Melissa Hair Vine, Tiara and Hair Pin

Here's a hair vine, hairpin and tiara I've been working on as a commission - I've used amethyst, peridot, seed beads and goldtone wire - the tiara took about 12 hours to make and is for someone getting married in June - the hair vine can be worn as a choker by theading some ribbon through the end loops; I love these colours, I am seeing some interesting colours coming through in tiara-wearing now - I'm really happy with the way it has turned out.

Freya Orchid Combs and Pins

Here's a recent commission finished for a bride who is getting married in the Carribbean in July....the design will be up on Tiaraonline soon; it was lovely working with these summery colours and imagining the bride wearing a beautiful dress, looking radiant and happy on a sunlit beach....

Freya Comb and Pins; 'Silk' Orchids, silvertone wire, silk covered wire, Swarovski crystal and Swarovski crystal pearls, Freshwater pearls, satin ribbon.

Lisa Hair Vine Commission

This is a recent commission - a man in the States had me make a hair vine up for a friend - he was such fun to work with; we worked through colours until we came up with this hair vine.   I put loops on either end so she could thread some ribbon through and also wear it as a choker - its made in sterling.

I love working with customers, especially ones as fun as this one - he made me laugh so much - I hope his friend likes it!  

Just Launched (Loud Fanfare...)

I've just relaunched Tiaraonline - yay!!  Whole new collection (and some old favourites) of tiaras, hairpins, bands, and gorgeous stuff for special occasions...I'd love to know what you all think - aesthetically its still a bit of a work in progress but at least its finally launched - whew, what a relief!

Shown here is Alexis Heirloom Haircomb.

Saskia Heirloom Comb

This is Saskia Heirloom comb - as soon as I saw the huge c.1980's vintage clip on earrings I knew they were too large for the ears of any human being, but I knew exactly what I would do with them - they were an unusual shaped piece of Mother of pearl overlaid with goldtone brass filigree and then some nice beadwork and crystal twinkles - I took the backs off and then sat with my head in my hands for a while regretting that - how, when I had taken the fixings off was I going to be able to wire them back into something?  
I sorted that one out in the end then had fun wiring Swarovski crystal pearls and beads, freshwater pearls and other tiny treasures into the comb - making the middle join up was a challenge because every time I put in new beads, the earrings parted company which meant going back to more wirework; to me, the important thing about using vintage items in a fresh new piece is that is that the entire finished piece should look as 'seamless' as possible; despite my telling you there are vintage items in there, the join between the new and the old should not be obvious. 
I've made the comb a bit flexible so that it can be inserted against the hair rather than perch on top...in the end, I was pleased with the piece and can't wait to see someone wearing it!

Talia Heirloom Tiara

This is Talia Helirloom Tiara; I started with a handmade flexible wire band then added a patinated mesh butterfly which I had in my stash - this dates to around the 1960's; over time it has developed a darkened patina which I decided to leave as is rather than clean up and make it shiny so it looked like new - mainly because I wanted to use the gorgeous Swarovski crystal pearl colour 'Platinum' in the piece.  I made a Swarovski crystal, wire and rocailles (seed bead) flower and added Czech glass leaves, Swarovski crystal pearl and bead wired 'sprays; the colour that naturally goes with the Platinum coloured Swarovski pearl is turquoise and this looked gorgeous with the butterfly.   I finished off the piece by wiring Swarovski pearls on the band; its an unconventional piece for a bride, but I thought it would look lovely for a 'Midsummer Night's Dream' type wedding or perhaps for a bridesmaid. 

Vivienne Heirloom Band Tiara

This is Vivienne Heirloom Tiara/Band which I made using an original 1980's crystal-and-faux-pearl-set goldtone brooch, wired into a handmade frame and embellished with Swarovski crystal and seed beads/rocailles.   A particular challenge was identifying the crystal pearl colour to match the original faux pearl, but as usual, I found a good match in one of the Swarovski pearl colours, and after identifying the matching Swarovski crystal colours, the challenge I had to come up with something a bit inventive for the side ornamentation which complemented the original brooch, so I made four-petal Swarovski-based flowers and also came up with Swarovski crystal pearl and bead 'rosettes', which you can see here to the side of the piece. It was only after I finished it that I realised that the gold-plated rocailles are what can only be termed 'delicate' - after quite a lot of gnashing of teeth, I found myself having to remake several of the flowers and rosettes because the gold was coming off inside the beads.  In the end, I used the same rocailles but used a painted on substance which is used to preserve and protect artwork and fragile papers - it cannot be seen by the naked eye, and gives a great deal of protection to these delicate beads and also the wirework and original piece of 1980's jewellery; I held my breath whilst I worked with the archival fluid but it worked out just fine.

I've been working on new and fresh items for the relaunch of my tiara site, 'Tiaraonline' and the relaunch has been in the works for months and months - this piece took me the best part of a week to make, so progress is slow but I think that's ok as I feel its important to have good work to display and offer for sale when it does launch.  I anticipate it will be up and running in about three to four weeks.

  

It's a fairly substantial piece of hair jewellery, which I imagine worn in alice-band fashion though I tried it out and it can be worn as a conventional tiara too - there are loops at the back of the frame so it can be pinned into place, but I find that my handmade flexible frames tend not to need securing in that way.  I can't wait to see photos of the bride who eventually wears this.

Emile Heirloom Tiara

This is my latest Heirloom Tiara, caled Emile. I used a 1950's cold painted enamel and diamante brooch and earrings, silvertone tiara base, Swarovski crystal, glass rocailles, freshwater pearls and silver plated wire to make this piece.