Gemstones of love to celebrate Valentine's Day

With one week to go until Valentine’s Day, I thought I might look at gemstones that symbolise love, just in case you need some inspiration for that perfect gift!

Amber ~ This beautiful organic gemstone has been considered to be a good luck charm for love and marriage, bringing energies of patience, protection, sensuality, healing and balance

Lapis Lazuli ~ Believed to promote and protect relationships, keeping head and heart balanced. Ancient folklore says that if you give lapis as a gift, you are forging an eternal bond of friendship, loyalty and trust.

Moonstone ~ Moonstone is said to bring luck in love and so throughout history has been goven as a wedding gift. In Indian and European folklore, it’s said that two people wearing moonstone on a full moon would fall passionately in love!

Opal ~ Thought to attract love and passion, opal is said to intensify romance and encourages fidelity in love.

Rose Quartz ~ Rose quartz is the stone of unconditional love, increasing the energy of loving and being loved in your life.

Sapphire ~ Symbolising wisdom, good fortune and virtue, in engagment rings Sapphires represent faithfulness and sincerity too

Hopefully, that’s given you a few ideas, if you’re looking for a special commission, head over to the “Contact” page and we can discuss that special piece of jewellery!

Christmas Order Book Is Open!

My commission order book is now open! If you’re looking to commission a piece of jewellery in time for Christmas, you have until the 10th of December to guarantee delivery.

There is a limited number of orders I can take on so please contact me as soon as possible!

November's Here!

November....the month of Bonfire Night, Toffee Apples, stunning colours in the trees and frosty mornings! I love this time of year!

From a gemstone point of view, we have the lovely Topaz and Citrine as this month's birthstones.  The poem above indicates that Topaz is an "amber hue" but the truth is that Topaz comes in many different colours including shades of blue and pink.

More to come on those beautiful gemstones over the coming month.  If you are a November baby, or know someone who is, and would like to commission a special piece of jewellery featuring one of these lovelies, then drop me a line via the "Contact" page.

On The Bench!

It's been  bit of a manic week!  My poor bench has been a little neglected while I've been been preparing for BCTF but with more commissions coming in, it gives me a good reason to be sat there rather than in front of the laptop!

I love creating and will very often procrastinate about the paperwork/PR side of it because the bench is my comfort zone!  I know what I'm doing when I'm sat there and, I don't know if this is true for all creatives (if it is, please let me know!) but I feel I HAVE to sit at the bench pretty much every day, I need to create or work on something every day.  It doesn't have to be a huge amount but I have to get my "fix"!

On top of the commissions and BCTF and social media etc etc, I'm trying to buy a new house!  At the moment my workshop is in the attic (with the spiders, ugh!) but my new house has a ready built workshop....with a log burner....ON THE GROUND FLOOR!!!  The house buying process never seems to be a swift one but I am looking forward to sharing photos of my new space in the coming months!

Right, I'm off to get my "fix"!

On The Bench!

This week I'm working with red gold as well as silver on a new design.  I really like the contrast between the metals and this will work perfectly when conveying the story of the design.

I also have a new commission that I'm working on today.  It is a large statement neckline piece that will suit it's new owner down to a "T"!  All pieces tend to reflect the wearer's personality but this one more so than others.  I've been given the brief that it needs to include a beautiful spiral and the rest is down to me - being given free rein is exciting but can be nerve-wracking too!

I'm still frantically preparing for BCTF in April in Harrogate.  This will be my first trade show so the learning curve is steep and the to-do list is getting longer!  Better get back to it :-)

On The Bench!

It's my favourite day of the week....Workbench Wednesday!!  Although I do spend time during the rest of the week, I always set aside Wednesday so I can spend ALL DAY at the bench. 

At the moment I'm working on a couple of new collections to take to the British Craft Trade Show in April next year.  I am so excited as it'll be the first trade event I've ever done and I guess like most "creatives", the designing and making is the easy part, speaking to gallery and boutique owners and marketing is the hard/scary part!  I do love talking to people, especially about my work, so if you're an owner of said galleries/boutiques, please come and say Hi, I'd love to speak to you!  I'll be in the Newcomers Gallery, stand 65.

I'm also preparing for the C word.....Christmas!!!  If you would like a piece commissioned in time for Christmas, please get in touch as soon as you can.  As each piece is made by hand, they can take anywhere from 7-14 days to complete, sometimes longer as Birmingham Assay Office, where my hallmarking is done, gets very busy in the run-up to the festive season.