Longtime friends become craft partners

A snowstorm can lead to blizzard. This time it turned into a brainstorm. Last February, Nikki Traen and Lori Crowley got together for a night out with other friends between frequent snowstorms.

"I had a pair of leather earrings on and Lori asked me if I made them myself," Traen recalls. "I said, 'Heck no, I bought them. I don't have time for that'."

"I remember Nikki was wearing these cool faux leather earrings and when I asked if she made them she looked at me like I was crazy or had four heads," laughed Crowley.

"She told me 'no' and I told her I was thinking about making some." Crowley already had decided to make her own earrings and had ordered some supplies.

"I was going to give it a whirl," she said. "And then Nikki did, too, and viola, here it is today."

And that is what led to the two of them combining their personal products and selling them together at vendor shows, or on their Facebook pages, or even by word of mouth.

Traen's business is called Happy Crafter, while Crowley's is called Pretty Unique. They make and sell their own jewelry and crafts. Although they each have their own business, they generally share a booth and combine the businesses when selling at an event.

"When Lori started making her own earrings, she let me know they were pretty easy to do," Traen said. "Then I started thinking to myself that I love crafts and pretty much have the tools to do it, so why not give it a try?"

"We had a lot of snow storms last winter, so we had some extra days and hours being snowed in to make crafts," Crowley said. "Sometimes our kids even help."

Traen and Crowley have been friends since first grade at St. Edward's School in Minneota, and later were high school classmates. "We remained friends through college, even though we went different directions," said Crowley.

"We hung out, went to a few concerts, played sports together, and continue to play on summer and winter volleyball leagues together." The two were bridesmaids in each other's wedding. And now, their children are friends and play together, too.

So it makes sense that the two friends share ideas and tips along the way to make the crafting process easier. "I had already done some crocheting and had my 'Happy Crafter' Facebook page started, so I thought I would just add more options to it," said Traen about the crocheted hats, blankets and more that she makes and sells.

Crowley, too, made and sold a few of her crafts before they teamed up, including Belgian cookies which they both sell now. Among the craft items Crowley makes and sells is leather and faux leather earrings, necklaces, string art, wooden signs, bottle openers, burlap wreaths, and more.

"Mainly, earrings and jewelry are the focus now," Crowley noted. Traen's lists of items includes earrings, bracelets, necklaces, rosaries (full, pocket or bracelet), and her crochet work. "The earrings (Lori and I) do are somewhat similar; it may just be different fabric designs and different shapes that we do," said Traen. "Usually, it's whatever comes to mind, or we try to accommodate people if they have certain requests.”

"I like to follow a lot of different do-it-yourself crafters/homemade jewelry makers to get ideas. I always love a challenge." "I have a lot of creative ideas," Crowley said. "I enjoy looking online at craft sites or Pinterest for ideas. Sometimes, I have a love/hate relationship with Pinterest, though, as I've had my share of fails as well." The two business gals sold their products at the North Pole Extravaganza recently in Minneota, and have sold their products at a few other venues. "Lori and I did our first vendor show in April," said Traen.

"We started making the jewelry at the beginning of 2019 and just sold word of mouth or through our Facebook pages." Traen, a public health nurse with Southwest Health and Human Services, and her husband Tony, live outside of Minneota with their two children. Crowley, a dental assistant at SOTA Orthodontics in Marshall, and her husband Andy, live outside of Ghent with their four children.

Despite already being busy with jobs and family, the two enjoy thinking outside the box and then seeing their crafts come to fruition. "It's a great feeling to have people look and/or purchase an item," said Crowley.

"The compliments are so nice to hear, and it's so cool to see a customer wearing a pair of earrings I made, or if they send me a picture or post online the décor they've hung in their homes." Traen echoed that sentiment.

"It's been going really well," she said. "When someone sees someone else wearing a piece of our jewelry and they like it, it's good for them to say where they got it and that helps the business grow."

The supplies used for their products are purchased from stores or online, but none of their products are pre-made. "The number one question we get at shows is 'Do you really make all these yourselves?' Yes, we do," Crowley said.

"When buying supplies, I try to find unique one-of-a-kind designs or patterns." "We start with a piece of leather, cut it, and assemble the earrings with the hooks," Traen explained.

"We literally start from scratch and make up our own ideas for our earrings or jewelry. It's all about being complete with your accessories." Not everything comes as easy as it sounds, though.

"The hardest part of making the items is space and organizing everything," Crowley joked.

"Currently, I use the kitchen table and my work time comes after everyone is in bed for the night.”

"It's so relaxing, but I have to have everything cleaned up and put away so we can have breakfast there in the morning."

Each of the sets of earrings are affixed to a tag, similar to what you would find at any store.

"We make our own tags," Traen said.

"I have done it a couple of ways. I cut them out with my cutting machine, or I have also printed them off the computer and cut them out by hand." And both young women are trying to convince their husbands to join in the "crafty" fun.

"Tony tells me that I should start doing more with the jewelry business and then he would help me," Traen remarked. "I convinced Andy to make the earring and necklace display to help us display and organize things better at shows," said Crowley.

"But when I've asked him for help making earrings, too, and I've received this 'look' and his response is, 'That is your deal, not mine'."