I have loved using my hands since I was a little girl. For Christmas I didn't ask for dolls but for anything and everything crafty (that and books, I'm kind of a bookworm). My first experience with beads was a Native American bead loom my grandfather gave me in grade school and it all started from there. After that I even started making little pieces and sold them to kids in the lunchroom.
My love affair with beads were on and off throughout the years but I never stopped creating. Whether it was sewing, costume design, knitting, quilting, scrapbooking, stained glass work....I did anything and everything. These hands were always busy with something.
After I had my first son I found some pearls that I couldn't help but buy, they were too gorgeous to resist. While I had no real jewelry supplies at the time I quickly found some of my old pliers and began to work with wire, gemstones and other beads. I couldn't put my them down and my supply of beads grew and grew. That and I absolutely loved having fun jewelry because let's face it, mom life isn't so galmourous but even when I was in yoga pants after staying at home with a cranky baby I could put on some cute jewelry, spray some perfume and I would feel beautiful.
It was a hard step from making jewelry for myself and friends into actually selling it because I have found when you make something it becomes a part of you and it can be very scary sharing it with others. But over the years after hearing from many people that I should sell my work, I decided to set up a shop. I was extremely nervous. It was like putting a piece of my heart out for the world to see, judge and critique. While I knew my family and friends would always love and support me I didn't know strangers would react. I was so nervous I didn't tell a soul about my shop except my husband and my sister who I made buy the first few pieces.
To my surprise people, who were not my family and friends, began to buy from me and things have grown from there. Years have passed and I was able to quit my part time job and make jewelry in my home studio/office as well as be home with my three rambunctious boys.
I love what I do and to this day still can't believe I get to do it!
I thought for a long time over what to name my business. And one day it came to me, 'Belleza Mia'. Sometimes my mind switches to Spanish for a bit. I was a missionary in Bolivia for a year and a half before marriage and kids and sometimes words just come like this one did. Well, it was actually 'mia belleza' because that's grammatically correct but that was taken and I ended up falling in love with Belleza Mia.
Belleza Mia (bay-yey-suh me-uh) means 'my beauty'.
The world tries to tell us what beauty is. This unreal expectation is seen on television, in magazines, pretty much anywhere you look. And guess who fails to meet those expectations? Everyone. Even the models themselves because that is not the real them.
My favorite pieces to make are the personalized keepsake necklaces. Some are for new moms, or moms with older kids. I love making necklaces for grandmas with all her grandkids birthstones lined up in a row. Somtimes the pieces I create are keepsakes to keep a loved one close to ones heart and while they are hard to make, especially when it is for the loss of a child, I know that these pieces will be treasured by those who wear them. What a privilege.