We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful Lara Miller. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with Lara below.

Lara, thanks for taking the time to share your stories with us today Learning the craft is often a unique journey from every creative – we’d love to hear about your journey and if knowing what you know now, you would have done anything differently to speed up the learning process.

I learned a majority of my jewelry making skills through books. I spent all of my free time studying pictures of jewelry and breaking them down in my head. I started off with bead working and at around age 9 I got a bag of seed beads and my first bead weaving loom. I spent hours separating out all the tiny beads by color and drawing out patterns for that loom. That escalated into freehand bead weaving, bead embroidery, and macrame. Macrame led into wire work and weaving. That is when I really developed a passion for working with silver. Of course I had to snatch up every single book I could find on all things metal. Around that time I started building my in home studio and i took a local class on metal clay. I can never stop learning more about this art form. I was lucky to be able to take a lapidary workshop and I do cut my own stones for some of my work. I never went to art school or really pursued a career as an artist until I was in my mid thirties. But, it was always in the background. I am constantly designing and building new work in my head. I was a veterinary technician for 13 years daydreaming of having all day every day to create art. I would say knowing what i know now I could have definitely sped up this process by letting go of fear and pursuing my dream right out of high school. But, there was that notion that you need a real job and being an artist was not a real job. So for a long time I never thought of my passion as something more than something I did as a hobby, or a way to make a little extra money.

As always, we appreciate you sharing your insights and we’ve got a few more questions for you, but before we get to all of that can you take a minute to introduce yourself and give our readers some of your back background and context?

I have always felt different. Because I grew up in a military household I never had that core group of friends I grew up with or a true sense of home. Having that feeling of always being on the outside looking in. So I found my home in learning and looking beyond the surface. I have always had a fascination with the metaphysical. I was that girl always writing her school papers on witches any chance I got. I started collecting crystals and using them in my work early on. i do believe that they have healing properties and can support the intentions we set upon them. I create pieces of power that help the wearer capture their personal magic and light. Talisman jewelry with symbols and natural gemstones and raw crystals designed for healing and empowerment. Everything I use is ethically sourced and sustainable. I work in small batches in my home studio and try to keep my footprint as small as possible. I save and recycle packing materials I get from other vendors and i keep my studio waste as minimal as possible. I draw inspiration from nature. In my design process I let my intuition guide me and spend time in meditation before I start creating. My favorite pieces to create are my moon talismans where I create a piece under a new or full moon. I meditate on the collective energy of that moon, then I pick stones letting my intuition guide me. Designing the piece when the moon’s energy is at its peak. I also am attuned to reiki level 3 and i do infuse reiki energy into my work. My goal is create everyday jewelry to support and empower the wearer’s journey of growth.

Is there a particular goal or mission driving your creative journey?

My mission is one of empowerment. There is this notion of what we tend to do in times of stress, which is usually to grab onto a piece of jewelry and fidget with it. Spinning a ring on our finger, twisting a bracelet or clutching at a pendant. I have had the idea to expand on that idea creating pieces that can offer the support or boost we need in those times. Setting intention onto the reiki infused pieces I create makes them personal power talismans. An example would be needing to do public speaking for your job. You don’t like public speaking and it makes you nervous. But, you bought a pendant with a lovely blue kyanite. You set the intention on this piece to give you confidence and clarity when speaking in public. So every time you wear that pendant and touch it, you think about the intention you set on it. Which grounds that calm and clear energy into your being. Creating talismans with intention and purpose to help you rewrite your story and grow into who you are meant to be is what I do. To foster a reconnection to nature, to remember who you are.

Can you share a story from your journey that illustrates your resilience?

I am still in the middle of really seeing what I am made of. I started my business around 10 years ago. It was seeming like I was finally about to take off then covid happened and everything halted. At the same time it started being clear that my mother was having memory issues. I became the caretaker for both of my parents. This became the focus of my time and energy. For about 4 years. I took some more online jewelry courses and a few business courses when I could. Because of my mother’s dementia i couldn’t really go far or for very long so traveling was out of the question. The mental load of everything became exhausting. But, I found time to build my first website on wordpress. I got on instagram and started posting my work there and on facebook. But, I was definitely in a cocoon phase. I was focussed on building my metalsmithing skills to match the work I was seeing in my head. Sadly, last year i realized I could no longer care for my parents alone. So they are in an assisted living facility and doing well. It’s been a little over a year and I just now feel like I am starting to create a life of my own. The burnout and exhaustion of being a caretaker is heavy. But, now I finally feel forward movement again. I just built a new website on shopify and launched it this year on Halloween. My sales are coming in again and I am able to go to events and meet customers in person again. I will not give up on myself or my dream. It’s so hard when you feel held back. When it seems like everything is about to happen and then an obstacle appears. How I know this is what I am meant to do, is even in those times of all the obstacles and let downs and redirections is my passion for creating art and spreading happiness through sparkling gemstones has always been there.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://thecharmedrabbit.com
• Instagram: https://instagram.com/thecharmedrabbit
• Facebook: https://facebook.com/thecharmedrabbit
• Linkedin: https://linkedin.com/thecharmedrabbit

Image Credits
Kaiti Mills photography