2015! I'm back...

Hello all and a Happy New Year to you. I'm sorry that I've been AWOL for some time. We ran way to get married and we've had a pretty tough time of it in the months following, and then of course... Christmas! So I can only apologise and hope that you can forgive the huge gap. 

Our wedding day was perfect. In every possible way (well, I wasn't blown away by my dress, but that happens) and we had an amazing time. We got married in San Francisco and I wouldn't change a thing; we smiled and laughed so much. I will share my wedding jewellery with you later in this post [I've realised that I'm missing photos, so I will show you another time]. 

What else has happened? I think my little sister had just had little R when I was last here; he's now 6 months old and the most beautiful little person. My brother-in-law and sister-in-law are here from Aus at the moment with their little people - T1 who is 3 years and T2 who is 7 months. They are a joy to be around and Christmas was fun because they were around. 

Anyway, none of that is jewellery related, so I must move on. One of my resolutions for 2015 is to sell at least ONE vintage ring this year. I hope that I can do that. The amount of things that I need to concentrate on this year is a little overwhelming, but I hope I can make it through. As I type I should be essay writing, but that'll have to wait! 

Look, I've come all this way and still no lovely pictures of jewellery... I'm still as obsessed as ever. I ordered a ring on Friday night that I will show you when it arrives. There's every chance that it won't fit, as it comes in limited sizes, but I'm hoping that if that's the case then it will make the perfect midi-ring. Here's hoping! 

SALES! They've been everywhere. I've had my eye on a few jewellery sales, mostly the Astley Clarke one, of course. I have been oh-so-tempted on a number of occasions, but we had such a heavy Christmas that I've had to hold back. 

Here are some of the things to have tempted me... 

Dinny Hall's Tear drop earrings in sterling silver. £85, now £45. These are sadly sold out, otherwise I think I would have bought these. I don't own any DH but I'd love to correct that in 2015. 

DH's Tear drop necklace in rose gold. £130, now £90. This piece was exclusive to AC. There's something quite lovely about these drops, they are a really nice size/shape. 

AC's hematite Symphony ring. £165, now £95. I love hematite. I've loved it since I was a kid. The cut on this stone is also my favourite. So what's not to love?! 

Alex Monroe's Pomegranate necklace. £180, now £125. This is one of my favourite AM necklaces and I was hoping to find it in my Christmas stocking this year [I didn't]. If I could afford it right now, I'd love to bag it at this reduced price. Alas, it's not meant to be at the moment. I love the garnets; nothing else could look more like pomegranate seeds. Just look at them! Beautiful. 

Marian Maurer's 18 carat cold and champagne diamond Orpheus ring. £1, 795, now £1, 250. There are so many things right about this ring. I love MM, I love rose gold, I am obsessed with champagne diamonds, and I love these bubble-style diamond rings. I think I'd rather they were different shades of champagne diamond, rather than champagne and white, but this ring is still utterly beautiful. 

There are lots of other lovely things to be had but I don't want to swamp you with my first post, there are other things to look at! 

Alexis Dove is also having a sale. Here are some of my favourites... 

This is an absolute bargain at £85, down from £250. I would have bought it in a heartbeat, but it's not in my size. Helios ring. One of my favourite bits about Alexis' designs is her beading and this ring shows that off really well. 

I have two of AD's wild rose rings and I adore them. I'm wearing them right now in fact. The large one is in the sale [I have tiny and small]. They vary in price depending on finish, but they start at £75. 

Here are mine... 

Up next is the love potion necklace. I'd not seen this before the sale, so it might be a limited piece? It's very sweet and something else that I'd have bought if I had funds. The hand engraved 'love' is quite lovely. £75 from £125. 

Finally, the stacking ring set. £60 from £100. I make it no secret that mixed metals are my thing. These flowers are very simple and three of Alexis' rings for £60 is an absolute bargain. 

I was going to show you my wedding jewellery, but I realise that I am missing decent photos of the two things that my husband gave me on our wedding day, so I'll take photos of those and show you next time. 

I didn't get any jewellery for Christmas this year (!!!) and I didn't buy myself any, which I usually would, but I did buy a necklace for my Ma. I got her a Merci Maman necklace in sterling silver [the only photo I could find of it was the gold one] and I got my two brothers' initials put on the circle charm, mine and my sister's two initials on the star charm, and my dad's initial and a 'x' put on the heart charm. The quality of these products is so good. I was impressed with the one I got my sister and this one too. The engraving is done by hand, which is what made me purchase both necklaces. It's hard to find places that don't all use standard fonts, which I guess are engraved by machine. The hand writing detail is very sweet. It also helps that the packaging is lovely. 

I think that'll do for today. I hope you've forgiven me for my absence. I'll keep you updated on the e-shop, as and when it comes, and various other things that I hope will happen this year. 

Thanks for reading! 

L. 

Catch up - the one with the vintage milk glass necklace.

Good morning everyone. 

I am so, so very sorry that it has taken me so long to update you all. All my focus has been on crazy wedding planning and doing silly hours at work. But here I am, on a Saturday morning, wanting to say hello. 

My obsession with jewellery has not lessened in the past few months, if anything it is stronger than ever. I can't wait to share my wedding jewellery with you, but the wedding is still in the future so I'll keep that to myself for a while longer. 

Since my Sean Leane splurge I've not spent too much on jewellery, I've had to spend every spare penny on the wedding and wedding-related things, but I did buy a beautiful 1930s milk-glass necklace this week that I am desperate to share with you... 

Isn't it precious? It has a lovely weight to it and the glass makes a lovely noise at it clinks together. It also warms really quickly, which is comforting. It needs a bit of love and might need to be restrung sooner rather than later, but it's from the 1930s, so that's pretty good-going. 

I'm really into vintage at the moment, a phase which I hope never ends. Actually, if it never ends then I suppose it's not a phase... anyway, let's not ramble.

My future husband has finally picked and purchased his wedding ring, which is quite exciting. I'll share that with you post-wedding, because it's AWESOME. 

What else has been happening with me? Oh yes, my little sister had a baby! You might be asking why this is jewellery related, well... of course I bought her some baby related jewellery! 

I bought her the Duchess necklace from Merci Maman. I picked this out the second I found out that she was pregnant and I ordered it the day that my gorgeous nephew was born. It has the initial of the Dad on the little heart, the baby's name on one side of the disc and the baby's date of birth on the other side, and then you can have a little boy or little girl charm. It's available on a variety of chain lengths and in sterling silver, or sterling silver with gold plate. The writing is hand engraved, which is quite important to me - I'm not too keen on the uniformity of typical "font" engraving. I didn't take a picture of the final piece, because I was too excited, so you'll have to make-do with some of the photos from Merci Maman's website. 

I think I bought my wedding nail polish yesterday. I think it's an unusual choice, but I like it a lot. It's my first Essie (I'm an OPI lover) and it is in the colour Rock the boat. Here is a really dodgy photo of the bottle, which I think is awesome at the same time (you can see my blog behind the over-exposed hand). 

Are you interested in what's featured on my Pinterest lately? Yes? Well, let's go then... 

I am loving this necklace by Kenneth Jay Lane, currently on sale at The Outnet. It's a bargain at £128 (was £320) but I just can't justify it at the moment. It is made with black resin beads and I think it's just so glamorous. I love the catch, even if they are just faux pearls! 

These Liberty print jewellery rolls by Dana Levy are amazingly beautiful. They have a beautiful ribbon to tie them up, they come in different fabrics, and they have the sweetest little charms on each of the zips. £110. My choice would be the brown and pink because the metal (zips and charms) are gold-coloured instead of silver. 

Finally, this 1970s faux turquoise bracelet, sold by vintage jewellery seller Susan Caplan. Isn't it perfect? 

There you have it. I'm going to leave you now because this post is far too long, but I hope you've had a good time and I will update you all again soon. I'm hoping my updates will be more regular after the wedding. 

Thanks folks. 

L.