Hi, Friends. How are you? It's Friday again. We will not be doing our normal Friday follow today. We are heading off to a
craft show this weekend and I won't be able to keep up with it. Come join us in Clearfield as we celebrate fall at
Revived and Company.
I am excited for the Fall Fest. We were invited by my Instagram friend Debb from
Debb's Designs. Super excited to participate.
I am also very excited to introduce you to another Insta Buddy of mine, Kimberly Groschke. Kimberly and her Mother in Law, Michele, work together on their jewelry business Urban Sparkle Co. Kim handles the advertising and social media and communication, while Michele makes their unique jewelry pieces. They make a great pair and offer some really fun jewelry pieces. Today, Michele will be taking over my blog and telling you a little bit more about herself and their business.
I (Michele) grew up in the Midwest and as soon as I graduated from college, I looked for somewhere without snow. I researched areas of the country and Houston was growing quickly. Now I live in Conroe, TX, which is one of the fastest-growing cities in the nation.
I have been evolving my abilities over the last 14 years. At first, it was just for friends and private jewelry shows. Then when I retired, I decided to increase my visibility at the urging of friends and loyal customers.
My original inspiration was to make high quality, unique costume jewelry that would remain beautiful for a long time. I use only semi precious gemstones, freshwater pearls, US made Tierracast findings, Swarovski crystals, and Czech Glass components. I operate on a very tight margin as I am not in it to make lots of money, but instead to make women feel beautiful when they wear my pieces. To buy my pieces from a department store it would easily be three times what I charge.
Our shop name was a collaborative effort between my daughter-in-law Kim and I wanted something like "bling" in the name and she wanted something youthful and modern so Urban Sparkle Co was born.
Kim and I decided to go on line about a year ago when she decided to lend her expertise to the effort. I needed help understanding how to tap into social media and expand my loyal customer base.
I'd like to grow large enough to give some of my retired friends a means to earn extra income. I'd also like to make Kim full time. I don't want to get so large that I have to compromise my quality or the uniqueness of my pieces.
My most favorite pieces are those that incorporate handmade lamp work beads from US artists. The colors and designs are amazing and I love the challenge of finding stones and crystals that bring out their individual beauty.
If you are looking to go into the handmade business find your niche, adapt based on customer feedback and persevere. You have to believe in yourself and what you do.
Thank you so much, Michele, for sharing about yourself, Kim and Urban Sparkle Co. I love your pieces and hope your dreams will be realized.
You can find Michele and Kim on line at the following locations:
https://www.facebook.com/urbansparkleco/
https://www.etsy.com/shop/UrbanSparkleCo
https://www.instagram.com/urbansparkleco/
Please note that there are affiliate links in our blog posts. If you happen to chose to click on one of the links you can help bring in some money to maintain our blog.
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