Meet Lucy Osayemi - The face behind Loyatobs Creations

When I was younger I used to express my mood with beads; bright colours when happy, dull colours when sad, pinkish colours when I felt girly, tiny beads when I felt like disappearing and large ones when I wanted to be seen and so on.

I was born in London and lived my early life with foster parents in Essex. My foster mother was an avid seamstress and baker. Later I moved to live with my Aunt who was a welfare officer and by virtue of her training a disciplinarian. But at the same time, she also loved sewing and baking. I now believe both experiences created a knowledge path for me to draw from.

Fast forward many years in the Education and Insurance related fields. After many years as a wife and mother in a busy household, I finally decided to change my work/lifestyle.

BUT WHAT WAS I TO DO?

During my life journey, I was constantly exposed to doing some craft activity, be it sewing or baking, and I always found them very relaxing, fulfilling and enjoyable. However, I preferred sewing to baking. I also loved looking at and wearing beads, especially those with dangly bits, because of the different colours and sizes (although I knew of only wooden and plastic beads). I was always surrounded by a tin of beads, either bought or given. My birthday gifts were always a bead necklace/ bracelet or a frilly personal item like a handkerchief, nightdress or underskirt.

I remember I would be given or buy a necklace and crudely rearrange the beads, create a pair of earrings from it and then wear it. Friends and family had always liked my way of coordinating colours and would occasionally request I mend or rearrange a piece for them. I didn’t think much of it then!

But at CRUNCH TIME, I had to think deep because I didn’t want to stop working, only to change what I was doing at the time. So I needed to seek work that would suit my situation.

After lots of tear shedding, soul searching, trying my hands at different things, disappointments, giving in and starting again, learning new things, workshops, training, visiting various markets, shops and more than enough loving and encouragement from my family, it all clicked together and PRESTO! I started MY JOURNEY into the Crafting World; beading in particular!

WHAT DO I CALL THIS JOURNEY?

Growing up, I used to doodle with the letters in a name, and at this one point in my life, I did just that with all the initials of my loved ones and came up with a word that did not mean anything, but it stayed in my memory. Now I chose to rearrange that, and so I became known as LOYATOBS. Later, CREATIONS was added by my daughter because she said that is what I do.

A life journey is as beautiful and precious as gold. Just like the beads, I use in my creations.

I have come to understand that a person can be made up of so many different beautiful idiosyncrasies or quirks just like me.

Do you embrace the simplistic look or like simple things?
Are you boisterous?
Are you an introvert/extrovert?
Are you bold?
Are you very girly?
Do you revel in bright colours or the opposite?
Do you love chunky things?
Or are you one to love high-end finishing?
Are you a stickler for perfection?
Do you love the allure of precious stones?
Do love frills, lace and ribbons?
Do you love novelty items?
Do you like a lot of quiet time?
Are you persistent?
Do you like everything smooth or do you like rough edged things?

These are but a few! I lovingly use BEADS to portray these quirks.

I will create something for you that reflects your quirk, the message you want to portray or the statement you want to make. I may already have done so within the items in the shop. Please look through my bead gallery and know that each bead was created with a lot of thought and love, to express your very own uniqueness. I would enjoy hearing from you, so please do not hesitate to send me an email. loyatobs@hotmail.co.uk or contact me through the contact form at the bottom of the page.

I design and make all the items apart from findings, other supporting accessories used in each creation and apart from the items in the Jewels category. All the findings and items in Jewels are Lead and Nickel free. Each item comes with its own box and Any item sent out as your purchase will be the item you view in the picture. The beads are mostly semi-precious or as otherwise stated.

Please feel free to review items or customize your own.

Thank you, and Welcome to LoyaTobs Creations!

Love
Lucy
xxx