The market for jewelry is huge! The styles, the prices, and the way people are purchasing their jewelry is changing all of the time. Tradition shows us that people show up at a jeweler to pick out a gorgeous piece to add to their collection, but now a growing number of people are logging on to find their jewelry. Most of what people are finding and purchasing come from individuals ilke Miriam of Miriam Jewels.
Miriam creates one of a kind Peruvian crochet jewelry, a style that isn’t nearly as known as it should be. It is her unique jewelry pieces that keep her customers coming back for more, each one as beautiful as the next. Created solely out of passion, Miriam Jewels has become a successful business.
What is Miriam Jewels and how many pieces of jewelry do you generally offer at one time?
Miriam Jewels is a unique jewelry studio specializing in handmade crochet Peruvian jewelry. Crochet jewelry is the result of combining the ancient arts of crocheting, wire wrapping, knotting and knitting with metal wire, crystals, precious and semi-precious stones. Miriam Jewels creates timeless pieces of wearable art. Miriam Jewels also collaborates with other extremely gifted artists who create innovative pieces of crochet jewelry that add and complement to the Miriam Jewels jewelry collections. The highlight of our crochet jewelry is the Peruvian Stitch that is a flawless Peruvian crochet technique that creates perfectly symmetrical stitches that result in amazing eye-catching wire jewelry designs. At Miriam Jewels we also believe in the mystical power of metals, stones, and crystals.
I have a few hundred pieces, most of them are one of a kind so it is hard to have all of them on the website.
What exactly is wire crocheted jewelry? How would someone go about learning to crochet a piece of jewelry?
Crochet is the art of weaving with a needle and yarn but some people do it with wire instead of yarn. I don’t know of any videos out there, there are books in the libraries and classes at some bead shops but I haven’t seen any Peruvian Crochet in the United States.
Maybe I will do a video!!!
How long have you been making crocheted jewelry? When did you start and how long did it take before you felt you’d perfected your skills to a professional level?
I started making crochet jewelry about 3 years ago. It went fairly quickly for me to pick it up but, again, the trick is to find the right audience to buy it.
What kind of road blocks have you faced since the launch of your business? What lessons were you able to take from those experiences?
Coming from such a different background (social work) and running the business on my own, I had to learn everything from jewelry making to bookkeeping. Finances is always a major issue and you really have to persevere. I am still working on my confidence, selling techniques, etc… Sometimes you may do something amazing but if its not the right audience it does not matter. You are always learning.
What kind of niche do you feel your business fills within the jewelry world?
I am not sure yet, only time will tell but I would like to think that right now I fit into the fine fashion jewelry scene and I hope to get to the fine jewelry world.
On average, how long does it take for you to create just one necklace?
It could take from 1:30 hrs to days but on average 3 hours.
What inspires your jewelry designs? Do you ever get ‘designers block’ and how do you over come that problem?
I am usually inspired by color, but it could be many different things such as finding a stone that I really like, seeing a jewelry piece, designing for a specific event, etc… Of course I have “designer’s block”! When you do something for a living you have to do it when you are sick, tired, hungry….You just have to keep going until the “inspiration” comes back. It always does.
What did you decide to become an entrepreneur? Is it something you’ve always wanted to do?
This is a passion not a business. Once I found my passion I couldn’t stop and that’s what keeps me going. I never dreamed for being a business owner but here I am.
What forms of advertising have worked the best for getting the word out about your products?
To be honest with you, I don’t know yet. I have tried web marketing, fundraisers, private jewelry shows, street fairs and I think that everything has worked up to a certain extent but it is still to early to know which was will attract “best” results.
What advice do you have for those entrepreneurs-to-be interested in giving the jewelry making business a try?
Be persistent and BELIEVE in yourself. There are all kinds of people and all different tastes so you are bound to find the right audience but it may take time and you need to decide how far you are willing to go until you get there. Also, even if the “business” is not a financial success it does not mean that you don’t have a great product!!!