My name is Alexandra Martin and I own a UK company called Aphrodite Designs. If you told my younger self I would be doing this I would have told you 'no I am going to work in a museum'. My first love is history - preferably ancient history. The Greek myths and legends have fascinated me for years! I decided to follow this path and did an Ancient History and Egyptology degree. I graduated in 2010 -
just as museum jobs were being cut. So I just jumped into a warehouse job - better a job than no job. In 2013, while in the job I had started jewellery making. I had crafted for most of life - started with cross-stitch then at 14 started card-making. I was at the NEC craft show at Birmingham and saw a jewellery making kit for £20 - the 3 basic tools, a bead mat and enough beads and instructions to make a necklace, bracelet and earrings. I decided I would try it out not expecting to enjoy it. I still have that first piece! I caught the jewellery making bug - Most crafters know how easy it is to end up taking on several crafts! I saw a kit on a UK TV Show Jewellery maker - gemstones! I am an avid lover of gemstones – have been since I was 8 - I am a TOTAL MAGPIE- anything sparkly you can count me in! I thought to work with gemstones and make my own pieces.. wow I was so excited. I started making and eventually made so many gemstone pieces that I could not give them all as presents - as most crafters can relate to! So I decided to go to a small craft fayre at Brown Edge and that is how Aphrodite Designs got started. The name came from the fact I was making items the 'designs' and I wanted to use my ancient history degree and felt Aphrodite the Greek Goddess of love and beauty was perfect name for the business! Plus there is a famous picture of Venus (the Roman Aphrodite) by Botticelli, coming out of a shell like a pearl, of which I sell. So Aphrodite designs hand makes but I also sell retail gemstone jewellery. It started as I had repetitive strain injury from my warehouse job for a short time as well as other things happening like time constraints it meant I have had to buy some bits in - plus it's sometimes cheaper to do that so I can pass the deal to my customers, which are the most important people in a business! In 2018, I decided to adapt and began a journey that I am still loving. I began selling crystals and minerals alongside my jewellery and found my niche! I began to learn from my customers about a world that I had limited knowledge on and I had not expected to bump into Crystal healing! I decided that I needed to learn a bit more about it, first of all to help my customers know about the items I had available, however it soon became a bit of an addiction! In 2020, I have taken the business back to part time due to the climate at the moment however I still have a passion for this and have dedicated myself to going online so it is easier for you to find me! I have now been trading about 8 years - 3 years in a shop in Leek, Staffordshire and 2 years doing stalls in Leek, Stoke-on-Trent and North Wales
So I hope this explains who I am and how my company started and where the company is going now. Please feel free to message us if you would like us at your event.
