Owens Originals

Welcome to my website! Allow me to introduce myself.

 

My name is Stephanie Owens and I am the Sole Proprietor of Owens Originals.

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In 2004, shortly after moving to Rawlins, Wyoming, my husband and I decided to open a little bead and jewelry brick and mortar store. I'm not really sure why we decided to do this, but it has certainly been an adventure! We happened across a cute little shop space to rent in the Stratton Building, right next to the post office. I began by selling my hand-crafted items, jewelry-making supplies, and started teaching classes on lampworking, jewelry construction, leatherwork, quilling, scrapbooking, and pretty much whatever the community wanted to learn. Rawlins received the little store well. I eventually "hosted" a group of beaders who called our weekly get-togethers "classes" so they were less likely to be encouraged by others to miss our time together. The year after we opened the brick and mortar shop, we unfortunately had to move the store into my livingroom due to some maintenance (or lack of) issues with the building.  I tried to keep the store running, but most people DO NOT like to shop for things in residential areas, unless it is a garage sale. I kept the store open anyway. The bead classes continued in my home and seemed to be a nice getaway for all of us "beaders".

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During the "brick and mortar hiatus", I worked "other" jobs while manning the livingroom store and I traveling to as many craft shows and sales venues as I could find. It was fun, but a lot of work. Especially when traveling and setting up on my own or with 2 kids in tow. Was it worth it? Yes. I'm not sure why I stopped.

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In 2011 a friend of mine approached me about renting a small space from the Rawlins Music Academy. I was very familiar with the space as I frequented the Rawlins Music Academy while playing trombone in Jubilante Ensembles. Beautiful  windows, clean environment, plenty of place to maneuver, and best of all, great landlords. How could I say no? I moved in, built a "partition wall" of book cases and called it "home".

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As 2013 rolled around, we found my husband with a broken knee and looking for a job that would be a little more friendly to his unfortunate injury. We sold our house and rented a quaint little place for a little more than a year before he landed a job in Thermopolis. As I packed up my little store, I began to plan for life in Thermopolis. I wasn't sure what was to come as far as the store was concerned. I eventually decided that it would not be worth trying to open another brick and mortar in Thermopolis because there were established businesses that did exactly what my store did. There was nothing new I could offer. So, I relegated my "store-in-a-box" to the small basement and focused on other aspects of life.

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In 2015 we found a fabulous little house in the center of a great residential neighborhood in Thermopolis and have been settling into it slowly. I was once again forced to face the "store-in-a-box" in the basement. I decided that after we moved into the house, I would just gradually sell off my "store-in-a-box" package by package until the boxes were empty. The plan was a good one until my daughter decided she wanted to stop being a homeschooler and wanted to attend public high school. Well, talk about a game-changer. With all the "free" time I would have sans homeschooling, I decided I could explore store options. Everything started falling into place when the same friend who approached me about renting the Rawlins Music Academy space approached me once again and asked about selling some of my wares at  an event she was hosting. Well, since I was going to be digging out the "store-in-a-box", I decided that I might as well make the most of it. I began setting up an Etsy store, inspecting and dusting off all the stowed jewelry, and I contacted the local art guild about participating in some of their monthly Art Stroll activities.

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I currently have my items on consignment in a great little local place called Kirby Creek Mercantile. If you ever find yourself in Thermopolis, you should check out this great little store. They have good food and fun, handmade gifts for everyone.

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That brings us to today. After all this moving and changing, I think I may just be settled enough to enjoy this new adventure.

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Wish me luck!

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