Making jewelry is her passion

What was once a hobby is now her part-time business.
One day Chelsea Kolakowski was walking down the street – and it just hit her. She saw women wearing costume jewelry and thought she could replicate those pieces – maybe even make them better, she said.
The 27-year-old Astoria-based designer is an assistant for a CEO in the music merchandising industry. While she enjoys her job, her daily tasks don’t challenge her to be creative.
“The jewelry has been a nice balance for me,” she said.
Executive assistant by day and jewelry craftswoman by night, Kolakowski makes her own brand of necklaces, bracelets and rings and sells them on Etsy, a web site that sells specialty vintage and handmade items. The web site serves as a host for her business, CBdesigns.
Kolakowski’s creations are a simple blend of geometric shapes and bold colors that exude a vintage 1970s feel with a modern twist. She began selling her pieces on Etsy in March to a welcome customer base.
“Right off the bat, as soon as I opened, I started getting a really good response,” she said.
Her inventory began with about 20-25 items and she now has up to 30 pieces for sale on her site. She said she sells about three to four pieces a week at different prices. But none of them are too expensive, she said.
“I’ve tried to keep my prices reasonably low. I really just want to get it out there and for people to enjoy the item,” she said.
Prices range from about $10 to $25 per piece and the priciest item is about $45.
Kolakowski said it takes her two to three hours to craft one of her pieces and she tries to make a few per week to keep her inventory steady.
After spending a day planning meetings and scheduling flights, the jewelry designer said she doesn’t mind coming home to make pieces for her online business.
“It doesn’t feel like a job when I go home to create new pieces,” Kolakowski said.
Even though the young designer profits from the side business, she hopes that some day it can blossom into something bigger.
“I really feel like it’s in my hands to create something really unique and to grow it into something that I actually never intended,” she said.