Hello, and welcome to my blog! My name is Lisa Marie Jimenez and I am a “Brassaholic”. I love working with brass in my jewelry designs.
I am a self taught jewelry designer, whose love of vintage jewelry began when I inherited my grandmother’s vintage jewelry. What began as a hobby, in 1991, turned into a full time business by 1994. I was blessed that this allowed me to stay at home with my children.
My jewelry business stared with less than $100 and small hand tools that were given to me by my cousin. Even though they were not jewelry tools, they were small and worked. I still have those tools today sitting in my tool box as a remembrance of how this all started. My passion for vintage jewelry designs has grown from studying books and educating myself on Victorian, Art Nouveau, Art Deco, Edwardian along with other vintage styles.
In the beginning I started out selling my jewelry to the public by renting booth space at several Crafter’s Malls in the surrounding cities where I lived. I also did local craft fairs during the summer and holiday seasons. As my business grew, so did the interest from retail stores to carry my designs. This opened a whole new door for me and my business.
The next step in my business was to design a jewelry line, which consisted of items that the retail stores could order. My designs were sold in gift and clothing boutiques throughout the US. I also exhibited my line at the San Francisco, Los Angeles and Seattle International Gift shows. Even though I was selling my jewelry via the wholesale market now, I still continued to sell to the retail market. My first website was designed to offer my designs to my customers year round and not just at shows.
I have been honored to have my jewelry designs grace the covers of four romance novels by author Diana Lee Johnson. Each of the novels has my jewelry incorporated into the story. Currently my jewelry designs have been featured in Beading/Jewelry magazines both in the US and Internationally. My designs have been featured on the front cover of two issues of Beading Magazine Australia.
Today, I continue to design jewelry and mentor beginning designers on their new designing journey. I also offer jewelry designing supplies through my company Trinity Brass Co. as well as I share my tutorials and business information through this blog.
…….When designing jewelry, “Always stay true to yourself, then your designs will come naturally”
