Today we’d like to introduce you to Monday Anderson.
Alright, so thank you so much for sharing your story and insight with our readers. To kick things off, can you tell us a bit about how you got started?
Hi! My name is Monday, and I am 18 years old. I grew up in Bountiful and went to Viewmont High School. I currently have 2 pet rats (Tiptoe and Bubbles) whom I adore. I started trying out making jewelry when I was a freshman in high school at 14 years old, I would take small plastic toys and attach earring hooks and sell them on Depop.
I remember the feeling of making my first sale, I was so proud and excited. I ended up ditching Depop and decided to focus on expanding my skills throughout high school. I taught myself how to wrap wire, and I also discovered my love for antiques and crystals. I spend a lot of time at local thrift stores, antique shops, and crystal stores to get supplies for my pieces! I finally decided to start selling again in my junior year. I set up an Instagram account and got a lot more sales than I was expecting! A lot of my first sales went to my lovely friends, who ended up helping spread the word. I continued this for the rest of my high school career on the side of my part-time jobs.
After I graduated in May of 2023, I decided to enroll in Salt Lake Community College and take a break from creating to focus on my school. I took a beginning jewelry class for fun and ended up falling in love with actual metalsmithing. I just finished setting up my studio in my garage, and I finally get to start making the pieces I’ve been dreaming of! I have restarted and updated my Instagram page, and I am working on a website! I can’t wait to see where this takes me, and I have loved every second.
Can you talk to us about the challenges and lessons you’ve learned along the way? Looking back, would you say it’s been easy or smooth in retrospect?
I have hit some bumps in the road along the way, I got diagnosed with depression at the end of my junior year and I had a rough time going to school, work, and practicing any of my many hobbies. I stopped attending my classes, doing my work, etc.
I floated my way to senior year with the promise to work hard. Towards the middle of senior year, I started struggling with my mental health. My relationship went through an insanely tough situation, and I stopped going to school. I developed an eating disorder and was on a very fast decline. I hit rock bottom for a second, I was on a path to not graduate. April rolled around and I had to put one of my pet rats Sweet Tooth down due to a tumor she had developed. After she passed, I felt that I had to kick some things in gear.
I worked with my family and my school counselor, I worked hard, and I pulled through graduation. I couldn’t have done it without the support and help of my friends, family, and my partner. After graduation, my mom got me into an intensive outpatient therapy program in South Salt Lake. I was there 8 hours a day, 5 days a week for 6 weeks. I finally got the ok to be discharged, and I felt so much better.
I had made a full recovery from my eating disorder, and I was finally medicated and getting the help I needed. I had so much freedom and got to create again after I left the program.
Alright, so let’s switch gears a bit and talk business. What should we know about your work?
I am a beginner silversmith; I currently work with silver to create jewelry. I have self-taught myself my entire jewelry background up until my metalsmithing; from poking holes in plastic toys and attaching earring hooks to wire wrapping crystals into rings and working on elaborate necklaces and earrings. I love using second-hand, antique, vintage, or just cool things I find in my work.
I love incorporating crystals, oddities such as bugs and bones, and celestial themes in my work with a spooky gothic twist! I am so proud of my progress and my ability to come up with designs people love! Something that may set me apart from others is my love for all things gothic and unconventional. I find beauty in things most people don’t, in addition to my style!
Can you share something surprising about yourself?
The biggest surprise to most people is I do not look like what they might expect me to. I have been classified as emo, goth, all the things.
I just really enjoy gothic music and metal as well as dressing the part. My work is more similar to a hippy vibe, so not a lot of people expect to see someone like me behind that kind of work!
Contact Info:
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/madeby.monday?utm_source=ig_web_button_share_sheet&igsh=ZDNlZDc0MzIxNw==
