Made In The Mountains

Being from Northern California, I'm never far from the mountains. When we aren't at home with our four cats (yeah, FOUR), my guy and I spend most of our days off together floating around on snow melt created lakes in our kayaks with our dog, Layla. It's those days that I take a few minutes to seek out perfect pieces of driftwood and stone to make my pieces with. That is, if Layla doesn't chew up all the good pieces of wood before I get to them.

The Hammered Spoon started with the idea that I could make simple, beautiful pieces with naturally found, sustainably sourced and cleansed items from nature. The Quartz crystals I use in my jewelry making are all found locally by my family and friends, and often include Smoky, Amethyst, or other inclusions. I love the outdoors, and I'm so excited to have found a way of keeping them close to me, whether I'm at home, or at work.

Now, to be honest, I've been selling my items for years locally. But it wasn't until this last December that I decided that I was going to try and turn it into my full time job. I've been in retail management for most of my young adult life, and after 12 years of it, I was done. The extra push came in the form of the last company I was working for finally crumbling into the retail bankruptcy graveyard. My staff and I were given less than a month to liquidate our entire stock, and close down the store. We found out about the bankruptcy just before Christmas, and needless to say, it really put a damper on our holiday spirits.

That's when something crazy happened. We all suddenly got really excited about the idea of no longer having to sling cheap clothing for a  living, and we couldn't get out of that place soon enough. It took less than two weeks for us to clear out most of our stock so the company shut our location down early, just before the end of the year. It was refreshing not having to worry about working New Years Eve for the first time in what felt like forever, and the benefits that came with going down with the ship were just enough to keep me afloat in life while I began my journey into the world of making with the intention of selling.

And that's how I got here! I found an incredible part time job walking dogs to help cover my monthly bills without taking over all of my waking hours (Managing a retail location means you're always working, even when you aren't there!), and now I spend most normal business hours making my OOAK items and coming up with new, exciting ideas for future pieces. It's pretty great, I'm not gonna lie. So get ready for some awesome DIY tutorials, recipes, and a little peak into what its like to be me. (Spoiler: My cats are gonna make quite a few appearances here, so if you like pretty things, food and cats, you came to the right blog.)

Thanks for stopping by!

-Marie