We are excited to introduce our new series Belle Boutonné. Belle Boutonné is French for beautifully buttoned. Meaning a person who is well-put-together, exuding class, beauty, and kindness. This series is designed to introduce and spotlight women of exquisite character, who are cultivating positive change in the world while inspiring others to create beauty and embody love. A Belle Boutonné is a kind, generous, and courageous woman who blesses the community around her through her talents and love for others.
We couldn't be more thrilled to introduce our first Belle Boutonné, Shannon Owens, of Confetti Cheeks™. Shannon is a talented graphic designer who is filled with ambition, and inspires others through her colorful creations and encouraging reminders. Her whimsical style is decorated throughout her stylish stationery, clothing, handbags, wall art, office decor, and gifts. She believes that we should all sprinkle kindness like confetti and make each day a special occasion! Shannon also has an exciting surprise for all you Rosebuds, read on to find out what it is....
We love your Confetti Cheeks designs. Can you tell our readers a little bit about yourself?
Of course! :) Thank you for taking the time to feature our company! My name is Shannon Owens and I'm the owner and designer for Confetti Cheeks! I'm a twenty-four year old graphic design illustrator and have lived all over the beautiful state of North Carolina my entire life. I graduated from Highland School of Technology in Graphics in 2008, earned my Associate in Arts degree from Gaston College in 2010, and finished my Bachelor of Science in Behavioral Ethics + Psychology in 2013 after transferring from UNC Wilmington. I love God, my family, my three furbabies, all things pink, anything sprinkled in glitter, bright and colorful fashion, photography, adjectives + quotes, watching my favorite television shows, and Carolina Panthers football! My mom helps me with every facet of my business and I have a 15 year old sister that models a lot of our fabulous products!
When did you start your company and what inspired you to do so?
Confetti Cheeks first launched in March 2015. We started with a few test designs, but decided to go in an entirely new direction in June and relaunched with new collections and products in July 2015. My idea to begin Confetti Cheeks stemmed from dissatisfaction, exhaustion, and emptiness from my previous personalization business, Freckle Fox Boutique. My mom and I had been working non-stop, hand making all of our products, for five years straight. It was very strenuous physically and mentally and I knew that I needed a change - I just wasn’t sure how. Confetti Cheeks was created because my life had drastically changed from what it was when I began Freckle Fox Boutique. I felt like I had learned so much through the ups and downs in my previous business that I wanted to find a way to share some of my wisdom and “success.”
For years, I made products that did not feel like they held a real purpose to me and I simply created what was already popular in the marketplace. Some might say that we were “successful” for a small business starting out as we had to get a separate location to fulfill orders, we hired a family friend part-time to help out, and were so busy that I had ZERO time for vacations, a social life, or even to take care of my health. I began to ask myself if this was really worth it to me, to continue on this path. We had have been making a steady and substantial income to support our lifestyle, but I was miserable, tired, a bit depressed, and burned out. It seemed that I achieved society’s standard of success, but I was anything but happy. I was no longer content with what I was doing and felt like anything I did create was being altered and manipulated so much that it didn’t even feel like my own work anymore. Everything I worked so hard to build felt like it was someone else’s life – one I didn’t want to be a part of anymore. It wasn’t until I finally decided that I couldn’t do it anymore and took a risk and huge leap of faith that I began to see the light again. I completely shifted my focus and took some time to really reflect on what I wanted to do with my life. I wanted to do more with the gifts God provided me with to help others. The idea of developing Confetti Cheeks spanned over the course of several months, but had to be put on hold after the passing of my beloved grandfather. It really took a toll on our family emotionally and took up a lot of our time. We had promised our customers we would launch in March, so we threw together what we could to open.
As time went on, we decided that we wanted more purpose in what we were creating and I desperately wanted to reevaluate my design style. Although my aesthetic is extremely girly, filled with all things that sparkle, playful and whimsical, and decorated with bright colors, I wasn’t sure how others would react to it when I finally chose to implement my new direction. I decided to let go of my apprehension and fear of failure and develop Confetti Cheeks regardless of the outcome. As an artist, I knew that my next venture would have to be something that would showcase my own original design work and style and would encourage, motivate, and help others throughout their own journeys. I’ve always been a big proponent of education and consistently seek to keep learning on my own. I knew that no matter what I created, I wanted to help women of all ages figure out what they excel in and how to embrace it in a way that would make them the best they could to serve others
The name Confetti Cheeks is so fun, can you tell us what went into your name chose?
It took months of playing around with different words, phrases, and combinations before I finally selected Confetti Cheeks as the name for our shop. Throughout my life, freckles were something that always seemed to make me different and stand out from others - whether I wanted to or not. I’ve always been somewhat of an introvert so I never really liked being the center of attention. When I was younger, I did not like having freckles because I couldn’t do my makeup the way I wanted to like my friends, some people made fun of them or didn’t find them attractive, and they always made me much more self-conscious than others. My freckles definitely didn’t feel pretty or unique in a good way until much later. As I was growing up, adults used to fawn over my freckles and tell me how lucky I was to have them (much like my naturally curly hair that took time to for me to admire). I didn’t really understand it at the time, but as I grew older, I learned to embrace my freckles as something I could use to my advantage to help others who didn’t feel pretty or didn’t like something about the way they looked. First of all, no woman has to be a supermodel to be absolutely gorgeous! There were several women I encountered in my life that had undeniable beauty that shined through who they were as person, regardless of their appearance, and I wanted to emulate them.
I knew that I wanted other women to be able to see our company, who we were, and what we stood for as advocates for the idea that what makes us different can be the exact thing that makes us sparkle! That is what we hope to achieve with our products, but also in what we do each day. To me, Confetti Cheeks represents three things. It signifies the real people behind the business, my family and I, because we are all sprinkled with freckles and it has always made us unique. Confetti Cheeks also illustrates the “literal” sense of the name in making each day such a fantastic celebration that you end up with confetti all over your cheeks. Lastly, it figuratively suggests that we should spread so much kindness around like confetti that it shines through you and all that you do!
Confetti Cheeks is clearly more than a brand — you are a catalyst for change in the way you view beauty. Did you begin your company with that intention, or did that mission form along the way?
From it’s inception, I think that there was always an underlying drive to alter people's perception of what is considered beautiful, successful, and fulfilling when we created Confetti Cheeks. I knew that I wanted to change the way people thought about how they lived their lives and to encourage each person to celebrate daily, particularly the little things in life. I had spent so much of my life trying to become this version of myself that others wanted me to be, gained success according to those around me, and yet I was discontent at the end of the day. I did love being able to work for myself and create on a daily basis, but it didn’t serve a true purpose for anyone else and it wasn’t making me proud of my accomplishments at the end of the day.
My mom and I have had countless discussions of how we wanted to help others with, not only with the products we sell, but also by what we do each day. I had included a few uplifting phrases that carried their own messages on my first few designs, unbeknownst to me that this would be what we decided to build upon for all of our future designs. Beginning with our concept to treat each day like a special occasion, we wanted to share our own experiences with people. This is why I include an inspirational phrase in each of my designs with its own message and purpose behind each one. Each illustration represents an obstacle, a lesson, or perseverance I have experienced over the years that I hope others can learn from as I continue to color and influence those around me. We want women to utilize what makes them unique and let that beauty shimmer in all that they do. They are radiant and perfect the way they are, the way God made them to be! My favorite quote of all time is by Roald Dahl because it completely expresses our belief that you should celebrate each day by seeking beauty in the little things and to always embrace your sparkle to share with others.
“And above all, watch with glittering eyes the whole world around you because the greatest secrets are always hidden in the most unlikely places. Those who don't believe in magic will never find it.”
Click Image to explore ConfettiCheeks.com
Shannon has designed printables especially for EnRose Readers, to encourage all of us to shine with authentic beauty and to sprinkle kindness like confetti! Click the images below to enlarge, you can either right click to download the image or drag the image to your desktop. Print and enjoy :) Thank you Shannon for these splendid prints!
