Today we’d like to introduce you to Jewel Canche.
Hi Jewel, can you start by introducing yourself? We’d love to learn more about how you got to where you are today?
From childhood, I felt called to create and share. I started by selling handmade items my mom and I made to classmates, always dreaming of growing into something bigger. Life took me in another direction—I studied photography and worked 15 years in a professional camera store—but the calling never faded. The turning point came when a friend asked me to sell her jewelry at a vendor booth. Soon I was adding my own items, then pieces from other makers on consignment. What began as a simple table grew into a community of artisans who trusted me to showcase their work. In 2011, I opened my first shop inside an antique mall, only open weekends, but it gave me a foundation. From that small start, my vision has grown into two thriving stores, now featuring more than 250 makers on consignment. Each sale supports creativity, community, and livelihoods—proving the spark I felt as a child was the path I was always meant to follow.
We all face challenges, but looking back would you describe it as a relatively smooth road?
Life’s has ups and downs for everyone, it would be so boring without them. I struggled with starting my own business for many years. I tried the multi-level marketing route when I was young, and I learned very quickly that I am not cut out for that! I went to college to become a professional photographer and I actually got a job in a professional camera store while I was in school. I loved that store, but it wasn’t mine. I started a wedding photography business with one of my classmates. That went alright for a time, but it just wasn’t what I wanted to do and it nearly destroyed the friendship between my business partner and me. I started doing a home party business where my daughter and I would go together to do these parties, and that was a lot of fun, but it just wasn’t a lot of money. While I enjoyed that company, it wasn’t 100% my own business. I had begun crafting and selling my handmade items at craft faires, before I knew it, some friends had asked if they could give me a few things to sell as a consignment. By the end of 2011, I ended up opening my shop inside an antique mall that was only open on the weekends. It was the tiniest little thing, my new little baby. I loved that shop so much! Within 2 months, I had doubled my space. I still worked part time at the camera store, my shop was only open on the weekends. By May of 2015, I moved into a brick and mortar location and never looked back. My space was 700 square feet back then. It is now 1800 square feel. And I have a 1600 square foot space where we host events and classes. Plus, I opened a 2nd location in May of 2024! This journey has had some really great times and some really rough times. In 2020, we had to close our doors for 6 weeks. I wasn’t sure if we would survive that, but as soon as we opened back up for the public to come in, we hit the ground running! In 2021 we hit our peak sales, but it was all unsustainable. People had to go back to work, and the stimulus checks stopped coming. People slowed down on their non-essential spending. This year, 2025, I’ve had to get very creative with event ideas and supplementing with loans, we are inching our way through the toughest economy we’ve faced so far, in the 14 years we’ve been open. Through some strong community support and a good staff, we are making it work. But this economy, much like the highs if 2021, is unsustainable and it will not last. We will bounce back and spring further forward this time!
Can you tell our readers more about what you do and what you think sets you apart from others?
I’ve always been an artist/crafter and entrepreneur. My mom was a crafter and as a child, I would take some of her handmade items to school and sell them to classmates. As an adult, I put more of an emphasis on spirituality in my crafts. My shop is built around the spiritual nature if our community, with a string focus on handmade items. I am more proud that I’ve been able to help other artists and crafters to be able to show off their own handmade items on consignment in my shop, than anything else. What sets us apart from others is the uniqueness of the items we sell. We ha e so many one of a kind items, items that one simply will not find anywhere else. There are over 200 people who have brought there handmade items to sell in my shop, and that numbers is growing constantly.
Where we are in life is often partly because of others. Who/what else deserves credit for how your story turned out?
My mom deserves a lot of credit for getting me started way back when I was in elementary school. Teaching me how to be crafty, then teaching me how to make some extra money by selling those things. Each and every job I’ve had throughout the years taught me something. They each taught me something about business ownership. Whether I learned how to do some task, or I learned how to not behave. I learned from them all.
My husband, who talked me into renting that very first space and giving me the rent money to do it. My High Priestess for mentoring me from the beginning. All the people I’ve met through the shop, customers and staff, alike. I owe it to them all, my community. Without them, I would have no reason to even have a shop.
Contact Info:
- Website: Pixiesintent.com
- Instagram: https://instagram.com/PixiesIntent
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/PixiesIntent
- Other: Tiktok @PixiesIntent
