Describe a typical day
in your life.
I'm lucky enough to not commute so don't need to get up until 7:30am! As I'm in slow-mo first thing I take a cursory look at my e-mail, Twitter and Facebook page messages to make sure there's nothing urgent then I start the day with some exercise, even if it's just a short circuit. Then it's shower, dressed, breakfast and ready to start work at my desk by 9am. When you're self-employed you need to try and have some structure and a plan otherwise nothing will get done!
People are surprised to hear a typical day often doesn't involve jewellery making. Every season I release a new collection and there's lots of trial and error going on designing pieces in the run-up to that but on a typical day that's the fun part that I often leave for the evenings. The day time is often taken up with admin and computer-based chores.
I try and use the middle
of the day for any product photography as that's when I get the best light then
you need time to select your shots, crop and resize them to suit the
specifications of various websites apart from my own. As I aim to keep a vague
structure I try and take lunch 1:30 - 2pm so I have boundaries to work within
then after lunch I get all customer orders gift wrapped and packaged (I still absolutely
love this part, especially adding the personal touch of gifting wrapping each
item and including little messages to my customers!) I'm lucky enough to not commute so don't need to get up until 7:30am! As I'm in slow-mo first thing I take a cursory look at my e-mail, Twitter and Facebook page messages to make sure there's nothing urgent then I start the day with some exercise, even if it's just a short circuit. Then it's shower, dressed, breakfast and ready to start work at my desk by 9am. When you're self-employed you need to try and have some structure and a plan otherwise nothing will get done!
People are surprised to hear a typical day often doesn't involve jewellery making. Every season I release a new collection and there's lots of trial and error going on designing pieces in the run-up to that but on a typical day that's the fun part that I often leave for the evenings. The day time is often taken up with admin and computer-based chores.
The bonus of being your
own boss is you can be flexible and I use my daily walk to the post office to
get any other errands done on the way and I love this part of the day. But day
can blur into night when you have your own business so you need to remember to
switch off at night.
What tips do you have
for aspiring jewellery designers?
The best advice I'd give is to try as much as you can at least once, anything you can glean experience from. If you're considering leaving your existing job to pursue it full time then immerse yourself in the scene as much as you can and be as organised as possible before taking the big leap.
The best advice I'd give is to try as much as you can at least once, anything you can glean experience from. If you're considering leaving your existing job to pursue it full time then immerse yourself in the scene as much as you can and be as organised as possible before taking the big leap.
While
I was still working full time in London I went to every event I could at
weekends to showcase my jewellery, I got customer feedback, made contacts,
improved my designs and I learned something from every single event I did.
Gradually people will recognize you from past events, they’ll take a business card, pass it on to a friend and so the word spreads and that's ultimately how I met my first ever major buyer which in turn lead to my first ever fashion magazine feature. And talk to people! The design and craft world is really friendly and everyone's keen to support each other so talk to as many people as you can at every event you can, ask questions, offer advice of your own, share contacts - it's good to talk!
What inspires you to
create new pieces?
I should say I do extensive research but in truth, although not a very designer-y way to approach it, its often just finding interesting new components that catch my eye and thinking of ways to work with them or exploring an idea about a piece of jewellery I'd like to wear myself. My friends have a really eclectic sense of style, they're all different and really experimental so they influence my designs a lot. And I love people-watching whether at gigs, festival, craft fairs - it's often the best way to get ideas, seeing how different looks can combine on different people. My mum has an incredible photo album I love to revisit from her days as an air stewardess in the early 1970s. I love scrutinising what ladies were wearing in different countries all over the world at that time. My own personal taste in jewellery includes a lot of 50s style brooches, my favourite dangling charm ring that as made for me and layering gold necklaces of various lengths with natural or earthy colours like cream and deep green with gold.
I should say I do extensive research but in truth, although not a very designer-y way to approach it, its often just finding interesting new components that catch my eye and thinking of ways to work with them or exploring an idea about a piece of jewellery I'd like to wear myself. My friends have a really eclectic sense of style, they're all different and really experimental so they influence my designs a lot. And I love people-watching whether at gigs, festival, craft fairs - it's often the best way to get ideas, seeing how different looks can combine on different people. My mum has an incredible photo album I love to revisit from her days as an air stewardess in the early 1970s. I love scrutinising what ladies were wearing in different countries all over the world at that time. My own personal taste in jewellery includes a lot of 50s style brooches, my favourite dangling charm ring that as made for me and layering gold necklaces of various lengths with natural or earthy colours like cream and deep green with gold.
What made you change
your career to become a full time jewellery designer?
I worked for a big Post-Production company in Soho for nearly 9 years working on music videos, commercials and films. I started as a runner and worked my way up through various roles over the years which was really hard work but so much fun. It was such an exciting industry to work in, really fast paced, constantly changing, working with an amazing team and meeting new people every day though it was hugely stressful with tons of extra hours and it has to be a labour of love.
I worked for a big Post-Production company in Soho for nearly 9 years working on music videos, commercials and films. I started as a runner and worked my way up through various roles over the years which was really hard work but so much fun. It was such an exciting industry to work in, really fast paced, constantly changing, working with an amazing team and meeting new people every day though it was hugely stressful with tons of extra hours and it has to be a labour of love.
Eventually
I started to realise that media probably wasn’t the life for me long-term. My
problem was I wasn’t sure what else to do! I’d been making jewellery as a hobby
for friends' birthday gifts and would display my jewels at craft events at the
weekends but it never occurred to me I might be able to make a career out of
it. My boyfriend at the time encouraged me to make a go of it full time, gave
me a lot of help and I eventually decided to take the leap. I felt like I had
nothing to lose really, I was so keen for a change and it was always going to
be hard to ‘cut the apron strings’ from a 9 year career and people I was so
attached to so I just made the jump.
Where are your favourite
shops and places to find vintage goodies?
I buy most things in charity shops from clothes and accessories to records and old cocktail glasses. I love that you not only find something unique but it forces you to be inventive and re-work old items into new styles. My favourite item is a cream fake fur coat from Oxfam and from another charity shop a virtually unworn pair of white and tan 70s heels that said "shoes by Jennifer" inside! When I get time to browse, Ebay is another favourite for pre-loved items. I'm also lucky that my mum kept a lot of great things from her travels so I have a great collections of handbags, belts, a whole drawer of head scarves and amazing jewellery of hers from the 60s and 70s including big statement rings.
I buy most things in charity shops from clothes and accessories to records and old cocktail glasses. I love that you not only find something unique but it forces you to be inventive and re-work old items into new styles. My favourite item is a cream fake fur coat from Oxfam and from another charity shop a virtually unworn pair of white and tan 70s heels that said "shoes by Jennifer" inside! When I get time to browse, Ebay is another favourite for pre-loved items. I'm also lucky that my mum kept a lot of great things from her travels so I have a great collections of handbags, belts, a whole drawer of head scarves and amazing jewellery of hers from the 60s and 70s including big statement rings.
I'm definitely more of
an accessories girl than a clothing girl - times are tough and most of us don't
have money to buy clothes very often so the thrifty alternative is to customise
old clothes with affordable second hand accessories. My one contemporary
essential are my beloved 'Cheap Monday' uber-high waisted jeans. A 50s cut
that's much more comfy for us hourglass girls, can be glam or casual and I have
multiple pairs in multiple colours.
What are your
aspirations for the future?
From a practical point of view I'd like to broaden my skill set, improve my photography and fine-tune my working practices so I'm even more organised with seasonal collections and promotion. I really enjoy the workshops I've started tutoring for a team called I Made It Myself and love meeting new people so I hope to do more and more of those classes. Customers have been so kind and often take time to write to me when they're happy with their items and that just absolutely makes my day so my biggest aim is to maintain my record of happy customers, still offer that personal touch and keep creating items that people enjoy.
From a practical point of view I'd like to broaden my skill set, improve my photography and fine-tune my working practices so I'm even more organised with seasonal collections and promotion. I really enjoy the workshops I've started tutoring for a team called I Made It Myself and love meeting new people so I hope to do more and more of those classes. Customers have been so kind and often take time to write to me when they're happy with their items and that just absolutely makes my day so my biggest aim is to maintain my record of happy customers, still offer that personal touch and keep creating items that people enjoy.
I'd also love to gain
another exciting feature in a mainstream fashion magazine. I'm pretty easy to
please and like most designers just want to know that my work is good enough
and that people like what I'm doing. And lastly I just hope I can grow enough
to have the security of paying my bills doing something I absolutely love!
If you could create a
bespoke piece for any client, who would it be?
Wow, what a good question. I absolutely love Paloma Faith for her confident style - she just has fun with it. I love that she mixes really classic 50s and 60s elements like her hair, make up and clothing shapes with contemporary elements like bold fabric and colours and eccentric headwear. Its a recognisable and brave style of her own yet still has real class. I've been experimenting with bolder designs and Paloma would be really fun to use as inspiration!
But so often when I create new pieces I find myself instinctively veering towards classic vintage components like old pearls, crystals and antique brooches influenced by the old Hollywood screen sirens. So if time travel wasn't an issue the person you'd want wearing your creations would be Marilyn. My earrings dangling alongside Ms Monroe's famous pout? Yes please.
Wow, what a good question. I absolutely love Paloma Faith for her confident style - she just has fun with it. I love that she mixes really classic 50s and 60s elements like her hair, make up and clothing shapes with contemporary elements like bold fabric and colours and eccentric headwear. Its a recognisable and brave style of her own yet still has real class. I've been experimenting with bolder designs and Paloma would be really fun to use as inspiration!
But so often when I create new pieces I find myself instinctively veering towards classic vintage components like old pearls, crystals and antique brooches influenced by the old Hollywood screen sirens. So if time travel wasn't an issue the person you'd want wearing your creations would be Marilyn. My earrings dangling alongside Ms Monroe's famous pout? Yes please.
