Hey, hi, hello! I'm Janaya. This is my website and these are my handmade creations that I make out of my home in the middle of nowhere, Pennsylvania. If you wanted the condensed version, you can stop here. If you like stories, keep going.

I always struggle with where to start when I tell my "story," because I feel like to really understand how and why I'm here, I have to take you way back. Like... all the way back.

Let's start with a fun fact, shall we? I was literally in the womb when I attended my very first craft show, back in 1990 (ya'll can do the math if you're wondering how old I am). That's right, my Mom did craft shows way back in the day, and still does today, so when I say I've been "in the game" for my entire life, I truly mean it.

Fast forward about 18 years, feeling pressured by society and every other being on the planet, I attended Kutztown University for Communication Design. There, I dual-majored in Graphic Design and Illustration, and because I really wanted to get my money's worth, I minored in Creative Writing, too. What I didn't realize at the time was that I was basically morphing myself into a damn marketing unicorn.

Like most fairytales, mythological creatures come with lots of public curiosity... and villains that want their "powers" all to themselves. In this case, it was a young, naïve me and a ton of people that had no problem taking advantage of my talent and skill so they could get ahead. Unfortunately, it took me over 10 years of working 3 jobs to get my student loans paid off so I could finally start doing what I wanted to, rather than what I had to. By the end of that time, I was finally ready to give the proverbial "eff you" to anyone that had treated me like anything less than the unicorn I am, honey! *insert sassy finger snaps here*

Anyways, I digress...

Onyx and Ivory Handmade was born as a solution to be able to offer accessories alongside the clothing I was selling in my home-boutique. With being at the height of the big-C word in 2020-2021, so many vendors were unreliable, cutting corners, impossible to reach... and I had enough. I thought, "well damn it I guess if I want something done right I'm gonna have to do it myself."

And here we are, 4 years later and thriving; selfishly using all my unicorn dust to make my own dreams come true, rather than someone else's.

Onyx and ivory aren't perfect shades of black and white, kind of like the world we live in and the path that lead me here. My mission is to provide quality, one-of-a-kind, handmade jewelry and custom designed apparel to make women feel as truly unique as they are. If I can do that while making them laugh at my dry humor, sassy attitude and utter dipshittery along the way, that's an added bonus.

In my spare time, I love reading (or listening to audiobooks while I'm working), traveling, trying new foods and watching movies. I'm engaged to my high school sweetheart, Bret, who is my unofficial IT professional and my self-taught CAD designer. We have three dogs that are all absolute furr-demons, but we wouldn't have it any other way.

Thank you for being here, for supporting me and allowing me to be the stay at home dog mom I always joked about becoming.

Thank you times a million.