Looking for handmade, unique jewelry? Emma Jane Keller, a senior at Auburn University, may have what you are looking for. Keller started Emma Jane Designs when she was 16 years old and her work can be found in galleries throughout Auburn, Ala.

Each piece of Keller’s jewelry is made using sterling silver, 14 karat gold, semi-precious stones and vintage crystals. Every piece of Keller’s jewelry is handmade except for the fine chains, stones and beads.

Keller was very successful in selling jewelry when she was in high school, but she slowly stopped making jewelry in college to focus on her schoolwork.

She has recently continued her business Emma Jane Designs this year and has been featured in Lee Magazine, a lifestyle magazine for Lee County, Ala. Her designs are featured in the September and November issues of the magazine. Her jewelry has also been sold in boutiques and galleries throughout the Southeast.

“For me, designing jewelry is a creative release, I can express my creative side and just really relax,” said Keller.

Keller has been promoting her designs by going to different jewelry shows throughout the Southeast and submitting her work to galleries. Her work can be purchased online at www.ejdesigns.etsy.com and also at The Villager and the Jule Collins Smith Museum in Auburn.

“Etsy is cool site because you can sell anything that is handmade,” said Keller. “I am in the process of designing my own website where all my designs will be featured and updates will be available on any of the upcoming events I will be attending.”

It takes Keller about 45 minutes to make one pair of earrings and some pieces of jewelry can take up to three hours to make. All her jewelry is made using straight wire. Keller gets her wire from a refinery where she buys an ounce of wire in any gauge she needs.

“I pick up the beads from anywhere, but I try to get beads and stones from sources where I can go back and get the same stuff over and over again.”

An example of one of her designs is a ring made from eight feet of straight wire. Each wire is twisted by hand and every jump ring is carefully wrapped and sawed by Keller.

“If you make a unique product that is quality, you won’t have to work too hard because people will see the quality. I want to take my love for jewelry making and combine it with my other love of ending extreme hunger and poverty.”

Keller, a human development and family studies major, is working on a line of non-profit jewelry that will benefit the UN World Food Programme.

“I am currently working on a project called seeds of hope,” said Keller. “I will be partnered with the United Nations World Food Programme and each sale of the seeds of hope necklace that I designed will feed one child for one year through the WFP. There will be a $50 donation made from each necklace sold and the necklace is a 14 karat gold chain with an emerald.”

Check out Emma Jane Designs at www.ejdesigns.etsy.com or e-mail her at emmajanedesigns@yahoo.com for more information.


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