New Store on Main Street is Bel Air's 'Hometown Etsy'

BEL AIR, MD — When Julie Ter Borg quit her job as a scientist last month to open a store in downtown Bel Air, her dream was to create a "hometown Etsy."

Her shop on South Main Street is just that, featuring jewelry that she was selling on her Etsy store as well as handmade pieces from other artisans, many residents of Harford County and surrounding areas.

"I love supporting local artists," Ter Borg told Patch. "I'm such a believer in handmade items."

Ter Borg, who lives in Bel Air, started making jewelry as a way to relieve stress when she was in graduate school studying public health at Emory University in Atlanta. "It's therapeutic," she said of jewelry-making.

When her career as an epidemiologist for government contractors took off, Ter Borg continued making jewelry on the side and sold it on Etsy. She also joined an online group of artisans, and through it celebrity stylists became exposed to her work.

Once her pieces were featured on "The Vampire Diaries" and other TV shows and demand for her jewelry grew, Ter Borg said her husband encouraged her to find a place for a store; and in September, she left her job to open the Main Street shop.

Julie Ellyn Designs opened Oct. 15 in downtown Bel Air with a ribbon cutting attended by the mayor.

"Main Street is super supportive," Ter Borg said, noting that other business owners came by to welcome her.

Necklaces, bracelets, rings and earrings are artfully arranged throughout the front of the store, with business cards offering information about the artists who made them. Ter Borg and two other women she met on Etsy have their jewelry on display. All of them have had their pieces appear on TV, she said.

The shop is located where a government contractor used to be, but you wouldn't know it. Ter Borg has used it as her canvas and turned it into a space that whispers "sanctuary."

Her original plan was to sell jewelry and host jewelry parties, but the space has allowed her to grow her vision.

Down the hall from the jewelry area, Ter Borg has created pop-up shops in the back of the store showcasing handmade wreaths, woodworking and other goods.

Photographs taken in Maryland, candles made in Columbia and other items are on display. Two separate rooms are filled with hand-painted furniture and other pieces that will rotate out, Ter Borg said. Some of the artists she met while selling her jewelry at the Belle Aire market and others she met on Etsy, at craft shows or through word of mouth.

Starting in November, Ter Borg hopes to introduce classes such as jewelry making or woodworking and to host jewelry parties. She already has a room set aside.

Julie Ellyn Designs is at 18 South Main Street in Bel Air. Hours are 11 a.m. to 7 p.m., Monday to Saturday; and 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. on Sunday.

See Also — Julie Ellyn Designs Opens on Main Street: PHOTOS