BROWNSVILLE, Texas (ValleyCentral) — After making the move to the Rio Grande Valley to get back to her roots, a Brownsville woman discovered her passion for crafting amid the pandemic.
Katherine Trevino, 33, is a Brownsville native and the face behind Shop Wavy Drops, an online jewelry store.
The small business is run by Trevino out of her home, where she spends hours a day crafting orders.
After living in San Antonio for 10 years as a licensed esthetician, Trevino decided to come back home in 2020 to be closer to her family and support system.
At the height of the COVID-19 pandemic, Trevino said she was struggling with anxiety and depression.
While working as a legal assistant full time, she found herself looking for an outlet
I really wanted to find something to keep my hands busy.
Katherine Trevino
Working with clay was something she had never done before, but said it helped make the time go by.
“I liked doing it and then I got better at it,” Trevino said about making her clay earrings.
After building the confidence to share her work online, she was pleased to find a community of local makers who supported her craft.
“I decided to sell it one day and then it sold out and then I made more and then it kind of snowballed,” she said.
Trevino specializes in making hand-crafted “feel-good jewelry.”
The bright colors she uses in her art are custom-made by Trevino.
She said it typically takes her three days to soften, mix, make patterns, bake, sand and assemble a batch.
The Brownsville native takes great pride in knowing each piece is hand-made, trendy and sustainable.
Trevino said her goal is to turn the business into her full-time job so that she can be a staple for locals.
“I just want it to be fun and bold and I want people to feel good or a certain type of way when they wear it,” she said.
Trevino takes inspiration from her friends who she said have great style that is bold, colorful and fun.
I wanted to make things that were bright, and fun, and kind of statements. A lot of stuff that I make is because I want to wear it myself.
Katherine Trevino
She is most proud of her “happy collection,” which features smiley faces on its pieces.
Aside from selling her pieces online via Etsy, she also books local pop-ups to sell her product in person, a decision that took a lot of effort for her given her social anxiety.
“The fact that I’m out there talking to people has helped me so much,” Trevino said. “I’ve made a lot of friends in this community which I think helps also. There are other creatives out there who I find struggle with the same thing.”
Though she said she would have never imagined herself making jewelry, Trevino said she has found her passion in her craft.
“Art is very special because it allows you to express yourself and in a lot of ways it allows you to get your feeling out in a healthy way,” she said. “This thing has really changed my life for the better.”
