This week is all about the wonderful Karolina Binczyk and her stunning range of jewellery, hand-made here in Edinburgh from vintage silk. When Karolina walked into the shop in January and showed me her jewellery it was an instant no-brainer! I was in awe of how beautiful every piece was and and knew the style would be the perfect fit for the shop!
1) How did your business come about?
I graduated from Design Institute in Poland as an interior designer, and I moved to Edinburgh twelve years ago. Although I don’t work in my profession at the moment, designing and making was always very important to me. I have been creating since I was a little girl; my mum had a lot of time to teach me how to draw, knit and sew. Over the last few years I have been designing and making jewellery from upcycling silk fabric which I have had the opportunity to sell them at various craft fairs and some local shops in Edinburgh. I adore rummage around second hand shops, finding interesting silk ties, scarfs and scraps of japanese kimono vintage silk. I had always liked the idea to reuse them, to turn them into something new. I love silk because it is a natural fibre, and has got this smooth soft texture and velvety lustre very often with an amazing pattern. I design and make my jewellery with passion and attention for details, they can be repeated only a several times. Each piece is unique, meticulously hand stitched and precisely finished. I have great support from my mum, she lives in Poland but very often helps me to make them. I currently work part time at a retail shop which sells unique clothing and knitwear in the heart of Edinburgh’s old town. In the meantime I’m keeping busy making my jewellery with hope that one day, I will grow my business and be able to work full time as a maker. 2) What advice would you give someone wanting to start their own business? Don’t be afraid to fail. We learn more quickly by making mistakes, and by not giving up! 3) What's the best thing about being your own boss? What's the worst? I'm a part time employee, l have plenty of time to focus on my new venture, and l have a bit of fire underneath to prompting myself to work extra hard to be my own boss. One of the best perks about being your own boss is that you not only get to create an amazing things you want and work for yourself, but for others as well. However, the obvious downside is that you may be without an influx of income for a short (or maybe long) period of time. It is true that success largely depends on hard work which may be not easy sometimes, but there is nothing better than being passionate about creating things that people will love. 4) How has lockdown been for you? What coping mechanism works for you? Have you had to adapt your business to fit in with the 'new normal'? Lockdown has turned me into living more family time. I’m a mother of a four years old daughter. It was hard to explain to my kid why she can’t see her friends and go to nursery and play with other children as usual. We were spending creative time making more drawings every day and baking together. I had a great pleasure in introducing her how to sew by hand. Maybe one day she will be my little helper? :) I was working at home, during the time designing and making more of my jewellery pieces, trying to stay positive. But for the majority of businesses the enforced lockdown and social distancing measures have had a devastating economic impact and this is very sad. I was thinking a lot about my family in Poland and I was missing my friends here. I’m glad to know that they are all fine, safe and this is the most important for me now. 5) Where's your 'Happy Place’? I'm happy when I’m in the water, I love swimming, I think I was an otter in my past life... haha :) 6) What's your favourite song? Cocteau Twins - Pandora, I actually love the whole album ‘Treasure’ During the darkest moments in one's life when you listen to this song everything can seem alright again if at least for a few brief moments anyway. 7) Who would play you in a movie? Juliette Lewis...hmmm strange :) I love her in 'Natural Born Killers’ especially in her singing of "Born Bad”. She is so insane but also incredible and extremely underrated. 8) What did you want to be when you were younger? When I was young I wanted to be a dancer or violinist. I always love dancing – movement of the body is kind of magic, and much can be expressed in dance. I used to play the violin, music is very important to me, I can't imagine life without music. 9) What advice would you give your younger self? Always know your worth. The world is bigger than you think it is and your worries aren't as important as you think they are.
Thank you so much for taking part Karolina. Check out Silky Moons here https://www.willowboutique1.co.uk/silky-moons-jewellery
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