I didn’t realise I had a passion for earrings until I made a pair for myself.
I had grown my hair long and had began to tie it up for work. Looking at myself in the mirror, I thought how an amazing pair of earrings would really cheer up my drab 40 something face.
I had recently been mourning the loss of a silver small hoop earring that I thought was particularly stylish in an understated way. I went back to the jewellers to see if I could get a replacement pair but the styles had changed and the cost of a new silver pair was £40. It seemed the cost of silver had rocketed since I was last jewellery shopping. Considering I had just lost one earring, the thought of £20 dropping out of my ear made me leave the shop empty handed. Having said that, I became desperate and would have paid £40 for the perfect match. For months I searched shops for the ideal pair of earrings, but nothing ever grabbed or moved me enough to part with my hard earned money.
On a day out, walking the dogs, I stumbled over a “hippy” shop and bought the bits and bobs to make my own earrings. The ones I made I instantly fell in love with. They had everything I had been searching the shops and internet for – understated style.
I continued to make my earrings, now having a pair to go with each outfit and mood that I may possibly have. Family and friends then started to comment on my earrings and I would make one-off pairs for them which I felt best suited their look or style. After lots of hours of earring making, I then realised I actually now had a portfolio of fine-looking earrings and decided to start marketing them to a wider audience. My thinking behind this was that if I struggled to buy things I loved, other people may just appreciate my earrings. Hence the start up of Unexample Jewellery.
I have always had a creative gene in me. I paint and draw for my own enjoyment, not very well but I find it very therapeutic. I teach art to primary school juniors and am passionate about art and design and the joy that comes with producing something unique. On a personal level, I always need to be creating and producing something and my earrings are my artistic outlet.
Each pair of earrings is made from a feeling and vision I have when I pick up the raw materials. I will put an earring together and dismantle it and remake it several times until I look at it and think, “That is exactly what I want”, and I actually want to keep it for myself. My beads are clay, glass, resin, plastic and metals, although I am more concerned with colour and shape than the actual raw materials I use.
My vision is to branch out and make necklaces and bracelets.
Unexample Jewellery isn’t just jewellery it is my passion and my future. Being able to wake up every morning and your job is your passion, now that is what Unexample Jewellery is for me.
mumstheword 