Scan Magazine – August 2018

26 | Issue 115 | August 2018

Scan Magazine | Special Theme | Finnish Jewellery Design

When cancer stopped Sanna Leinonen in her tracks in 2009, she made the decision

not to take life for granted. Nearly a decade later, her courage and determination

have brought her new adventures, as well as a successful business, Elvari. From her

pink workshop, she is spreading happiness in the form of sweet-shaped jewellery.

By Ndéla Faye | Photos: Satu Mali

In 2010, having taken time off from her

career as a restaurant manager follow-

ing a cancer diagnosis and treatment,

Leinonen received two packs of mod-

elling clay from her mother, who hoped

that it would provide Leinonen with a

nice, relaxing hobby. Those two pack-

ets, however, were just the beginning, as

Leinonen’s new hobby quickly took on a

life of its own. “Initially, I would only do

abstract shapes and turn them into jew-

ellery,” Leinonen explains. “My friends

and colleagues quickly got interested,

and one of them asked if I would make

her an earring shaped like liquorice all-

sorts. I wasn’t keen on the idea, but she

persisted and I finally obliged, and post-

ed a picture of the finished earrings on

social media. Overnight, I received tens

of messages from people who wanted

to know where they could buy jewellery

shaped like sweets — and the rest is his-

tory,” she laughs.

A pink factory spreading joy

For a while, Leinonen would make jew-

ellery on her kitchen table, but, as her

business grew, she soon realised that

she needed somewhere bigger to work.

She therefore bought a van, painted it

A leap of faith into sweet happiness

pink, and toured around Finland selling

her sweet jewellery. The hobby soon be-

came a job, and now Leinonen has a jew-

ellery factory built in her backyard. Inside

the factory, everything is painted pink —

pink microwave, pink sofa and cushions,

pink carpets and a pink fridge. “I love the

colour pink; it brings me so much hap-

piness,” Leinonen says. “When I sell my

jewellery at stalls around the country,

I always note how people are in such a

rush, but when they walk past my stall,

they often stop in their tracks and take a

Owner Sanna Leinonen with a large-scale model of her lollipop piece.

Lollipop and donuts.

FINNISH

JEWELLERY DESIGN

Special Theme: