Check Out Natalie Stone’s Story

Hi Natalie, it’s an honor to have you on the platform. Thanks for taking the time to share your story with us – to start, maybe you can share some of your backstories with our readers.
As a performer, a lot of my work dried up overnight in 2020. Quarantine left me with a lot of spare time on my hands. After wandering through a few other hobbies, resin casting caught my interest. I bought some molds that July and started making earrings. When I started to have too many pieces, I asked my friends if they would be interested in buying some of them. They said yes, and Stone Cold Maker was born in October 2020. I sold mostly through Instagram stories when I started and started selling at markets in 2021. My first market was First Sundays at Shops at Porter East, and I still have a great fondness for that event. As I’ve improved with resin casting, I’ve started experimenting with ways to vary the look of my pieces, and I’ve even made a few of my molds. I’ve learned a lot and made some pieces I’m proud of.

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?
I’d say it’s been a relatively smooth road, but I might be saying that because my dad is self-employed, as is my husband. So I knew it wouldn’t all be sunshine and roses. My biggest business hurdles have been building interest in my online presence and maintaining social media postings. I like making stuff, but I struggle with “making content.” Finding a balance with my other work after things started opening back up has also been challenging.

Thanks – so what else should our readers know about your work and what you’re currently focused on?
Most of my jewelry is resin cast earrings. Resin is a pretty flexible material: it can do many things. But it can also be challenging because it’s plastic. It can look cheap (and not in a good way) if you aren’t careful. I’ve worked hard to approach my work to make the finished pieces look more sophisticated. By the same turn, I also really want all my pieces to have a sense of fun. I use a lot of iridescent finishes, unusual molds, and high-quality hardware. My pieces feature clean lines, bold colors, and a playful spirit.

I am also a self-professed weird girl. I make weird stuff and always have. Frankly, I like making weird stuff. And I realized that weird is timeless. It’s not tied to trends, so it doesn’t fade as they do. I find myself making stuff I would have loved 10 or 15 years ago. So that’s how I came up with Stone Cold Maker’s tagline: Weird is timeless.

Risk-taking is a topic that people have widely differing views on – we’d love to hear your thoughts.
I don’t think of myself as a huge risk-taker. I’m a naturally cautious person, and I love to do research. I took a lot of time to research how to build my business, and while I didn’t always do the “right” thing, I usually at least knew when I was choosing not to do the smart thing. I spend a good amount of time making sure that my pieces are priced appropriately so I can keep buying new molds, tools, pigments, etc. I think it’s important to arm yourself with as much information as possible when you take a risk. Being informed helps me fight the anxiety of making difficult or risky decisions. Boring, but true.

I’ve had a few pieces that my customers weren’t interested in that I was sure were going to sell, and I’ve had markets where sales were slow, of course. But I came into this knowing that was just a thing that would happen. Ultimately, making something for others is always a risk; I mean, what if everyone hates it? But it’s SO rewarding when someone loves something you made. The risk is always worth it when someone says, “I have to have that! It’s so me!”