Seattle Entrepreneur: Tarah Prater

Tarah Prater, Seattle resident, web designer, and jewelry designer has recently launched her own Internet jewelry business, Tarah Prater Designs. She offers unique and stylish designs for the woman who likes to stand out. She uses sterling silver, an array of semi-precious stones, and trendy vintage beads. Her website, tarahpraterdesigns.com, is cute and feminine, offering information on each item and care instructions for the jewelry.

Tarah has been a Seattle resident for only two years, and worked as a freelance web designer before starting her own business. She has always had a love for jewelry. Jewelry design has been apart of her life since she was a child. My first creation was made of colored macaroni, a huge hit with my parents and family." Although, as the years progressed, she has moved away from using food in her jewelry. "There are just so many great stones and pendants out there, you can't help but want to use them all."

In 1995, Tarah attended Middle Tennessee State University to pursue a career in TV Production. While minoring in art she found jewelry design classes, which taught her how to work with metals and stones. Her love for jewelry increased and she became a jewelry making fool.

In November of 2000 she moved to Seattle, Washington and decided to pursue her jewelry design career. "The job market was so tough I decided to start my own business rather than waiting around for someone else to hire me. Jewelry was something I always wanted to do. I was always buying jewelry but knew I could make it myself. It made perfect sense to me." Once she started making her own jewelry to sell, Tarah Prater Designs was born.

Other than tarahpraterdesigns.com, she also markets her custom jewelry at Casablanca Bridal (at 16500 Redmond Way in Redmond, WA), Cicada (at 1121 First Avenue in Seattle, WA), Queen Anne Boutique (on Queen Anne Ave N. in Seattle, WA), and Boutique Bella (at 2817 West End Avenue, Suite 111 in Nashville, TN). "Basically," she says, "it seems a lot of people are finding me through my website and by word of mouth. However, I love being in different boutiques and I am always looking for different boutiques to sell my designs."

Tarah's jewelry is also available through mycicy.com Online (www.mycicy.com) ; and at Home/Trunk shows and jewelry parties. She also periodically sells her items on eBay.