Solo Exhibit & Giveaway: Luminous Creation!

Update: Congrats to #63 Shaha. Great big thanks to Jaclyn for this fabulous giveaway!


Jaclyn of Luminous Creation has a personality as warm as the glowing gemstones she uses in her jewelry. My every interaction with her left me smiling, as did my every visit to her shop. As she says about the woman who would wear these amethyst earrings, “Simple she was, but never ordinary.”

Much of her work, like these Hematite and silver earrings, combines textures and shapes in a captivating way. The polished square beads layered on hammered–almost ragged–silver makes for a sophisticated pairing that would look equally appropriate with jeans or a little black dress.

This pendant combines rustic brushed copper with a cluster of refined freshwater pearls. The pearls dangle freely within the oxidized copper, adding movement to the design. The entire pendant is barely over an inch long, making it a tiny treasure.

Jaclyn specializes in jewelry that whispers, but gets your attention all the same. The small scale of her designs makes them incredibly affordable, with most pieces in her shop retailing for under $25. Here, scattered circles adorn silver domes while a pair of turquoise stones add depth and richness.

Any number of her designs could become your signature piece, the one you reach for each morning. How about a trio of rough red lava rocks hanging from a simple oxidized silver link chain? A lariat closure makes it that much more original.

Read on to see what you can learn from a jewelry seller closing in on 2,000 sales!

Curator V: How did you get your start making jewelry? Are you self taught?

I have been creating jewelry for the last 15 years. I started out just tinkering around playing with odd ball objects here & there that I had laying around. Just creating pieces for myself and loved ones. It wasn’t until after I had a couple children that I decided to start getting a bit more serious about taking it somewhere and selling my pieces. I did my first art show 11 years ago & have been growing my business ever since. Yes, I am self taught. It has been an ever growing learning experience, I am naturally curious and can easily get bored. Not much of the type that can do too much of the same idea for too long. Which I feel is a good thing because it just brings on new experiments and roads to travel down.

Curator V: You are truly an Etsy family: You have a shop, your husband has one, and you run one together. How is it working together? How do you split up the workload?

Well, on top of our 3 online shops, we have a rather busy household with 4 children ranging in age from 6 to 14. It can be a bit crazy most days juggling everything but somehow we make it work. It is pretty silly working together. We have good and bad days, but doesn’t everyone? Dylan has been fantastic with doing the online promotion for all of the shops. I leave that all up to him. He seems to enjoy it & is really good at it too. I take care of all of the online aspects of luminous creation & clamored as far as creating, listing pieces, responding to e-mails, getting the goodies ready to ship, and keeping up the over all appearance of both of those shops. Dylan is the mastermind of his shop, doing all of the above that I do with luminous & clamored, he does with customeyes vintage. Its a bit of an ebb & flow as far as splitting up the workload. Depending on the day whomever is more preoccupied with what they are doing pretty much delegates who is going to the post office, picking up the kids from various destinations, making dinner & helping make the world go round in our life. Everyday is a new adventure, no joke really. Like they say “Variety is the spice of life!”

Curator V: You’ve been on Etsy since 2008. What keeps you there? What have you learned over that time period?

It has been such a wonderful & fulfilling outlet. I really have had such a fantastic time being part of the Etsy community. I could have never have imagined doing this if you would have told me that I would be doing this 5 years ago. When I started selling online it was more of a sideline project. I was pretty heavy into doing art shows at that time & would just put energy into my shop when I found a spare moment. It wasn’t until 2010 that I began to get a bit more serious about selling online and putting my energy into it full force. I am really thankful for how far it has come. I have learned that nothing comes easy & instant success online, or anywhere for that matter, is like winning the lottery. It takes a lot of self-motivation and love for what you are doing to make it all work. At this point I am working pretty much around the clock to keep everything up. It has been a challenge to switch from the aspect of creating pieces to sell in person at my art shows to sitting in front of a computer and putting energy towards that. But have really fallen in love with selling my pieces online. It is such a thrill connecting with customers from all over the world.

Curator V: Luminious Creation is closing in on 2,000 sales. Congrats! What advice do you have for other jewelry sellers who are just getting started?

THANK YOU so much! WHEW it has grown slow & steady and I am truly so very grateful for that. I had no idea what to expect when I first started selling online. To be perfectly honest, I hadn’t had any computer experience up until I started selling on Etsy back in 2008. For the simple fact that we didn’t have a computer until then. As far as advice goes, I think it is so important to have a passion & love for what you do. Stick to what you love, don’t be sidetracked by what others are are doing. It is easy to get discouraged when you aren’t making sales, slow days can be a real downer. I used to get real bummed about that but I have learned to take those moments & focus on other aspects like coming up with new design ideas, marketing, and stopping to smell the roses (true I usually always have fresh flowers in my home, they make me feel so good). Also the forums on Etsy are quite wonderful when you need some help. I haven’t found myself there much lately, but when I first got going on Etsy I was there regularly. The community has always been so helpful with good advice & encouragement. I highly recommend using that when in doubt or even if your feeling discouraged. Being descriptive with your listings is very important as well as taking good pictures. Last but not least PROMOTE. PROMOTE. PROMOTE. A good amount of my sales have been from my beloved customers that I have connected with through shows, family & friends.

Curator V: What can we expect from you in the future?

Surprises! I have so many ideas up my sleeve that I hope to bring to life before they turn to dust. I would like to expand my line even further & dig deeper into lapidary. Life is full of endless possibilities!

You’ll be able to take your pick from Jacyln’s extensive jewelry collection with a $25 Gift Certificate! To enter, visit Luminous Creation, then come back here and leave a comment with your favorite item. One winner to be chosen at random next Sunday, February 12th.

(Reading this via a feed? Here’s a direct link to the giveaway.)

Tagged as: giveaway, handmade, jewelry