Meet Pamela
Troutman, she has been beading since 2000 and is the passionate and caring owner
of “Star*Art Jewelry”. Star*Art Jewelry opened in 2006 and is an Etsy
shop that specializes in custom and functional beaded jewelry while providing
excellent customer service.
Pamela has a bachelor’s degree in Studio Art from the University of Mary
Washington where she learned engraving, drawing and painting, but she did not
want to be a starving artist so she minored in Cartography (map making) and
served the Department of Defense (DOD) for 34 years, retiring in 2014. While employed at the DOD Pamela made
lanyards to hold the identification badge she wore. Star*Art Jewelry was born when her co-workers
noticed the colorful necklaces and began placing orders.
How
did you come up with your Etsy Shop name?
STAR*ART was born when my passion changed
from running a Shelter That Adopted and Rescued (STAR)
ferrets to making jewelry. When I met my
first husband, he wanted a ferret as a pet. We got one from someone who did not want theirs
anymore. Then we went to a pet shop and bought it a friend. Other people heard
we had ferrets and word got around, and when people no longer wanted their
ferrets, they gave them to us. At about
8 ferrets I said, “We can’t keep them all” so I started a ferret rescue. At that time, the local animal shelters would
not accept ferrets. After 9 years, and 1300
ferrets placed along the east coast, plus working towards research to approve a
rabies vaccine, ferrets are now being accepted at the local animal shelters and
I closed my rescue in the late 1990’s.
The year 2000 was a big year for me. I
remarried, and became an instant grandmother.
I looked for a creative outlet that would fit in my townhouse and my time
schedule and beading was that outlet. I
started simple, just making beaded necklaces for my ID badge. Co-workers started to ask for lanyards, and
STAR*ART was born. Why STAR*ART? Well, I
didn’t want to change my e-mail address at the time (starferrets) so I
incorporated my previous hobby name with my new passion.
You
began your venture in jewelry making with bead stringing, how did you become
interested in other types of jewelry making?
Through the Northern Virginia Bead Society
(NVBS), I took a class from Sherry Serafini. I was then hooked on bead embroidery. My first embroidery design was for a NVBS Bead
Challenge in 2008 – we were given a bag of beads and had to use them ALL. From
these odds and ends in the bag I created “My Elephant”.
How do
you market your jewelry?
“Custom and Functional Beaded Jewelry for
Work and Play” is the tag line for my lanyards, but I think it applies to my
beadwork as well. Unique, never
repeated, simple and elegant.
I use Etsy as a web site – for customers
who see something and then think about it later – they can come back and
purchase it. Other than custom lanyard
orders, I rarely sell off Etsy. Most of
my sales are at church craft shows or at ART A La Carte Gallery and Gifts in
Occoquan.
I do post on Facebook – a lot of people enjoy my posts on the progress of
something I’m working on. I do not blog,
unless you count some of my “Show and Tell” processes on my Facebook page.
You
describe your custom jewelry as functional and comfortable, what is your design
process?
Many people don’t think about
customization, but I love being able to feed the artist in me by taking their
desires and make something JUST FOR THEM. It means more to the person who wears
the jewelry if they had input, and the closest I had to dissatisfaction was one
person who wanted brighter colors, so I exchanged the piece and she was very
happy. I’ve done running themed
lanyards, animal themes, names of children… the possibilities are endless.
The functional applies to my beaded lanyards – when you remove the clip it
looks like a necklace. The comfortable
applies to my beadwork – I don’t use crystals much because they are sharp. I am
very particular about what touches the back of the neck – nothing pointed or
rough. I mainly use large clasps or magnetic clasps so the necklaces are easy
to put on and take off. I don’t make things too heavy. I do put every piece of
jewelry on to see that it hangs well, is balanced and comfortable.
Many
of your pieces have interesting and unusual pendants, how do you meet the
challenge of keeping your jewelry affordable yet interesting?
I shop on eBay, thrift shops, and such
places for things I can bezel or embroider around. If you don’t mind waiting a month for
delivery, there are lovely gemstone cabs on eBay for just a few dollars. I do a lot of embroidery or bead weaving in
front of the TV, so instead of counting the hours spent to make something, I
count the number of fire line threads I pull from the box and base the price on
that. I work with a “two-arm” length.
What
is the story behind your “Pay It Forward” listing?
I believe in helping out a good cause. It is also a way to find a home for some
pieces that I can’t bear to tear apart but no one seems to want to adopt for
themselves. I am proud of all the
jewelry I make, but sometimes the right person has not come by to adopt my
piece. These orphans become donations, because
every piece of jewelry deserves a person to wear it.
It is
evident that you know great customer service is critical, what are the top
three ways you ensure customer satisfaction?
Ask questions, give suggestions, and offer
refunds or exchanges. For example, I have a person who saw a bead woven
necklace in the...
...but wanted it in other colors to match her “Mother-Of-The-Bride” dress.
I wanted to know what she liked about it
– the drape (Russian spiral is a softer drape than peyote), the sparkle, the
pendant?
Then I told her I had pendants
she could select from, but maybe she would prefer me to use a pin or heirloom
piece she already owned.
She loved that
idea.
We will be meeting in the middle
of May so I can see the dress in person, match the beads, determine the length
and weave, and see what she brings as a focal piece.
This will be a great opportunity for me to
take timeline shots and post progress reports on Facebook.
Also, create a listing on Etsy showing an
example of my custom made process for necklaces (versus lanyards).
I do not offer refunds or exchanges for custom
made beaded pieces, but I do for everything else.
What
has been the most difficult thing about starting a handmade business, and what
has been the most rewarding?
The difficulty is getting the sales. There
are so many jewelry makers on Etsy. There are too many beautiful designs. It is difficult to stand out, this is one of
the reasons I wanted to join the EBW team – the monthly contests, even if I
don’t enter every one, inspire me to create something outside my normal thought
pattern. I find the monthly challenges
get my creative juices flowing. Those
contests are also bringing people to my Etsy store. So far, no sales as a result, but the boost in
views and likes might pay off one day. Sales
are okay at the gallery because people can pick up and try on my pieces,
something you can’t do on-line. I do not
teach or have my own pattern line so I do not have name recognition; I
specialize in one-of-a-kind pieces. Finding that one-of-a-kind person is the
challenge. The most rewarding thing is
the custom orders – few and far between, but ever so worth it. I enjoy making people happy and I love to
create what they cannot do for themselves.
Pamela Troutman is proof that necessity is
not only the mother of invention but she is also the inspiration for
creativity.
This is where Pamela gets
creative:
One of Pamela’s beautiful
pieces:
To see more of Pamela’s beautiful work,
visit the links below.
