Through this blog I would like to take you behind the scenes of Keelin Design, and share tips and tricks that can help you choose the jewelry that best matches your style and personality, and suits your needs. Because that's my mission: Empowering you!
Hello! My name is Ellen. I am the designer and founder of Keelin Design. Let me start by telling you exactly how my adventure started...
Ever since I was a little girl, I loved to be creative. I mainly spent my time drawing, coloring and crafting with clay. Much to my delight, I was blessed with a very vivid imagination, which translated into exciting play-adventures.
As a teenager I started writing (fiction) stories. In my diary I wrote down my innermost thoughts, and writing poems gave me the opportunity to deal with the turbulent storms in my head.
As the years passed, the creative had to make way for the 'hustle and bustle of everyday life'. As an adult I lived life as a mom, partner, employee and housewife, leaving little time for myself. I regularly took refuge in a good book or watched series and films, but the lack of a creative outlet got bigger and bigger.
When in 2011 I enjoyed an education to become an image consultant at the beauty school in Antwerp, I discovered my passion for beauty and fashion. I enjoyed learning about colors and styling, but soon discovered that my true passion lies in (making) jewellery.
Jewelry, especially earrings, has always caught my attention. They can be a nice addition for your outfit and an ideal way to make a statement.
But, like many, I bumped into a lot issues when looking for the perfect jewelry: I didn't find the color I was looking for, the design wasn't quite what I wanted, the earrings were too long or too short, the price was too high, the quality wasn't good,... And on top of that: What's fun about wearing jewelry that hundreds or even thousands of other people are also showing off?!
And so my interest grew to start making jewelry myself. But how exactly do you get started?
The great advantage of living in a digital world is the fact that there is an abundance of information available online. And so I started looking for which materials exist, how they are being processed, what the quality is. I discovered which basic tools I needed to get started, bought books explaining materials and techniques, looked for inspiration for designs,... And just a little bit later I placed my very first order at an online hobby store.
Gradually I taught myself basic techniques and experimented with different materials, colors and shapes. In order to have my first jewelry display full of my own cheerful creations in no time.
What started as a hobby quickly grew into a real passion, and it didn't go unnoticed... After long months full of doubts (hurray for the imposter syndrome), my enthusiasm took over. Because let's admit, there isn't a nicer compliment than people wanting to wear your very own handmade jewelry creations, right?!
And so on October 1, 2014 'Keelin Design' was born...
Enthusiastically, I started my big, creative adventure and started a webshop filled with handmade accessories. I was really over-the-top excited!
However... That bubble of happiness was soon to be burst when I discovered that making jewelry and having a VAT number does not suddenly make you turn into a true entrepreneur. Oh boy, how I struggled with this (and, let's be honest: I still do)... But that's a whole other story! Maybe I'll tell you more about this later.
For now I'm going to leave it at this and I want to congratulate you for taking the time to read this blog post all the way to the end. I'll do my best to keep my next blog posts a little more concise. ;)
Do you have any questions or comments? Feel free to share them. You can follow me on Instagram and Facebook at @keelindesign I also regularly share some behind the scenes there.
See you there?
Best wishes,
Ellen