It may not have happened overnight but, as with all good things that take time, Robyn Carter’s unique crystal stem business, by Robbie, is now positively blooming.

The Lower Hutt woman started creating the unique Swarovski Crystal Stems and Crystal Bouquets about a year ago, after stumbling across examples on an overseas website.

“I thought they were lovely but a bit tacky! I was sure I could do better than that,” says Robyn. 

And so she did, developing and perfecting a process of twisting the high-grade wire to retain the crystal to form a unique ‘crystal stem’.

“It took many months of experimentation, but I achieved a means of securing many crystal stems into a bouquet so that no stems could be lost and the wire-ends could be secured into a smooth non-snag handle.”

Mission accomplished, Robyn decided to show her wares at several local wedding expos. The response, she says, “blew her away”.

“I suppose that was the point at which I decided to devote more time to the business,” says Robyn who still juggles a part-time job as an office administrator for a local furniture manufacturer.

She admits she “fell into” the Activate programme almost by default.

“I was walking along the street when I saw someone giving away aeroplane lollies which are my favourite. They were also handing out flyers about Activate so I took one and my mother encouraged me to go along to the breakfast.”

Robyn joined Activate in February 2009 and says the four-month intensive business course was the shot in the arm her fledgling business needed.

“It was amazing in that it opened my eyes up to basic skills like marketing and promotion, as well as providing wonderful mentors who helped me with key aspects like market validation.”

The latter proved what Robyn had long suspected, that Wellington’s bridal boutiques were the natural home for her specialised offerings. For example, Brides on Thorndon included Robyn’s Crystal Bouquets in their newsletter which generated intense interest.  

Sales are currently pending and plans are being finalised to promote the Crystal Stem to florists, as well as involving more specialist bridal shops as dealers for complete Crystal Bouquets.     

For Robyn it’s been somewhat of a circuitous route to her new business. Having trained as a florist at age 15, she left the profession after five years to pursue more lucrative office work. And there she remained until a few years ago when her creative impulses got the better of her.

“I imported some ‘Carnival’-style masks and sold them at the Affordable Art Show. That prompted me to get back into the creative industries.

Although currently still employed part-time as an office administrator, Robyn is hoping it won’t be long before by Robbie means she can throw off the shackles of admin work.

“The response to my business so far has been wonderful and I’m hopeful it can go far…”