A little over a year ago, in the December rush of shopping for Christmas presents and attending holiday parties, my jewelry company was born. Making my gift list, I wanted to give my closest friends something thoughtful and very personal. I fell in love with these delicate hand chains made of gold and diamonds but the thought of spending over $400 a piece was unrealistic. Then it hit me, the hand chains were simple. I could definitely design my own pieces and make them myself. I took a trip to the Downtown Los Angeles jewelry district and bought 18k Gold plated chain and Swarovski crystals at a little bead shop off of 8th Street. That day I created the Soulmates hand chain for the friends that turned into family.

After the New Year, as events began to die down, I took a look at my credit card statement and all in all I spent a little over $1,500 on gifts and making appearances at holiday gatherings. Then I thought, wouldn’t it be nice if I could make more jewelry to pay that off? So I took to Etsy to test it out. I designed a few more hand chains and in keeping with the bohemian meets chic theme, I made some head chains as well.

I love the elegance of open back dresses and unexpected details. Think about making a stunning entrance and leaving a lasting impression.
So I created a few back necklaces for those oh so special occasions. At that moment, I decided to call the shop “Made With Love In LA.” The pieces were created for people I love and they were made on my desk, in my house, in Silver Lake Los Angeles, CA. I didn’t have the budget to hire a model, so one of my closest friends agreed to model for me. It just so happens that she’s a blogger and a renowned stylist. I then posted the Moon & Stars back necklace on Pinterest, and honestly, the rest is history. My original goal was to pay off that $1,500 and be done with it. I didn’t realize that with this one photo, I would eventually ship pieces to Australia, London and Paris. I never imagined that brides from all over the world would chose my piece to wear on the most important day of their lives. For that I am forever humbled and grateful.

I realized I should probably do something real with this Etsy shop when the Moon & Stars back necklace made it into UK’s Perfect Wedding Magazine, Brides of Oklahoma Magazine, 100 Layer Cake Blog and several others with no effort whatsoever on my end. I then registered the business under a new name, De La Luna. It’s half my last name and a small tribute to the one piece that started it all.

Check out photos from how it all began on our blog!
http://delaluna.us/it-all-started-in-la/