Eyespire Designs' Jennifer Stringer Wins Amazon Handmade Award

The main message I keep telling people is don’t let setbacks stop you. For me, a setback was my blindness, my vision. I literally lost everything in one night, everything that I went to school for, my livelihood, everything. I had to make a choice: I could either curl up and play poor me for the rest of my life, or I could dust myself off, get up and do something. Making jewelry brought me back to life. It was more of a form of therapy to help me. I wasn’t expecting it to go anywhere other than just to occupy my time and something I enjoy doing.

I chose working with wire because it was tactile. I remember what color is. I know what colors are and what I like. It takes a team of my friends and family to help me narrow down what gemstones I buy. When all of them come in, I need someone here to help me sort them by color. I can’t tell the difference; I can’t see the differences. I make my jewelry mostly by touch.

I’m fairly new to Amazon Handmade. I applied. I ended up winning, and I’m still a little bit in shock. It validated [my journey] in a sense that I have acquaintances and stuff who ask what I do, and I go “I make jewelry,” and they make me feel like it’s just some side hobby. For me, it’s not. It has woken me up.  

More Info: amazon.com/handmade/eyespire-designs