100 Fashion Essentials! What’s your Score? Hi, I’ve just enjoyed reading an MSN article about a new book written by fashion expert, Nina Garcia, entitled “The One Hundred: An A To Z Guide To The 100 Items Every Stylish Woman Must Own“, it’s a complete bible for girls like myself , who believe in “investing” in fashion and accessories rather than following the latest fads. Couldn’t have put it better myself as the “Statement Piece Necklace” and the “Classic Pearl Necklace” feature as must have accessories- Something, which I’m sure many of you will have heard me mention in the past!(maybe just once or twice!)

Designing a collection can take a little time. Firstly, what am I trying to achieve? which gap in the market am I trying to plug? which customer group is the collection aimed at? and how will I reach them with my new collection? There’s lots to think about before a single piece of jewellery is made.

With the Charis collection, I wanted to produce a range of jewellery which is subtle but with wow. Pretty but contemporary. Not everyone likes to wear large chunky jewellery, I love it and tend to be drawn to making larger pieces and so for me to design a range of designs on a smaller scale has been a new venture and I’m so pleased with the results. So , what sort of jewellery have I come up with? 

We all know  those little silica gel packs that come in boxes of stuff you’ve bought  (The ones that say “don’t eat”.)

Well,I’ve just read that  these little freebies are an excellent way of preventing tarnish appearing on  silver. Apparently, I just pop them into a bag or box with my jewellery and it will stay shining and clean. They work by removing moisture from the atmosphere- without which, tarnish cannot form. There’s a novel way of recycling! (although the article didn’t say so)  I think that they may be toxic though ( hence do not eat!), so I must take care to keep them out of the reach of  children  and pets etc I’ll try it and let you know if it seems to work.

If it does work, it’ll really help  as  jewellery will aways be in tip top condition and ready to wear. It’ll save me time and expense cleaning my jewellery with chemical de-tarnishers.

On the odd occasion when I do have some tarnished jewellery to clean, I usually resort to the old fashioned kitchen foil and bicarbonate of soda method. Not heard of this one? it’s easy, I put a piece of kitchen foil into some hot water in a bowl in the kitchen sink and sprinkle in some bicarbonate of soda from my store cupboard. I then put the tarnished silver into the bowl and leave it for a few minutes. The black tarnish miraculously leaves the silver and ends up on the kitchen foil, leaving my jewellery shining and bright. It’s pure chemistry, can’t remember what the process is called – is it electrolysis? or is that hair removal? or is it both? can’t remember these days! I wouldn’t use this method if the jewellery is stone set or particularly valuable as some gemstones or pearls are porous and may be damaged by the chemical reaction. If in doubt about any jewellery related cleaning, I’d always advise customers to seek the advice of a reputable jeweller who may also offer a cleaning service. Anyway,that’s what I do  when I  need a quick fix for tarnish. What’s your tip?  (nb -This is purely to let you know what I do, if you decide to try either these methods  and I’m not advocating that you necessarily do, it’s entirely at your own risk!!!)

This is the time of year for accessories! For most of us, there are weddings, parties and barbeques happening, so here’s how to accessorise this season to make the most of your summer look.

This season’s hot jewellery trends are:-

Flower Power!

Since way back in the 60’s and 70’s when the flower motif was a massive design element, 2008 sees a return of our love for florals and not surprisingly they’ve made their way back into jewellery design.

“The flower motif is definitely one of the most popular motifs for jewellery this season, and is being used across the board featuring in everything from very precious designs in diamonds and gold through to fun, fashion pieces,” says the British Jeweller Association’s, Lindsey Straughton.  Floral patterns are not simply for the girls.  Designer Sally Lees makes limited edition cufflinks and her Floral Collection of silver and aluminium links printed with delicate English country-garden flower patterns based on roses and carnations brings a colourful touch to any well-turned cuff. RRPs range from £98 to £120.

Blooming marvellous! Smell the roses this summer with some lovely Floral Jewellery
And be bang on trend with this season’s latest look

The Circle

Here we go again with another vintage inspired design influence, “The Circle” is back and is big news in the jewellery world. Again , like the flower motif, the circle was a strong trend in the 60’s and 70’s and is now hot stuff for 2008 fashion.

Highly fashionable and certainly chic, choose a circle this Summer….

“Hearts have been a key motif in jewellery for the past couple of years and they are still very popular, but the hot money is on the circle,” says Lindsey Straughton, marketing manager at the British Jewellers’ Association (BJA) the UK’s leading jewellery trade organisation.

Jewellery featuring circles comes in all shapes and sizes and the ‘circles’ used range from the serenely spherical to the definitely distorted.  However according to Straughton, so long as the look is round it will be making a spin in the jewellery world in the coming season.

So whether you choose a large, statement chain featuring huge circular links or just a simple circular pendant, the circle is set to be a strong jewellery trend for the fashion stakes this year.

Pretty in pearls

Continuing strongly into 2008, pearls remain as a very fashionable look for this year and absolutely everyone should have some in their jewellery box! Long, short, black, white, round or baroque, there’s so much choice when it comes to pearls – and what better way to go than real Cultured Pearls as opposed to faux or imitation pearl beads. There’s lots of information about pearls on my website, so take a look at the Jewellery Info page to how pearls are farmed.

Metalics

Metalics are huge this summer and in terms of jewellery, gold is the new silver! Complete your look with lashings of lovely gold or silver metallic jewellery and once again be bang on trend. Lending itself very nicely to this metallic trend is Venetian Glass, often  smothered in precious metals, these beautiful glass creations bring metallics into classic, refined jewellery.

So there you have it, my view on what’s hot for this

If you’d like to take a look at Amanda’s stunning work, her website “Full Frontal Florals by Amanda Riley” at www.fullfrontalflorals.com should give you a glimpse of what I mean and why I’d love to own one of these works. x

But, when it comes to pearls, do you really know your onions? Do you know the difference between a natural and a cultured pearl? It’s fascinating to read about how pearls are made and how, while once they were a natural rarity , they are farmed today much like any other crop to produce high quality, reliable harvests of stunning pearls in all shapes, sizes and colours. Yes, we can all have them nowadays, there’s no excuse not to be a pearl girl.

Today, I have added a new page to my website’s home page called “Jewellery Info”. I want to share with you the knowledge I have gleaned over the last 6 years on jewellery and it’s related topics. I ‘ve started by writing a piece on pearls, their history, production and care of pearl jewellery for you to read at your leisure. Take a look when you’re next on my website (www.dawnwoodward.com)  you’ll find the link on my homepage. I’ll be adding to this over the next few weeks with more topics eg  a fascinating look at Venetian Glass, all about it’s history, how and where it’s made, gemstones and their traditional properties, birthday and anniversary stones and much more. enjoy………

Always on the lookout for interesting display and packaging ideas for my jewellery business, I have been investigating the whole area of …….The Gift Bag! I want to give my customers something different, something indulgent and unique when it comes to a paper bag to wrap their jewellery purchase in. Feast your eyes on these wonderful gift bags which can you believe I MADE!!! Now I’m going to share with you how I make a bag like this in 5 (Yes FIVE!) minutes.

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Firstly, having been to the local DIY store to gather wallpaper samples for my intneded redecoration project, I was left with some wonderful pieces of paper ( wallpaper is VERY good at the moment). Not wanting to waste anything in this day and age, I set to work designing gift bags from the fab wallpaper samples.

After some trial and error, I decided that the easiest and quickest way to make the gift bag is to wrap a box with the wallpaper, any boxes from your kitchen cupboards will do ( Alpen and Cocopops were my favourites!) Wrap the box as if it is a present , glueing as you go on 3 sides. Leave one side of the box unglued so that you can then slide out the cereal box to leave behind the paper gift bag. Once the glue has set enough ( by the way UHU type glue was best) fold the top or open edge of the bag inside, punch in some holes with a hole punch and thread through some ribbon or twine to make a pair of lovely handles.

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So there you are, a stunning paper gift bag for next to no cost which is handmde, unique and made from recycled materials! So easy and quick, I only wish that redecorating my lounge could be so simple…….

I wanted to let you know about a fairly new and vibrant Art and Craft show which is making it’s mark on Dorset in the UK. I know there are an awful lot of so called Craft Fairs dotted across venues in the UK almost every weekend. Some great and some not so great due to the slipping of what we classify as “Arts and Crafts” or even “handmade”.  I exhibit at a lot of craft fairs throughout the year, I have learnt that quality has to be king! Handmade has to mean made by YOUR hand or those of an individual you are representing and not made by factory workers hands in a Far East manufacturing plant! It is so disappointing to see stall after stall of imported cheap (or even expensive) goods at some called craft fairs…….. And that is why I am telling you about the Dorset Art and Craft show! – a show with standards, genuine craftspeople and high quality artisan products.It’s like a breath of fresh air. Take a look at the Events page on my website to see when I’ll be exhibiting my handmade designer jewellery at these shows, or visit www.dorsetartandcraftshow.co.uk  to find out more details. I’d love catch up with some of you on Sat 19th April at Digby Hall, Sherborne- free entry. x