Jewelry For Your
From Ambrz Art
Meet Amber, The Founder of Ambrz Art
Laura: First things first, tell me about your business? What do you create and who do you create it for?
Amber: My high school sweetheart hubby Marty & I handcraft “Jewelry for Your Home & Garden” from locally recycled copper, steel, my fused glass pieces and sometimes beach finds. From sun catchers I call “Window Jewelry” to one of a kind hanging decorations and wall art, each piece is unique, signed, and sure to be a conversation starter. Women over 40 are my best customers but also men and younger people looking for gifts or home decor find my art to be perfect. 🙂
Laura: How did you first get started in your industry?
Amber: I’ve been crafting since I was a child, taking apart 1970’s too-long costume jewelry necklaces to make matching sets for my tiny 7 year old body.
After I was rear ended by a bus full of road crew convicts and couldn’t work for 6 weeks in my 20’s, I remembered my childhood pastime and when I got better started re-creating my own collection of jewelry into more modern pieces I wanted to wear again…and people started buying what I’d transformed right off my body!
I showed a Lake Tahoe gallery owner my jewelry and he said “go big!” That’s when I went home & dragged hubby into business with me to figure out how to make larger pieces…that was in 2001. We both make art full time now.
Laura: What is one thing you want people to know about you, that they may not
already know?
Amber: I’m actually pretty shy. Festival goers may not notice that under whatever colorful costume I’m wearing that day, but I really am 🙂 oh, and I do custom orders, which not everyone knows, so just ask if you don’t see what you want!
Laura: What do you struggle with most when it comes to running your own business?
Amber: This year, it’s been social media advertising and outreach… Usually we’re traveling to a festival on the west coast nearly every weekend but this year I’ve had to get creative online instead. It’s not easy keeping up with promoting yourself. I spend as much time on that as I do on making new art these days…
Laura: What is one thing that comes really easy for you?
Amber: Hubby would say my salesmanship. Learned a lot from my construction manager dad, and trying to make a living off our art especially in the early days has been a trial by fire! But cold call sales trips definitely helped the most with overcoming my shyness, and made it possible for us to make a living. He thinks I shine at it now <3 I think I still could learn more 🙂
Laura: What aspect of your business is the most rewarding?
Amber: When people react with wonder and awe to my creations it gives me such great warm fuzzies of pleasure! But my favorite part of my artistic process is when all the copper & glass parts are made and I can use them to design pieces to my heart’s content.
Laura: How do you manage the stress and overwhelm of running your own business?
Amber: Since we work most weekends, and replenish our inventory during the week, we don’t get much time off. But we make sure to take moments for fun here & there: biking or boogie boarding on warm days, gardening, playing video games, etc.
We’re lucky that we live 5 minutes by bike from the ocean and I find a lot of my art supplies there, so we can kill 2 birds with 1 stone-gathering supplies while also meandering to our hearts content. Doing our favorite things de-stresses us. Having a part time job 1 or 2 days/week also helps with fluctuating income & the stress that can bring, as well as helping to eliminate cabin fever.
Reducing living expenses is also stress relieving. I also make lists and focus on 1 thing at a time when possible so I don’t get overwhelmed, and forgiving myself if I can’t get it all done when I want to.
Laura: Who influences or inspires you the most in regards to your industry?
Amber: Artists are a super creative bunch and they all provide me with little bits of inspiration that I in turn try to make my own, but I don’t know many who make the kind of art that I make so it’s hard to name an artist as inspiration… but I love Chihuly glass and Frida Kahlo’s imaginative paintings. Surreal, fantasy art is what draws me in the most.
Laura: You have “a worthy brand,” I can see that, but why do you feel your brand is worthy? How do you remind yourself of your worth to continue building your business each day, how do you remind yourself, you are worth it!
Amber: My art is worthy because of the material it is made from (recycled materials to help the earth, plus it’s copper!), the artistic skills I’ve spent a lifetime perfecting, and the fact that it has brought so much happiness to so many people reminds me just how worthwhile it is… every fair we do now, someone tells us how much they love the Ambrz Art they bought or got as a gift.
Makes me feel famous lol. It’s really incredible to hear the love and joy in their voices as they tell us their stories, and how they say it makes them happy just to look at it. I like to think a small part of the joy we feel in making it is imbibed into each piece, bringing our joy to the world at large. It’s really an incredible feeling to make people happy.
That’s worth all the sacrifices we’ve ever made to do this, and worth stamping out my shyness to wear a silly costume that brings even more smiles to people’s faces!
Laura: And last… if you could give new or struggling entrepreneurs one piece of advice, what would it be?
Amber: Just do it. Do what makes you happy. If you can manage to make money doing what makes you happy, then it’s not a “job”, it’s a lifestyle for happiness.
Feel free to have a backup plan (like a part time job that also makes you happy!) to help with expenses, but constantly work towards your own goals of what works for you. It’s taken me some time to get where I am today, so be patient and ignore the naysayers, but I couldn’t be happier. Richer maybe, but not happier 😀
Photography By Amber Jones
These stunning works of art are just so colorful and vibrant. Thank You Amber for sharing yourself and your brand with us. I love how you incorporate colors into your designs. I know many people who would love your art, including myself. Amber’s story is a great reminder to do what we truly love and are passionate about.
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