CL Family Spotlight: LivyLynn

A: LivyLynn was born out of my love for vintage and my need to constantly create!  In 2010, I made the decision to be a stay-at-home mother to our only daughter.  I love being a mom.  However, in order to center and get back to myself, I would craft and make in the evenings at home. About a year later, I suffered an unexpected stroke.  Throughout the recovery process I had to really push myself.  It was during this recovery that I made a decision to start working again with vintage (and jewelry in particular).  I started with finding little things here and there, and began making pieces for myself or for friend's Birthday gifts etc.  The intricate processes and the need to push myself to learn new skills really accelerated my recovery, which was a plus on all sides! By the end of 2013 I was at a point of wanting to make more than what I could use or even give away.  It was during this time that my husband asked why I didn't start trying to sell some of what I had been making.  It was right then that I decided to give it a shot.  I made my first bulk find of vintage pieces and made a collection.  I then decided to test out my product at a local craft show.  It was there that I realized there are many others who loved what I was making!  From there, I continued to learn new techniques and finally applied to Celebrate Local (something I was VERY nervous about).

Over a year later, I am happily continuing to make vintage upcycled jewelry, using new mediums, and learning every day!  I love it!  It's still an amazing creative outlet for me as well as a way for me to spread the love of vintage to as many people as possible!!

All of LivyLynn products are made out of atleast half vintage and/or upcycled materials.  We try to really be as environmentally friendly as possible.  Take, for example, our vintage image cuffs and necklaces.  These are all vintage images made out of shrink plastic.  Those parts of the piece are new, but they are always finished with vintage chains and findings.  

In addition to this, I really LOVE finding very old pieces.  Pieces that hold a little bit of history inside of them.  An example of this would be some of the stud earrings I have available currently.  I have pieces that were made in post-war US occupied Germany, post-war occupied Japan, AND in 1830s Victorian France.  These pieces aren't just amazing in themselves, they hold little pieces of history within them.  When you see these pieces, if you know the history behind them, you can almost imagine how they were made.  All of them were hand cut, hand poured, and hand produced.  I can just imagine the maker in 1830s France hand pouring, shaping, cutting, and embellishing all of the little pieces of French Jet that are now stud earrings that someone will wear over 130 years later!!  These pieces were part of someone's livelihood as well as part of a country's economy!  It's really quite fascinating!

I absolutely LOVE the sense of family that comes with being a part of the Celebrate Local family.  Not only are all of the staff and management incredibly friendly, they support you as a vendor every step of the way!  They are always available for recommendations, questions, etc.  I love that they are always continually giving me feedback!  It helps me to continually set goals as a small business owner and helps me try to improve upon processes that might not yet be perfect within my business!  I know every time that I talk to them, their goal is my success!