Eleanor 2021-2025
Beads and wire on iPad
Throughout my experiences in classes, with friends, and professionally, I have also found it rewarding to spend time on my hobbies and creativity. While I drew much more often in my freshman and sophomore years of college, I found my love for bracelet-making in junior year.
In my freshman year at college, I was having a lot of fun exploring digital art and developing my drawing skills. I found it worked as a good method of relaxation and a fulfilling hobby - where I could create something rather than only consuming media. This drawing was a final project for one of my classes, and I really enjoyed how the interdisciplinary nature of UW classes could allow me to find ways to tie in my creativity and drawing into assignments.
Unfortunately, with increased work and responsibilities, my time to draw decreased. I felt that I also had less time to consume the types of media that would inspire my drawing. However, in the month before my junior year of college started, I had my wisdom teeth pulled out, and I decided to try out bracelet making as I was recovering. This ended up being one of my main hobbies now, and I've had a lot of fun finding a new creative outlet that I feel like has less of a "block". It's also been extremely fulfilling seeing my friends get excited about what I produce and wanting to wear the jewelry I make.
More recently, I've had a lot of fun with exploring this hobby as a small business. I've applied to and vended at the maker's fair multiple times, and learn more each time I do so. I've seen some of the marketing knowledge from my club cross over to vending, and gotten help from my mom in finding more creative ways to display my products. I also got inspiration from TikTok on using shrinky-dinks as charms, and was super excited to get a chance to tie in my enjoyment for drawing into the creations I make and sell. Developing my bracelet business is definitely something I want to work on once I have settled down post-grad, and I want to explore more vending opportunities or setting up a website.