Featured Vendor Spotlight: BuffaloveJewelry

We love telling you about all of the great businesses we work with, and today's featured vendor is BuffaloveJewelry. Owner/Designer, Ariel Hawkins, is a photographer who wanted to design unique items for her brides and grooms. Buffalove Jewelry now sells great Buffalo-themed necklaces, earings, pillow cases, stickers and more from their etsy shop. You can also add many of Ariel's items to a Buffalo2U box! Keep reading below to learn more about BuffaloveJewelry.

Buffalo2U: What part of Buffalo did you grow up in?

BuffaloveJewelry: I actually grew up in Richmond, VA. I was born and raised there but my mother grew up in Tonawanda, NY. When I was 16 years old we moved to Tonawanda where I attended Kenmore East and then went to Buffalo State College

B2U: What is your favorite Buffalo Bills/Sabres memory?

BJ: Believe it or not, I actually watched the Bills when we were growing up in VA because my mom was a huge fan. I remember watching the games with Jim Kelly and I had his trading cards!

B2U: What is your favorite thing to grill at a tailgate?

BJ: Definitely burgers!

B2U: When your friends/family move away from Buffalo, what's the one thing they tell you they miss about the city?

BJ: Hmmm...I'd have to say the food!

B2U: How long has BuffaloveJewelry been in business?

BJ: I started this as a side business to run along my photography business in 2018. It literally started with cufflinks that I thought would be super cool for my groom's.

B2U: You sell items besides jewelry, how do you decide what products are going to sell?

BJ: I usually survey what people like using my Instagram and Facebook pages, but I also just design new things and test them out.

B2U: How do you come up with the your jewelry/product designs?

BJ: Sometimes I see something I like and I go off an idea with that, or I just am sitting thinking and will come up with what I'd like to do. I did base my business on the theme of black and white because I was trained in black and white film photography in college.

B2U: What do you enjoy most about owning your business?

BJ: I love seeing people happy with the purchases and rocking that feel good Buffalove feeling!

B2U: What is the best piece of advice someone has given you about running a business?

BJ: Wake up. Show up. Never Give up!

B2U: Where can people find Buffalove Jewelry online?

BJ: My etsy shop is www.etsy.com/shop/Buffalovejewelry. I'm also on instagram at @Buffa_love_jewelry. You can also find my photography website at www.arielhawkinsphotography.com/

B2U: Final question, when singing the Bills shout song, do you sing the 1st "Hey hey hey hey" or the 2nd?

BJ: The first!

If you'd like to add BuffaloveJewelry to a Buffalo2U box, please visit our custom box page. You can read more of our blog posts here.