As youth market director for the American Heart Association in Charlotte, North Carolina, Johnna Snell supervises a range of programs to help kids adopt healthy habits. By night, she makes bracelets. “I do it whenever [the spirit] hits me — and it actually hits me quite a lot,” says Snell, 36.
The idea to create jewelry came gift wrapped one Christmas
about four years ago when her brother-in-law gave her, his wife, and his two daughters custom-made bracelets — each one personalized for the recipient. “Every time I wore it, I got compliments,” she recalls. “I found myself studying it. I thought, ‘I’ve got to find a way to make these.'” Approximately one year later, she took a private class at a local bead shop. The session was scheduled to last an hour or two, but she ended up staying all day. With roughly $250, additional beads, heavy gauge wire to string them, and tiny “spacer” beads and toggles to close off the bracelets, Snell was launched.Today Snell goes to “open torch night” one evening a week. She pays $10 an hour to use an oxygen propane torch to transform imported Italian colored glass rods (about $3 each) into pretty baubles. Snell first gave her bracelets away as presents, but it wasn’t long before her hobby became a business. Now, clients pay between $75 and $400 for her custom creations. Her designs sell via word of mouth and on www .originalzbyjohnna.com. She hasn’t made a mint yet, but the Mint Museum of Craft and Design in Charlotte, North Carolina, has invited Snell to sell her wares there.
Getting Started
TAKE A CLASS. Check with local craft shops and colleges.
PAY LESS. Use less expensive beads and stringing wire to begin. Snell suggests several magazines: BeadStyle (www.bead style.com) Bead & Button (www.beadand button.com) Lucky (www.luckymag.com), for color trends.