My Story in Your Hands

2015, ABOUT MY BEGINNINGS…

It all started in Mexico, back in 2015, when I was browsing YouTube and began seeing videos of people making crafts with a type of clay I had never heard of. After lots of Googling, I found out it was called polymer clay, which hardens when baked. I was eager to create similar things and sell them, so I started researching what material would work best for me—there was also the option of using cold porcelain. I chose polymer clay. I began saving to buy the materials and an oven and started diving deeper into the world of polymer clay. Channels like “El Arte de Pau,” puddingfishcakes, polymomotea, and many others I can’t recall were my teachers in what to do and not to do. So I spent my few savings (I was a student at the time) and began creating. It all started with coming up with a name. I didn’t even know what I was going to make, so I created a Facebook page called “Kibalicius” and sold pens decorated with clay. It wasn’t a bad start, but I struggled because baking them often caused the pen bases to warp due to the heat, which led to material waste. Everything came crashing down after a commission—if I remember correctly, it was a unicorn. It turned out well, and the delivery went perfectly (though I made no profit, as I spent everything on one-way transportation). A few days later, the client contacted me saying there was an issue with the pen and a part had broken. As I mentioned, I was losing more material due to the warping bases or broken clay. That’s when I gave up on my business—very sad and convinced I wasn’t good enough. I kept watching clay creation videos, though my motivation was low, until about a year later. With the materials I still had, I decided to try again and even joined several clay groups to learn more. That’s when I realized that the clay I had bought wasn’t suitable for fine details—it wasn’t me or my process, it was the clay! With that in mind, I switched materials: I had been using Sculpey, but I moved to Premo, and things started to go much better. Kibalicius no longer existed as a page, and after someone said it sounded like food, I came up with a new name and page.

2015–2016, Welcome Moshi O

What’s a Moshi O? What does the name mean? Does the “O” stand for something? The truth is—it’s a made-up word with no meaning. All I knew was that I wanted to create little creatures called Moshis, which would be the “mascots” of my page. I made banners with these beings and started promoting myself in buy-and-sell groups. I had some sales and slowly started gaining followers. I even made an extra mascot, Sulli. But I never fully launched the world of the Moshis, and I wasn’t confident about continuing with the name Moshi O. So I decided to take a full 180° turn: new name, logo, image—everything.

2016, MY SECOND CHANCE: XIREI

The same year I created Moshi O, it was replaced by Xirei, a name I gave meaning to: it comes from the Japanese word きれい (kirei), meaning “pretty” or “beautiful.” I swapped the “k” for an “x” to match the first letter of my name. The meaning I gave it: the things I make are “beautiful.” I also gave the logo a meaning: in the swirl of the wing is the kanji 手 (te), meaning “hand,” referencing that I make handmade items. Pretty wild, right? Maybe I was high on something. With Xirei, I started promoting and selling even more—not just clay items, but also embroidered, painted ones, and more materials and ideas. I was trying to build a brand, and although I wasn’t selling a lot yet, I even made my own lightbox for photos before upgrading to one with LED lights. My packaging was handmade too; I made stamps and printed them on Kraft paper bags I crafted myself! Eventually, I realized it took too much time, so I started buying some things pre-made to save effort.

I created new characters as mascots: Satsu with pink hair, Lua with dark hair, and Yani with green hair. They often appeared in announcements and banners. My themes reflected the things I loved—anime, movies, cartoons

One of the most exciting things with Xirei was going to craft fairs. The first was in July 2016 at an event called Kawaii Fest. It was my first time, so I had to buy a tablecloth and small furniture to make my display less flat. I was very nervous—not knowing if people would like my creations. But by then, I already had a few supporters who came just to buy from me, and I’m so grateful for that support! The outcome wasn’t great, but I at least covered the table cost and made a small profit. Oh, and I didn’t mention if I was still having problems with clay—well, no! I started earning enough to buy higher-quality clay (I love you, Fimo), and with that, I made my first doll necklaces, inspired by creations from angeniacreations (angenia_wolf).

I also launched my Etsy shop (back when it was cool), and sold to many places in the U.S. and Europe. Slowly but surely, I was making progress compared to when I doubted myself so much. Two years later, I decided to redesign the Xirei logo since it felt outdated. I kept the same elements but refreshed it, dividing one line of the X in two to symbolize it as the second version. Another year passed, and I grew a little more, until I entered a new world…

A few covers

2019, HELLO, JELOU XIANI

I’ve always drawn, using leftover office paper from my mom’s work—pencils, markers, watercolors (even if the paper couldn’t handle much water). As I watched others sell their illustrations—fanart or original—I asked myself: Why not? That’s how “jelouxiani” took its first steps. I decided to incorporate illustrated products into my brand, especially original art and some fanart. And so the era of Xirei ended and transitioned to “jelou xiani.” I just wanted to be myself, showing a new side and new products. I wanted a simple name—not overly complicated. I also wanted to be known by my real name. “Jelouxiani” was the pick. Xiani is the artistic nickname I chose, based on my real name, Xiadani. “Jelou” was just a playful version of “hello,” adding a comedic twist. Since I wanted my creations to travel the world, I thought a touch of English wouldn’t hurt, but not too English, you know?

With jelouxiani, I struggled a lot with branding—over three different logos! Adding, removing elements—I wanted to keep parts of Xirei as a tribute, but what was right? I removed the wing, changed the “i” to a needle and a digital pen, representing handmade and illustration, lots of stars. It was tough. I went through at least three logos that were similar in parts but none felt definitive. As for a mascot, I wanted new characters. Goodbye Satsu and friends. One of them would be my pet, Kiba. At that point, I had only made two illustrations of Kiba for address labels. The first months with jelouxiani were full of learning, starting with notebooks and then stickers. I even tried custom planners—for relatives and others—but I must admit, I don’t enjoy making planners. I always made mistakes and hated it. So many wasted pages—yes, I reused them for testing, but still. I kept attending craft fairs, combining handmade and illustration. Sales dropped a bit, but I attracted new fans who loved stationery. The problem? I kept deleting my pages and starting over, erasing all the history behind them. Thinking back, that was a huge mistake I regret. I had plans to expand and needed to finalize the logo as my visual identity. Then, something important changed everything.

2022, CROSSING THE RAINBOW

With just a year of existence, jelouxiani had already gone through many changes, lacking consistency—except for the image of my dog, Kiba. Kiba was a 12-year-old Chow Chow. She arrived in 2012 for my birthday. She was my companion through everything, and it’s uncanny how much we resembled each other—in temperament and behavior, like two peas in a pod. On New Year’s heading into 2023, I sadly remember that Kiba passed away in the early morning of January 1st. She suffered gastric torsion, and though she underwent surgery, her little heart couldn’t take it.

2023, THE FINAL FORM?

After that, I decided I wanted to keep her alive—through my art. On January 13, I officially made her the main image of my brand and logo like mokopuni.arts, I started drawing her everywhere I could. She’ll always be here, in my art, in my heart, and now among the stars—a guardian watching over us.

2024, FINAL… WITH CHANGES

In 2024, I made another change: replacing the last “i” in “xiani” with scissors to symbolize handmade. The X now includes the wing from Xirei and the kanji 手 (hand). The main brand color became blue, with icons like clouds, stars, moons, and hearts. Secondary colors: pastel pink, purple, and yellow. I also started expanding into something more: I collect anime figures (my obsession), so I began exploring faceplate customization—specifically for nendoroids. Then came another big life change.

LOVE AND MOVED

I hadn’t mentioned love—besides Kiba. I was in a relationship with someone from another country. By this year, we’d been together for over two years, and we had already met in person (he visited me). We decided to take the next step and live together. The best option was for me to move to Chile, and here I am. It was a huge step—true to my nature, I went all in. I sold everything: equipment, materials, all I had gathered over time. I repurchased everything here in Chile. While I could continue doing what I did in Mexico, I hit emotional hurdles. I got depressed. Looking back, I can say I was really depressed. I wanted to create, but I couldn’t bring myself to act. I opened a new Etsy and made a few sales, but I was slow—some days I just couldn’t do anything. I felt guilty not being able to help my partner financially. It became a cycle that lasted most of 2024. At the end of the year, we spent Christmas in Chile and New Year’s in Mexico. We stayed a month—it flew by—but it helped calm my thoughts and gave me a bit more motivation to create. Though I haven’t done much (oops), I want to revive my brand, which has been stagnant.

2025, DON’T GET STUCK!

Now I’m here, writing a post on my page about the story of my brand. I tried to summarize it, so I think what’s here are the most important parts. Thanks to everyone who read all the way through—endless gratitude. We’re almost halfway through the year, so it’s time to push forward again.

This is the story of a small brand that’s not just made by me, Xiani, but also by all the people who’ve supported me along the way.