You guys, I have something really special for you today! If you know me, you know how much I love finding new local handmade designers and businesses. Handmade is the best. Today, I have Tanya here. She is the designer behind Trust - a small jewelry business based out of Plymouth, MA. She specialized in antique keys, but has some other really cute items as well! I’m going to let Tanya tell you all about herself and her business, and then don’t forget to enter the giveaway at the end!
Without further ado…..
The trust collection is a production of vintage, rustic treasures inspired by some of my favorite things: traveling, love, individuality, living, and uniqueness. My intention is to bring these things (my favorite things and the most important things to me) into each and every hand created piece.
As my father is an antique dealer, I spent my weekends growing up at flea markets and working antique shows. My mom had me sorting vintage button colors, shapes, and sizes as a toddler to keep me occupied. I always thought the antique keys were so special and my dad let me keep whatever I wanted to because he enjoyed seeing me enjoy his passion. I always had an excitement for rummaging if there was a box of junk jewelry with spare earrings, mismatch brooches, I was in my glory. I rummaged through boxes and boxes of vintage buttons and keys…and I still do! I get excited about small things like that and I wanted to put it to work!
I’ve collected a lot of antiques throughout the years and I always kept every key I found. I knew someday I wanted to do something with them. It all came about in the Summer of 2010. I spent 3 summer’s on the island but 2010 was my first. I moved to Martha’s Vineyard which is one of my favorite places in the world. It is such a special place to me. I was working at a small boutique, the best boutique i know: Citrine on Main Street Vineyard Haven. Emma, the owner taught me all about beading and jewelry work and told me I could sell any jewelry I made in the shop. I started creating designs out of the antique keys that I collected. The horizontal key was my original design. I then incorporated beads and feather and buttons and other trinkets I found. I put a few designs in the shop and they sold right away. I kept creating, kept designing and using inspiration from my surroundings. I’ve always enjoyed reusing and recycling old items into something new. I think its a beautiful thing. So if I back track…the trust collection was inspired when I was just a kid…I just didn’t know it! Props to my inspirational parents…we will always share those memories!
The keys:
I have so many keys! I can’t even begin to explain what I look for in my favorite keys…I actually don’t even know! I have a couple that I have kept that have all different meanings to me but I want other people I love to have special keys. When someone appreciates a key or sees something special in it, its like a wave of admiration. I like to pair keys up with special people in my life. All of my friends and family who I have given keys to are picked out accordingly! They probably don’t know that but i do!! I have my grandfathers antique key on my key chain. I wear a plain small key a lot. Its simple and I like simple and sweet and my favorite key. I think that is why I was instantly in love with it. If anyone looked at it they wouldn’t see anything special about it. Maybe it wouldn’t stand out as anything special to someone else but to me it did. In some things, I do believe that being simple is a beautiful thing. I might make up the meaning of a key for me but that doesn’t mean it is the actual meaning. I think that all keys have their own stories and their own past. The door the keys go to could be any where in the world right now which I think is really cool because we have no idea where it is or what it is. I think it is really cool if you can make up your own meaning and symbol and attach it to something.
Each design in the trust collection is an individual. The designs can be replicated and the keys can be matched to another in the best way possible but as each key is one of a kind, there is no promise one will be identical to another.
Thank you Tanya!
And now you guys have a chance to win the “Bow" key necklace shown above! Just fill out the Rafflecopter form below. The giveaway will run for a week, is open internationally, and the winner will chosen at random and announced in this post. Good luck!