Hi! My name is Chrissie and welcome to my about me page! I am a daughter, wife, mother, friend, and designer. I live in Alabama and have been making jewelry for almost 7 years now…whew how time flies!
I do custom work, one of kind pieces, family celebration pieces, just a little bit of everything! If you need to contact me for a little something special please feel free to do so by email at larkin.chrissie@gmail.com.

This is from an interview:
Chrissie Larkin Jewelry

How did you get started as a designer?
By complete accident! I was crazy about pearls and coral and when I saw that you could actually buy them on a string I spent my entire paycheck at a bead shop!!! I made a couple of necklaces and then all of a sudden I had over 200 pieces of kids jewelry and adult pieces and I hit the streets selling them to stores and asking if I could do consignment at some locations. I had a few shows and people loved my prices and my designs and that made me the happiest girl in the world!

What inspires you to design?
When I get a new brooch or a new strand of beads it takes me about 5 minutes to get all my stuff set up after I get home before I am eyeball deep in design. Colors have an intense effect on me and I love putting them together for a fun look.

Is designing as fun as it seems it would be?
Omygoodness YES! There is nothing more satisfying than finding the perfect combinations and then seeing them come together as a finished product! Seeing something that you created with your own hands and having someone else that loves it as much as you do is very gratifying!

Where do you find inspiration?
Everywhere! Like I said above it can be a new product that I just got in or it could be the look of a piece of fabric…I have been know to take apart clothing that I think would be better as a rosette than sitting in my closet! Sometimes when I don’t feel inspired if I just started playing, and really that is what it feels like to me, I can get inspired pretty quickly with just rolling a few beads around!

If you could be anywhere in the world where would you be?
I love being right where I am. I have three kids and they fill up my days and nights with more laughter and happiness than I can describe. If I had to choose a place other than here I would say a beautiful beach somewhere watching my kids build sand castles and listening to the waves.

Where do you see your company in 5 years?
In five years I would love to have a cool warehouse building somewhere in town that I can open up for trunk shows and events. Maybe a little store front that I could hire a couple of employees for. I would love to be able to work there and let my kids have a kitchen table to eat on that isn’t covered in string and pretties all the time.

Who is your favorite celeb to wear your designs?
I would be immensely flattered by a celebrity wearing my items, but in reality they are people just like the next customer so any one that wants to wear my designs is absolutely guaranteed their custom piece!

Tell us about a typical day for you:
Get up 630 and perform the mom duties of wild hair and undecided breakfast choices after a couple of trips to and from different schools at different times, I am home with just enough time to drink a lot of coffee and get started on laundry while my one year old settles in for a nap.

After everything settles down I try to catch up on orders and do dishes, laundry, and get organized,(a never-ending battle). I usually start making jewelry until 12 or 1 when it is time to do the pick up rounds. I try to use afternoons for the park, mcwane center, zoo or a random field or play date whatever I can pack in before it gets dark and then its usually show time somewhere in the magic city!

Any advice you would give to aspiring designers?
Nothing is ever free and success is not handed to someone that doesn’t work or it. For the moments that you feel like you are luckiest and most blessed person in the world, you probably are and there are equally trying moments where you wonder why you are even trying…it pays off every time!

As a child did you envision yourself doing something creative?
I don’t know that I ever had a vision of me doing something creative, I think I have always know that I had to have a creative outlet somewhere because I simply love creative expression.