April Williams from Raleigh, North Carolina is the inspiration behind Eluna Jewelry (http://elunajewelry.etsy.com), a shop full of beautiful shapes and forms made from silver, stones and reclaimed stained glass. Despite being a busy working mum to a toddler, April finds great passion and energy in creating her pieces, and says she doesn’t know how things will turn out, she just starts out and it all happens. I think you’ll agree from looking at the shop that they turn out pretty fine!
April has been creating jewelry for the past four years, and describes how she came to start out:
“I have actually been a rock and gem hound since I was little. I started creating jewelry for my wedding and with the encouragement of my friends and husband, I continued. Four years ago, I taught myself how to wire wrap. Three years ago, I took a class in cabochon cutting. I have been hooked ever since.”
April was looking for a unique name that no-one would mistake, so she chose the same name for her shop as her virtual cat in World of Warcraft! Everytime I look up the shop, the name conjures up images of the full moon, which I think is very apt given the lovely cabochon gems there.
There’s a lot of sterling silver in the shop, but April’s first love is working with rough stone to create cabs. Her favourite piece of jewellery, and the one she’s not intending to sell, is a Labradorite cabochon wrapped in sterling silver. Here’s a picture of her current favourite item from the shop:
a pendant which combines beautiful silver-sheen obsidian and moonstone wrapped in luscious sterling silver wire.
A unique creation is the reversi hoops, a really different, designer-looking alternative to standard hoops. They thread through the piercing so that the tiny loop sits at the back of your lobe as an alternative to a butterfly fastening. April says she has even gone to bed in them, they are so comfortable and easy to wear, and they are a real hit with her customers.
What is April’s top tip for online selling?
“Word of mouth is the best advertising you can get. And one of the best ways to get great word of mouth advertising is to offer good customer service. A good product and a great attitude will bring in more customers than a good product and a bad attitude. I think many people get so caught up in the money, they sometimes forget that the customer service is important too.”
With so much positive feedback, and so many fans of the reversi hoops, I think we can safely say that April practices what she preaches!
You can also follow Eluna Jewelry at:
http://www.elunajewelry-nc.blogspot.com
www.facebook.com/elunajewelryonetsy
http://www.elunajewelry.com
and on Twitter: Elunajewelry
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