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Urban Eclectic Jewelry

Handmade Jewelry For The Bohemian Soul

Happy 10 Year Anniversary (oh my gosh!)

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Oh. My. Gosh.

This week marks my 10 year anniversary of opening the shop in Tamarindo!  I can’t believe that a decade has flown by and that I’m still here and the shop is still going strong!  Just wow!!

Urban Eclectic Jewelry

When I first found the shop, it was nothing like what it has become over the years.  It was cluttered with souvenirs and junky jewelry.  Half of the shop floor was gravel, the other half was sloppily covered with a roll of linoleum.  It was a mess.  But the space size, rent and location was perfect so, I decided to go for it.  (You can read more about how it all came to be here.)

I have no idea where I got the courage to even attempt running a handmade business.  But I’m sure glad I did.  I can’t even put into words what an amazing journey it’s been becoming a business owner and taking control of my daily existence.  Doing something I love doing has changed my entire life.  Who ever woulda’ thought I’d end up here?

The space itself has been through so many transitions over the years.  In fact, now each October it’s an annual end of season tradition to completely revamp it!

But of course, the longevity of this would never be possible without the many, many people that have strolled through and contributed to this dream. 💙 I’ve been so lucky to meet so many amazing people from all over the globe.  I’m definitely excited to see what’s next in this adventure.  It feels like more good things are coming my way and I’m feeling very thankful and optimistic about it all.

Cheers!

 

 

New Studio Space

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This year has been a year of growing, maturing (cough! cough!), and dreaming about the future. It’s hard to believe that I’ve lived here in CR for nearly 8 years and have had my shop for almost as long. It’s been a wonderful experience starting my own business and watching it grow and become a success. But now that it’s established, it’s got me thinking “forward” a bit as well. Where do I see myself in the coming years? Where do I see the shop? The jewelry line? My other creative endeavors that I’d like to dabble in (sewing, making handbags, belts and other accessories).

These thoughts have been circling in my head a lot.  I want to expand outside selling exclusively in my shop and on-line and see my work in other boutiques. This means getting together a catalog (check!), creating a whole new website (check it out here!!!) and scouting out boutiques that I think would be a good fit for my jewelry (check, check!)  I also realized that while I love my little shop, I spend a lot of time there — 6 days a week, 9 hours a day, give or take. I’m not complaining – especially after more than 15 looong, painfully stressful years working in a law firm. BUT….I also would like more time out of the shop. Not necessarily not working because I LOVE making jewelry!! But I decided that I would like an actual studio with space to really work and create collections. My workspace in the shop is about 4′ x 3′ — a girl likes to stretch her legs from time to time.

With that desire fluttering around my mind, I came across an amazing little house for rent that caught my eye. At first, I didn’t even think “Oh studio space!” — I just thought “Oh cutie-pie little cabin house!!” But for some reason, the place wouldn’t leave my mind. I decided just for kicks and giggles to see how much it was renting for.  The price was right and so I thought, why not go for it?!?

It’s perfect!!

Lots of natural light, 1 bedroom + loft + amazing patio with a view.

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And HELLO!! a bathtub!! A true rarity in Costa Rica. I’m not sure how I’m going to get any work done with that deep outdoor, jungle view tub….but I’ll do my best to work through the distraction.

I’m not really sure what the plan-plan is yet.  It’s low season here and October and November are so slow in town that it’s really not even worth being open.  I’ve decided to close for the down season for the first time since I opened 7.5 years ago and work completely from the new space.  And if I like working outside the shop, maybe for the upcoming season I’ll actually hire a part time shop person. Hmmm.  It’s been many years since I’ve had any help.  Since I’ve never worked outside the shop, I really have no idea what to expect.  Who knows, maybe I’ll hate it and decide that the shop and the action in town is a better place for me.  But I’ll never know until I try it out.  For right now, more than anything, I’m soooooo excited to set up a real work space.

Stay tuned for more photos and news on this transition.

 

Stay Positive — Take II

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The day before yesterday in the morning I wrote a post about the happenings with the construction above my shop.  This is how the shop looked as of that post.  I wasn’t super happy about what was happening upstairs, but I was really trying to put on my big-girl pants and deal with it.  At least my bougainvillea tree was masking most of the production above.

 

Then around 11 a.m. – this happened.

Rewind a few days.  The bougainvillea was trellised and secured to some posts that were in the space above me.  I saw them remove large portions of that and re-attach the tree to the side wall panel which was like paper from all the termites.  I pointed out to the workers that this was not going hold, we had to re-secure it elsewhere, which we did.  Well, apparently they decided once again to reattach it to that “paper” wall panel, which as I predicted, collapsed from the weight.

After blurting out a few less than pleasant words and “I told you” so comments, I realized I had to just let go and deal with whatever was going to happen.  It was a blessing no one got hurt because literally 1 minute before this happened, a woman was browsing the table of goodies I had outside and she had just walked away.  The tree is full of thorns that are nearly 2″ long.  I don’t even want to imagine what could have happened.

Obviously this Pandora’s box wasn’t going to get any better before it got worse.  I went and sat at the restaurant across from me, ordered a nice strong Coca-Cola on the rocks and just watched.  It was like watching a Three Stooges episode.  It just got worse and worse.

We had to chop a good amount of the tree because obviously there was nothing to tie it up to and with the tree gone, it was even more clear that the roof was barely hanging on.  There was one little board (on the left) that was propping up everything.  All other wooden beams were completely eaten by the termites.

Shop

Collectively, we all decided that the roof had definite potential to become a flying guillotine once the winds pick up here in a few weeks.  That the best thing to do is just remove it — for everyone’s safety.  Shop 5

So at the end of the day…..this what was left of my structure.
Shop 6

Morning vs. Afternoon

By the time they got the roof off, I had totally just exhaled the entire situation.  It is what it is.  Hopefully now with the roof off – this new tenant who was supposedly starting construction yesterday will look at the project and either think “Screw this!  This is too much work!” or he’ll say “Better to wait until after the holidays to take this on.”  Hmmmm….I actually wouldn’t mind taking the space over and raising my roof or maybe even making a second story??  A little loft space?

Who knows what’s going to happen with all this.  At least as of this morning, the inside of my shop is put together, although they did make a new hole in my ceiling this morning.   Hey people pay good money for skylights, I got it for free.  (Gritting teeth!!)

This thing is this – and if you’ve ever spend any time in Costa Rica you will recognize the truth in this – Costa Rica is a beautiful country with many things to love about it.  But, it’s completely jinxed with it comes to getting anything done be it pay a bill, get a part for your car, place an order for a product, or God forbid, try to get something built or fixed  Anything that can go wrong, will and whenever you think the task might be completed — multiple that by a few months!  Just bet on that from the beginning and you’ll have no disappointments or frustrations.

The upside??  Hmmmmmm…..how about this.  A good friend of mine knowing I was having a less than calming day came by with dark, melt-in-your-mouth chocolate!  Now that’s a good friend!!:)

Friendship is chocolateRead the follow-up to this post here.

It’s All Coming Along

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I must say, I’m pretty happy with how the shop is shaping up.  I opened it a little over 6 years ago and it’s amazing how much my tastes and styling preferences have changed in that time.  In many ways, as much as I loved my shop before, I had grown tired of the colors and designs.  It didn’t feel like “me” anymore.  A lot of that is attributed to how much my jewelry has evolved over the years.  My designs are lighter, drapier, more geometric, so the shop’s new cleaner design and lighter colors feel more on point.

I love using all the driftwood and beach treasures that I’ve collected over the years from beaches all over both coasts of Costa Rica.  I painted little geometric patterns on them and I think it really gives them a little something extra.