New Beginnings
Spring is finally in the air! It seemed like it would never get here this year, but here we are on May 2 in the 80s. I will take that any day over being cold!
There is a ton going on around here behind the scenes. My rebrand is in full swing, and as you can see, my first standalone website is live. Very exciting!
If you're not familiar with my work, here is a little background: I have been in business designing and making jewelry since 2008, but with the name madison house designs. I had stumbled upon Etsy, which, at the time was a different place—a place for all things handmade. I picked a name and set up shop with some okay looking jewelry and some pretty awful photography. I chose a name that made sense to me at the time, as I was living in a house on Madison Avenue. See what I did there? I know, it's not clever, but I never really dreamed that it would still be around all these years later! There may be a lesson or two in there...
Over the course of the last 10 years (that sounds crazy when I say it), I have taken classes to improve my skills with Precisous Metal Clay (PMC), metalsmithing, stone-setting and lost wax casting. I really enjoy learning from expert jewelers, and usually it ends up saving me time and frustration in my day-to-day making.
When my full-time employment in advertising came to an end due to downsizing in January of this year, I decided it was finally time to get my business together and give myself a fighting chance. River and Birch was born.
So here I am! Still learning techniques from masters and evolving my style and finding my voice, but also really figuring out what things are important to me in my business: sustainability, ease of wear and durability, to name a few.
I hope that when you choose and wear one of my designs you find it to be well-made and able to be enjoyed for years. I hope that you enjoy the eco-friendly packaging and that you recycle it (or better yet, reuse it!) I hope you know that I am making choices for my business that minimize my impact on the planet while making jewelry that is easy to wear for many occasions. Enjoy!
xo, Theresa