In response to some queries I have had in the last little while, I thought I would sit down and detail the Hunt Jewelz origin story.
I should probably preface my story by explaining that I come to creativity and design honestly.
My mom spent a few years in the late-1980s and early-1990s doing the craft show circuits of Southern Ontario, selling jewellery made from Friendly Plastic. While I don't remember these shows, I am told that I was extremely adorable, and good at attracting the attention of potential customers and other vendors, alike. My mom is an incredibly creative and talented woman. Seriously, the woman decorates cakes, paints, is a licensed hairdresser, sews, cooks, etc. You name it, she can probably make it.
My dad is also creatively driven. He uses his creativity to build furniture and product prototypes. The guy is also a deep thinker. He's noticeably intelligent, but if you take the time to listen to what he has to say, you will realize how unique and amazing his intellect truly is.
Even my sisters are talented. One of them has also gone the entrepreneur route, and started her own
photography business. She could also beat me at Pictionary when she was only two years old.
Needless to say, I grew up assuming that everyone on the planet was super creative and talented. I have since been told that that is not the norm.
Now, our story requires that we all get in our 'way-back machines' and take a little trip into the distant mists of a lost era: the year 2000. Please make sure you put on your seat belts, folks. This ride may get a bit bumpy on re-entry.
If anyone remembers the year 2000, you may recall that pony-beaded animal key-chains on backpacks and bags were all the rage, especially if you were a 12-year old public school student. If you don't know what I am talking about, see the images below for context.
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| Photo Credit to AbeBooks |
Amazingly, I still have this book. And many, many others that I primarily only keep for nostalgia purposes.
I already had experience using plastic lanyard cord for making woven bracelets, as I had learned that at camp during a summer previous to this craze. Adding beads, and doing a different type of weaving wasn't much of a stretch to my abilities.
I quickly became obsessed. I loved the variety that simple beads and string could take. I made every design in this book. I began to search out designs from other books at Walmart and Chapters, library books, even online (although internet access to everything has since improved by leaps and bounds). I often designs with different colour configurations and patterns than those laid out for me. I was constantly pushing myself to make more, or to make something more difficult. When I couldn't find designs for things I wanted to make, I made my own using graph paper, lovingly supplied by my father.
All the while, I was making these and giving them to friends and family, or selling them at school (and getting into trouble for it! As a note, this was not the first time, or the first school to challenge my entrepreneurial spirit. I will probably tell that story in a future post.) and garage sales. At one point, I had at least half a dozen of these beaded critters on my backpack, as one does when these crazes hit.
But, as is inevitable with me, I got bored. If you aren't aware, when it comes to creative work, I feel the need to push myself constantly. As a designer, I hate status quo (this does not match with the rest of my personality, by the way).
Pony beads and plastic string were too easy. After finding some seed beads and thread in the basement of our house, I decided to make these same beaded animals, but on a micro level. I quickly determined that string was too flopsy for what I ultimately wanted to use these teeny tiny animals for: jewellery. Once I purchased some super thin, 34 Gauge silver wire, my vision was achieved.
This all seemed to be a natural fit - I had also found bags of earring hooks, clasps, jumprings and other supplies left over from another era, all just waiting for a purpose. To top it all off, we already had turnstiles and display cases sitting down in the basement from the years of doing craft shows in the 1980s (displays which, I might add, were made by my dad - Seriously, I was absolutely steeped in creativity and design work my whole life).
Plus, how cool would everyone be if I had teeny tiny yellow geckos hanging from my ears? Pretty darn cool - at least in my head.
To be continued...
