“We had a garden, we canned, we froze, we sewed–I sewed all my prom dresses. So we were makers–two teachers with four girls. We made things; it was just how we were raised.”
For Stacey Krantz, the long-term vision she had for her life took a few turns. Completely changing trades down the road, where she has landed is better than she could’ve imagined. Still, a deep-rooted affinity for people can be traced through every change in direction and remains stronger than ever in a uniquely creative way.
A fourth generation native of Frederick, Stacey was born into a family of makers. Raised by parents who were raised on farms, Stacey and her three sisters learned creating as a fundamental aspect of the day- to-day. Inheriting life skills that required hands-on, from-scratch tasks and a hard work ethic, creativity became second nature to Stacey.
“We had a garden, we canned, we froze, we sewed–I sewed all my prom dresses. So we were makers–two teachers with four girls. We made things; it was just how we were raised. Making things was nothing for me—I could make it better than I could buy it,” Stacey shared. Still, creativity isn’t all her parents passed down to Stacey.
“My parents were educators...they were civil ser- vants and really involved in the community...” she shared. Watching them serve others in their various roles inspired Stacey’s own passion for people and she applied for the Peace Corps. Teaching fish culture in Gabon, Africa for two years, seeds were planted that were quietly cultivating an entrepreneurial spirit and setting her on a creative path.
When Stacey returned to the States, a combination of culture shock and the vastly different life stages of friends around her rendered it a difficult transi- tion home. Eventually, she headed to El Pueblo, New Mexico where she began working as a social worker— but things took an unexpected turn that would alter her trajectory when she met a local goldsmith.
Having begun dabbling in beading over the years, Stacey’s interest in jewelry had already been bloom- ing—and now she’d discovered a whole new level of jewelry-making. She continued to work with her new- found teacher, learning techniques such as soldering, cutting and forming metal.
When she returned to Maryland to earn her Masters in Social Work, she continued to study and hone her skills, and one day, her passion for jewelry making and goldsmithing won out. She went all in—and her suc- cess was incredible. From a booth at Eastern Market in D.C., to wholesale, to trade shows, to retail, Stacey had found her path, enabling her creativity to take expression in a variety of jewelry-making settings and to make a living doing what she loved.
Stacey later returned to school to gain additional technical, fine jewelry skills and began taking on custom projects. Instead of strictly sticking with silver metals, she switched gears and dove into the world of fine jewelry, working with fine gemstones, diamonds and the like. Seven years later, InBloom was born! Stacey now combines her creative skill, experience and passion for serving others to create meaningful, personal jewelry.
What began purely as a creative outlet has blos- somed into a custom jewelry design company that simultaneously allows Stacey to serve people in a deeply meaningful way.
InBloom has a team of passionate women who devote their expert skills to create one-of-a-kind jewelry for clients. With a thoughtfully-created design process—which they’ve dubbed their “co-creative” process—they work with clients over the course of three scheduled meetings to create the piece of their dreams. From start to finish, the client voice and opinion is of the highest priority through each stage of its development.
Aside from their commitment to telling the client’s story, that’s not the only constant throughout the design process. At InBloom, every single stage of develop- ment is completed in-house. Think: scratch kitchen vs. chain restaurant. Each step is done in the Frederick studio, from the sketch and CAD model, to casting, to stone setting, to polishing. There’s no question that each piece is made with care and expertise as the very people working closely with each cli- ent to catch their vision are the same people working to bring each piece to life.
That’s because for InBloom, it’s not “just” jewelry design.
Holding true to her passion for people, Stacey puts it this way:
“...we’re helping people to honor and rebuild something that’s theirs...when I first started working...it was very transac- tional...it was less of a commit- ment...this is more in depth, and there’s more at stake...we’ve both got skin in the game...so to me, it’s gotten deeper. It’s gotten more relational, and I love that too...”
In addition to their unmatched custom jewelry design services, InBloom also provides multiple collections of jaw-dropping, ready-made pieces to purchase in store.
Stacey Krantz is an inspiring example to stay true to your passions, and for her, those passions are people and cre- ativity. InBloom is the overflow of her skill and heart—and the whole team shares the vision. InBloomJewelry.com
