About Srey Style

Hello, I am so happy you came to visit my brand-new store!

My name is Srey, which rhymes with the English word, “try.”  In Cambodian, Srey means “girl” or “sister.”  I grew up in a small village and ultimately worked at the U.S. Embassy in Phnom Penh.  There I met my husband in 2007, and our first date was on New Year’s Eve!  In 2009 we were married on Waikiki Beach in Honolulu, Hawaii.

The following summer on a trip to Michigan to meet his sisters, he bought three jewelry-making kits from a hobby store for me.  I enjoyed these so much that I wanted to create my own jewelry.  I love designing and crafting handmade jewelry using assorted beads and gemstones.  My fashion tastes are pretty simple and straight-forward, so my jewelry styles are modest, too.  I often design by color and shape – I find complementary colored or wrought beads and stones and put them together in a fashion that is pleasing to me.  I then hope that my customers like what I like.

I also discovered the beauty of Petoskey stones when visiting Northport.  We hunted for them almost every day at Christmas Cove until deep snow and ice stopped us.  My husband learned to polish them by hand, and sometimes he makes them into some interesting items (but they’re not jewelry).  I’ve used small Petoskey stones to make silver earrings with Swarovski crystals or freshwater pearls.  I’ve also fashioned some into pendants on leather cords or chains.
 
Mostly I handcraft jewelry using died stones such as agate, amethyst, jasper, moonstone, quartz, and feldspar, and glass, semi-precious gemstones, crystal, ceramic, and dyed stone beads.  I don’t know the fashion types, but my customers always mention “classic” style.  I get absorbed when I’m making jewelry and spend hours at it.  My husband keeps track of things and when he told me that I had more than 200 different pieces, it really surprised me!  I make matching earrings for all of my necklaces, which I include in the necklace price.  I do sell some specially made earrings separately, and also ear cuffs (for both pierced and non-pierced ears).

 

I designed some charm bracelets using tiny silver bells from my homeland. When I was little, and even though my parents could not afford them, some of my playmates wore bracelets with these same little bells.  I learned later that their parents wanted to hear where their children were.

From early 2012 through the summer of 2015, I participated in dozens of arts and craft fairs throughout Michigan.  In the fall of 2012, my husband was called back to work abroad, and we spent that winter and spring in Timor-Leste.  In 2015 he got called back again and served in Thailand from late that fall, through 2018.  I couldn’t sell my creations at craft fairs in Michigan, of course, but the U.S. Embassy in Bangkok hosted spring and Christmas seasonal shops for spouses, and for those, I designed the ID card lanyards, which were greatly appreciated by the women staff members of the Embassy.

We both truly enjoyed meeting people and staying busy at the arts and craft shows, but as we’ve gotten older, it became more difficult for us to participate in them.  With the Covid pandemic and rising costs of gasoline and other items and services, I decided to try and convert to selling my jewelry online.  I look forward to having the chance to connect with everyone interested in the jewelry that I’ve made.

Thank you so much for visiting!
                                                                                   Srey