Bound to ReStyle formerly known as Gem and I Jewelry & Gifts
I am happy to share that I have finally renamed my business. It has been a long process trying to come up with a name that fits what I have been making as well as leave room to expand in any direction I may choose. I started my business making jewelry from semi-precious stones and sterling silver. Over two years of struggling for success and having so many hit and miss shows I came to the conclusion that the jewelry business, for me, just wasn't lucrative enough. I have since found that Journals, Cards, Hand Dyed Slips, Magnets and Cups are loved by many.
By nature I am a crafty creature, I am always coming up with new projects and inspired daily to use what I have around me. One afternoon I made my self a cook book from an old book I found in a free bin outside of
Michael's Books my favorite book store here in Bellingham. My dear friend Laura told me I should try selling cook books or journals similar to what I had made for myself. On another occasion I hand dyed a vintage slip to solve a too short of a skirt problem, while out on the town a woman asked where I got it. I told her I dyed it, she said she would buy one if I ever made more. SO I made ten of each of my new projects took them to my next show, they all sold immediately. And there ya are! I knew then that I was now a journal and a slip maker. Jewelry making is something I still love to do when I have the time, it has a meditative feeling like knitting is for some folks. I may come back to it but for now I need to feel the success and joy of creating and selling. Seeing people walk away happy with their new treasures while contributing to my family’s financial needs is a happy day for me. win/win right?
Through my business evolutions my husband Odin has supported me an
d my love of re-claiming un-used & un-loved items that would other wise end up in a landfill or accumulating in a thrift shop. This year he has joined me in my business and has started re-purposing beer bottles into cups. For 10 years we have been Stone Ale enthusiasts and have had a vast collection bottles for each release. In the past Odin has brewed mead and we were also storing bottles for this in the garage with the intent of brewing again. Years of dust build up and finding new places to stash them around the house he decided he had to do something with all these unused but
totally awesome bottles. He thought if he either got rid of them or cut them into cups that he just might start brewing again. Yaknow Murphy's Law if you throw it away then you’ll find you needed it. After a lot of experimenting he mastered his bottle cutting technique. When we showed off his new skill all our friends wanted one so we gave some away as early Solstice gifts. I took two cases with me to
Pacific Arts Holiday Market ; they were sold out the before the end of the first weekend. I called Odin and told him to buy a ton of beer, have his buddies come help him drink it because I had people coming to buy more the next day. Needless to say every one was on board and ready to come to our aid. *wink So far he has been enjoying the bottle cutting so much that he hasn’t felt like brewing, I haven’t given up hope though his mead is amazing!
SO here Odin and I are
Bound to Restyle! Come visit us and see our booth at the
Bellingham Farmers Market every Saturday April-July September-November and The Fairhaven Wednesday Market June-September
Community Food Co-op
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