Where it all began

Hello! This is a first for me and so I thought I'd share a little bit about MUKA and the story behind this little brand that I love so much.

I'm Claire and live in Glasgow, Scotland with my partner Craig and dog Floyd. I first fell in love with silversmithing in my early twenties after learning the basics at an evening class. I loved the magic of making - the idea that I could take a design from my minds eye and bring it to life in a piece of jewellery to be enjoyed for years to come totally blew my mind (and still does if I'm honest!).   

I created my brand MUKA on the 4th July 2015; American Independence Day. This was purely coincidental but I like to think it's quite fitting as it's the day my very own journey of independence began! I was working as a Development Chemist at the time, had recently had surgery on my foot and was recuperating at my mums. I turned to my much loved (...but almost forgotten) hobby of jewellery making to pass the time and set up my make-shift workbench in my mum's spare room - which was crammed full of myself and my partner's worldly belongings as we were in the middle of buying our first home! To say it was chaos is an understatement but it allowed me to pass my days playing around with new ideas. This soon transformed into a wee side hustle with the support of family and friends and a year later I made the very exciting decision to leave my job in Chemistry and follow my dream of making a living as a creative.

I work on my own, making each piece by hand in my sunny home studio which is a total joy to work in. I love having my own creative space and the convenience of a home studio but do miss the social side of working within a team so this may change in the future, although I have no plans in place just now.

A core value that is extremely important to me is that my little business is as ethical and environmentally friendly as possible, it's for this reason that I solely work in recycled silver and 9ct gold and only use ethically sourced gemstones. 

My designs are simple and feminine in form and made in high quality sustainable materials; a little piece of handmade luxury that can be worn guilt free and enjoyed for a lifetime.

I'm a bit of an overthinker when it comes to work, so naturally I worry that I've forgotten something vitally important here, but here it is for now! I'll continue to write little bits with the aim of posting every month. If you're interested to hear more or have any questions/topics you'd like to hear about please let me know in the comments. 

Claire x