Hi, welcome to jewelry as your side hustle with Sugar Gay Isver and I'm Sugar Gay Isver
and I'm so glad we have a special guest today all the way from Anchorage, Alaska which I
can't wait to hear about how it is to live in our most northern state.
It's so exciting.
I have another friend there right now so I know a little bit about it.
So we're going to learn more and this is a jewelry design.
She has lots of one-of-a-kind, very special, beautiful pieces and we're going to let her
talk about her process and how she got started and all of that.
So welcome to the show today.
Annie Suzak.
Suzak, I think I spelled it or said it right.
Did I say it right?
It's all good.
Well, I know.
My name has a lot of variables to it too.
So I don't care.
You can just call me Sugar.
It's easy.
But welcome.
I'm so glad that you're here on my show today and I can't believe I finally get to talk to
you and we're like twins in with the glasses.
I know.
It's like we planned it.
So tell us about you and how to really say your name and give us a little update on what's
going on in Anchorage, Alaska today.
Well, fantastic.
Well, my name is Annie and I would say Annie like the orphan.
This way it's not like Emma, Inbley.
Yeah, so Annie like the orphan and the last name is CZAK.
It's Polish, which sure, let's have fun with all the S's and the Z's and the extra contents.
I am originally from South Buffalo, New York.
And I moved away.
Right?
Yeah.
I was living with somebody today in Niagara on the US side, which is right there today.
Oh, funny.
Yeah.
That's like 15, 20 minutes away, if that.
I actually had a PO box in Buffalo.
Because I lived across the border and going to Niagara Falls and get my mail.
That's funny because when I went to school in Buffalo, I was just a Buffalo State College,
we would cross the borders to Canada to go to the Canadian Ballet because you could drink
at 19.
I don't think that you're the first person that thought of that, honestly.
I don't think so.
There was definitely, you know, lots of cars in a row heading over.
We get creative.
I don't think that border guards have seen it all.
Oh, for sure.
And I was doing fun in the reverse because I was coming down from Canada and buying liquor
and then sneaking it over the border because it was so much less expensive and it's very
hard to justify those prices when you know, it's only like $10 in the US.
Why is it boardy here?
Exactly.
It's only in my car.
There's nothing here.
I don't know what you're talking about.
I've never done that at first.
I know.
We could really talk about that for a while.
How did you get to Anchorage?
So I followed a boy, which is, it's kind of, it's kind of a story up here.
Like you're either from here and you stay here or we tend to follow other people.
I didn't stay with that boy for very long, but obviously I stayed in Anchorage.
I've been here since 2004, which is crazy.
I know.
I've been coming up with my 20 year anniversary.
20 years.
Yeah.
That makes me feel really old.
Don't look at the grays.
But yeah, if you had told me when I moved that I would still be here, I would have said
you were nuts.
Just kind of in the same way that if you had told me that I was going to be a jewelry maker
for the rest of my life, I would have said that you were nuts.
So sometimes we just fall into things where we're meant to be and that's where it is and
that's great.
Sometimes I really think things happen for a reason, which is fantastic.
Well, it really is beautiful up there.
I have a friend that's like from way past.
We've been, I've known her for 30 something years and she's a nurse right now in a little
town in Alaska and I follow her.
So I see how the night is really different.
Like it's really cold there.
Still, it's like still freezing and snowing.
What about you?
I think she's in Barstow, Alaska or something like that.
I'm not sure where that is.
There's lots of funky little awesome villages.
Little tiny town.
Yeah, I'm not as well versus maybe I should be.
But we're finally seeing some signs of spring here.
My perennials are coming up.
I maybe pushed the garden in a little fast, but I couldn't wait anymore.
We had record snowfall this year, which was a lot.
Again, coming from Buffalo, I grew up with snow.
Yes.
Love it.
Great.
So we almost broke the all-time record here in Anchorage for like the most snowfall ever.
And it was, I was over it.
I was done.
So like, yeah, let's go play this in the ground.
How many feet are we talking about?
Oh, feet, I don't know.
That's math.
120 or 130 some inches.
So divided by 12.
Almost 10 feet.
So it was a lot.
Wow.
I mean, like buildings were collapsing.
People had to shovel their roofs.
It's how did you survive?
You did okay?
We did okay.
Yeah.
You know, we got to shovel our roof and that's always exciting.
Said no one ever.
We had to fall off that roof.
What was that?
I'm sorry.
You can fall off that roof.
No, which is why my husband's not allowed to go up there because I'm very concerned.
That's what happened.
Yeah.
Nice.
Yeah.
So we don't see that.
But I'm a knitter as well.
I spend a lot of time knitting and just enjoying the cozyness of the place.
I saw your Outlander inspired piece and I was like, God's make them like, oh, I can
almost feel it on me.
It was so beautiful.
Thank you.
I love that show too.
I was like, hey, look at that.
It's pretty great.
And I went to Scotland with a friend several years ago and so we had to of course see one
of the big stone circles and I took the cowl and so we had to have this photo shoot with
the two of us to prove that like, look, Outlander, here, here it is.
We touched the stone.
The JB Fraser did not.
But you didn't go back in time.
We did not.
But I was ready with my cowl if it happened.
It didn't happen.
Well, we love that show.
So it has good meanings for us.
We're very much an Outlander family.
So I really did think that was a beautiful piece that you did and, you know, making the
effort and going over there and seeing those stones.
I watched another show last night and it had those same stones in it.
I'm like, okay, it's like a thing.
Like I got to go there and go see the animals.
Yeah.
Well, so do you have any kids or how has that worked?
How do you do?
I have some fur kids.
We have two dogs adopted from Turks and Caicos.
They're known as potcakes.
We have two frogs, which were just adopted out of our Buy Nothing group.
They don't do a whole lot, but that's Benson and Stabler.
So they entertain us.
Wait, do you have them in your house?
We do.
Yes, they're just little aquatic frogs.
They hang out and swim around.
So did they squeak a lot because we, I have a little froggery at our ranch and we, I get
so excited like, oh, there's a frog here and he's calling for somebody else and I can hear
her calling.
Like, do they do that?
And have an interesting little chirp chirp sound.
I haven't heard them, but we acquired them because a girl in the neighborhood, they were
her pets and apparently they were being pretty vocal.
It might, and the little girl couldn't sleep.
So they had to re-home these frogs because the kiddo couldn't sleep.
So I was like, well, I'll take them, but we're not, I mean, they're not next to my bed.
They think they were next to her bed.
So I haven't heard them, but they just sort of swim around and do their thing.
And then we have a cat which loves to watch the frogs.
So I think that, you know, they were meant for each other like here.
They were trying to help me for the day.
Yeah.
Our frog is called Fred.
Does your frog, your friend has a, does your frogs have names?
Yes.
Benson and Stapler.
Okay.
Well, of course, we're a big part of this household.
Although if you, if you renamed them, they probably wouldn't mind.
I don't think they know.
In fact, I'm not sure if we have a male and a female or two males.
So I don't think they really care about what's going on in their lives.
You're the only person I know that loves frogs as much as me.
I love my little frogs.
In fact, we have a camera kind of on the frog pond.
And I turned it on the other night so my husband could just listen to little Fred talking
to him.
I'm like, look Fred's talking to you.
That's so funny.
I know.
It's actually funny that the camera actually picks up the sound.
They're like, yeah, it's kind of fun.
So yeah.
Well now let's talk about some jewelry because you make mostly one of a kind pieces.
Me too.
Like, you know, I can make how I made 9,000 nettles one time for Proctor and Gamble.
I can do that.
Oh my God.
But it's the, it's because we're artists and we sit down and we just create, but you,
you really have some beautiful pieces.
Are you self-taught?
Did you go to school?
Like, how did you learn all about?
So I'm not self-taught.
And the joke with everyone is like, did you take a free class at like a, you know, community
center?
It's like, well no, I actually went to college for it.
I started at Buffalo State College working towards a BFA in drawing.
And one of the foundation classes is all art students will tell you is figure drawing.
I don't mind a naked body in front of me at all because after two minutes it doesn't
matter what you're looking at.
But I have the hardest time drawing the human figure and I got very frustrated.
And so I was like, well, screw this.
I'm taking a break.
I'm going to take this silly jewelry class for fun.
Like, won't that be a laugh?
And ha ha ha, who's laughing now?
I was really good at it.
I really liked it.
Clearly I found the calling and as they say, the rest is history.
Did, did my work there?
I did all the, you know, the foundational things moved up here in 2004 and I opened,
well, open slash started, did my first craft show, I guess you could say, in probably 2005.
And since then I moved into wholesale.
Actually, I do quite a bit of wholesale.
That's kind of probably 50 or 60% of basically my income.
It's hard to say no to those wholesale dollars.
It's a little like, I mean, 9000 necklaces.
Oh my God, I can't imagine.
I think probably 200 of the same pieces my limit and it's kind of creatively crippling.
But again, we all got bills to pay.
So you got to do what you got to do.
I got paid $3 an necklace and that was $27,000.
So that was like, yeah, jewelry.
That's my jam.
Because just like you, I kind of found, I was kind of fell into art, you know, thank
God we have college.
I think that's really the, you know, the benefit of going to college is really so that you
can like explore other options.
Like that's something I did too.
For sure.
Well, and so the difference between where I, you know, we're going to high school in
New York, we had a great art program.
I obviously learned a lot.
I didn't realize that there was this component to the craft or the artisan side of it is
in jewelry and metal until I got to college.
When I got to Alaska talking to people with kids in high school, our high schools actually
have jewelry programs as part of their art curriculum, which is awesome.
To get kids started that early and to, you know, sort of dip their toes in, I think is
great, but I was definitely really jealous.
It's like, you got it that early.
I wish I had it that early.
Have you ever tried teaching at the college level?
Will I teach jewelry design at the community college level?
I'm not necessarily interested in teaching at that level.
I've done individual classes.
I've done some classes out of my home.
In fact, we had a kitchen-free model that we had to find last year and part of that came
through lessons.
Isn't that nice?
It is.
It's kind of like a side hustle.
That's the side hustle.
Yeah, it's a side hustle of the side hustle.
Yeah.
So, I think when I think of Alaska, Anchorage, which I know is a beautiful city and a big
city, it's not like a little tiny city, but there is a lot of tourism there.
Is that who is buying your jewelry for the most part?
We have a lot of tourists.
We also have a really, really great local support network.
I would be hard-pressed to leave Alaska not because I'm super outdoorsy and I love the
mountains and hiking because I absolutely do not.
I'm outsidey.
I like to look at the sun from the comfort of my car and pull off.
Locals support locals.
We are really good at lifting each other up.
That sounds really cheesy.
But helping each other and being such an isolated, because we are pretty isolated, an isolated
community, if there's an event going on, that's the thing that's happening.
It's not like you can drive 10, 15, 20 minutes and you've passed through three little towns.
This is it.
So, when there's something happening, people come out, they show up, they support local,
and it's really great.
So I wouldn't be where I am today at all without the support of basically the locals.
And for that reason, to move, it would be tough to get me out of here.
Yeah, because that's your network right now.
That's everything, right?
And I get it.
And it is so beautiful.
So your wholesale accounts, are they coming from just people that are coming into your,
do you have a store?
Is that what it is?
I don't have a store.
I did have a brick and mortar for 10 years.
Nice little bucket list saying it was called Bella Boutique.
And it was exclusively handcrafted.
I carried over 100 or so artisans from around the country.
But people expect you to be there from this time to this time.
And you have to wear pants and it's like the whole thing.
So 10 years of that.
Yeah, right?
All these things that are like, and now it's all things optional, which is fantastic.
So I did that for 10 years.
It was a whole lot of fun, but it was time to be done.
But while I was doing that, I really worked up those wholesale lines I used to travel
out and do the big shows.
I went to New York, Philadelphia, which RIP, the Philly show, Boston, all of those.
And that was fun.
You got to network and meet people.
Now I work with IndieMe.com, which is a wholesale exclusive American-made handcrafted platform.
So it saves all of those additional expenses of travel and hauling all of your stuff.
So it's really great.
So at this point of view, it's OK.
It's a pop-favorite view.
Yeah, yes, I did.
Yeah, I mean, it's great that people are finding you on IndieMe.
So that's where, now you also have a site on Amazon Handmade, which I'm on there too.
I'm kind of revisiting all of it and it's kind of starting from scratch.
Because when I signed up, years ago, 2017, everything has changed.
Everything has changed.
The photos, everything.
It's just kind of a start over.
How is it going on those platforms for you?
Because I know a lot of people that are watching this or listening to this, they might be on
some of these other platforms.
Tell me your story about that.
So I'm on Etsy and Amazon, I guess we start with Amazon.
I started right at the beginning as well, right when the handcrafted program began.
I was right in there.
I loved it.
It was great.
At the beginning, I was doing super well.
And like you said, they've changed a lot of things.
As soon as the requirement came down that your first image needed to be a white background,
I mean, it was like off the cliff.
I remember.
I was almost crying.
I was just crying.
I was going, this is so hard.
I was like, erase the background.
It's so hard.
Now it's easy.
Push the button.
Done.
But it was one person.
Yeah.
Well, since I work in a lot of silver, silver that's on a white background, it looks awful.
You can't tell that there's any definition.
And I'm so not techy at all, the fact that I figured this out like round of applause.
But I mean, I paid somebody like a dollar an image to fix them.
But it is not.
It's not a person's fault.
They look terrible.
And so, no, Amazon is not the place for me anymore.
I mean, I'm still there.
I still move a couple of things here and there.
But if that were supposed to be like my main income stream, like, oh, no, not at all.
Etsy, on the other hand, moves a little bit better.
I'm certainly not like a top seller by any means, but I'm also like an OG Etsy member.
I had an Etsy membership number.
Like it's 5,000 something.
I was one of the first 5,000 people to sign up.
I made a lot of friends back in the day when they actually had chat rooms.
We'd all sit in our regular nine to five cubicles, like chatting in the seller forums.
And I sort of use that as my, hey, you're at a show.
You don't want to buy it now.
You can go get it in the Etsy shop.
It's just a little easier than an actual website.
But of course, over the years, they've changed a lot as well.
Their fee structure continues to go up and this and that.
But I mean, that's the world we live in, you know?
Yeah.
I totally agree with you.
And not only that, it like changes on this weekly.
Like even on Etsy, I got something Etsy that wanted me to be Etsy premium.
And it's like $10 more and you can do this.
It's like, okay, fine.
Push the button done.
But I don't know what I get for that.
I'm like, maybe like, like, we just keep, it's kind of like gambling addicts.
We just keep like trying a little bit of this and a little bit of that to see if we'll cha-ching
finally come in.
Because there's so much to the back end.
Like I'm, I know that people that have not tipped their toe onto online sales, it is
a whole different ballgame than it was just even, really since COVID.
I would even say social media has changed so much in just the past four years that it's
really hard to keep up with all that they're pushing at us.
Like do you find that- Oh, for sure.
Oh yeah.
And like I said, I'm not techie.
Like when Reels showed up on Instagram, I was like, no, no, like I just figured out
how to use Instagram.
And now I have to figure out this real thing.
And then like, well, everyone's on TikTok.
You have to be on TikTok.
I finally think I made an account two or three months ago.
I, I'm never going to go viral because I don't know what I'm doing.
I also feel that I could be spending my time doing something more constructive, like working
on fabulous metal pieces than figuring out how to make a TikTok video.
But I'm old and grumpy and again, paid my dues and you know, it's hard to learn things
when you're old.
Well, one thing I would also say is that the real thing that really could hold us all back
is our phones.
If you don't have the latest version of the phone or at least within two years, then now
because the phones now, you know what they just added just added this week to my, so
I have a Google phone, a pro pixel pro.
So listen to this.
This is like crazy.
So you're on a phone call and you look at the phone and it says auto emojis.
It's like what?
So I was talking to my son and he's in the car with his family and the push the button
that's like, and that has like eight different noises that you can make clapping was one
and cheers is an, I'm like, all kinds of cute things.
And one of them was a fart.
I'm like, I did that the whole car.
You know, I got a lot of grandkids here three years.
So like, oh, that was farting.
It's like, amazing.
Like, why are you on the phone?
So audio emojis are coming.
Like that's going to transition to everything too.
Just watch it's coming.
Like, we're not simulated enough.
Well, Google just can't think of more things to push at us because I, yeah, they, you know,
they want to charge us for some of these things down the road.
That's for sure.
And of course we, we do invest in all this kind of stuff.
But yeah, it's tricky.
So your phone now can do so much more than if you don't have a phone.
I was telling somebody they had a eight year old phone.
I'm like, you're not even like covered by, I mean, anybody can walk by to steal your
information because you don't even have any software on your phone anymore.
That's going to save you if something happens because our, our phones do have to be kept
up to date.
And that is a number one tool and it's expensive to get.
So our prices, let's just talk about that.
I live in an ass Alaska.
Our prices like super expensive there.
I know like milk, I know groceries are just ridiculous, but even like, are they more,
is it worth it to come down to the States or can I send you something?
Yeah.
Well, I did just, you know, make a trader Joe's run when we were in Seattle last week
and I definitely like him carrying basil plants home on the plane.
Oh, that's so cute.
It's still quite a drive.
I love Seattle.
Oh my God.
I love Seattle.
How far of a drive is that for you?
Oh, we didn't drive.
We flew the drive is a solid like three days and you have to go through Canada.
I mean, I'm trying to like visualize that.
And I'm like, I'm gonna stop somewhere.
I don't know over Vancouver.
I'm like, I don't know how to go from Vancouver to you because a bit of a drive.
I've been on a three and a half hour flight.
So it's, it's nice and you know, that's our stopping point to go to the rest of the world.
So it's kind of nice to actually get out of the airport when you're actually staying in
Seattle.
So that was cool.
But yeah, I grabbed, grabbed the TJ's and the IKEA and the things while we were there.
And of course had to visit shipwreck beads because, you know, we're out of the state.
So I have to go shopping and I would say that I was unchaperone, but my husband was very
kind to push the cart behind me and be like, you take your time, you do what you need to
do.
Like, I understand that we don't come a lot.
So that was really nice.
I totally get that.
Yeah.
And I don't like 97% of what they carry doesn't apply to me or my work or what I do.
But you know, they have pretty shiny things.
So I definitely came home with a bag full of goodies.
I got this beautiful, these bits of amber and I just can't wait strand.
That's the word I'm looking for.
Granddad strand of amber beads.
And I can't wait to put them on something.
I don't know what I'm going to do with them yet, but I'm like, I can't leave you here.
You have to come home with me.
So you're talking about shipwreck beads, right?
Shipwreck, yep.
So I used to use shipwreck back at the very beginning when I first started my business
and I haven't thought of them in a long time.
You kind of get in your thing.
I use mostly fire mountain gems, which is also up in Wyoming.
It was in Washington state up there on the fire, on the fire mountain.
So I loved seeing those.
I think I saw something on about going, you going there on Instagram.
Did I see something about you going there?
You did.
Yes.
And then I finally posted a picture yesterday of part of my whole.
And yeah, if you're listening and if you want to follow me, I would love for you to
follow me.
What was your name?
My name is Annie Pants.
I'm asked Annie Pants, Annie, like the orphan.
And it's the mixture of my work and I'm also an aspiring home chef and then my animals
in life in Alaska.
I try to keep it art focused, but I also feel that me as a person, that's part of my art.
Like I'm presenting me.
And so that's part of the whole stick.
So yeah, giving a follow, that would be awesome.
I'd appreciate it.
I know I follow you.
Now, do you have pictures of your frogs on there?
Because I'm going to want to look for those frogs.
I don't yet.
No.
Well, small picture.
I have a picture of the dogs looking at the frogs.
But I'll see what I can do about getting a good picture.
Okay.
Only because I'm a frog.
I don't want to guess.
I just think that frogs are so important to our environment.
And that's really how I think of it on our ranch is that if we have frogs, that means
it's healthy.
Of course, the first night that I built the pond and filled it up with water and I'm
all excited about it.
And it was like this big thing.
Like I spent all this money on chunks of glass rocks to put all over.
Because of course, it had to be an art pond.
And then I woke up the next morning and there was two dead frogs in there.
I'm like, oh no.
And they couldn't get out.
So I'm like, oh no.
I didn't know they were going to come so soon.
Like, I was right out.
I didn't have a stick in the water too.
So they could like, you know, get out of there.
I had to learn.
So it was sad, very sad for me, dramatic.
I have been a GCSD from that almost.
I'm just kidding.
But really, so tell me about going to shipwreck beads because I used to be like friends with
them.
Like I would just call up and they knew me.
So they're a great company.
They're a great company.
They know they totally are.
And again, a lot of what they hear isn't really my lane.
If I'm going to add gemstones, I prefer genuine gemstones, not necessarily beads because I'm
not a beader.
There are other people do it far better.
But I found some lovely strands.
I found some little, little charms and things that I couldn't pass up.
They've moved since the last time I was there.
So I couldn't quite get my bearings at first.
Like, what didn't you used to be?
And they were.
So new space.
And then the other bummer is totally not their fault up until 2019 out of state residents
didn't have to pay Washington sales tax.
But that went away.
So we had to pay sales tax, which is fine.
And because we don't have sales tax here in.
Right.
So there's Alaska.
Everybody's got that extra little bonus over their head so that you don't have to do that.
Isn't that the nicest thing ever?
Well, I mean, it is lovely.
But we kind of consider it like repayment for shipping over charges.
Right.
So we're not making any money because it definitely costs a lot more to live here.
And I think sometimes people here, Alaska, when they're shipping and they think like
Africa, like we're shipping it really far away.
It's like, no, we're actually still part of the US.
You don't have to change your money.
Stamps work the same way.
But it's just part of the fun in the stick of living here.
A little shipping, talking about shipping.
Oh my God, it's so expensive.
Shipping has gone through the roof.
I just shipped a tiny little package to England.
44 bucks.
It was like, yep.
Like it just keeps going up.
So from Alaska to ship something up, it's not like me shipping it across town.
There's like one price all across the US.
It does that pricing also work in Alaska?
Like it fluctuates depending on how far it's going.
But I think for the most part, like with what they call it global something, now they change
this to the first class anymore.
But with first class, it used to sort of depend on how far it was going.
Priority is pretty flat rate.
So that's pretty much the same.
But in fact, this morning, I was putting some orders out in the mailbox in front of the
house and I heard some little ch ch behind me and I look and there's this baby bull moose
coming to say hello.
And we didn't have the front camera on so I sent my husband a text like, hey, if the
cameras had been on, you would have seen me heading to the front door a little faster
than normal.
Because they can be a little dangerous because they're giant animals.
They're soft like a cow, but they're giant.
Yes.
They're very, very big.
I mean, he wasn't charging.
He was happy.
He was fine.
Just, I mean, he takes three steps and he covers 15 feet.
So I was like, I'll go back and now.
But the mail's ready to go.
Yeah, I have had moose meat before.
Is that normal?
That's normal, but it was good.
Oh, totally normal.
I mean, it is like a cow.
It's like a big cow.
It's like, oh yeah.
I think, I mean, they might even be bigger depending.
But yeah, they're bigger than cow, but they're, but they're tasty.
They're very tasty.
They're like, um, but anyway, I digress because that was just, I was a good memory is what
that was happening right there.
It's like, oh yeah, moose meat.
I'm sure you get it all the time because it's like something Texas we would never have.
So is there anything I can send you from Texas that you, if there is like just know I'm here.
I love it.
Well, thank you.
Thank you for being my emotional support.
Yeah.
Well, yeah.
I kind of think that I, you know, because I understand that because I lived in Canada
for 12 years and it was very hard and I've lived overseas and I've lived, you know, I've
lived in multiple places.
And I know sometimes you just want those whole house chocolate chips, you know, nothing,
nothing like it anywhere in the world except for from wherever you are.
So, you know, and I know those are, and I see my friend, uh, and Annette and she, she's
a radio tech at a hospital out there in Marceau, Alaska.
And like one night a week, the groceries are so expensive.
They have the hospital provides them with one steak dinner and it's like 10 bucks for
a steak dinner, which normally it would be like a gazillion dollars.
And I'm always so happy to see her pictures.
I'm like, I'd be getting that too.
That was a good $10 steak is what that is happening.
Yep.
Yeah.
Seriously.
Yeah.
Now your work is really beautiful.
Let's go back to about your jewelry.
I'm sorry.
I was digressed about, but you know, I feel like I'm meeting a friend.
So it is really nice.
We have a lot in common, so it's kind of nice to meet you.
Like honestly, I'm, I'm really tickled about that.
And so tell me about what inspires you.
I mean, people can go online and they can look at your jewelry and they can follow you
on Instagram, Miss Annie pants, Miss Annie pants.
Ms. MS.
Yes.
Yeah.
Ms. Amy pants.
And, um, and then of course they can find you and I'll put a link, um, so they can find
you also in the description of the podcast so they can like find all these little things
from you.
But you're, you're living in a beautiful area.
Do you feel like, does any of that inspire you when you're working?
Like what do you, what do you do to inspire yourself?
Um, it's funny.
I find that the things that, that sort of tickled me the most, um, are just like the
mundane.
So it really has nothing to do with what's outside my window.
I have a few little landscape pieces that I'll do here and there.
And then I have a fireweed, which is the, it's a weed, um, but it's all over up here.
It's this lovely pink flower and we sort of like tell the, where we are in the season
by where the blossoms are on this flower.
So I have a fireweed piece that's very popular.
Um, but like I have this handbag from that I got in Italy and I was like, can I make
that out of metal?
And I did and can I make a hammer?
Like it's more of a challenge to myself to recreate what I see around me.
Um, and I challenged myself to do a piece a day.
I think it was at the height of COVID lockdown.
Like the bottom had literally fallen out from probably all of our businesses, all of my
whole thing orders for the season.
They canceled within three days of each other.
So it's like, oh, yeah.
Okay.
So this is a story of start over 2020.
Yeah.
It was like, let's, uh, let's pivot real hard and figure out how we're going to make
this work.
So I, I did this piece a day challenge basically.
So I would allow myself the time to basically just fart around for one to three to six hours
in the studio to make whatever piece I decided I wanted to make.
It's hard when you have wholesale hanging over your head to waste six hours on something
that you don't know if anyone's going to want.
So having that pressure removed was actually kind of fabulous.
Excuse me.
Um, but actually I have some of the pieces here if you want to see one.
So this is, and I don't know if it's going to, is it cute?
So this is the replica of the Italian handbag.
Oh, it's beautiful.
Is there money when you open it?
Cause I want money on the inside of it.
It doesn't open, but we can do, send us money in there.
There's a bucket of pearls in there.
Exactly.
It's beautiful.
It's really beautiful.
Thank you.
Was it solid?
Like I have no idea.
I do not do silver.
It's not in my thing.
Not even gonna, even gonna.
I'm not even gonna even try.
But I'm always curious about it.
And I see all the equipment that goes into it is like, Oh my God, you have to invest
so much.
And then it's so expensive, all those things, all that silver and all that.
So is it solid or was it a sheet?
So this, it started as individual components.
So I, and I'm not a seamstress by any means, sewing is not something that I can do.
But basically I made a pattern like you would if you were sewing something.
So you know, the edges sides and then basically soldered it together and formed it to basically
come back on itself.
So instead of using a sewing machine, I used heat and solder and hammer.
We all, we love our hammers.
Okay.
And so you also made a hammer.
I did make a hammer.
I do have a hammer here.
I wanna see the scale of it and see how it looks.
She's we.
Oh, look at that.
It's so cute.
Is it a ring at the top?
Yeah.
A little tiny, little tiny hole.
And then we've got the little claw at the end.
You know, that is so cute.
And I'm trying to think if I could make that in resin, but I don't think so.
It'd be hard to kind of mold it because it's that 3D part, you know, is a little bit tricky
on that.
But it's really a work of art.
Like these are the museum pieces.
You know, that's another thing when you're talking about like making things that are
kind of like, you're not even worried about selling on this.
Just I'm going to make this because it's cool.
Like do you go back in history?
I love to see all these old things in history.
And you go, oh my God, a Cambly.
They made that like they made that like way back without any of the stuff that we have
today.
Like you ever see that?
Do you follow any of that old, all the old stuff, which is stunning to me.
Oh, for sure.
I mean, anything anti-exhistory, you know, if walls could talk, like that's my jam.
I love that kind of stuff.
In fact, I was just back east.
My grandmother's in a nursing home when we need to sort of liquidate her assets to make
sure that she's taken care of as she needs to be.
So I was back to sort of help go through all of these things.
And it's like the stuff that we found in that attic, man, so cool.
Yes, the way that it's made and you know, there's a big Amish culture there as well.
So nails versus pins versus yeah, like the arts and crafts movement back when I was in
school, like that was that was my jam.
Like can we just take that art history class for the rest of all of the things?
Because I just think it's so great.
And it's a lost art just making things with hands.
And that's what I say about my work.
It's not highly polished.
It's not super finished.
And I never want it to be.
I say that I want evidence of hand.
I want you to know that it's handmade.
I want you to know that even if I did make, dear God, I never want to make 9,000.
But if I made several, I don't want them to be exactly the same because that other people
do that better.
And by other people, I mean machines.
So I always want you to know that it was handmade.
And that's what I think about of this fabrication is, is obviously this wasn't stamped or molded
or came out of some big factory.
Like, nope, somebody actually labored over this pop that pop into your head.
And then it became a thing like it never was a thing before it came into your head.
Like it is amazing.
I did a little thing with with Hermes.
And one thing that they talked about is, you know, if we have a little mark on something,
we just say, oh, it's because it's made by hand.
We like that.
And so, you know, even Hermes at the level that they're in and the perfection that they
aspire to, it's still okay if it's got a little, even if you wear it and it's got a little
mark on it, it's okay.
Because it's just love of the piece is all in there.
That kind of, you know, kind of like shows you that we all like things that are handmade
because they're selling at a global level.
And they're fine with that.
They're like, yep, it's artisan made.
That's that's what we're selling.
So that should make you feel really good too.
And I love it that your pieces are one of a kind.
I totally get that.
That's why we're going to be friends forever, because we're like, we're on that one of a
kind jam.
Like, I love it.
It doesn't need to be, it needs to be special, you know, when somebody wears it, I just had
a client here and I told her as she walked out, I'm like, now you remember, you tell
them, you know, this is from Sugar Gay Isber and she's famous, like say that every time.
You want people to know.
Absolutely.
It just gets that little juice going for somebody that's, you know, looking, looking
at her stuff and admiring it and going, yeah, that's pretty, but it's all made by me.
Oh, for sure.
And like when I'm in the grocery store or like even watching the nightly news, I'm
always scoping to see who's wearing my stuff.
And I know that that sounds so, but it's just like, ooh, I'm seeing it in the wild.
Like I love it.
I know.
I have a news anchor here that wears like the same one pair of earrings over.
Actually, it's these earrings.
She has these.
Oh, well, they're lovely.
She wears them over and over.
I'm like, I kind of need to send her something else.
I'm just gonna wear that as well, but yeah, because it's cute.
You know, that's because we work hard.
Nothing bad about that, that we're, that our stuff is in the wild and that we're looking
for it because we want that.
That's like a little affirmation that we've done our job well and that people admire our
things.
Like it's not every day that that happens.
So it certainly is a little, it feels good.
Like we need some feel good.
So I get it.
COVID.
I'm like, I'm gonna start over.
I did the same thing.
I have a whole room of jewelry because I never stopped during COVID, even though I had no
orders.
I'm like, every piece, I'm just getting better and better and better.
So why keep my stop?
Like it's not going to stop me that I, I'm just making this shit.
I can't eat it, but you know, certainly got to get rid of it, but you know, it's just part
of who I was.
I'm not going to stop because I don't have a customer.
I'm thinking about that customer.
So, of course.
Yeah.
And a lot of the one of the kinds that I did during the, the piece of day, excuse me, I
did list them each day after I made them.
And it was kind of, kind of a running joke in our house.
Like how long until we heard the dang that it sold.
And I think the record was like four minutes.
Oh, what?
Which was super cool.
But some of the pieces I realized that like I just love too much personally, but like,
I can't sell them.
Like the little, obviously the little suitcase and then we're really into drag in this house.
Like, I, I want to be a drag queen so badly.
But I made a Ginny lemon.
Oh.
So, one of the British drag queens and she's fantastic.
And so I made this Ginny lemon phase and I've taken it to a couple shows and I realized
as people sort of stopped to look at it that I want to snatch it out of their hands.
So I was like, you know what?
I'm just, that's fine now.
Like you can't have it.
I love it too much.
But I did do a few other drag queens and they sold, which is fantastic.
Cause you know, I want these things to go out there and I want people to love their
one of a kinds, but I also want to keep some of the specials for me too.
We have to wrap this up in a minute, but I want to tell you that my son just sent me
a list of all his favorite drag queens so that I could go on their website.
We should do this together.
I love it.
I want to go on their websites and see if we can like make things for them because you
know, they're always out in the, they're always out in the wild, for example.
Of course.
I like how you said that.
But you know, definitely I think that there's some, it's just, I mean, cause we have cool
stuff and they're kind of some of the people who might wear it.
So you know, a little bit more exaggerated, interesting jewelry.
So I have a whole list.
I will, I'll just copy it from WhatsApp and send it to you so that he did the research
for us.
So, I love it.
Yeah.
And then we'll go on chat GPT and have chat with GPT and I'm going to help you with this
and then have them write up a little letter and then we'll just start posting it to everybody
and just go ahead.
This is fantastic.
Yeah.
A girl from.
Coming through here.
Yeah.
A girl from Anchorage and a girl from Texas, they're going to mold up and we're going
to figure out how we can like do something together because or at least just talk about
ourselves to them to go, Hey, we should be coming for you Bianca.
Let's do authority.
Come on.
I've met her before.
I made a crown for her.
Oh, very nice.
Yeah.
She came.
She's my son's favorite and she came to Austin.
So I met, I met him her at a show and she puts on, she's really funny.
So she's hilarious.
She's my husband's favorite.
Okay.
Well, look at us.
We are so similar.
That's the one drag queen I've actually met.
So, and I know she's my favorite.
I've met several.
I'm that person, but they're all fantastic.
That is so fun.
Well, I look forward to more conversations with you.
Is there anything else you want to tell anybody?
Like, John, this is your like last like closing sentence.
This is the sentence.
Other than give me a follow.
I'd love the support.
Just keep supporting your local artists.
Support your community.
Support your makers.
Man, these hands, they've seen a lot.
We all work with them and we appreciate the support.
So whether you're super local or you want to get hyper local or if you're just supporting
handmade out there, I think it's incredibly important, especially without getting political,
because crazy economic climate that we are in.
This, this is what we do.
This is what I do.
This isn't my side hustle.
This is my whole.
We were born to do this.
That's how it really like I was born.
And while we can both pivot and we can sort of supplement income streams here and there,
the number one down a dirty for me is I, I'm a jewelry and I would love to make it for
you and your friends and other people.
And let's do that with all the art people.
Give them your money.
Support them and surround yourself.
Beautiful things because we all deserve to be strong to be beauty.
Yes, we do.
Well, you and I are going to talk again because you're a lovely, you're a lovely guest on
my podcast today.
And we've been so much for having me.
And we've been talking to Annie Cizak Cizak and she's an Anchorage Alaska and you can
find her on Instagram.
There'll be a link at the bottom.
So make sure it, but it's miss Annie pants, M.S. and then it's like any, any, any Oakley
or any Oak or Fiddy any pants.
So the traveling pants.
So you can remember that miss Annie pants on Instagram.
I hope I got that right.
Anyway, thank you again for your time.
I'm going to hit the disconnect button just to stop recording.
And I thank you for being on my podcast and I really look forward to talking to you again
very soon.
I love it.
Thank you sugar.
Transcribed by yea