Tuesday, December 20, 2011

The Eighth Day of Christmas

On the Eighth Day of Christmas PDR gave to Hillary:

The "Amour Cookie" necklace from Wink and Flip


This darling little necklace caught our eye the second we came across the winkandflip Etsy shop.  When Natasha contacted us and said she was donating this necklace, we were thrilled!  It's petite and charming, and simple enough to wear with just about everything.  Plus, it's written in French, so we just couldn't resist.  Check out her shop for more great pieces or to get an Amour Cookie necklace of your very own.  Want to know more about winkandflip or find out where you can find them next?  Read our interview with Natasha below:

Tell us a little about yourself. Where are you from? What's the name of your shop?

I'm finishing up my Master's in Liberal Studies at The New School for Social Reserach. I was born in Manhattan and raised in Astoria, Queens. When I got my working papers no one would hire me because I was so young, so I started my own company. I've been in the fashion jewelry business for eight years, and have worked a combined two years in the accessories departments of teenVOGUE and Marie Claire magazines as an intern. One of my headbands was featured in teenVOGUE. We have two parts to our business, a curated line that we buy, which is sold at winkandflip.com, and a line we design in an etsy shop at http://www.etsy.com/shop/winkandflip. Enjoy our shop!


You can find us every Saturday, from May to October, at the famous Hester Street Fair on the Lower East Side. Girls follow us on Twitter to find out where we'll be next.
 It's @winkandflip 


What made you decide to begin making jewelry? When did you get started?

We started assembling necklaces after we were selling jewelry for some time because we found things we thought would look great at the end of 30" chains, and we didn't see anyone else putting them together.


 Do you have any materials that you'd say are your favorite to work with?

We find metal charms, or stones with metal charms. But one of our bestsellers is a mini harmonica on a long chain. Once a guy came into a show who was a professional musician. He bought one and started playing it. It had four tones, but he was making music and everyone stopped what they were doing to listen to him. 

Where do you draw inspiration from?

Flea markets, trolling on etsy, pieces from the wholesale market that we chop up and "frankenstein" into new pieces. We know what girls are going to love and when we see it, it jumps out at us.


Do you have any advice for others that are looking to make a business out of selling their work?

Start small and keep at it. Learn about being a business person, so you can elevate your efforts from hobby status. I attended classes at the National Foundation for Teaching Entrepreneurship. Finding something like that can help a lot.


What's your favorite ice cream flavor?

Any fruit-flavored sherbet.

Thanks, Natasha!  And Congratulations, Hillary!

XOXO
Jen & Saira

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