I got a lovely, delicate handmade necklace and earring combo in exchange for sending this Teya Danel of Dangles Jewellery a SCOBY (Symbiotic Culture of Bacteria and Yeast) so she could start making her own kombucha. She lives out on Vancouver Island and makes very cool jewellery. Please send her a note teyad@shaw.ca if you like what you see as she is happy to ship.

Teya Danel on how she started Dangles

I have always been a very creative, expressive, positive person and have worn many hats over the years i.e. desktop publisher, massage therapist, business manager, event coordinator and mother. My interest in working with beads began in the early 90’s and I explored different mediums which included Native beadwork designs on bottles, dream catchers, ornaments, woven beads and beaded costume design.

I was initially moved to create my simply elegant, unique, handmade necklace and earring sets as part of the therapy for my hand which was badly injured in a major car accident in the summer of 2004. Convalescing at home, unable to walk and desperately needing something to do to fill those lonely hours, the jewellery making provided much solace. Totally committed to regaining full use of my hand and body, I found the creative process of making jewellery to be a very effective tool on my healing journey. My heartfelt desire is to inspire other people to use art as a medium for their own healing and recovery.

Given that I was no longer able to do massage therapy after my rehabilitation, jewellery making has now become my new passion and creative outlet. Working with beads and creating jewellery is a very meditative and joyful experience for me. The pieces are made of strong nylon line and utilize Swarovski pearls and a variety of other beads that I am drawn to work with. They are sturdy, chic and original and appear to “float” gently on the neck and are also lightweight and water resistant.

I am a part-time artisan and have had a booth set up at the Bastion Square Public Market (April-Sept, Thurs. through Sat.) for the past two years now going into my third year in 2011. This year I will also be participating in the Government Street Sunday Market which runs from April-Sept. I do my work on-site and also offer custom-made and wardrobe matching jewellery design services.

To give you an idea of price, I sell my single strand with earrings for $22 a set and my double strand with earrings for $30 – I also sell the necklaces and earrings separately for those of want one or the other.

Hella Delicious loves to support startups and we have a handcraft business of the month in order to help promote you. This is especially for folks just starting out who need a little extra boost. Please feel free to send me suggestions for the business of the month, your own stuff is fine. It is great if you have a website to link to, but if you don’t have one, that is fine. If you are looking to sell online I recommend ArtFire. I know a lot of folks like Etsy, but I have had trouble with them–they aren’t as supportive to small startup handcrafts as they originally were–they seem to have forgotten their own roots!

Drop me a comment and I will check out your business, if I think it is appropriate I will ask you for a bio and photos.

A big thanks to Teya Danel and her business: Dangles: Simply Elegant Jewellery Design for getting this Handcraft Business of the Month going 🙂