The Sunday Summary

This week my shop of the week goes to Links of London, whose bracelet I am wearing today. They also have a sale on, which is always good. I have got my eye on this bad boy...although its still waaay above my price range!

Day 210 - Links of London Team GB bracelet

Well, what else could I wear this weekend! This is the Team GB bracelet from Links of London which you can get for £20. I really like the fact its simple but sturdy and quite unisex as well. I don't own anything else from Links as they're a bit out of my price range but at £20 this is an affordable way to accessorise, get some Links product and also support Team GB!

Day 209 - Natural bead bracelet

I made this with the beads left over from making this necklace. It's just a simple elasticated bracelet, perfect for the weekend!

Day 208 - punky ring!

I can't remember where this is from but I got it for a fancy dress outfit one Hallowe'en. I was an evil punky devil ringmaster thing. I have no idea what I was actually but I had a top hat and horns and lots of vampy make up! I just thought it would be fun to wear it today!

Day 207 - pearl double strand necklace

I made this a few years ago to wear to a wedding and then changed my mind at the last minute and I don't think I've worn it since so it's nice to give it an outing. I don't like wearing anything too heavy when the weather is so nice so this is perfect.

Day 206 - Cloisonne bracelet

I made this a while ago using some Cloisonne beads - they're so stunningly detailed. I don't really wear this too often as I am always really worried about damaging the beads but it looks so pretty in the sun that I couldn't resist!

Day 205 - big bling ring!

I made this using another stone from Swarovski Crystallised - you can see the matching necklace here. Its way to blingy for me to wear regularly but if I fancy being a bit loud then its quite a fun and statementy piece to wear!

Day 204 - champagne beaded bracelet

This was a present from my mum, I'm not sure where its from but I quite like the colours. It works wellw ith my engagement and wedding ring and is nice and bright for this lovely weather!

The Sunday Summary

Well, it's no surprise that the Shop of the Week this week is Juzi. Juzi means `the day before yesterday' in Swahili, and they create jewellery using recycled beads that have been handcrafted by three self-supporting co-operatives in Kenya. The website says that 'Juzi jewellery is created from locally sourced redundant materials namely magazines, posters, calenders and bottletops.  Each bead is unique and often you can see yesterday's snippets of text and pictures on an individual bead which creates wonderment as well as a beautiful piece of jewellery.' I quite agree!! The fact each bead is unique and that its been made in such an ethical way is fabulous.

Day 203 - Juzi necklace

I first read about Juzi in Look Magazine a few years ago and I loved the whole project! I'm going to tell you more about then in the next post so for now just enjoy the picture and you'll find out more shortly!

Day 202 - Hand made teal chunky glass bead necklace

I made this a while ago but wearing lots of teal this week reminded me that I had it so I wanted to pop it on today. Its a lovely chunky piece, the beads are quite heavy, and I love the strong shade of teal which looks stunning against black or grey. I like that its almost tribal in style!

Day 201 - Sam Ubhi teal bracelet

This is the bracelet that matches the earrings I wore earlier this week. I think the full set looks lovely when worn with a simple black dress as it really brings out the teal shade. This brings us to an end of the 'almost a full week' of Sam Ubhi jewellery. I hope you have discovered a love for her work as much as I have. I also really hope one day I can make such well crafted and designed pieces. Mine feel pretty amateur in comparison but I suppose we all need to start somewhere!

Day 200 - 'Sing as if no-one can hear you' bracelet

This bracelet from Sam is inscribed: 'sing as if no-one can hear you' and it has special meaning to me as I have issues with singing. I was in our school production of Oliver and had to sing a solo which basically ruined my throat. I had to pull out of the show for a few days and my friend had to stand in for me but I ended up doing at least one performance, the one they filmed. When we watched the film back you could barely hear me and its given me a total complex about singing ever since. I can hold a tune (kind of!) but I have a very quiet voice and my range is quite low and deep so I can't hit the high notes; I am wary of singing in front of people. One thing a friend once said to me is that if I was ok singing with my husband (he was my boyfriend at the time!) then he was a keeper. And its true, he's one of the only people I will sing solo in front of. So basically, this bracelet reminds me that its ok and that I should have the confidence to sing in front of others.

Oddly I have no issues with rapping - I rapped Ice Ice Baby (word perfect may I add) on both my hen do and on my wedding in front of all of our guests. Word to ya mutha.

Day 199 - Sam Ubhi earrings

These are so simple but I love the pale teal shade and the delicate wool work that has been done to create the almost lattice style effect. I have a matching bangle from Sam that I will be wearing shortly!

Day 198 - Sam Ubhi charm necklace

This was my first piece from Sam and I still love wearing it as often as I can. I love the mix of stones which make it work with most items of clothing I have (oddly!) and also the flower charm at the end means that it works well with floral dresses (of which I have a lot!).  

Day 197 - Sam Ubhi Dream bracelet

I bought this bracelet along with the matching earrings in the Sam Ubhi sale but have held off wearing this as I wanted to do a bit of a special Sam Ubhi week! I really like this bracelet, from teh aged effect and slightly battered bangle itself, to the Dream charm. Its very inspiring and simple enough to be both striking and classic at the same time.

The Sunday Summary

This week my Shop of the Week goes to the amazing Sam Ubhi. Sam's website is under construction but you can buy her jewellery online in places like Asos, as well as at her studio and shop in South West London. You'll have seen from the earrings I wore yesterday how stunning her jewellery is and she kindly spent a few minutes with me answering some important jewellery based questions this week!

How did you get into jewellery and jewellery design?

It was quite by chance actually. I graduated in woven textiles, and my work involved a lot of beading embedded in paper. I would make myself some jewellery , the days of big Pat Butcher earrings. On a trip to New York, I was approached by a woman who loved my earrings and wanted to know where I had bought them. She turned out to be the buyer at Barneys!! So this chance encounter resulted in my first jewellery commission!!

Who are your favourite designers?

There are too many to mention but I adore Dries Van Norten , Simeon Farrar for contemporary design, Natalie Hambro, McQueen, ......

What are your key trends for 2012?

Keep it long, strong, layered and full of charms. Layer bangles together to give a big impact, and personalize with vintage pieces.

Do you have a particular material/metal/stone you prefer to work with and why?

I love working in most metals, but I love the strength and pliability of brass! Stones on the other hand, I have my favorites ....diamonds are a girls best friend! Labradorite for its rainbow of colours and translucency & Chrysoprase for its depth of organic colours and feel.

What is your favourite piece of jewellery you’ve designed/created?

Again there are too many too chose from, but I adore the Serpentine bib that we made (picured left). It’s made from one piece of wire, and it is a traditional African technique of swirls....and more recently the rough diamond collection of rings set in gold.

What are your top tips for people who are keen to get into the jewellery business?

If you have ambition and an idea, go for it! Don’t let any one tell you that you can’t do something. As any business, it is tough, but it is important to understand the creative side of the business, and just as importantly the business side to it too! You’ll make mistakes , but that is just part of the process .... And keep an open mind and learn something new everyday!

 I wholeheartedly recommend going along to Sam's shop if you can. She regularly holds amazing sales there and I tend to bulk buy (when I'm not on a ban!!) and then give out her pieces as presents as they really have 'soul'. That may sound odd but I'm going to have almost a week of wearing my other Sam Ubhi pieces (in addition to these earrings, and these earrings and this necklace!) so you can see what I mean! The best way I can describe it is that its as if they have lived a life and have stories to tell, combined with the fact you know its taken time and skill to create such masterpieces.

Day 196 - Sam Ubhi earrings

I absolutely love these earrings from the fabulous Sam Ubhi. They're as statement-y as I get but the detail is just amazing. They're made from one piece of silver that has been coiled-just stunning.

Day 195 - Crystal necklace

I bought this stone from the Swarovski shop in central London and strung it on wire with some matching seed beads. I don't really like it that much as the beads don't sit as well as I'd hoped, but the stone is really pretty which makes up for it!

Day 194 - Natural bead necklace

I'm not sure what these beads are made of but they're a really interesting mix of greens, creams and browns. This necklace is a bit too long (and comically as I'm wearing this with a low vest it also looks like I am semi-naked in this photo (I assure you I'm not!)). I don't wear it much but the details on the beads mean it's a good one to play with and look at!

Day 193 - Shell necklace

This is a really old necklace I made-I'm having a bit of a hand made week aren't I!? Its really basic but the different shades of the beads are so pretty.

Day 192 - Handmade blue stone necklace

I made this using some simple blue glass beads from Hobbycraft that were in the sale. I like that they look a bit like water! This shade is really quite calming too - which is good because I am super sad that they'd cancelled the Hit Factory Live that I was supposeed to be going to!! Grrr for the rubbish British summer.

Day 191 - Oliver Bonas sausage dog necklace

Yay, the lovely ladies at Oliver Bonas saw how much I love this and very kindly sent it to me. It really is brilliant and really marked me smile.

Day 190 - Sage green pearl bracelet

This is the last of my wedding jewellery posts! This was the matching bracelet I made for us all to wear, and as before the pearls are from Smitten Beads.

Normal jewellery service will presume again shortly...!

The Sunday Summary

Ok I confess that with the wedding its all been a bit crazy and I've not really had the chance to do a proper Sunday Summary today, or a proper Shop of the Week. If we hadn't had the jewellery that I made then I think I would have probably got some striking jewellery from Coast, so by default they are my Shop of the Week! (*lazy blogging alert!*)

Day 189 - Sage green pearl earrings

These are the earrings I wore at the wedding too. All materials as before - they're nice and simple and worked perfectly with the colours. If only it hadn't rained but as it rained on my wedding day I stand by the reasoning that rain on yoru wedding day is lucky! 

Day 188 - Sage green pearl necklace

Today one of my best friends got married, and as I was bridesmaid she asked me to make the jewellery for myself and the other bridesmaids.

Working with her on designs and colours we settled on a simple pearl bracelet, single drop earrings and a simple single drop necklace.

Obviously I wore them all at the same time but I'll feature each one over three days so you can see them in all their glory.



You'll recognise this as I did a simple master class earlier in the year. I used chain bought in bulk from eBay and the pearls are from Smitten Beads.

And here is a photo (right) of my and my friend just after she lef the church - you can see me wearing the necklace.

Doesn't she look amazing?! I did her make up and I have to say that I am really pleased with how it came out. Obviously that's not why she looked so stunning but I like to think that I helped make her day a little bit easier and therefore a whole lot more enjoyable.

Day 187 - Amber beaded bracelet

This was a gift from a friend a couple of years ago - the lighting is really bad but its made up of amber, smokey quartz and shell beads. I don't wear it too often as it can be quite noisy but its nice and tactile and good to wear to brighten up an outfit, especially the outfits I've been wearing recently - I can't belive its July, what is going on! 

Day 186 - Oasis silver bangle

This is super old, I think I got it at university. Its just a nice simple silver torque bangle from Oasis with crystals on the ends. 

I'm going away for a few days for my friends wedding so I'll have to do the next few days' posts when I get back. I'll be wearing the jewllery I showed you earlier in the year (I've made it for me and my fellow bridesmaids) so you'll get to see the full effect of earrings, necklace and bracelet all together!

Day 185 - very long necklace!

This is a charity shop purchase and its so long! I have doubled it up as it is today, but it would be swinging by my knees if I wore it full length! Its on antique brass chain and then its got pale pink and pale green pearls and then every so often a teal glass bead - a rather random selection of colours which is why I'm wearing it with black!

Day 184 - multi stone Accessorize necklace

This is a really old Accessorize necklace that I picked up one year in the sales. Its so old that a lot of the stones have now faded but I like that its got a slightly tribal vibe going on. Plus my outfit features purple, yellow and turquoise today (yikes!) so it all just kind of works.

Day 183 - blue beaded bracelet

Wow, so we're officially half way through the year, and half way through the challenge! I am starting to struggle now with the no buying rule (especially as Accessorize has a sale on!) as I always want to buy some new pieces in the summertime...but I am holding back.

I'm also finding it increasingly tricky to make sure I wear something that I've not worn before every day. Sometimes I have to get up super early and check through the blog to make sure! ARGH...I have no idea how tough its going to get come Novermber!

Today I am wearing a simple blue beaded bracelet that was a present from a friend when she came back from holiday. I swore I had already worn it but I checked back and it seems we're ok!! Phew.

The Sunday Summary

I've mentioned them a few times this week, so my Shop of the Week for this week is Buffy's Beads in Kingly Court. Its more of a supplies shop than an actual jewellery shop but if you're looking for one of those there are a few cool places in Kingly Court - you should go check it out. You can easily lose yourself in there for a whole afternoon.

Day 182 - Handmade turquoise beaded necklaces

Yep, another one of my own pieces. I made this with some small turquoise beads I got from Buffy's Beads, mixed up with some small silver beads too. Just a nice simple piece for a Sunday, and I'm trying to channel a bit of sumemr as it is 1st July...not that its helping. This summer is just rotten!!!