Conversations with Chrissie & Chris Smith

Today we’d like to introduce you to Chrissie & Chris Smith.

Alright, so thank you so much for sharing your story and insight with our readers. To kick things off, can you tell us a bit about how you got started? 
Well, funny story, it all started with foot surgery! Chrissie needed a major surgery on her foot and was going to be bedridden for a couple months in 2021. She really wanted something that would be an outlet for her creative mindset, as well as keep her active (if you know her, she is related to the energizer bunny), and she settled on polymer clay! 

As time went on and her comfort with polymer clay increased, she really started to express her unique style into what she was making. She mentioned that maybe one day if she was good enough, she could sell something, which I completely ran with! I started asking her, “Well, if we were to make it a business, what kind of name and logo would you want, and what kind of color scheme?” We tossed some ideas around but eventually settled on the name Calavera Threads! “Calavera” is Spanish for skull and “threads” in the urban dictionary is basically anything that makes up your outfit. 

Our name and logo represents what we both love – all things skulls, gothic, plus both of our native heritages. Chrissie is full Aztec Indian (Mexican), and I am mixed Mayan Indian (Guatemalan), Arapaho Indian, and European. 

Of course, once we finished fantasizing these ideas, I went ahead and bought our first neon sign and surprised her by hanging it up on the wall at the end of our bed. So, when she opened her eyes one morning, it was the first thing she saw! 

Chrissie was a little apprehensive at first, but I finally got her to see what I saw: uniquely beautiful works of art that are a part of what makes her her. After we talked some more about the nitty-gritty details like supply, finance, and logistics, we decided that we were going to lean into how we are as people. We like to help people, treat people fairly and to try and better our community if at all possible. So that’s exactly how we run our business: to include in-person market raffles and discounts! 

However, we also didn’t want to sacrifice quality. Too many times, we’ve also bought things at markets, and within a couple of weeks or months, they break or fall apart or are just unusable. That’s why we use hardware that has a stainless-steel core and is plated with either 18k Gold or 925 Silver! This ensures that unless you have a very specific metal allergy, you can probably wear our earrings without them tarnishing or discoloring your skin, which is a huge win. 

The rest is history! We really started getting into a workflow, and Chrissie really grew her knowledge to the point that now, we finally have launched our own website, calaverathreads.square.site! 

Alright, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall, and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?
Starting a small business has been a long learning curve of which we are still on! There are always things we find we can do better or improve on. The best part about it is that as a husband-and-wife team we get to tackle those hurdles together, which makes it seem a much smoother process than perhaps it may be. Haha.

However, making sure we give ourselves enough time to make products before sales and also trying to stay relevant without compromising our style are two major ones that come to mind.

Appreciate you sharing that. What else should we know about what you do?
We make polymer clay earrings that are classy with a side of badassy! Chrissie really channels her inner artist to hand paint and create earrings that we like to consider “wearable art.” Our style is something that we both like and enjoy, and it is oftentimes hard for Chrissie not to just keep everything to wear for herself!

Chrissie works with the clay, hand paints pieces and makes them look how they look and I (Chris) adds the hardware, any charms and does the resin/glazing and finishing. Our pups Rala and Twitchy are the Employee Moral Managers. So it’s a whole family affair, haha.

We can also do custom pieces and have already worked with many other small businesses and individuals to create earrings that represent them! Just reach out to us through Instagram or email to inquire.

Lastly, a look behind the scenes would be Chrissie manipulating the clay to make our designs and then after they are baked she hand paints whatever needs to be hand painted! After she is done working her magic they come to me for the finish work like resin, glaze and hardware assembly. It can be very time consuming and tedious which is something I believe not many people think of when they think of how our earrings are made.

Risk-taking is a topic that people have widely differing views on – we’d love to hear your thoughts.
Staying true to you sounds simple enough, but in reality, it can be very hard for people to do. Our style is not always accepted, and in some places we’ve been, we have not received the greatest feedback or comments about the pieces we’ve created. However, if we allowed those comments to change how we do things, we wouldn’t be us, and we’d be like every other cookie-cutter product you find at stores across the nation. Being yourself is one of the biggest risks you can take, as you are opening yourself up to criticism. We just like to say, “Haters gonna hate,” and move on, haha. 

Contact Info:

• Website: Calaverathreads.square.site
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/calaverathreads

Image Credits
Monica Meyer