Clicking (plier, jewelry) noises

Peering down attentively at her desk, ninth grader Emiko Callanta carefully curves a small band of wire into place with a pair of pliers, finishing yet another elaborate pair of earrings.

Natural sound

Emiko has a passion for crafting intricate little pieces of jewelry, and has been doing so for over a year now. About six months ago, she began selling her jewelry via Instagram and Etsy. However, it was at a summer camp that Emiko first learned how to make jewelry.

Emiko Callanta: I wasn’t taught by anyone, but I think the summer before eighth grade I went to this camp, and they had pliers and wire and stuff, so I had fun with that, and just learned to make some rings.

Upon returning home, Emiko purchased wire and other materials, and used Pinterest in order to improve her skills at making pendants and earrings — as well as for inspiration for her own designs.

Emiko: I bought some wire from Michaels, and then just learned how to make pendants and earrings and stuff from Pinterest tutorials.

Then, after a year, Emiko decided to sell her jewelry for the first time.

Emiko: I have an excess of it in my room, and my friends don’t want more.

 Selling her jewelry was a complicated process at first. While Emiko didn’t find the process of actually making the jewelry to be that difficult, she also had to figure out unique designs to make, while avoiding using too much inspiration from designs online.

Emiko: I think the hardest part is probably coming up with the design, because I take references from Pinterest but I try not to exactly copy. 

Additionally, Emiko also had to organize fairs to sell jewelry in person, as well as figure out how to market her jewelry online.

Emiko: Selling the jewelry is definitely a hard thing to do. Selling to people in person was a little bit easier because it’s in person, but selling on Etsy is a bit harder because you need to get marketing and views and everything.

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Etsy has been steadily becoming more popular for several years, and currently has around 6 to 9 million sellers, although the number varies depending on the source. Due to its easy availability and lower costs to sell, many people looking to sell their creations have been drawn to Etsy. For Emiko, her passion for creating jewelry and her decision to start selling it is largely due to her creative nature.

Emiko: I think it’s because I’m creative. I like drawing and painting a lot, but I can’t sit down and draw something in 30 minutes, but I can make a bracelet in 30 minutes.

Making jewelry is often less time-consuming and simpler than creating other forms of art, and additionally, it can be gifted to people.

Emiko: I like doing a lot of artistic stuff, but I think I like jewelry a lot because I can gift it to people, it’s like a physical item.

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Carefully setting down her pliers, Emiko looks over her finished pieces, each delicate design ready to be worn and sold. What began as a middle school summer camp activity has now become a way for her to share her creations with the world, turning her experience with jewelry-making into something much bigger.

Reporting for the U-High Midway, I’m Maya Gauhar.