About NellyBly

The label NellyBly was created in the summer of 2007 when eleven year old me decided she wanted to be a designer. After enlisting the help of my sew-savvy grandmother, we made several clothing garments and she embroidered 'NellyBly' labels onto everything we made just for fun. There was something magic about that name and it always stuck with me long after eleven year old me had passed the 'wanting to be a designer" phase.

Lockdown 2020 brought that desire back when I began to work with polymer clay in the midst of Covid-19 lockdowns. I couldn't afford to buy many Christmas presents so I bought a few blocks of clay with a Lincraft birthday voucher I had and I made each of my family something small; earrings, brooches, even fridge magnets! When Christmas day came, it was so rewarding to gift items that were hand-made with love & from then on my passion for creating unique, colourful pieces of jewellery spiralled! Throughout the lockdowns I began to create from anything I could find around my home; buttons and old chains, dried flowers and materials. A lot of these things were gifted to me over time by my grandmother so it seems she was still helping me with making products for my label still after all these years! I am a strong advocate for re-using and recycling and now source most of my non-clay materials from the second-hand store because use of recycled items helps Papatuanuku & ensures you a groovy, one of a kind accessory, always!

Once NellyBly is off the ground as a business I would love to give back to those charity run stores that have made my creations possible. There are many plans ahead for NellyBly, jewellery is just the first!

Eleanor. O

- Creator