From a young age, Stroud native Lianna Claire (who did not want her last name used) was intrigued by jewelry design. She would collect beads, take bracelets apart and put them back together with new designs.
It was in late high school when she saw a friend’s mother with her own jewelry-making business that inspired her to start her own.
“That’s when I got back into it, and when I took it further,” she said.
She started handcrafting her own bridal jewelry pieces under the name Lianna Claire Jewellery.
Her knack for tinkering with jewelry she says comes from her grandfather, who taught her how to fix watches and clocks. And it was her dad who showed her how to use a soldering iron.
“And from there, I was able to watch videos and read books about using a torch (a step up from a soldering iron),” she explained.
When she was 19 years old, she began selling her bridal pieces to local shops and hair salons in downtown Barrie and on Kijiji.
Her pieces are made from a variety of materials including gold-plated stainless steel, stainless steel and sterling silver, sourcing materials from all over the world.
Some materials for her pieces she finds while shopping at local thrift stores.
“A lot of them have gemstones and I can make a pendant out of them,” she said.
When she’s not busy making jewelry, she works as a hairdresser at two salons, K Studio Hair Salon in Barrie and Salon Tocci in Toronto.
“I have been torn between them; I can’t choose,” she said with a laugh about her love for the city and suburban life.
When she is working in Barrie, she stays with her mother, who lives in Cookstown.
“All of those other days, and after work, I’m working on jewelry,” she said. “It’s a nonstop go.”
Most recently, she rebranded with a new name for her business: Beejou. Beejou, is a play on words, she explained.
“Bijoux in French means jewels,” she said.
And since she loves bees, she up the spelling.
“I have always adored bees and everything that they stand for,” she said. “I have one tattooed on me and that represents protection and treating yourself as a queen bee.”
Lianna Claire sells her items both online through Instagram as well as in hair salons. But many of her sales come from referrals and friends and family.
The pieces are dainty and simple, that’s what I really like, everyday pieces that you can wear,” she said, but added she does have more dressy pieces for bridals, including hair jewels for brides to put in their updos.
“I suffer from anxiety, so it soothes me a lot,” she said about making her jewelry. “I find my mind blows up with all these creations and I can just put it into all my work.”
When she first started her business, she would photograph her own pieces, but has since hired a professional to have them taken.
“It’s just so satisfying seeing my work come to life like that, and I can’t believe it’s me doing all these designs,” she said.
The next step for her business is launching her website, which is set to launch in the next few weeks and plans to start hosting pop-up shops in the city.
