AMBER SNYDER JUST can’t stop. Whether in her home studio or at Lapis Lily Market, she is always busy making trinkets. “I guess I just like to play,” she laughs. “I’m doing it for the 5-year-old inner child in all of us.”
A student of fashion design originally from northwestern Indiana, Snyder grew up visiting flea markets with her dad, forever on the lookout for fun stuff—the smaller and cuter the better. She opened a pop-up in a Stutz Building incubator space with support from Ground Floor Indy, a competitive program that gives startups a boost. But she’s been plying her often retro, upcycled bibelots to wholesale clients for nine years now.
Lapis Lily Market just relocated to a permanent retail spot across the hall, where Snyder hosts bauble swaps and crafting events every few weeks. Her eclectic, ever-changing inventory may include a framed magnet depicting ghosts on vacation, eyeball-themed earrings and bracelets, or DIY dress-a-rat-plushie kits. (“Rats are in!” insists Snyder. “My rat-themed crafting classes always sell out.”) A take-one, leave-one box by the counter acts as a sort of free little library for tchotchkes. It’s a big hit, says Snyder. “After all, who doesn’t love discovering little surprises?”
