Jewelry Shop: Featured Jewelry Artist: Jennifer Skinner

Let's meet Jennifer Skinner! I spotted her from flickr and etsy and invited her for an interview. Here is the story written by Jennifer on how she got started with jewelry making and her mission going forward.

My name is Jennifer Skinner. My business is Earthtones Creations and my web address is www.earthtonescreations.etsy.com.

I live in Waynesboro, PA, which is a very small town right over the Mason Dixon Line. I would gladly be a full time starving artist if it meant that only I would starve, but I have two children, so I am an insurance agent by day. My long-term goal is to at least be able to supplement my income enough to cut back to part time work, and spend more time at home.

I’ve been making jewelry since my senior year of high school, so about 9 years

My most unique items are my wire-wrapped gemstone pendants. Back in March of 2007 I went to a Ratdog show in Baltimore. This is a band formed by Bob Weir, one of the remaining members of the Grateful Dead. We ended up with an extra ticket to the show so we decided to “miracle” someone (meaning find someone who needs a ticket to a sold out show and just give it to them for free). In exchange for the ticket the fellow dead head that we gave the ticket to gave my boyfriend this huge intricate wire sculpted pendant with 5 or 6 different crystals and I was amazed by the talent and patience it must have taken to create.

So I studied it for months and went through trial and error trying to figure out the different techniques to make my own pendants. Last summer a friend from North Carolina stayed with us for a few weeks and he and I were both at about the same point in try to learn to work with wire and we exchanged tips and techniques. My boyfriend gave him the pendant that he got at the Ratdog show the year before…it’s all a big circle.

I just started my website in November and now that’s where I primarily sell. Although in the spring and summer I take my jewelry on the road to the parking lots of shows and sell at 3-4 day camping music festivals. I used to do craft shows, but I’ve found in the last few years there are so many jewelry booths at craft shows that it’s hard to make a profit. I may do a few local, small craft shows this summer, just because I miss getting to meet and greet my customers since beginning to sell primarily over the internet.

I struggled a lot with how to set my prices on my jewelry. I am a cheapskate. I only buy things for myself when they are on clearance or I get a really good deal (I’ve been wearing the same sneakers for 6 years) so I didn’t want to price anything more than I would be willing to pay for it. Even now, I don’t pay myself enough an hour considering the amount of time I spend making my jewelry and that is my biggest mistake. When your prices are lower people are tempted to believe that your products are of lessor quality, and I’ve run into that problem too.

I use my pendants as bait almost. Whether a customer would ever buy or wear them, they are unique and worth looking at for a few minutes and once you get them to stop and look it’s easier to sell a much less expensive bracelet or pair of earrings.

So, I’ve set a five year goal that I can work a part-time job (something I enjoy like waitressing, or go back to the craft store I used to be a cashier at – something more fulfilling than selling insurance) and sell my creations online in the winter and hit the road for a month or two in the summer and set up a vending booth at concerts and festivals. The Dead have reunited for a 2009 tour so you’ll find me in the parking lot of the Verizon Center in Washington DC on April 14^th. I’ll also be wandering the campsites at Delfest Memorial Day weekend in Cumberland, MD and at the All Good Music Festival July 10-12 in Masontown, WV.

Jennifer, thanks for the interview and I wish you all the best in your jewelry business. Cheers