The Side Hustle…

from internet

I have always been an entrepreneur.  It’s in my blood passed down through generations and cultivated by my paternal grandmother. As far back as I remember she was always trying to help me make money on the side.  It started with freebee telephone key-chains that my step-grandfather got from his job.  I would wear them as a necklace to school and sell them, depending on the style for 10₵ to 15₵ each.

from Google but I think she made a set

I have also always been a crafty person.  This too was passed down and encouraged by my mother.  My earliest memory was of watch my mother do the sequin ornaments for our Christmas tree.  I could sit for hours watching and waiting for her to let me push a pin with a shiny sequin into the Styrofoam.

About five years ago, I decided I needed to do something different in the area of crafting and I took up bead stringing.  This lead to bead weaving.  Stringing is basically putting beads on to jewelry wire while bead weaving is sewing beads together with a needle and thread.  

Bead Stringing: Firemountain.com

Bead Weaving:  Bead Magic

As I became more and more proficient and people started to notice the bracelets, earrings, and necklaces I wore and wanted to know where I’d got it.  When I told them I’d made it they started pushing me to sell my stuff.  

   

My friend Heather started to urge me to ask another friend of ours, Tim, if I could have space in his bookstore to put my jewelry.  After a year of consistent cajoling, I finally went to Tim and asked.  He said yes and since then I have had a space in The Bosslight Bookstore.  

I really enjoy taking the raw materials and turning them into a piece of wearable art.  I enjoy seeing my jewelry on people and I enjoy giving it as gifts.  And I really enjoy earning money that I can spend on more jewelry supplies so I can make more jewelry, haha.  

So, if you’re ever in the little town of Nacogdoches, TX stop by the bookstore, check out my little space, buy something, and buy a book. 

 P.S.  You can follow, Weesha’s Odds and Ends on Facebook to see what’s happening in my workshop.