Smashing Darling Blog

Amy Martin designs organic and rustic jewelry for her darling boutique, Esma Studios, right from her home studio in Chambersburg, PA. Her pieces can be worn everyday, no matter what the occasion. While each piece is great on its own, she wants her jewelry to be layered and mixed together to create a completely individual look.

I love how fashion can be used to express who we are to the world. What we choose to wear gives others a glimpse into our psyche.

designer Amy Martin
Darling: How did get into jewelry design?
Amy: I love creating, so I’ve done everything from painting to aromatherapy to making handbags.  I guess it’s just natural that I would try jewelry, too. I started making beaded jewelry, but soon became really drawn to metalwork. I taught myself the techniques through lots of research and lots of trial and error. The learning is an ongoing process. I’m always thinking of new things I want to try, and I don’t think I’ll every stop trying to learn new techniques to incorporate into my designs.

Darling: When did you start your own line of jewelry?
Amy: I first started making jewelry about 4 years ago, and I opened my first online shop in January 2007.

Darling: What surprises you the most about having your own line?
Amy: When I first opened my online store, I was surprised that people from all over the country and the world were buying my jewelry! With so much jewelry out there, it’s still such an exciting feeling when someone chooses a piece from my collection. It motivates me to always be coming up with new designs, so I can keep things fresh for my customers.

Darling: What inspires your designs?
Amy: I think the thing that inspires me the most is daily life. I like to create pieces that are practical enough to wear everyday – for work, an evening out, hanging out with friends, etc – but also unique enough to feel special and add excitement to an outfit. My designs definitely reflect aspects of nature, but I also gain inspiration from urban life and rock ‘n’ roll style.

Darling: If you had the choice of any jewelry designer in the world to work with/for, who would that be?
Amy: I really admire Lulu Smith’s work. I love the way she uses resin and her color combinations are just marvelous. I have played around with resin in the past, but was never quite happy with my results so I sort of put it on the back burner. I think it would be great to learn from her to incorporate color into some of my more organic designs.

Darling: What fashion trends, if any, are influencing your jewelry?
Amy: I really don’t pay a lot of attention to upcoming trends. Generally when women buy a quality, handcrafted piece of jewelry, they want it to last them a long time and not feel dated in a few years. While there’s definitely room in a woman’s wardrobe for trendy pieces, my goal is to create designs that will still feel fresh and modern years from now. That said, in the future I may come out with seasonal collections, which would have a few trendier pieces.

Darling: How do you market yourself?
Amy: I’ve actually found word-of-mouth and great customer service to be the best form of marketing. I think good communication and nice packaging make the customer feel special, which encourages them to share their experience with their friends. I’ve also found that staying visible online through sites like Twitter , Flickr , and various forum groups helps get people interested in my work. Lately I’ve also been working on gaining more wholesale accounts, so I’ve joined several wholesale websites that market to retail shops.

Darling: What is the one item in your wardrobe you can’t live without?
Amy: My knee-high boots from Duoboots.com. I searched forever for boots to fit my skinny calves, but could never find any. Duo Boots makes boots according to your calf size. I have 2 pairs so far, and I love both of them! The quality is super and they have tons of great styles to choose from.

Darling: How would you describe your personal style? And who or what influences that style?
Amy: I’m sort of a mix between a fashionista and a comfortista (is that even a term?) I definitely like to have fun with my clothes and keep up with fashion, but I also need to be comfortable. I don’t like anything too girly or too fussy, and I don’t like anything to look too thought out, intentional, or too matchy-matchy. More often than not, I’m wearing jeans, and I love layering multiple tops. I only buy a few pieces each season, so I like to get things that are somewhat classic but have a unique aspect to them. I generally avoid anything too trendy, but may get a couple of trendy items here and there if it’s something I’m really drawn to.

Darling: What does your average day entail?
Amy: Well, I don’t really have an average day, it seems. I’m still working on phasing out my “day job”, but luckily it’s a job where I have a lot of freedom and time to work on my business. While there, I do things like update my website, edit photos, work on my accounting, etc. Then, in the evenings and on my days off from that job, I work on making new pieces, taking photos, packaging orders, and things like that. Weekends are pretty relaxed. My boyfriend lives and hour and a half away, so I usually spend time on the weekends with him.

Darling: Do you have a company mantra that helps you run your business?
Amy: I don’t necessarily have a mantra, I just try to always think about how I can best serve my customers by offering great designs and great service. I pay attention to companies that wow me and companies that turn me off, and use those situations to develop my own formula for creating a great customer experience.

Darling: Tell us about something you LOVE that you want others to know about.
Amy: I love Donna Hay cookbooks! Every dish is beautifully photographed, and the recipes are easy to follow. She calls for a lot of fresh ingredients, which is important to me, and the books are filled with useful tidbits in addition to the recipes. I highly recommend!