Community Spotlight: Jewelry Maker's Hobby Grows into Online Business

Since she was a little kid, South Pasadena resident Christine Yelich Roberts has loved finding bits and pieces of things, like seashells and pieces of wood, hooking them together and creating jewelry.

Roberts would see handmade necklaces and earrings in magazines and think, “I can do that.’’ And so she did, for friends and family.

But for some time now, the licensed chiropractor has shifted into making her art, her business. Her jewelry Facebook page, Bellagazoo, describes her venture as “inspired by the Renaissance, the 60s, and my grandmother’s jewelry box,’’ noting that “the art is a montage of classic and funky.’’

Every other Thursday (including today), you’ll find Roberts outside Buster’s, seated behind rows of baubles made with a variety of stones, metals and plastics. She sets up for the duration of the weekly Farmer’s Market held across the way on Meridian Avenue and El Centro Street.

“I don’t know if this will turn into a full-time thing. I’m giving it a go,’’ she said recently, noting she now has a shop on Etsy.com.

Roberts has staked her bi-weekly claim to the sidewalk for several months now, becoming known to some as “the lady who fixes jewelry,’’ she said. Traffic can get pretty backed up on Mission Street with the Metro trains, so sometimes people jump out, hand her their broken baubles, grab a business card, and drive away.

“That’s pretty cool,’’ she said.

One of the aspects of making jewelry that she enjoys is the fact that she can work on it in piecemeal fashion. She can start a project, leave it, and it’ll be there waiting for her when she comes back to it.

“It’s a very doable art for me,’’ she said. 

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