EDMONTON – An Edmonton-area jeweller is going Hollywood.
Kim Ducherer, the owner and founder of Farm Wife Style, will be showcasing her handmade jewellery in gift bags for the 2016 Grammy and Academy Awards.
The Leduc County woman said the story behind her products’ trip to Hollywood is not as glamourous as people think – she said she reached out to the companies that put the gift bags together for the award nominees and they liked what they saw.
“I ran upstairs and told my husband. He was in shock too. He didn’t really understand,” she said.
Ducherer has sent 150 necklaces to the Grammy Awards to be included in gift bags given out to nominees. Thirty-five sets of earrings will go to the Academy Awards to be in gift bags for nominees.
“I’ve never been in anything this big before,” she said.
Ducherer smiles as she considers the possibility celebrities may end up wearing her products.
“Even just to see it in a magazine, it would be just crazy to see somebody famous [wear it],” she said.
The full-time farmer said her jewellery-making started out as a hobby and side project. She recently celebrated the business’s one-year anniversary.
She calls the experience and exposure with the Grammys and Academy Awards surreal.
“It’s the best word to describe it. My girlfriend asked me if this is what you thought would happen a year ago and I totally did not think this was going to happen a year ago,” she said.
She said the inspiration for the jewellery company came to her after realizing she wanted affordable yet trendy jewellery.
Ducherer makes the necklaces, earrings and bracelets using rose gold fill and gold fill, which helps bring her costs down.
She draws on inspiration from being a farmer.
“I think it is really down-to-earth and being a farmer…is being down to earth. Everything I make is really simple, really classic and I find farming is like that too.”
This is the second year in a row products from the Edmonton-area have gone to Hollywood – last year, the owners of Confetti Sweets handed out cookies for the Academy Awards.
Owner Kathy Leskow said business shot up after word got out the company’s cookies were going to Tinseltown.
“Business has been up ever since. I think people, they remember the story. Even now, people are saying ‘Are you the one that’s going to the Oscars?’” she said.
Leskow, who said the exposure was incredible, has these words of advice for Ducherer.
“I think she should be ready for her phone to be ringing off the hook and ready to make a lot of jewellery and just enjoy it,” she said.
“Don’t get stressed out and just ride the wave of the Oscars.”
The Grammy Awards take place Feb. 15 while the Academy Awards air Feb. 28.