Mississippi Made Vendor Spotlight: Novi Creations
Shauna Stockstill is a mother, wife, and creator behind Novi, a handmade jewelry company in Laurel, Mississippi. Each piece Shauna makes is uniquely handcrafted from beginning to end. She carefully selects her materials for quality and uniqueness and forges her pieces with essential hand tools. Most recognize her work, most recently seen on season five of Home Town with Erin as they cut, formed, and hammered copper into carved, wooden bowls for the Fukuda House.
While she is a skilled craftsman, her greatest gift is seeing jewelry for more than an accessory, better yet, an extension of her own story.
"Novi is an old bohemian word that means new, and it's a picture of my life in Christ, taking what was old and making it new. I began creating jewelry as a side thing to raise money for mission trips. I was doing some other things, and it turned into jewelry (which I said I would never make, actually.")
"I started with recycled sari silk when I first started creating jewelry, and I wanted to create something from old and give value to things that people otherwise would have thrown away or discarded. It has grown since then, and eventually, my work veered more toward the jewelry world."
Shauna began to work primarily with coppers for their warmth and ability to age well, as they develop a patina color and texture. From this experimentation, she found ways to make her jewelry more functional and versatile.
"We developed the Gypsy ribbon line, inspired by National Parks. It's the idea of being a gypsy and the idea of wandering. You get the image of being a ribbon in the wind. My husband and I try to take our kids to as many parks as possible, and I wanted to capture our adventures and those beautiful landscapes in the jewelry I create. Even though I haven't been to all of them, I love researching them and designing my artistic rendition."
The Gypsy line has seven bracelets in one; these wraps feature hand-cut leathers, natural copper, fair trade sari silks, and earthy gemstones combined in single strands and joined with strong yet beautiful snap clasps to create a layered look. Each strand can be worn separately for a simple style, and some Gypsy Ribbon bracelet designs can also double as a necklace.
"Not only has it been enjoyable to reminisce on our trips, but I've found that people connect with these places far more than I realized. We've had so many people say they met their husband or wife at a certain park or worked at Yosemite in college. We've even had someone buy bracelets for their girls to remember their trip to Yellowstone. It's been special to hear the memories that they had made at those particular parks."
"People do things that are far more impactful in people's lives, but God has me making jewelry for a reason. What I love about this season is meeting people at shows and seeing the moments of joy when they realize something about the jewelry, like it was handmade or that it looks like the Grand Canyon. It's a joy to make something that makes people happy about a memory."
Stop by the Novi Creations tent at Mississippi Made on March 12th.
You can shop Novi Creations here! (Erin's personal favorite.)
