Kristin’s Laboratory

Have you ever been so drawn to something that you can’t get it out of your mind?

The thing that I’m currently obsessed with is the artistic jewelry of Kristin’s Laboratory.

Kristin Girard, the artist behind the jewelry, frequently uses repurposes items and creates wearable art out of them.

In spring 2014, I went to the Hip Handmade Market and came across a booth packed with people. Once I was able to squeeze inside, I knew why.

Display tables and hooks were covered with fun and fanciful jewelry creations, many of which combined a modern style with a vintage touch.

It was love at first sight.

I wanted to take it all home with me, but I showed some restraint and only bought some pieces as gifts for Mother’s Day.

A few months later, I was walking around Joplin’s Third Thursday art walk and was drawn to these delicate beaded earrings.

I chuckled when I realized that the artist was Kristin. Her work had called to me again, and this time I came away with snowflake earrings – for myself.

Then, last fall I was shopping at Repurpose Boutique (now Revel Boutique) in Carthage saw these necklaces made from antique compasses.

Being a person who likes to explore and travel, I felt like they were made for me (by Kristin, nonetheless).

Yet, for some reason I talked myself out of buying one.

Are you still with me? This is where the story gets really good.

At last fall’s Hip Handmade Market, Kristin had the compass necklaces in her booth, and guess what?

I didn’t buy one.

Chalk it up to commitment issues.

It wasn’t until later that day that I realized I’d been thinking about those necklaces nonstop since I left the market. I was ready to commit.

I knew it was a shot in the dark, but I Kristin a message on Facebook to see if she could hold one for me. When she responded, she said that there were only a couple of the necklaces left. She’d sold the particular necklace that had caught my eye that day, but I was content to take any of them because they were all so cool. I asked her to hold one for me and arranged to pick it up the following week.

Are you ready for some chills?

The necklace that I ended up with is the exact same one that I’d photographed at Repurpose Boutique months before I went to the Hip Handmade Market.

The compass and I were meant to find one another.

Okay, that was schmaltzy – but the story was cool, right?

The Laboratory

I recently met Kristin in her laboratory to talk about her art. Yes, I call her jewelry art because each piece is uniquely crafted – often from bits of discarded items into which Kristin ingeniously breathes new life.

And, yes, I did say laboratory. Kristin’s business name not only refers to the space in which she tinkers around with various materials, transforming them into something new; it’s also a reference to her previous occupation – as a microbiologist.

I know. I couldn’t reconcile that in my brain, either.

After years of working in hospital laboratories, Kristin chose to stay home with her children when they were young. Once the youngest was in elementary school, she began looking for something to do.

So she taught herself how to make jewelry from instructions in a magazine.

This is where I’d start to despise her if I didn’t like her so darn much.

Then she started teaching jewelry-making classes at Dry Gulch, (which used to be at Northpark Mall, but is now only online).

Kristin also began volunteering her time teaching jewelry-making “Worth Shops” at Watered Gardens, a rescue-mission organization in Joplin. She continues to teach there and enjoys witnessing how proud her students are of themselves for creating something pretty at the end of the workshops. “It’s a happy thing,” she says.

When she’s not teaching, she’s experimenting in her lab. “There’s not a single jewelry-making technique that I don’t want to learn,” she says, and she often combines several techniques within one piece.

Her obvious appreciation for the craftsmenship of others comes through in her voice as she talks about her favorite items: vintage finds. Some of the repurposed components she’s used include miniature tartlet pans, belt buckles, vintage buttons, and even roller shade pulls.

Sometimes, her inspiration comes from nature. When one of Kristin’s friend showed her the colored eggs that her hen laid, what did she do?

This.

Look inside the bird shape. Do you see the eggshell mosaic? Genious!

This outside-the-box (or inside-the-bird?) thinking is why I appreciate Kristin’s work so much. When I wear a piece of her jewelry, I know that I won’t come across anyone else wearing the same thing.

Plus, Kristin’s pieces make unique conversation starters. After all, how many people do you know who wear chicken eggshell mosaic pendants?

And her art is affordable, with prices basically covering the cost of material. “It’s a hobby that takes care of itself,” she explains.

Kristin also uses her hobby to give back to the community: 10% of the sale of each piece of her jewelry is donated to the Rapha House, a local charitable organization.

If you want to wear one of Kristin’s original pieces, you can find them at the Market Artisans booth at Joplin Empire Market, the Hip Handmade Market, Urban Art Gallery, or on Kristin’s Facebook page.

But you’d better hurry before I snatch them all up!

*Bird photo courtesy of Kristin Girard.

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Living Life to The Fullest!

I love seeking out new experiences and finding places off the beaten path. I started Joplin MO Life in August 2013 as a way to share my discoveries with others in the Joplin community so that they can learn about the resources that exist right in their own backyards.

I have worked in education and event planning, and have always loved to write. I hold a master's degree in journalism from the University of Oklahoma and a bachelor's degree in marketing from Tulane University.