Gabriela Castillo creates handcrafted jewelry, canvases and signs for small business Sunkissed Creationz

It all started with a leather cuff on a stranger's wrist.

Last summer, Gabriela Castillo, owner of Sunkissed Creationz, noticed a lot of girls wearing leather cuffs as bracelets, and she says she thought, "I could do that!"

Not just wear them, that is, but make them, too.

Castillo says she's always loved crafting, loved to create things, so this felt like a natural step for her. She and her mother decided to start their own little business, bought several pieces of leather at a local hobby store, and that was the beginning.

"We made our own creations," Castillo says. "That's what I love to do."

LAURA SIMON ~ lsimon@semissourian.com Gabriela Castillo, owner and artist behind Sunkissed Creationz, poses for portrait inside Brickwood at The Indie House in Cape Girardeau.

Right now, Castillo's jewelry is being sold at Threadz at 115 N. Main St. in Cape Girardeau, and at Brickwood Boutique, inside the Indie House, at 605 Broadway in Cape.

"Everyone keeps asking if I have an online store, telling me I need to do it," Castillo says, "but right now I don't. Hopefully I'll have one by the end of summer."

She is on Instagram as sunkissedcreationz, Castillo says.

Castillo estimates she can make about 40 pieces of jewelry in one night, and says she thinks she's made at least a thousand pieces, probably more.

"That's all I did last summer," she says, laughing. "Some nights, literally I would not sleep, just work on jewelry."

LAURA SIMON ~ lsimon@semissourian.com A variety of necklaces from Sunkissed Creationz, are seen inside Brickwood at The Indie House in Cape Girardeau.

Her pieces range from plain leather cuffs or tassels to more detailed designs, some incorporating semi-precious stones or pieces she just thinks are interesting.

She makes necklaces, wire-wrapped rings, earrings and more, depending on how the piece comes together for her.

She'll buy jewelry makings wholesale, she says, or will find random jewelry and either incorporate it into a larger piece or break it down so each piece can stand by itself.

"I have a million ideas going through my head all the time," Castillo says. "I can use things different ways. It just kind of depends."

Castillo says she's not inspired by everything she sees, but she does see ideas everywhere, and she thinks it helps her that jewelry isn't her only passion.

For many pieces of jewelry she sells, she makes a card, she says, often sketching in a pair of closed eyes with lashes under a description of the piece, and writing in a fun quote underneath.

"Some say 'Stay patient and trust your journey,' or 'Smile! Your eyes sparkle when you do,'" Castillo says. "I love quotes."

She adds, "I think it makes it more personal, too. My own handwriting with my own spin on it."

Calligraphy is Castillo's other passion, and while that's handy for making a card to display each piece of jewelry, it also lends itself well to making canvases and signs.

"At Christmas last year, I made over 200 barn wood pieces with names," she says, and she handled the cutting and sanding herself, as well as the lettering.

Family names were a big hit, she says, and she received several custom orders.

"People said they made really good Christmas gifts," Castillo says.

Castillo says she loves to create from her own ideas, but custom orders are also a fun challenge.

"They'll tell me exactly what they want," she says, and that's helpful. "I also get all different styles when I get custom orders. They're all so unique! I love that."

Overall, though, Castillo says she just loves doing this. "I love making people so happy with what they have," she says. "I love making beautiful things, and knowing I made someone else happy with something I made, I love that."