketing, and have helped small businesses set up before so that aspect was easy for me. Through online tutorials, flipping through magazines and studying how pieces were put together I commenced practicing my new found skills with my children's broken jewelry. (For the longest time, they would spend their money on the stuff you get in the chain stores in the mall, cheap mass produced things. Yuck)


2. Do you remember the first piece you ever made? My first piece I made from scratch and using my own design would be a necklace I made for my Nana at Christmas back in 2008. I used different Swarovski Crystals to represent the children's and grandchildren's birthstones. It was a long necklace that she can easily slip over her head. She still wears it to family get togethers."