Drool Jewel

Hi! I am actually on my break at work right now and counting down to the holidays. This year has been equally rewarding and busy in almost every aspect. I took a lot of leaps and experienced many new things. I launched the flower collection, which I am so grateful resonated with the people that follow my work, I had a few very cool collaborations, I travelled to Japan and saw my jewellery in a store in Tokyo (crazy!!); I became an aunt, and I returned to releasing music after a few years of burnout. I think it is a lovely way to end this one with you guys.

It actually started accidentally rather than something I was actively chasing. I had just graduated with my MSc in Forensic Science and was applying for jobs. In the meantime, I wanted something artistic to keep me busy and sane, and jewellery making seemed therapeutic. I picked up some beads at first, then some little rocks from my hometown, then I tried soft soldering, and then I eventually experimented with resin. Around February 2023, I got an email with a job offer starting in early March, so I thought I’d try to sell the dozens of necklaces I had made on Depop. I was stopping myself from making any more, but then I had the idea to create something inspired by nature.
It was a rainy UK winter, as always, so I went on Pinterest for inspiration. I thought, 'Surely someone has made raindrop jewellery before,' but I couldn’t find anything. So I thought to look for nature pictures, and I found a photo of a flower covered in raindrops, and something clicked. I wanted to mimic the temporary beauty of the raindrops and freeze it in time. I posted the process on TikTok; the video got around 40k views, and suddenly I had DMs asking if I was selling them. I said okay, and I made more.
Then a few days later my videos reached millions of views, and I gained thousands of followers. People started showing a lot of interest, and even stylists started approaching me. I had no idea what was happening. As someone naturally shy and private, suddenly being seen by so many people was a shock to the system, but I’m glad I stayed with it. I feel so grateful I get to create things that inspire me and have people support that. 

My mum used to make beaded and polymer clay jewellery in her free time and still does occasionally, and I would often join her as a kid, so the whole process of assembling jewellery wasn’t completely new to me, but resin definitely was.

Yes, I moved to London in 2018 for a science internship, and then I stayed to study music for a year. The plan was to move back home afterwards, but I wasn’t ready, and apparently I’m still not. I grew up on a small Greek island, quite isolated, but surrounded by sea and nature. I was five minutes from the water and would swim daily for at least four months of the year. Moving to London, I missed that connection deeply. I think when I started Drool, it was a very transitional period for me, and I missed home. It was also a very wet, grey winter. Nature and the sea bring me so much peace and grounding. Creating does the same, so I think my instincts led me to combine the two.
In London I am not near the sea, but rain is frequently present, and I wanted to make it beautiful somehow. I still despise it, but I catch myself staring at raindrops now, observing their shapes and patterns. Drool became a small corner where I can feel creative, full and safe in a loud, chaotic, wet city. I think people recognised that. And these feelings often come through my music as well.

I actually work part-time in science now because of—and thanks to—Drool. I have dedicated many years to science, and I now work in ovarian cancer research, but Drool kept growing. I fully expected the interest to fade quickly, but here we are almost three years later. For two years I was always tired, working 9-5 in science and then making jewellery until 11pm, including weekends. It wasn’t sustainable, and although I was terrified to switch to part-time and financially depend on Drool, I had to take the leap for myself and for the brand to keep existing.

I always say this to the people around me, but I think I’m a completely different person because of this brand. Before Drool, I think I had a very fixed idea of what my life would look like. Small island, small expectations. Now whenever I face a challenge, I instantly think, ‘If other people can do it, then I can figure it out too.’ I thought cool things like this don’t happen to people like me, but it has been a wonderful surprise, and it opened a whole new world for me. I’m truly grateful.

What I like about UV resin is that because it’s liquid, you have to make quick decisions and commit, as once the UV light hits it, it’s done. Because of that, every piece is truly unique. Some drips end up longer because the UV light got to them right before gravity pulled them off, and this is my favourite game to play when creating them. Nature is imperfectly perfect, and that’s what I strive to mimic.

A huge one. I’m one of those people who touch everything in a store just to see how it feels. Equally, I love being in water; that’s why I sometimes have very long baths and very high water bills (laughs). I also love collecting trinkets that ground me or take me somewhere happy. When I see rain falling on flowers, it brings me joy. Little details like this literally stop me in my tracks when I’m outside. So I try to freeze those small moments so they can be collected, worn and become reminders of nature’s beauty.

My instinct is to mimic nature as closely as possible. I often refer to photos I’ve taken or found and try to follow those shapes religiously. Then I think about how the design will sit on the body. The mood usually comes last, and for me it’s tied closely to the colour of the flower picked, since the body of my jewellery is transparent. I love pale blues and deep purples. To me, Drool feels softly melancholic, and these colours match this feeling perfectly.

I actually haven’t thought about this before, but both rely heavily on experimentation and trial and error. In a way, the lab taught me to stay curious and patient, and that definitely translates into how I approach jewellery making.

I see Drool as the soft and calm side, with a hint of mystery and unpredictability. Similar to the quiet after the rain stops. Everything quiet, changed and temporary.

Thank you! I was born in May, so I think the lightness and hope that flowers bring me is tied to this. In spring I go crazy walking around, collecting flowers from all over the city and going home with fistfuls of them to dry and preserve. This collection captures the quiet moment I was talking about. The quiet after the rain. The brightness of flowers adorned in raindrops, the shift from winter to spring, the anticipation of warmth. A small oasis on a wet pavement. Such temporary states and so beautiful. I think people felt something in it and wanted to take part in that feeling.

Thank you! Anna is so kind and talented. We met a few years ago at the first art market I ever did; she had the table right next to mine. She texted me in spring saying she loved the flower collection and asking if I wanted to collaborate. Of course I did. We had a coffee and decided on a small exclusive batch of bags that bring our aesthetics together.

(Laughs) This one was such a project of spontaneity and play, and I love how it has found its own niche. I love small bags, and I love unusual things. I had worked with polymer clay growing up, so I thought a bag made from translucent clay, drenched in waterdrops, would be so cool. Since the clay was semi-transparent, I coated the inside with glow-in-the-dark dye. I love little Easter eggs like this. After Krystal wore it last month, I’ve had so many ideas for a whole collection. Starting a new product is scary, but I’m slowly making plans.

I love working with musicians. As a musician myself, I get so giddy when I collaborate with stylists for artists I admire. I would absolutely love to create a whole outfit concept one day, maybe for someone like Phoebe Bridgers.

Both, and it changes constantly. I go through waves of inspiration and waves of doubt. Running a business, even a small one, involves so many things that aren’t creative at all—social media, taxes, shipping issues—it can be overwhelming. But it’s taught me boundaries and that mistakes happen. And the world doesn’t end. I now try to work 9-5 on Drool days and keep my weekends free. Having these boundaries in place has allowed me to experiment in my free time, and my mind has more space because of it.

They come from very different places to me. Jewellery making feels like play, and music feels like therapy. Both are very necessary and healing, just for different parts of the brain. There’s a shared world between them, though—the nature, the water, the sense of home, the need to belong—but creatively they start from different corners.

When I make jewellery, I usually listen to crime podcasts or audiobooks; it feels like I have company while I’m working alone all day, and time flies. On experimentation or packing days, when there’s less pressure, I usually start with classical music to ground myself and then move into Blondshell, Samia, boygenius, Holly Humberstone and other similar artists, and sing loudly while working. Music shifts my mood instantly and gets me through the more tedious tasks. It makes me feel like it’s a treat.

In the past I had made some spiderweb necklaces inspired by the more emo, sad alternative music I listen to. I actually sent one to Phoebe Bridgers’ stylist for a project, but the post office completely ruined it, so it never reached her. Lately, as I return to releasing my own music, I feel that influence resurfacing in new ways.

My music explores the emotional aspects of homesickness a lot, which for me is tied closely to nature. Songwriting is where I process the experience of moving, immigration, societal frustrations and change in a more angsty and sarcastic way; it feels more like the rain itself. Jewellery, to me, is the moment after the rain, a safe space for hope and lightness, a small escape from all the things I talk about in my songs.

Just start and you’ll figure it out along the way. Be original, create a world around your brand and treat social media as storytelling to draw people in. I still struggle with consistency myself. Also, get an accountant; they are worth the money.

Becoming an aunt, travelling to Japan and seeing my jewellery in a store there, and releasing music again.