Meet Melanie Yasmin from MyCinta Lucite Jewelry

This month's featured member is Melanie Yasmin. She is the heart and the hands behind the funky playful lucite jewelry brand, MyCinta on Etsy. Her jewelry is recently chosen for the BET Awards. I love chatting with Melanie and there are just surprises after surprises behind this super adorable designer.
- an interview by Debbie Liu of Bunnies Can Dream and Harlequin&Lionhead


D: Your shop is called "MyCinta". What does it mean?

M: "MY" is from Melanie Yasmin and "Cinta" in my language means love. It represent my love for arts and fashion that inspired me to create things I love.

D: Wow! That's a beautiful name. Where do you come from?

M: I am originally from Indonesia. I have been living in New York City for over 10 years and I am inspired by this great city, the young people and their bold styles.

D: Is that why you started your shop?

M: I love to design and create things, whether it's jewelry, accessories, or clothing. I always enjoy making something really cool for other people.

I started experimenting with plexiglass and came up with an idea (which I think it's very cool) to cutout different words and make jewelry out of it. Then, I started making “LOVE” cuffs and the regular wide cuff to give as a gift for friends and family, and one day, one of my friend told me about Etsy and convinced me to start a shop there.

D: And I see that you have taken the "LOVE" cuff to a "LOVE" double-finger ring! (see the image at the beginning) It is one of my favorite! What is your favorite item in the shop?

M: The Personal ID name cuff!

It was started as a request from a customer at one of the Craft Market in New York, and after I made one, the customer was extremely happy with the cuff and she wore it right away because it is a cool statement jewelry and no one has it.

That is why the Personal ID name cuff is my favorite one because it's very special and one of a kind.

D: It is indeed. I know you are only working on your shop part time. How do you juggle it with your day job?

M: I design lingerie and do all the technical development for an intimate apparel company in New York. Fashion industry in New York is a very fast paced and competitive industry, so a lot of time, I have to stay and work late in the office.

To create my jewelry takes time and a lot of patients, since I hand cut the lucite (you cannot rush this, because this material can melt easily on heat and the blade will get stuck together with the material) and there's a lot of filing and sanding to make all the surface smooth before polishing them.

Therefore, I usually do a little bit of the work at night after I get back from work, and do most of them on the weekend.

D: That is insane! Most people selling lucite accessories use laser cut technology. And you HANDMADE every single piece like a metalsmith! No wonder they are so cool!

Sweet and Sour - "Love" ring and "Bitch" ring by MyCinta. Note the little heart and diamond in the "Love" ring ;)

D: ...Wait, did I hear lingerie designer???

M: Yes :D Previously, I was into evening wear and corsets. I even designed and made my own wedding gown!!

D: Excuse my gapping mouth...This is stunning! I would think you would have wanted to open a clothing shop. Why didn't you?

M: It is no secret that I love designing and making things, but the secret is I was all over the place before I started MyCinta. I thought I was going to be a bridal designer.

Then I moved on to making hats, which I have made several hats for myself because I love hats and I made a hat for a designer that was doing a magazine photoshoot.

After that, I was into a dog fashion craze and made a few collections (some of them was on the Bark is the new Black fashion show and 1 dress was donated and featured in Sao Paolo, Brazil dog fashion week).

But because, my landlord didn't allow me to have a dog, I got discouraged to continue, because I want to have a dog to rock the outfits I made.

And finally, I focused on designing and creating lucite jewelry and fashion accessories with the brand MyCinta.

D: Haha what a journey! So where are you heading next? ;)

M: I have been experimenting with abstract shapes using a thinner material and wrinkle/crush the material to make another statement jewelry. So far it's still in the trial and error process, because I still need to figure out how much material I need to create the look I want.

By the way, MyCinta is officially One Year woot woot!!! To celebrate this, I will ship all U.S. Orders for FREE with the coupon MYFREESHIP.

D: Congratulations! Folks, head over to MyCinta and go crazy with your x'mas shopping! I just bought this lovely bow necklace from Melanie. Isn't it cute?