Meet Haley Holden

Alright – so today we’ve got the honor of introducing you to Haley Holden. We think you’ll enjoy our conversation, we’ve shared it below.

Hi Haley, thanks for joining us today. Let’s jump right into something we’re very focused on here – improving our ability to make decisions. Everyday, we’re faced with decisions that can impact the future of our careers, businesses, relationships and more and so one of the most impactful areas for personal development, in our view, is decision-making. Can you talk to us about how you developed or improved your decision-making skills?
I have found that trusting my intuition has been essential for making good decisions. As an artist, I get to make every decision about my art and my business. Trusting my intuition allows me to know which advice to take, and which to think on carefully. Knowing that my decisions are made to the best of my ability given the information I have also helps me when things don’t go as I had hoped. Sometimes it seems like there are countless decisions to be made, so relying on my intuition for knowing my artistic voice and the direction I want my business to head helps stem that sense of overwhelm.

Appreciate the insights and wisdom. Before we dig deeper and ask you about the skills that matter and more, maybe you can tell our readers about yourself?
I sell handmade polymer clay jewelry on my website www.HoldenANote.com. I primarily focus on earrings, but I also make necklaces and hair clips as well. I started my career as a music teacher, teaching elementary and middle school general music and chorus. I found that I was using my voice a lot during the work day, and in the evenings I started turning to making art as a way to relieve stress and practice creativity without using my voice. I started with a set of brush-tip markers lettering quotes I found online. This quickly turned into lettering with watercolors, and soon I was trying different mediums expanding my artistic practice. During the pandemic I received some money for my birthday and I decided to buy the supplies needed to make polymer clay earrings as I had seen people making them on social media. When I decided to leave teaching and pursue my art full time I thought that I would be painting. However, earrings turned out to be the best product to sell. They make great gifts, are easy to ship, and easy to display at in-person markets. Polymer clay is such a versatile medium. Polymer clay earrings are also very lightweight and comfortable to wear.

I have always been interested in florals and bright colors and incorporate both into my work. When I’m designing, I also try to think about how the piece will fit into someone’s wardrobe. I want my pieces to complement several pieces in your wardrobe so you will reach for them often. I am currently in the process of designing bridal jewelry for a client that complements her grandmother’s necklace that she will be wearing on her wedding day. I hope that these earrings will be pieces that she can wear for years to come and remember her special day.

The process of creating polymer clay earrings requires attention to detail. The clay is first conditioned. There are a variety of ways to do this, but I run the clay through a dedicated pasta machine. This helps the clay be strong and flexible after it is baked as well as helps you identify and remove air bubbles that can mar the finished piece. Next the clay is manipulated into the desired design. Check out my social media @holdenanote to see various ways of how I do this! Polymer clay bakes in your standard home oven. After baking I will sand any rough edges left on my pieces after the designing process. I then use acetone to remove any marks left, and I drill any holes needed to assemble pieces. I will then attach earring posts using glue and UV resin, and finally I will assemble the earrings.

I run polymer clay workshops teaching people how to create their own polymer clay earrings. In each workshop participants get to make two pairs of earrings. We use beginner-friendly techniques to decorate the earrings, and we bake the earrings during the workshop using a portable toaster oven. It was been rewarding to combine my love of teaching with my love of art. I love watching participants’ reactions when they see their creations come to life! In a different manner of teaching, I host and produce the podcast “The Polymer Clay Podcast” where I share tips and tricks for working with polymer clay.

Looking back, what do you think were the three qualities, skills, or areas of knowledge that were most impactful in your journey? What advice do you have for folks who are early in their journey in terms of how they can best develop or improve on these?
Patience has been essential for my artistic journey. I think there is a lot of patience involved in practicing a skill, knowing you will have to go through the iteration process several times. There is certainly a lot of patience involved in making earrings, as some of the finishing tasks can become tedious. I’ve had to exercise patience the past week in thinking of long-term plans as well, realizing that my big-picture plans can take time to implement.

Being open to learning new skills. All of the skills I have learned throughout my artistic practice have helped me refine my craft. I recently have been working on creating my own silkscreen stencils, which is something I didn’t know anything about when I started. I have also started designing and 3D printing my own cutters (like miniature cookie cutters to cut shapes out of polymer clay). You never know which skill will be helpful down the road!

Attention to detail. From noticing and fixing small details in my jewelry to working with customers, paying attention to detail is important. Refining how an earring hangs on the ear, tracking which types of earrings customers are interested in, and having options for earring studs, hooks, and backings are all areas in which attention to detail is helpful.

How can folks who want to work with you connect?
Collaborations and they relationships they build have been such a joyous part of my business. I have partnered with G+H Custom Workshop (https://ghcustomworkshop.com) to teach polymer clay workshops and sell earrings in their store. I have also traveled to Philadelphia to teach a workshop in Project Joy Studio (https://www.projectjoystudio.com). I would love to collaborate with people either teaching workshops or selling earrings in different locations. Workshops have been a tremendous way to help people discover and practice their creativity.

Contact Info:

Image Credits
Haley Holden

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