About five years ago, I was looking for a hobby. I had tried sewing and managed to botch that. Tried crochet and knitting and that didn't go well either. I had been working at Barnes and Noble at the time and during work, I'd end up in the craft section either looking for a book for a customer or shelving a book. I had seen all the books on jewelry making and beading, so one day, I decided to get one and see if I could actually make something. The book was for beginners, and the project I chose was fairly easy. I went to the craft store and bought a bunch of stuff and after a couple of failed attempts, made a very nice necklace.
My bead craze was born. I went nuts! I bought beads in all shapes and sizes colors and materials. I made so many necklaces and bracelets that I would never have a chance to wear. I bought magazines on beading and learned new stuff and gradually moved from simply stringing the stuff onto a string to using wire to make beaded links like a rosary. Then came earrings. Earrings were awesome because I could knock out a pair in about ten minutes. I made earrings for outfits on the fly.
All this bead madness eventually infected my friends and family. Christmas, birthdays, anytime I needed to give a gift, I'd end up making something. A couple of people at work asked me to make things for them. When I worked at a bank, we did a fundraiser for Breast Cancer. I made earrings and sold them for 5 bucks a pair with all the money going to the charity. I'd sell a bracelet here, earrings there usually to my friends (especially around Christmas) and always in the back of my mind I'd think I should do this as a business.
I had dabbled in selling my jewelry to perfect strangers. I listed some things on Ebay with minimal success. One particularly successful venture was a craft show at my daughter's elementary school. I made a little money and it was a good learning experience.
The beads and wire and stuff eventually started to crowd me and early this year, I purged about 95% of everything. I hadn't touched the jewelry stuff in about a year. Then a friend at work asked me to make a necklace to go with a pendant she had. I realized how much I had missed the jewelry stuff. Enter an ad at work for someone selling all of their jewelry making supplies. Beads, wire, tools. I couldn't resist. I brought home my loot and soon I was knee-deep in my love of all things sparkley and shiney. Again, the idea to make a business out of this tickled my brain.
This idea was still brewing in my head, rolling around while Bill and I rambled around London. Our first day, we went to the Natural History Museum and while walking through the marine exhibit, I saw a Rabbitfish. He was a strange looking critter, but something about it appealed to me. He (I call it "he" but for all I know, it could have been a girl). Also called a Chimeara it made me think of a fantastical creature. A quirky, eccentric combination of stuff. I also liked the name. It was catchy, memorable. I snapped a picture of him.
As if the gods of all things pretty were prodding me, in London, Bill and I went to a thrift store where I found a bag of broken jewelry "suitable for crafting purposes only." Said so right on the bag. Of course, I snagged it. I had always imagined making jewelry out of nifty things I'd found at yard sales or thrift stores. Old beads and pendants, earrings and bracelets would be given a new life.
And so, Rabbitfish Jewelry was born!
And with that, a blog. Here you can read about my adventures in beading as well as updates on new stuff in my shop.
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