10 Years of Rackk & Ruin

Actually, I started Rackk & Ruin in 2009, but we moved into our current amazing studio & shop in Spring of 2014 and that's what we're celebrating this weekend!! Holy hell, time flies when you're having fun making jewelry! Rackk & Ruin has changed so much in the past 15 years; each studio space allowing for growth and eventually adding the retail shop element. Take a walk down memory lane with us!

september 2012

An early studio

This photo is not of my first studio. It's not even of my second. I worked out of this messy makeshift studio in 2012, when I moved into a small space on the North side of The Soda Plant. It was here that I was able to set up a small soldering station and expand upon my limited metalworking skills.

*My very first "studio" (2009) was a corner of an old bedroom, with a piece of plywood for a work bench. A photo exists somewhere in an external hard drive that very possibly may never turn on.

december 2013

an unusually clean work bench

I had just unpacked from moving my studio for the fourth time in as many years, thus the super organized tools and materials. I'm not exactly known for being a tidy creator :)

2014

using found objects

With a small artist's budget, an important part of early Rackk & Ruin was using found objects. Vintage jewelry elements, antique decorative trim, zipper teeth, flea market coins, feathers and other ephemera made their way into my work. In the early days, each piece of jewelry I made was one of a kind. I was endlessly inspired by my growing collection of materials and motivated by my budding customer base's interest in unique pieces.

april 2014

a new, sunnier studio (and shop!)

In spring of 2014, ten years ago, I moved over to the sunny dreamspace that is our current shop. The year prior I had been renting a smaller studio space next door where I had started welcoming in customers to shop my jewelry as well as some of the vintage clothing I loved hunting for. Once in the new larger space I was able to have more room for both my jewelry studio as well as a retail shop.

Sunset views over the Adirondacks didn't hurt, either.

Summer 2014

the Etsy days

My new, larger workspace allowed for plenty of room to play with all of the materials & tools that I had found myself surrounded by. Time was suddenly bountiful too since I'd recently left my part time waitressing job (of 7 years!) to focus on Rackk & Ruin full time.

Etsy and Free People were all the rage, and I began to find a wider customer base by selling retail/wholesale through these businesses.

2015

clothing & accessories

Thrifting has always been one of my favorite pastimes, especially before kids when I had hours to spend digging through racks of used clothing. The Rackk & Ruin shop was the perfect space to share my passion with my customers and justify my thrift store visits.

Summer 2016

developing styles

Many of our longtime favorites have experienced phases of evolution. Every time I make a piece, I'm thinking of ways to improve the design.

These scribbly experiments were the starting point for our Safety Pin, now available in solid 14k.

14k Safety Pin

2018

yes, we had a swing!

One of my favorite memories is the swing we hung from our unusually high ceilings. Customers of all ages were delighted by its presence and loved that they were welcome to use it. Alas we no longer had the space for it after our 2020 renovations.

january 2020

big studio renovation

Our biggest studio undertaking, perhaps! We needed more space to make jewelry and more space for shoppers.

During this renovation we expanded into the adjacent studio space, created a proper changing room, and unified the showroom and workspace with arched doorways & window.

Mere weeks after finishing the renovation, the pandemic began. Although we had a newly beautified shop we were pushed to focus solely on our web sales. My first baby was also born a month early in February of 2020, so leaning into our online presence definitely made sense in many ways.

august 2022

balancing?

Now that I'm the mother of two kids under 5, the boundless time and energy that used to be focused on my business and creating new jewelry styles has been drastically shifted. I am beyond grateful for Amelia & Miki, my amazing R&R team, and all they bring to this small business. We get to have loads of fun, while also being incredibly productive during our work days.