CL Family Spotlight: The Buckeye Bead
GO BUCKS! Buckeye season is in full swing and it's time to shop for new Ohio State swag! This week we're talking to Kevin Eble, owner of The Buckeye Bead, about his line of OSU jewelry.
What's the story behind your business, and how did you get started?
I was coming out of a difficult time when I had lost my job and couldn't find work. I tried to start two different businesses that both failed.I had lost my home and was couch surfing and lost. I bought a hemp kit to do a craft with my niece and became frustrated because I couldn't get the knots to look good. I became obsessed with making the knots look right.
I bought a roll of hemp and starting knotting away. After a month or two, I had quite a collection and a friend told me that I should set up at a local event and I did. From that point on my customers have been my driving force. I listened to what they were asking for and I would try to engage them as much as they were interested in engaging and sometimes probably a little too much. :) but what I created from there was all about what my customers wanted. I took and put a twist on the traditional designs to create something new and different. I have been fortunate that my customers have found the products that I create worthy of their time and money. It has enabled me to continue to create and develop new products.
What makes your products unique?
The Buckeye Bead is a handcrafted lampwork glass bead that is a work of shiny, beautiful, and individually unique work of art. My jewelry can be worn in a way unlike other buckeye jewelry. It is also a step above using a real buckeye nut or a clay buckeye, giving it a classier and more polished finished jewelry product.
Find The Buckeye Bead products at our Easton location.