Spotlight on a Local Mompreneur

Nancy Ludlum is never far from her sketchbook. She carries one with her almost everywhere, she even has a small one that she sticks in her purse in the event that inspiration hits her when she's out and about.

Inspiration can come from many places, says Nancy, who designs and manufactures a line of original jewelry with her husband, Frank.

Inspiration can come from nature, from a picture, from an event. In fact, the past two years have been a roller coaster of events that Nancy and Frank never expected to experience.

The couple moved to Kansas in September 2008 when Frank started a job in Newton. Just a couple days later, the Ludlums received news that changed their lives in an instant.

Early in the morning on Sept. 11, 2008, Nancy and Frank's only child was killed in a car accident. Twenty-eight year old Joy died instantly when her car collided with a logging truck that had made an illegal U-turn.

The news devastated the couple. Joy was everything to them. But rather than letting the pain of the loss eat away at them, they chose to keep her joyful spirit alive in whatever way they could.

"We just look at it this way," says Nancy. "It's better to take the lemons we were given and make lemonade than to wind up just being sour the rest of our lives."

On the first anniversary of Joy's death, the couple took a trip to Eureka Springs.

"We decided to always do something fun, try to have a good time and remember her on that day," says Joy.

During that trip the couple saw and fell in love with glass products and they decided to look into what it would take to begin a glass jewelry line of their own.

A year and a lot of work later, the Ludlums have turned their discovery into a family business. Imaginary Designs is a line of one-of-a-kind, hand-made necklaces, bracelets, pendants and more.

Frank was laid off from his job and now works full time for Imaginary Designs as the glass master and handles the business side of things. Nancy's mom is also involved in the business on a daily basis, assembling items in the Ludlum's basement which has been transformed into a full-service workspace equipped with a kiln, many jewelry samples and much more.

Nancy, who has a background as a floral designer, has been able to take her branding, style and marketing skills to a whole new level with the jewelry business.

"I flew to California to take classes," says Nancy. "I'm hoping sometime soon to start teaching people around here. I used to teach floral design and I would love to be able to teach, to be the go-to person for glass."

Imaginary Designs has several lines of products and uses a variety of different glasses to create unique, breathtaking jewelry. The glass pieces shimmer and glimmer and some even seem to change colors based on what color of clothing it is worn with.

The average cost of an Imaginary Designs piece of jewelry is $20. Much of their inventory can be seen at www.imaginarydesigns.net and can be purchased online as well.

The couple travels to Canton, Texas where they sell their items at a 4-day show each month. The city-wide event draws shopper from surrounding states and around 25,000 to 50,000 people come through each weekend. They also are focusing on growing the website presence and are looking for new ways to get exposure in the area.

"We have lots of plans, lots of dreams," says Nancy. "We’ll just have to wait and see!"