Coming to college, it’s natural to explore avenues that you didn’t get a chance to in high school ‘ joining a club sport, taking a painting class or for junior art history major Eve Rickles-Young, designing her own jewelry. Rickles-Young had always been artistic, but it wasn’t until her freshman year that she began making earrings for herself and eventually to sell. Each are one of a kind, which adds to their charm. Release got a chance to sit down with the young designer to see what inspires her creativity.

Release: When did you start designing jewelry?

Rickles-Young: I started designing jewelry freshman year. I kept doodling earrings all over my notebooks and my friend suggested I actually make something instead of just drawing it.

R: Do you only design earrings or have you tried other forms?

R-Y: I sometimes make bracelets and necklaces. Often I will find a brooch at an antique store and incorporate it into a piece, but I like earrings the best because they’re so quick and require less materials.

R: Where do you buy your beads from?

R-Y: I get some of them from A.C. Moore, but most of the ones I use in earrings are ones I get from small bead stores. If I’m traveling, I like finding bead stores in whatever city I’m in. I found the self-proclaimed ‘largest bead store in America’ outside of Portland, Ore., and a cute small bead store in Edinburgh, Scotland.

R: Do you plan out designs beforehand or do you just kind of make what you feel like at the time?

R-Y: I doodle earrings a lot, so sometimes I look in my notebooks and take it from there, but other times I just come up with ideas in the bead store or later when I look at my new purchases along with things I already have.

R: How many earrings do you have right now?

R-Y: I probably have around 15 to 20 that I made, and maybe 20 more pairs that I didn’t make. Keep in mind though, I’ve had my ears pierced since second grade.

R: Would you consider yourself the Imelda Marcos of earrings?

R-Y: I have a whole lot of earrings, but I wouldn’t want to have the negative connotations she calls to mind.

R: How much is each pair of your earrings?

R-Y: They are around $10 or so, maybe a little more if they have gemstones or something particularly special about them. I try to make each one different than the next, because I like the idea that each is one of a kind.

R: Where do you usually sell them?

R-Y: I have a shop on www.etsy.com (www.adamandearrings.etsy.com), which is a Web site where people can sell handmade items. Mainly though, I sell to my friends and through word of mouth.

R: Have you done any marketing for your earrings or is it more of a word of mouth thing?

R-Y: I guess I sort of already answered this, but I put my earrings up on www.etsy.com, and I sometimes post links to my site on Facebook, or post pictures of my latest creations. Beyond that, I find that I am my own best advertisement. I wear jewelry that I make, and sometimes my friends will wear pairs I made for them or ones they borrow. When people ask questions, I get to explain to them that I make jewelry, and then show them my stuff.

R: You’re very talented. Have you considered designing full time after you graduate or is it just a kind of thing you do for fun?

R-Y: I really want to work in some design field (architecture is the plan, at this point) and I would love to continue designing jewelry, but I don’t ever see it becoming a full-time career. If I felt too much pressure to come up with ideas, it would lose all its fun!