HAMMER TIME. Now open in downtown Eau Claire at 205 Gibson St., Hello Adorn crafts, displays, and sells handmade jewelry (sales are online only). Owners Jess Gardner (above) and Adam Gardner (below) needed to expand from their home studio.

A new downtown studio workspace for Hello Adorn – the beautiful handmade jewelry line formerly sold at local boutique Isabelle and Co. and currently sold online at the Hello Adorn website – has opened in downtown Eau Claire at 205 Gibson St. While the space is designated for making jewelry and filling online orders rather than serving as a retail storefront, interested customers can come in and view the pieces in person and maybe even purchase a piece or two at a popup sale.

“I don’t think something has to be flashy to be beautiful. On the contrary. It’s amazing to me how beautiful I find a simple piece of hammered gold.” – Jess Gardner, Hello Adorn

“Even though we don’t sell out of the studio, it’s great to be able to showcase our work and have people stop in to inquire,” said Jess Gardner. “We do plan to have pop-ups a few times throughout the year so people can come in and shop in person. Our first one will be June 3, actually! Even though we’re an online business, I still love the face-to-face interaction that a brick and mortar provides.”

Adam Gardner

Jess and her husband, Adam, opened the downtown studio out of a need to expand from a home studio to bigger space to create jewelry and process online orders. “When Adam left his career in insurance last year to join me at Hello Adorn, it opened up a lot of possibilities for growth,” Jess explained. “It used to be just me wearing all the hats of the business. All of our pieces are handmade, so there’s the limitation of what two hands can do. But there’s also so much more that goes into managing the brand. With Adam on board full-time helping make and manage, and now a part-time production assistant as well, we’re able to spread our marketing efforts beyond the Midwest and fulfill far more orders than before.”

The Gardners felt the downtown location for their studio was important because downtown was the birthplace of the jewelry line. “Hello Adorn was essentially born downtown – at my bricks-and-mortar boutique, Isabelle & Co., that was once located on North Barstow. When we took the boutique online in 2013, our jewelry quickly outsold our clothing.”

For those who are not familiar with the jewelry line, Hello Adorn consists of beautiful but simple designs that are anything but ordinary. “Our jewelry is best described as modern minimalist,” Jess said. “I’m very drawn to clean, simple designs that are wearable and versatile. This is key to our brand. Our customers are busy women who want jewelry that fits their lifestyle. And to me, that means it has to be easy but still look great. Those are the two criteria I’m always considering when I’m creating something new. Just about everything we make can be worn by any woman, of any age, in any walk of life. I will wear the same pieces of jewelry day after day – from morning yoga, to work, to a formal dinner. I don’t think something has to be flashy to be beautiful. On the contrary. It’s amazing to me how beautiful I find a simple piece of hammered gold. If you look though my designs, almost all of them are made entirely out of wire, nothing else. Simple doesn’t have to mean ordinary.”

The Gardners intend to continue to make beautiful things together, to grow their business one day and one piece at a time. “We like to say we just spend our days making pretty little things,” Jess says. “Really, really pretty little things. And we have the best time doing it. We’re so happy to call downtown Eau Claire home again!”

To learn more or purchase jewelry, check out helloadorn.com.