showcase magazine | spring 10
magnetic appeal
tammy robacker
In fact, one of her middle-of-the-night jewelry creations began with fishing line, a metal washer, and a magnet. That rough inspiration for a necklace, cobbled together with abandoned stuff in a junk drawer and a little elbow grease, has evolved into her new business, Magnabilities.
photo courtesy of magnabilities
Identifying as an artist as early as she can remember, Fahsel grew up back East in Pennsylvania. There she finished high school, attended art school, and worked as a point of purchase designer in her early 20s. After a big move across the States to Portland, Oregon, Susan continued her arts career and in 1994, she started up Susan’s Signature—a graphic freelance business. By 1996, Susan moved to Seattle and used her entrepreneurial spirit and art skills to hand draw advertisement chalkboards for promoting beverage brands like Absolut and Bacardi.
creating just one necklace can become an easy and affordable way to own an entire fashionable jewelry collection. “By changing the designs in and out, and being the artist and creator of your very own necklace, people can create a different look or feel with their jewelry that is unique entirely to them. Like changing shoes to match an outfit, you can change your design insert throughout the day depending on the event, outfit, or mood,” said Fahsel. “Because of my team, this has been a new, fresh, and fun company that will continue to grow with more items in our line that will be released in the coming months. With this company, we will never get bored and neither will our customers.”
“Absolut Vodka hired me to do over 100 chalkboards by hand, and then the signs evolved into interchangeable graphics by the use of magnets. I thought, if I can do this with my graphics, what else can interchange? Quickly my graphics shrank to coin-sized magnetic designs and Magnabilities was born!” Now, running the business from her office in Lake Tapps, Magnabilities is a trademarked magnetic jewelry system. With a patent pending and an addictive online shopping presence at www.magnabilities.com, customers can create their own Magnabilities looks in three easy steps. After selecting a necklace length, shoppers can browse numerous magnetic design inserts then they choose their favorites to add to the pendant of their choice. The colors, styles and selections for 33
design & style
Susan Fahsel calls herself an artist and a ‘creative queen.’ She claims her creativity even keeps her up at night. Because that’s when the ideas come.