Theresa

When Austinite Theresa Mink decided to close her furniture store after 18 years of operation, she wasn’t certain what she would do next. She did know it would entail using her creative talents in a self-fulfilling way. A graduate of Houston Baptist University, with a degree in Psychology and Art, Theresa has always had an artistic flair. “Whether it was designing and making clothing for my dolls as a child, taking piano, ballet, or painting classes as a school girl, or exploring multiple mediums at Houston Baptist University, I was always happiest when I was using my creativity to express myself”, Ms. Mink reminisced.

As she explored her possibilities over the next year, Theresa was drawn to an entirely new artistic medium. Jewelry design and it’s manufacture. “I knew nothing about designing and constructing jewelry pieces, but I’ve always loved visualizing something in my mind and then making it a physical reality – whether it was from a blank canvas or a stack of colored glass transformed into a stained glass piece”.

“I started out with inexpensive beads, experimenting with techniques, different color combinations,shapes, and textures, and as my ability improved over time I began to work with semi-precious gems and gold.”

Femme

“Marketing the finished pieces turned out to be a bigger challenge than creating them! I played with the idea of offering my pieces to shops that specialized in handcrafted jewelry, but decided that the exposure to potential customers would be too small, so I created a website to display my pieces, and went about learning how to make people aware of it. Anyone who has ever tried to sell on the internet is aware of the challenge of getting their website noticed.”

After much research, Theresa learned of a leading website that allowed handcrafted artisans to open a shop on their site…. htttp://www.etsy.com.

At first Theresa had no idea what the possibilities were for her jewelry designs, but as the months went by, the sales numbers grew beyond her wildest dreams. “It’s addicting. I was so encouraged by the success of my first shop that I opened up another shop which features simpler designs. This second shop, ‘Classic Designs’, made it to Etsy’s ‘Top Sellers’ list. I’m proud of that, considering that there are over 200,000 shops on Etsy.

“One thing that never fails to thrill me is to wake up in the morning and find that I’ve sold a necklace to someone in Sweden, and earrings to someone in Italy! My customers come from all over the world – at last count, 33 different countries. ”

Modern Elegance

Theresa’s typical day consists of conversing with prospective customers, making and packaging orders, listing new designs, and relisting sold pieces that are not one-of-a-kind items.

Is Theresa worried about the gloomy world economic forecast that is making headlines?

“The financial reward is only part of why I love this new endeavour. The main thing is the creative freedom and self expression I get from making a piece of jewelry that is unique. Customers e-mail me and tell me how much they love the piece that they just received, and how they prefer to buy items that have been handcrafted, especially if they can buy it directly from the artist. I have many satisfied customers that have given me their repeat business, including Austinites who have found me on Etsy, and that is the ultimate satisfaction!”

Theresa’s jewelry has been featured in:

‘Mixed Media Jewelry’, Tammy Powely (Quarry Books 2007)

‘1000 Jewelry Inspirations’, Sandra Salomony (Quarry Books 2008)

Art by Latina Artists – Featured Seller September 2007

To see more of Theresa’s jewelry designs, visit:

http://www.theresamink.etsy.com

http://www.classicdesigns.etsy.com

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