BUFFALO, N.Y. — Creating wearable art is a calling for Grace Raines, a jeweler who runs aptoArt on Etsy.
“A lot of intricate work, it's a lot of time alone. It's not glamorous," said Raines. "I'm usually sitting here in sweatpants doing this most days.
“I've never had another job. I have always done this since I was about 18."
Each piece is made with love.
“This is a new design," she said, cutting and painting a part of a necklace. "It's inspired by my grandparents. They died a couple years ago. He loved cardinals. She loved bluebirds. So it's kind of a tribute to them.”
But recently, things have gotten a bit more hectic. Normally, Raines says she'd get between 3-10 orders on Etsy.
"In the last couple of days, that's changed drastically," she noted.
It all started with a request.
“It was just an order for one item, the peach glass necklace that I sell," she recalled. "All I was told was that it was being used for a music video. I did not think anything of it.”
Because of non-disclosure agreements, the buyer couldn’t say which video, only that it was for someone big.
“And then one day I saw Ariana Grande wearing the necklace,” exclaimed Rained.
On March 8, Grande’s “We can’t be friends” dropped, and orders to Raines' Etsy store picked up.
“I think it's awesome that she supports small businesses," added Rained. "This necklace was under $100 that she bought, and it's the centerpiece in one of her videos.”
The connection didn’t end there.
“I received a bouquet of sunflowers and a personalized note written by the florist but it was signed, 'love, Ariana,' ” recalled Raines.
A few days before the video came out, Raines got the gift.
“I wanted to thank you so much for my peach necklace. It plays a very important part in my new music video and I haven’t taken it off since,” she read from the note on the flowers.
Even without being tagged by Grande, Raines’ aptoArt store has sold out multiple items, with even more messages flooding in.
“Her fans are ... I mean, they're detectives,” Raines said. “I will say, it is nerve-wracking. [...] I just like to make jewelry and sell it at my own leisure and this feels more like, people want it. They want it now. They want the necklace that was in the video.”
She’s getting more than just some new orders out of this experience.
“The [music] video that it's in, to me, is about letting go of the past and moving on," Raines said. "I think this situation is making me let go a little bit of a fear to grow my business.”
That's a message she has for other creators out there.
“I think that if you work hard and if you have a vision and you believe in yourself, I think that eventually, not necessarily right away, but I think eventually it's going to fall in your favor,” she added.
If it just happens to be with a pop star with millions of followers, even better.
"I think it's something that I'll obviously never forget," Raines said.
Raines said she usually spends eight to 10 hours a day on her business. With all the new orders, she estimates it’ll take her 20 hours a day to catch up, but some friends have volunteered to help out with making the pieces.