A former co-worker and friend of mine embarked on her own “green business” in late 2009. Meet Rachael Fisher, the savvy creator around Bella Bijou Recycled Bottlecap Earrings.
She gave me a few moments of her time:)
1: How long have you been interested in making jewelry?
I’ve always loved fashion and jewelry a LOT, but never actually considered making it until last year. I’ve always viewed it as a sort of expensive hobby, but once I realized you can make jewelry and beautiful things out of inexpensive material, or even better, RECYCLED material, it opened up a lot of new (and cheaper) opportunities.
2: What inspired you to take this a step further aka starting the Etsy boutique; selling etc?
I basically started the etsy store because I wanted a way to market my product to the masses, and since the internet is such a popular way of selling things to a broad range of demographics, I figured Etsy would be best. It’s such a great website, and relatively cheap to maintain. Plus, I had researched other bottlecap earrings and no one else does it exactly like I do, so I figured there was a market in it. Also, everyone who saw them or heard about them absolutely loved them!
3: What role does your mother play in all this?
My mom has been the entire reason Bella Bijou still even exists today. When I was out west touring in the fall, I had no resources to make new earrings, so I basically conveyed the information to her and she started making them and selling them herself, which was so amazing. She worked so hard on them, and she’s really been a key component in the start up of the business.
4: Where do you find all your materials?
Most of our materials come from various bars or donations (for the bottle caps themselves), and the images on the fronts are mostly from recycled magazines. Everything else we order online.
5: What’s next? Are you just sticking with earrings or are you going to grow the line?
Right now we’re working on a way to make bottlecap bracelets, magnet sets, necklaces as well as refining the way we make the earrings. Stay tuned for a broader line of jewelry soon! 
And the best part? They take custom orders!
