OK, so I don’t have black hair and alabaster skin, nor are there seven dwarfs running around my house (thank goodness!). But I do live perched in the side of a hill, surrounded by wildlife, in of one of the best cities on earth…Austin, Texas. The front of our house overlooks the neighbors' rooftops across the street and into the hills. The back yard slopes up into a forest full of deer (yes, I feed them…and they have a water dish too. It gets hot in Austin!). We also have tons of birds that visit so regularly you can identify them, a few rabbits and the occasional grey fox, not to mention tons of squirrels. Seriously, with all of the friendly visitors, our back yard is like something out of Snow White!
Anyway, I’m pretty internet savvy and thought that as it's the "done thing" these days, it was high time I started blogging about one of my favorite pastimes…making jewelry. I’ve always been very artistic, though I studied business at the University of Texas. That eventually led to a career at Enron, from which I was laid off along with 4500 of my closest friends in December of 2001. After that, and during a two year hiatus, a friend and I started making jewelry. It was just the creative outlet I needed to keep me sane while searching for employment. As my 4500 good friends were doing the same, finding a job in Houston was not easy. Eventually, I did find a non-profit job in the performing arts (thanks to my now-husband’s support, I was able to accept the drastic cut in pay) and jewelry fell by the wayside. I missed it and always wanted to get back to it with the idea of starting my own little business selling my designs.
About two years ago, a company here in Austin came knocking on our door. They wanted my husband to come work for them. I came home that evening and he asked, “How do you feel about moving to Austin?” My response was, “I’ll start packing now!” I loved living here in college and have always wanted to move back. It’s funny how things work out. Our move here has allowed me the freedom to get back to my jewelry designs and work on getting them out to a larger audience (again, thanks to my husband) and Amy Holton Designs was born. I have a lot of work to do and a sketchbook full of ideas. Not to mention strands and strands of lovely, sparkling gemstones. All of my work is hand-created in fine and sterling silver, 14k gold filled and 14k gold metals with precious and semi-precious gemstones. With this blog, I hope to share with you my ideas, trials, errors and designs and would love to hear your feedback and suggestions.
So there we have it…Amy Holton Designs’ first blog post! I have lots to write about so there will be more to come. Hope to see you back again soon!