How a small hobby grew into a young girl’s amazing jewellery business.

Lockdown was a tricky time for the whole world, but others were more effected by the sudden break in our lives. When thing started to flow again a few months into 2021, Martha Bullock, aged 16, who was negatively affected by lockdown decided to take a small trip to Hobby Craft in hopes to pick up a new pass-time. With a few materials from the jewellery crafting section, she went home and made her very first ring using wire, beads and a tutorial video on YouTube.

She realised that making jewellery was something she really enjoyed, and inspired by her Mum’s own business, Martha decided to setup an Etsy page to start selling her hand-crafted jewellery called ‘Pocketful of Posies’, after her hamster, Posies, who she absolutely adored and helped her mind-set when she was taking some time off school.

After a slow few months, only receiving orders from family and friends, Martha said she can clearly remember how excited she was when she received her first order from a stranger, saying it was ‘amazing’ and the ‘best feeling ever’. As more orders started to come in, Martha was strongly fuelled by all the positive feedback and started to create even more necklaces and earrings with new materials, design ideas and tools.

A turning point for Martha was having her own stall in a local 2021 Christmas Market. She was building up to it for ages, and says she felt ‘very proud’ of herself when the stall was extremely successful and was elated off of the response to her jewellery.

During the year of 2022, Martha was really able to get into the flow of her business and is forever expanding her brand on Etsy, social media and events that she attends. She’s even hoping to incorporate some silver-smithing work she’s learnt into her new jewellery pieces. Even now, Martha says every time she receives an order, follow or like on her page she ‘just smiles’ because it makes her ‘so happy’.

Martha’s business is her passion, and she says it helped to calm her and the therapeutic feel while making her jewellery made it a break from the stress of everyday life Martha says to anybody wanting to start a business like hers, to ‘absolutely go for it’ and that it’s never too late for a young person to ‘pursue their talent’ as well as learning essential business skills, financial skills and social skills. She’s looking forward to a future where her business, and her passion, continues to grow.