From resin coasters and art palettes to wired-wrapped jewelry, 20-year-old Franklin local Avery Mcgaha handcrafts these creations using locally sourced gems and butterfly wings.
The young entrepreneur is a jack of all trades and has been self-employed since May 2021. She is also a pet sitter and student. Mcgaha is expected to graduate in December of 2022 from Western Carolina University where she is majoring in marketing. She is also working towards her real estate license.
Mcgaha is always looking for something new to learn and create. She began creating her resin work in July of 2020 to stay productive and creative during quarantine. Since starting, she has mastered making coasters, art pallets, necklaces, earrings, rings, key chains, trinket dishes, and pendants.
“One of my favorite parts of what I do is just thinking about where the stuff that I’m making, where it’s gonna end up, where it’s gonna go. And where’s it gonna be after I’m not here,” Mcgaha said.
The newest product idea is her use of butterfly wings. The most time-consuming part of the process is finding the fallen butterfly. Once found, brought home and laid out in a design, she uses a quick-drying UV resin to cover her creation. After the resin dries, Mcgaha carefully cures then polishes each piece individually.
“I find these butterflies after they’ve gone through the course of their life, and I saw one and I wanted to just make it something more permanent ‘cause they are always so delicate and it’s kind of like a symbol of transformation,” Mcgaha says.
Mcgaha uses her inspiration from nature and odd eye for beauty to create jewelry that will last forever. If her work ends up in an antique shop a century from now, she is delighted her hands were able to once hold it.
One of Lavender Lynn’s resin butterfly wing necklaces. Photo provided by Avery Mcgaha 
This blue hydrangea necklace is a piece of Lavender Lynn’s “Hue of Hydrangea” collection. Photo by Avery Mcgaha 
Lavender Lynn’s custom-designed resin art palette. Photo provided by Avery Mcgaha 
Lavender Lynn’s pressed daisy resin earrings with sterling silver hooks. Photo provided by Avery Mcgaha 
A pressed resin daisy keychain. Photo by Avery Mcgaha 
A snapshot of Lavender Lynn’s booth before the morning crowd comes in. Photo provided by Avery Mcgaha
Mcgaha recounted a custom-ordered pendent that a mother wanted for her daughter’s 20th birthday. The pendant held a flower the daughter had kept in a notebook since she was 5 years old. Mcgaha shared how orders like this make her anxious but are the times that she is excited to be a part of.
“It’s a balance of self-discipline and enjoying what you do enough that you feel driven to do it. And I do enjoy what I do enough, so I guess it makes it easier,” Mcgaha said when explaining her work, social, academic, family balance.
She has enjoyed teaching several people how to make their own resin pieces at home and will continue to eagerly help those who want to learn.
The name ‘Lavender Lynn’ was put together using Mcgaha’s middle name, Lynn, and her grandmother’s favorite flower, Lavender.
Her grandparents support her and sometimes contribute their flowers to Mcgaha’s work. Mcgaha made a matching pansy flowered necklace and earrings for her grandmother as a birthday present one year. The flowers were a challenge to put on a small, studded earing, but she was determined.
Her next step is toward intricate metalwork and electroformed rings and necklaces that are made from dried flowers. She has already begun the addition of wire-wrapped rings that hold natural beads.
Mcgaha sees herself as a possible craft studio owner in the future. She loves pottery and creating art with her hands.
“Just honestly making a crafting or like healing art center where people can come and just have a safe place where they can work on what makes them happy,” Mcgaha replied when asked about her desire to own an art studio.
Lavender Lynn Design can be spotted every Saturday and Sunday at the Jackson Art Market.
Want to reach out directly or see more? Follow her on Instagram or Etsy
