Maisie Tiara

I made this tiara for Maisie, a lovely little girl who has a pony at my stable-yard...no particular occasion, I just thought she'd look pretty in it - not that she isn't already!  Made with Swarovski crystal, Czech glass and gold-plated wire, her Mum told me she even sleeps in it! 

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.

Bethany Tiara

This is Bethany Tiara, a new addition to my range.   Swarovski crystal and silver lined seed beads on a handmade base, perhaps for younger brides or even bridesmaids; I like the delicacy of the 'branches' which tremble or move with the wearer.   There's nothing like the sparkle of Swarovski, and these are some of my favourite colours; the purple is one of Swarovski's new colours, something like Purple Opal - its a beautiful shade.

Tessa Heirloom Tiara

This is a piece I've made for the site - its been sitting on my desk waiting for me to finish - I made a comfortable wired band, then used a 'sieve' type fitting to wire in some good stuff - I've had this English bone china cornflower brooch for ages, and used lucite flowers and leaves, Czech glass flowers and leaves, Swarovski crystal , Swarovski crystal pearls, goldtone wire, seed beads, freshwater pearls, and some old and collected beads, fittings and findings from my bead boxes - the asymmetric style is very popular with brides who don't want a full-on tiara and this one makes me think of Engish summers.

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.

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.

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.

Currently Reading....

Books I am currently reading...

Amelia Earhart; The Mystery Solved - chronicles the life up to and during the ill-fated flight that resulted in the disappearance of Amelia Earhart and her co-pilot.  This is a fascinating subject which could have made a wonderful book but the author went into some minutiae which really made it a bit tedious in the end...sadly the result of the flight is that she went missing and really no-one will know what happened so all the technical detail was for me superflous, though perhaps if you fly planes for a living it might be interesting.  I was more interested in the person and what drove her and I found the book lightweight in this.     Living the Creative Life: Ideas and Inspiration from Working Artists by Rice Freeman-Zachery - I subscribe to Rice's blog (see my blog list) and her books are wildly entertaining, wonderfully and beautifully writtten and presented and offer a wealth of support and inspiration for any artist in any medium...this is one of those books that I read constantly on and off, if only to remind myself I am not the only nut in the world.    Abundance, a Novel of Marie Antoinette by Sena Jeter Naslund; this got off to a shaky start and I put it down and picked it up a few times before settling to it.  Its historical fiction, but actually in the end I picked up some more interesting stuff about Marie Antoinette and enjoyed it. 
Tiaras: Past and Present by Geoffrey Munn; I read this book on and off all the time - with beautiful photography, this is an informative refrence work about the history and culture of tiara wearing - even if you have never worn one (they're perfect for shopping at Tesco), this is a fascinating book that chronicles society, history and the wearing of hair jewellery.