A local artist’s combination of creativity and impressive patience is paying off.

A few years ago, Nicole Pellegrini came up with the idea and design for mini “crystal cacti” plants. After a slow start, they’ve recently exploded in popularity.

Nicole has designed dozens of pieces of unique jewelry, artsy creations over the years. You can actually see them in Ballston Spa’s Boho Chic Boutique.

However, as any artist or entrepreneur will tell you, the grind to success is long, and sometimes never ending. For Nicole, she got her start on Etsy about a decade ago. All of her best work was out there for the world to purchase. But only her family and friends were really buying.

Suddenly a couple months ago, orders and demand for her crystal cacti blew up. Nicole doesn’t know excatly why, but somehow a few dozen orders have quickly become a few hundred orders.

“I am grateful, but also it’s a little bit of validation,” Nicole Pellegrini said. “I had this cool idea, and I thought it was cool, but it’s validating to know that other people think so as well.”

You can see a full display of Nicole’s art now here on Etsy: https://www.etsy.com/shop/PellegriniDesigns