Moorman has turned his lockdown hobby into a new business

PIKETON – She is a young university graduate endowed with an artistic talent and an entrepreneurial spirit.

“Growing up, I was always very creative,” Layne Moorman said. “I was a competitive dancer for 15 years. And I’ve always been the kind of person who needed a creative outlet, but making jewelry was never really a dream of mine. In art class, clay has always been one of my favorite mediums, but I’ve never used it to create pieces like what I do now.

Layne Moorman, owner of Naomi Clay Creations, inside the Cranberry store where she sells some of her handmade jewelry on December 21. February 21, 2022 in Chillicothe, Ohio.

Today Moorman makes and sells jewelry as Naomi Clay Creations.

Incidentally, Naomi’s name, she said, “is actually my middle name and was also my great-grandmother’s middle name.” I chose it for my business because it means nice or beautiful and thought it represented my brand well! »

“I first discovered my interest in polymer clay earrings,” she continued, “in the spring of 2020 during the early pandemic lockdowns. I was stuck at home with nothing do and decided I needed a hobby to make productive use of my time. One day while browsing TikTok, I saw a video of someone making earrings out of clay and decided to order a starter kit from Amazon to try making my own, I immediately fell in love with the making process and started doing more research on how to make pieces of higher Within weeks I had made probably 50 pairs and started gifting them to friends and family.

Moorman typically manufactures and markets around one collection per month with around 10 different styles.

Some of the earrings on display are made by Layne Moorman, owner of Naomi Clay Creations, inside the Cranberry boutique where she sells some of her handmade jewelry on December 21. February 21, 2022 in Chillicothe, Ohio.

“It’s very fascinating to see how it works,” said Bobbi Blanton, owner of Cranberry Boutique. She has to cook them in an oven at the right temperature for them to reveal themselves. I’ve seen her create anything from cupcakes, to cowboy boots, to flowers, and she even has fun layered designs. She’s even shipped jewelry to several people out of state, which is pretty amazing.

“I try to make sure there’s something for everyone,” Moorman replied. “I take inspiration from my own wardrobe and create pairs that would go with the outfits I would wear. So many of the pieces are very colorful, eclectic and bold.

Moorman, 21, grew up in Piketon, graduating from Piketon High School in 2019 and Ohio University Summa Cum Laude with a Bachelor of Science in Psychology just weeks ago. She is currently applying for graduate school in hopes of becoming a school psychologist.

“I actually started making clay earrings my freshman year of college,” she said, “and launched my business in the fall of my sophomore year. I officially started as Clay Creations by Layne, but changed my name and launched my website as Naomi Clay Creations in February 2021.”

“When I started,” she added, “my goal was just to sell some of the pairs that I didn’t wear as often because by that point I had made way too many pairs for one only person could wear them. And I wanted to earn some extra money to pay for my materials. However, I quickly started to grow my following and really build a community on Facebook. I loved being able to share my parts and that other people love what I’ve created as much as I do.