About Us
C.Shel is more than just a business, it is a story of our family. We are a South African born, Houston raised, mother and daughter team. My name is Danielle and my mother’s name is Gillian, but everyone on the block knows her as GiGi. We have roots in retail going back to my mother’s teenage years in Johannesburg, and these roots followed us to Houston, when we immigrated here in 1985. C.Shel also shares a connection with my children. When I was pregnant with our daughter, Charlotte Sheldon, my husband nicknamed her our little C Shel. Her creativity and curiosity inspire us every day.
While C. Shel formally kicked-off in the Summer of 2019, the inception of our jewelry business can be traced back to my mother’s fascination with the healing qualities of gemstones (people often describe her as eccentric). In the winter of 2012 she learned she had breast cancer. She went on to fight and beat the cancer due to the care of the excellent staff at Memorial Hermann, and just perhaps, with a little boost from her healing gems. The cancer was defeated, but the idea remained. A few years later, after my two children entered school, we decided to give it a shot. Out with our dining room table - in with our home beading studio.
Our beads are all hand selected and our jewelry is hand-made. We draw inspiration from our South African roots and often source African beads, but constantly seek to integrate emerging colors, trends and materials into our designs. We frequently create new styles and add new products, such as our whimsical oyster decoupage jewelry dish (the "Shel Dish"). In between carting the kids around town, you can find us beading away at my home in West U or at one of our many local pop-ups events.
Love,
Dani and Gilli