Jewelry By Jessica's Colorful Shrink Plastic Jewelry: An Unlikely Material Creates A Fun, Profitable Business
by Jessica Poundstone
(Portland, Oregon)
Jewelry By Jessica Necklace: Laurel in French Blue + Brown
It all began with a polymer clay pendant I saw online; the artist had transferred one of her photos onto a piece of polymer clay and I thought it looked amazing.
I decided to try my hand at it, and took a trip to the craft store. But while I was there, fate intervened. I saw a package of clear shrink plastic and thought, "Hey, I bet I could make jewelry out of that."
That night in 2005, I started making jewelry at my kitchen table.
I still vividly remember the very first piece I made: a rectangular pendant with rows of orange, blue and red dots! (Hmm, perhaps I should revive that design!)
At that time, no one that I knew of was making jewelry out of shrink plastic, so I felt a little strange about wearing the things I'd made from it out of the house.
But I did it anyway, and began receiving compliments whenever I wore my work.
Then one day, a shop owner asked where I got the necklace I was wearing. I told her I made it, and she said she wanted to sell them. That blew me away!
I brought her 10 pieces; by the end of the week, they had all sold! I didn't even know enough in those days to know how amazing that was : )
Now, four years later, I know a whole lot more about the jewelry business (thanks in large part to this web site!), have perfected my unique process of drawing and painting on shrink plastic, and have taken the business far further than I ever would have dreamed that first night sitting at my kitchen table, my head spinning with ideas. The ideas haven't stopped yet!
The best part about this little business is meeting so many amazing and wonderful people from all over the world. I'm proud to say that folks in places as far flung as Paris, Edinburgh, Okinawa and Copenhagen are sporting my pieces. That's very cool!
I hope your jewelry business brings you as much joy as mine does for me!
Best,
Jessica
Jewelry By Jessica
