About

Hi! I’m Jenny Hoople!

Why do I Make Natural Jewelry?

Remember those childhood days spent on the beach, when you returned home with your pockets full of pebbles, shells and sand? That sense of wonder you get when you find a perfect, dew-spangled spiderweb?

That’s why I make this natural jewelry, in honor of all of those wonder-moments that bring us closer to a meaningul life!

10 Wonder Moments I Will Never Forget:

• Running through the forest, startled by a garden spider on her dewy web.
• Red scarlet eft on my mother’s hand.
• Ghostly Indian Pipe mushrooms under the pine tree.
• Barn owl on the chicken coop.
• Aurora Borealis over our farm.
• The fireflies we collected that were dead in the morning.
• Running through the sunny forest in the rain, stopped by red trillium.
• Stars on New Year’s Eve in the cold biting clear sky.
• Bouncing up a Mexican mountain in the morning, hummingbird nest.
• Bouncing down again that night, huge eyes shining back, a Ringtail.

My Life in a Nutshell

I grew up on a back-to-the-land farm in Pennsylvania and graduated from Allegheny College with a bachelor of arts in fine arts (my concentration was ceramic sculpture, my minor was geology.) Now I create natural, handmade jewelry and work part-time in a library. I met my little Mexican husband in 2001 while we were both working on an organic farm and won him over through sheer persistence! We had an awesome bunny companion for seven laff-filled years. I’m still a little kid and I will always be one!

My Natural Jewelry Lines

Natural Stone Jewelry

The river rock jewelry is my favorite line! I’ve always been the sort to pick up interesting stones and carry them home with me, so much so that I minored in Geology in college. I do drill some of my own native Wisconsin stones, but I also buy pre-drilled stones from fellow artisans. It feels great to support my colleagues AND that way I get to play with a bigger range of cool rocks! Two birds. One stone. (So to speak!)

Men’s Surfer Jewelry

I started to make men’s surfer jewelry when I noticed how relatively few interesting jewelry choices there were out there for guys. Just because they don’t want their necklaces to be flamboyant and luxurious doesn’t mean they don’t deserve good design! So I started making beaded men’s surfer necklaces. It was challenging for me to come up with a line of men’s jewelry (since I’m not one!) but with some helpful suggestions from my guy friends and a willing husband as a test model I started to get the hang of what men were looking for in their neckwear. I really enjoy playing with different bead patterns and stumbling upon unusual materials combinations. I love finding awesome, unexpected combos and patterns. They kind of give off this hum, if you know what I mean!

Job’s Tears Jewelry

Job’s tears are the beginning of the story of how my business got started in the first place! Job’s tears beads are the seeds of an heirloom grain plant that I grow right here in my Wisconsin garden! Job Tears most likely originated in India and were originally grown as a grain plant. These natural coix seeds have been used as a bead since at least 2,000 BC. Job tears have long been used in making rosaries and African shaker gourds.

The Beginning of Authentic Arts

I bought a pack of Jobs tears seeds from the Seed Saver’s Exchange in 2003 and grew a whole tin of these lovely grey beads. Then they sat around for 3 years while a seed of an idea germinated inside of me. The idea broke through one day when my mom and I were in the craft store. I just kept pacing up and down the bead aisle trying to decide what would match my Job’s tears beads. I bought some gemstone beads and made my first job’s tears necklace. My mom loved the necklace, so I made her one, too! And then I tried to make as many different necklace designs with the beads I had left. And then… I was hooked! So I bought more supplies and I had to start selling my jewelry before we ended up drowning in it, and here I am today!! Thanks Job’s tears. I really needed you.

Do I Sell Wholesale? Heck, Yes!

Yes, most of my natural jewelry is one-of-a-kind, but I do sell wholesale! In fact, I love selling wholesale!! My natural stone jewelry is currently carried by the Museum Store of the Museum of Natural History in Salt Lake City, which is THE perfect place for it. (I’ve always loved the gems and minerals and fossil exhibits in natural history museums!) If you’re interested in my wholesale info I’d love for you to drop me a line so I can forward you my wholesale line sheet and we can talk about the possibilities :D

What’s With the Bunny Logo?

That’s because of Pisky! She was the best house bunny a person could ever hope to love. I didn’t know that bunnies were my soul-animal until I met her, but now I’m sure of it! Pisky passed away in 2010 after sharing 7 laff-filled years with us. You can see a whole lot of cute pictures and read more about her here!!