Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: SUNDAY, January 5, 1992 TAG: 9201030064
SECTION: CURRENT PAGE: NRV-3 EDITION: NEW RIVER VALLEY
SOURCE: GAYLE NOYES
DATELINE: FLOYD LENGTH: Long
THE PAPER-GEM FOLKS
Kimberly Ingram never dreamed a spaghetti strainer, a glob of wet paper and the kitchen sink would lead to a lucrative career. But it did.She quit her job teaching art at Franklin County High School to run "Kimberly's Kreations," a wholesale paper-jewelry business.
And business is good.
Ingram, a Radford University art education major, says she makes more money designing and sculpting earrings, belt buckles and other accessories at her Floyd home-studio than she made teaching. But it was teaching that gave her the idea of making jewelry.
"I wanted to teach children how to make paper. But there was no information available. I looked in libraries and bookstores for directions, but it wasn't trendy yet. This was fall 1988. But I decided to just try it anyway."
Spaghetti strainer and wet paper in hand, she made a pin that "wasn't exceptionally good" and painted it purple, one of her favorite colors.
"I wore it to school on an olive suit. I was insecure about it and didn't think it was very good," Ingram explained.
But everyone else thought it was exceptional. All the other teachers told her she should make more for Christmas gifts.
So she did.
Ingram and her mother, Shelby Kingrea, made enough for presents and more.
And then they needed more. Jane Bonomo, owner of Bonomo's boutiques, admired Ingram's pin and asked if she had other pieces to show.
"We did. We had some in the car. She bought several pieces that day and still buys from me monthly. She was our first client," Ingram said.
That was the beginning.
Ingram and Kingrea started wholesaling their jewelry to boutiques and gift shops in several states on the East Coast in 1988. As their own representatives, they travel extensively to stock clients' stores.
Kimberly Kreations became a full-time commitment in the spring of 1990.
"You don't find our jewelry in department stores. Only boutiques and stores with unique gifts, clothes and accessories carry them," Kingrea said.
And there could be more business, according to Kingrea. "At one time all of the Kansas City Royal baseball team players' wives wanted earrings. Someone bought a pair from a Waynesboro store and everyone liked them," she said.
But even though there has been interest in other parts of the country, their focus is the East Coast. Ingram has an infant son, Brian, and says she's content with the size of her business.
All Kimberly Kreations are made in her basement studio, which looks as if she has been busy making cookies. A blender and 10 metal trays with lumps of paper the size of half dollars are on the counters.
They have been washed with a hardener and are waiting to be painted and embellished with gems and crystals. Glass bottles of paint brushes and rolling pins sit on the shelf under a large impressionistic painting made by one of her students.
Each piece of Ingram's jewelry is handmade and has a unique shape. Earrings, belt buckles and pins are made from "paper and other ingredients - a secret process," she said.
Part of her secret is the way she adds color. Each shade is individualized. Brightly colored magazine illustrations cover the walls in the far corner where she paints the jewelry. The left wall depicts fall fashion colors and the right wall has spring hues. Ingram airbrushes the jewelry with shades of purple, turquoise and silver, and mixes paints to match seasonal colors.
"A variety of magazines and clothing catalogs always arrive three months in advance of the fashion season, and we change with every season," Kingrea said.
"We're making jewelry all the time. Making, making, making. . . . As soon as Christmas is over, we start spring's pieces. We already know what's big for this spring - the look of denim and pearls.
"Sometimes we take the paints to stores and match them to clothing. Sell an outfit - sell earrings to match. You know, accessories keep people going during the recession. You can have an entirely new look without investing in new clothes," she said.
"Mom's the salesman, not me," Ingram interrupted.
Ingram's father and husband also take part in the business.
Husband Richard used to paint the cards on which the jewelry pieces were mounted for sale. He would spread them out - 100 at a time on the floor, according to Ingram.
Charles Kingrea, her father, ordered supplies. "He was always advising us about what we should do or not do," Ingram said.
Three part-time employees help now. But she remembers her beginnings, especially how she and her mother came up with the idea to embellish their creations with stones and gems.
"Charles went to a yard sale in Floyd. He bought a big grocery bag which was three-quarters full of old jewelry from a New York apartment. He picked out all the stones and gave them to us . . . and that is how we got started," Kingrea explained.
"It's a never-ending process. Everything that you do and start doing creates another idea in your mind," Ingram added.
Memo: this story ran in Neighbors on January 9, 1992