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About Me
Hi! I'm Kelly, the force behind Happy Shack Designs. I live in a happy little shack on the river in Jacksonville, Florida, with my husband and twin daughters. Happy Shack Designs is a dream long in the dreaming. I've wanted to create my own business doing some sort of artwork for as long as I can remember.
Before getting into jewelry, I've spent countless hours working on various needlecraft and sewing projects, skills learned from my mom and my grandmother. I can credit my foray into jewelry to my girls. When they were born, I wanted a mother's bracelet. I saw several styles in catalogs, and all were approximately $100 for a simple double strand! That's when I decided to teach myself how to make jewelry. From there, I was hooked, Happy Shack Designs was born, and I am self-taught through trial and error.
I use only the highest quality materials, including sterling silver, Thai silver and fine silver, gold vermeil, 14K gold fill, and 14K gold. I'm addicted to handmade lampwork, so I work primarily in lampwork and Swarovski crystal, but you'll also see pieces incorporating gemstones and pearls. My husband and I both are learning the art of lampworking ourselves through more trial and error. My work contains our beads as well as beads I've collected from all over the world.
Occasionally you'll see my handbags included here. So where did they come from? Chalk it up to having a hard time concentrating on one thing. Having learned how to sew in high school, I never wanted to tackle clothing, but I've always loved handbags and have a closet full, so there you have it! I use all designer fabrics and trims, primarily heavy duty upholstery fabric, and often incorporate beadwork into the handbags as well. Sometimes I also get a wild hair and go off on completely different creative tangent with projects, so those will pop up in the "Who Knows What?" area on my site when available. Lately, I've been playing around with collage and mixed media.
On a personal note, I love the outdoors, play the guitar badly, play the piano fairly well, sing somewhere in the middle, love to bake, and have the most adorable little red-headed twin daughters ever seen (comin' from a proud Mama); they are the light of my life. I also work full-time in higher education in addition to my Happy Shack so it gets a little crazy in our world at times. So where do I find time to create jewelry and art with all this and twins to boot? Check out My Ramblings for how it all comes together. Thanks for checking out Happy Shack Designs! |
