Lifelong dream led to My Creashens

My Creashens owners Angelito Jose Salavaria and his wife Sheena Marie Mettao Salavaria making dreams into a reality. (CONTRIBUTED PHOTOS)

Born and raised on Saipan, Sheena Marie Mettao Salavaria always dreamed of putting her passion to create and design into motion and mid last year, she was ready for changes. This led to the birth of her online business called My Creashens that specializes on unique handmade floral accessories such as flower picks and headbands, vinyl stickers, wood signs, face masks, Island-inspired jewelry, bags, and more.

“Back when I was in grade school, I was always inspired by my mother’s creativeness and words of wisdom. She always said ‘If you want a good future, you need to work hard at it.’ Since then, I’ve always dreamed of having my own business to sell my handmade goods,” she said.

“I found that passion for crafting and designing. When I was in 2nd grade, I would try to earn a little money even if it meant selling my somewhat ‘good-looking’ projects or even bags of popcorn to my cousins right out of my kitchen just to purchase some materials for any kind of project I wanted to make,” she added.

In 2008, Salavaria found herself moving to the Big Island (Hawaii) to pursue her studies but the passion for business kept burning. She shares her passion with husband and business partner Angelito Jose Salavaria. “We both thought maybe we could start an online shop but because I was still a little doubtful and insecure about my work, I procrastinated. I was afraid of negative feedbacks I may encounter during the process,” she said

Wood Carvings with special designs carefully made by Angelito Jose Salavaria.

“With the help of my husband, my parents George and Sonia Mettao, family and friends who motivated me every day I gained confidence… and I learned to push the insecurities aside and move on,’ she added.

On Oct. 29, 2019, My Creashens was officially established. The business was so personal to the Salavarias that they used their nicknames and initials to come up with the names. “Shen” is Sheena’s nickname, the letter “A” in “Creashens” stands for “Angelito” and the letter “S” at the end stands for “Salavaria.”

“The business started off on Facebook and as orders grew and website inquiries came in, I decided to create a website and launched it in July of this year… my products are inspired by island designs such as flowers and Polynesian tribal… At this time, we are doing giveaways and gifting our big spenders. I also have some items that are currently on sale on our website,” Salavaria said.

“I put extra time into my work and I make sure that I keep my customers coming back. My future plan is to grow this business online and then open up a shop in Hawaii,” Salavaria added.

For more information, go to www.mycreashens.com or look them up on Facebook: So My Creashens and on Instagram: mycreashens.sms.

Island and Polynesian tribal-inspired jewelry hand made by Sheena Mettao Salavaria.