The Riamelin Brand Story
Hi Friends, as a first blog post I thought it’d be nice to tell you about why I created the Riamelin Brand. 💜
When I was 15 I became unwell and after many (many) trips to the doctor (and several years later) I was finally diagnosed with having Chronic Fatigue Syndrome. The doctor told me that I would get better with time and that I would likely "grow out of it"… sadly that didn’t happen and I still have it 20+ years later. I had to stop going to school and I honestly had no idea what I was going to be able to do in life.
My Dad bought me my first computer when I was 17; in those early days I played role playing games to escape my own life and I would always choose a Druid character to play, because I love animals so much. My favourite song at the time was Rhiannon by Fleetwood Mac and when I had to pick a name for my Druid character I inputed Ria as the first name and the game generated the surname "Melin" for me - I loved it, it was magical and wizardy and it felt right! Later on, when only one name was needed it got merged into the Riamelin I use now. Pronounced Ree-ah-mel-in, it is a name I’ve been using ever since and I’ve even considered changing my real name to Ria Melin!
Over the years I tried a few small jobs here and there but I was never able to maintain them which honestly just made me feel really bad about myself and I became a bit of a hermit. During my hermit years I learned a lot though, I taught myself digital art, which I still love today!
Jump forward to 2010 when I was really struggling with life and I just needed some way to earn money - on a whim I became self employed. I didn’t realise at the time but it was due to be perfect for me and the way that I live my life, some of which is by choice and some by my health constraints. If I’d thought about it beforehand I would have done some online training for small businesses, I really had no idea what I was doing! (I still don’t! 😂)
Back then I was making needle felted animals, mostly little bears with tiny accessories. I joined Facebook and Instagram and encouraged by some lovely people, I started a shop on Etsy. I ended up mostly selling to people who found me on Facebook though and my Etsy shop was neglected in those early days.
One day (in 2013) I decided to make a felted Highland Cow and everyone who followed me seemed to love it! It was the inspiration for so many things to come, including the branding I use today.
A few years after that I designed my first enamel pin, including this wee cow which was based on the felted version above. Here’s me wearing my new pin in 2017. 🥰 If you visit any of the big online marketplaces you’ve probably seen this wee coo being sold for really cheap, sadly my design has been copied many times and these sellers don’t have my permission to use it. This pin used to be my best seller and now because of all the knockoffs, it doesn’t sell much for me anymore.
These days I don’t do much needle felting due to a painful shoulder, but I still love designing enamel pins and keyrings and occasionally doing digital art. Most recently I designed a Scotland Travel Journal which I’ve self published! I love learning new things, but only ever at my own pace. It’s been a great journey so far and Riamelin isn’t going anywhere, I’ve got plenty of new ideas and I hope you’ll check in now and then to see what I’m creating. 🥰
