Jacqueline Finn launched her jewelry business with stars in her eyes.

Her first show for Jac-Out-Of-The-Box Jewelry was a gifting suite at the Golden Globes in Beverly Hills, Calif., in January.

The Cape Breton native had always dabbled in craft and thought of jewelry making as a hobby.

Last fall, she learned Nathalie Dubois of DPA, which runs gifting suites at star-studded events like film festivals and awards shows, was coming to the area looking for local designers.

“I set up a meeting. I hadn’t really sold anything before, so just setting up a display for her was a challenge,” says Finn.

“A month later, she asked me to do the Golden Globes.”

Now the 35-year-old who works as an accounting technician in Sydney is heading to the celeb-heavy Toronto International Film Festival to display her wares. She’ll be at a gifting suite organized by DPA and hosted by AMC from Friday to Monday.

Finn will show off her ring collection dubbed For the Love of Color, consisting of wired and beaded rings in different colours, as well as bronze and silver bracelets and her unique cuttlefish jewelry, which proved a hit at the Golden Globes.

She learned the technique at the Cape Breton Centre for Craft and Design in Sydney, where she rents studio space. It involves carving a design out of cuttlefish bone and pouring molten silver into a mould.

Cuttlefish is used in budgie and bird cages and is sold in pet stores.

“There are so many possibilities with it. You use your own engraving and make your own design, and it picks up a texture you wouldn’t otherwise get.”

The River Ryan resident, who has always loved anything to do with fashion and accessories, earned a bachelor of business administration degree at Cape Breton University and an MBA at Saint Mary’s University. She started making beaded jewelry as gifts for friends and family while studying in Halifax.

She later took evening courses in metalworking at the Cape Breton Centre for Craft and Design.

“I love the creative aspect. A lot of people start out by sketching, but I start out with pictures in my head.”

She works in sterling silver, copper and bronze, and wraps beads in wire.

Finn enjoyed the Golden Globes and says the celebrities she met — including actors Dennis Quaid (Vegas), who picked up a bracelet, The Big Bang Theory’s Mayim Bialik, who chose the Eternal Optimist bangle, and General Hospital’s Finola Hughes, who chose the When Stars Align cuttlefish necklace, created specially for the event — were all down to earth and easy to talk to.

“There were people from all over the world,” she recalls of those manning other displays.

“There was a company with designer gowns, a company with clutches from Paris, people from Asia with an eyelash product.”

There were also others from Nova Scotia, including fellow Cape Breton jewelry makers Tears of Glass and Ancient Treasures, and Destination Cape Breton, promoting tourism.

Finn is looking forward to the Toronto festival and hopes to take in a few movies if time permits.

While she has no plans for craft shows in Nova Scotia, she has a website (jacoutoftheboxjewelry.com) with a link to Etsy, where people can purchase her jewelry, and posts new items on Pinterest and Facebook.

She also sells her work through La Quaintrelle (laquaintrelle.ca) in North Sydney.

Business is picking up for her work, which she describes as “unique handcrafted jewelry inspired by colour, coastal living and a love of fashion,” and she’s recently had orders from the Northwest Territories and Dallas, Texas.

As for her dream client?

“Julia Roberts, who is promoting a film in Toronto.”