September 2009: Angela Harrison, Designs by Angela Harrison
Five years ago, Angela Harrison discovered her passion by trying to make a little extra cash. She started making cheap Duck bracelets to sell at home games, and found that she loved creating jewelry. The money she was making started to pay for U of O tuition, and then groceries, and then the family started growing... Since then, she's advanced far beyond the realm of inexpensive trinkets for football fans (though you will see some duck earrings on her table from time to time).
This is Angie's third year sellling at the Saturday Market. She creates her distinctive jewelry from Swarovski crystals, fresh water pearls, precious gemstones and some vintage brass pieces. Angie has a sophisticated and playful sense of color and form, and her display highlights the colors and variety of her work. Tiered tables bring the delicate jewelry into easy viewing height, and the light color of the coverings and white display pieces bring out the brightness of the pieces. When possible, she uses a small umbrella rather than an entire booth for shade, to give the crystals the best chance to sparkle in the light and catch the eye. I also like the orderliness of the earring racks, and the tiny dressmaker form for displaying necklaces. White frames work nicely to highlight some of the jewelry sets.
She hopes to open a jewelry boutique somewhere in Oregon in the next five years. She'll be in good company, following in the footsteps of many successful area and regional businesses who got their start at Saturday Market. Any Market success story includes the importance of responding to customer feedback, and Angie is no exception! Her business name used to be "Babaji Jewelry" but she changed it to "Angela Harrison Designs" this year. She was getting tired of customers asking her about her guru, when Babaji is actually her cat...
You can find Angie's booth nearly every Saturday in space 33, at the Fountain on the West Park Block.
