An Accidental Introduction

I’ve told you about why I want to create Halo Jewellery, but I haven’t talked about how I got into jewellery making in the first place. Even as a child, I was always a busy little girl. Summer holidays were filled with all sorts of activities. Looking back, I realise that the activities were always craft-related, whether it was ceramics or sewing or dollmaking or whatever. So, it won’t come as surprise to you if I said that when I was a tad bored with work, I would alleviate the boredom by going off to learn something creative. It was during one such fallow period at work that I went off to do a beaded jewellery course at a lovely place called the London Jewellery School. And so came my accidental introduction to jewellery making.

Now don’t get me wrong about my job. I’ve worked in the financial services sector for many years and it certainly has its positives: it’s high-pressure, it pays well and it is mentally stimulating. But creative it certainly is not. And I think the thing that I found most unfulfilling was that in all my years of working, I never produced anything physical that I could touch or hold. And in this digital age, being able to create something tangible is all the more precious.

That, then, was what I found so satisfying about even a simple beading course. To produce something that had size and physicality and texture was such a novel experience for me. I bought some cheap beads, tools and such, and started making my first pieces of jewellery at home. That was a good seven or eight years ago. I’ve kept some of those pieces as souvenirs, and at the time, I was pleased with them, but my goodness they were awful! Badly made, poor quality materials, clearly amateurish; but I love them for one great reason. They show me how far I’ve come every time I’m disappointed in myself. Here's an example!

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