We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Celeste Barnett a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.

Celeste, thanks for joining us, excited to have you contributing your stories and insights. Can you talk to us about a project that’s meant a lot to you?

Designing jewelry from scraps of vintage vehicles has led to some really fun and meaningful projects. Everyone has a story about their first car, or the old truck their father drove, or even their grandma, I really enjoy hearing how people connect to my pieces. I’ve had people buy pieces based on their birth or graduation year, even just the color or make of the vehicle. One of the most memorable pieces I’ve made was for a wife, from her husband, out of scraps of her grandpa’s old car. He mailed me the scrap pieces and trusted me to create whatever I thought would work best. It’s so fun to create heirloom pieces that you know have meaning to someone when they wear them.

Great, appreciate you sharing that with us. Before we ask you to share more of your insights, can you take a moment to introduce yourself and how you got to where you are today to our readers.

I’m a 4th generation Montanan who loves the outdoors, and all our beautiful state has to offer. My husband and I have 2 kids, our daughter is 22 and about to get married, and our son is 15 and a High School Bareback Rider so if I’m not in my workshop you’ll find me at a rodeo. A few years ago my husband picked up a parts truck for his 64 Chevy restoration project. Eventually, he’d stripped all he needed from it and we hauled it off for scrap. Before I could let it go though I just had to save a few pieces with the beautiful patina, I couldn’t let them just be recycled and I knew that eventually I’d find something to do with them. Throughout my graphic design career I’ve said that if I could ever create for me, not just paying client work, I’d do something in metal working. My dad is a jack of all trades but especially metal fabrication and I grew up out in the shop with him. He primarily builds signs and when I decided I wanted to be graphic designer he made me learn to build what I designed, to be sure it was practical and functional, not just some crazy idea someone else would have to try to manage.

2020 was a hard year for the world, but 2019 prepared our family for it. From medical emergencies, a shop fire, daughter leaving for college, turning 40, and more minor mishaps than I care to list I was blocked creatively in a way that even tequila and dark chocolate couldn’t cure. We are lucky enough that with some minor belt tightening my husband’s job as an underground miner takes care of our needs and I was able to take a break, step back, and realize I actually did have the time to create something I wanted and Bonepile Bling was born.

I’m truly enjoying spending time in my workshop banging on metal, junkyard browsing, and marketing a product that’s mine. Even if it’s much scarier to be emotionally invested in the project than just trying my best to help get someone else’s idea off the ground. I look forward to expanding in the future into some restorations, we just purchased a 1953 Oldsmobile Rocket as out first project car to possibly sell. You can always find our products online but as our schedule allows we are trying to go to more and more vendor shows, we love to travel so who knows where we’ll be up next.

How can we best help foster a strong, supportive environment for artists and creatives?

It’s hard out here right now for small businesses. There are so many online sites from other countries just taking your ideas and even your photos and passing them off as their own. If small businesses had the advertising budget knock off sites did, we could be sure we were seen first but that just isn’t the case. We need society to realize faster and cheaper aren’t qualities they should be looking for in their products. I also hope that people consider who and what their money supports before they make a purchase. If you buy a piece from me that money is getting my son down the road to another rodeo, helping him achieve his dreams and building his future. Educating the public on how important it is to buy products your country makes and to support those businesses you see sponsoring your local youth is the best way to help creatives right now.

Any insights you can share with us about how you built up your social media presence?

One of the best ways for small businesses to advertise is social media. It’s a minefield of trying to understand algorithms and trends but it’s the cheapest way to get your products seen. I’ve had great luck with influencer marketing and have been lucky enough to find a few ladies in the western fashion niche that truly love my product and have the same values as I do. I think that’s one of the most important things in social media marketing, not just getting your product to anyone that’ll share it, finding people that align with your core morals and values so your customer knows who you are and that they can trust you to create them a piece they will love. A lot of focus in social media is how many followers you have but I find it’s better to have engaged, honest, supportive followers than millions of “likes”.

Contact Info:

• Website: bonepile-bling.myshopify.com
• Instagram: www.instagram.com/bonepile_bling
• Facebook: www.facebook.com/bonepilebling