Sand Dollar Designs: Shoreline Collection

What started off as simply enjoying playing with polymer clay, would propel Caitlin in the direction of finding her passion and starting her business Sand Dollar Designs. At the beginning of her journey, the idea of polymer clay jewelry played in Caitlin’s mind and the fact that she enjoyed sculpting and sculptures made the thought even better. But as she sat and thought about the idea, Caitlin realised that Barbados may not be the market for this type of jewelry, and after factoring in the time and cost of it all, she decided that she would put the polymer clay idea on pause. This however, was only the beginning and as they say, when one door closes another one opens- the real jewelry journey was about to begin now!  

Once again, Caitlin found herself playing with some new jewelry components such as wire. Between wire bending and wire detailing, Caitlin took naturally to the entire process of it all and embraced it whole-heartedly. Yes, she is self-taught! And for the majority of this new venture, Caitln has learned everything she knows about making wire jewelry on her own. However, there is one person that she is truly grateful for to have along the way, and that person is her aunt. For a number of years, Caitlin’s aunt made jewelry, so she sees her, as her “experienced advisor”, the person she can reach out to for any advice when it comes to her jewelry making. Whenever she is not sure of something that she has begun to teach herself, without a doubt, her aunt will always be there to guide her.

Now, let’s talk about the name Sand Dollar Designs. Caitlin admitted that in the beginning this was not the name that she was going for and she was actually going to name the business after her family name, “Keeves Creations” is what she had in mind. However, as she did her search and observed everything around her, she felt an inclination to give her business a name that would match her surroundings. Something coastal, with a beachy vibe that would embrace the island life- Sand Dollar Designs! As Caitlin said lightheartedly, her mind is always going and she seldomly stops thinking, so not only would the name represent her surroundings, but she also sees it as an opportunity for development in the future.

 With her first collection, the “Shoreline Collection” officially launched, Caitlin expressed how she absolutely loves everything she is doing and making. Although she is still in school and works full time, every free moment she gets, she puts into her new business and even laughs at the number of sores that she now has on her hands from working so hard, but it is all worth it in her eyes. With every piece that she creates, Caitlin has a book that she keeps to draw everything that comes to her mind and is constantly sketching out the pieces that she sees in her head. Even if she cannot get the piece done at first, she is persistent and will sketch it again and continuously goes back to the drawing board. “The first collection didn’t happen over-night, it was lots of testing and trial and error, but I love it and I want to share that with people”, Caitlin said. Currently, Caitlin has six more collections in mind and along with rings and earrings, she wants to incorporate full jewelry sets in the future. She is opened to any questions about the business, her creation process and even special requests from people, as she continues on her journey with her Sand Dollar Designs! I look forward to seeing what Caitlin has in- store for us next!