Tiararama

No 9 Bridal Couture's Strawberry Tea: 25th June 2011

2011-06-15T13:03:00.000-07:00

We are absolutely delighted to be able to be donating one of our "All our hearts" bracelets to No 9 Bridal Couture's Strawberry Tea event on Saturday June 25th 2011 in support of the Breast Cancer Care charity.

This beautiful Sterling Silver and Swarovski heart charm style bracelet will be part of a limited edition collection of jewellery and retails at £125. It will be on sale through our website and selected locations throughout October with 10% of sales going to Breast Cancer Care. They make the ideal gift for any special occasion (or just because you want one!) and you can buy it safe in the knowledge that £12.50 will be on its way to a fantastic cause.

All our hearts

These pieces use a lovely mix of crystal, light rose, rose and fuchsia shade crystal hearts to remind us all of those special people in our lives that are or have been affected by this awful disease. And hopefully in some small way we can all help to contribute to raising more awareness and providing support for women and their families affected by breast cancer all over the country.

For more details of this particular Strawberry Tea event please visit No 9 Bridal Couture's blog and if you can attend but are not lucky enough to win this bracelet it will be possible to pre-order one on the day.

So if you can go along and support this fantastic event and whilst you're at it have a look around their new studio space - you never know what else you will see!

So until next time......

Voting is open! Perfect Wedding Awards 2011

2011-06-14T14:34:00.000-07:00

As promised I said that I would let you know when you can start voting for Tiararama in the Best Hair Accessory category of the Perfect Wedding Awards 2011.

We are thrilled to have been nominated and your vote would mean so much to all the team here who have worked so hard over the last year to ensure that our clients receive only the best in design and service. It would be such an honour to win this award but we can't do this without your votes and would be delighted if you could take some time out to support us with your vote.

The online voting form can be found here

On a personal note I would like to thank all of my team of people who have worked so hard to help me get Tiararama to where it is today and who are working so hard on all our future developments. And I would also like to thank all of my family and friends because I couldn't do this without their support. But most importantly I would like to thank all of our clients who have made this year so rewarding and so much fun!

So until next time......

Perfect Wedding Awards 2011

2011-06-12T04:16:00.001-07:00

I am delighted to announce that Tiararama has been nominated in the Best Hair Accessories category of the 2011 Perfect Wedding Magazine Awards. 2010/2011 have been an incredibly challenging yet exciting time in the development of Tiararama as a leading accessory design company and this nomination is testament to all the hard work that our team have put in over the last year or so.

However, as thrilled as we are to have been nominated we would absolutely love to turn this nomination into a win and to do this I would ask that all our clients - past, present and future - as well as all our friends and supporters vote for us.

Online voting opens on the Perfect Wedding website www.perfectweddingmag.com on Wednesday June 15th and I and the whole team will be so grateful if you would take the time to vote for us.

We also have some other fabulous news which we will be announcing this week and we are also very excited about our new additions to our collections which will be launched at The National Wedding Show at Earl's Court September 30th to October 2nd 2011. Come and visit us on stand D68 and be among the first to see these beautiful pieces up close and personal!

So until next time.....

God Save The Queen

2011-04-27T12:34:00.001-07:00

What do you get when you take 3290 crystals and over 100 metres of wire?

Well when we were asked by Julia, from the wedding blog Brides Up North if they could borrow one of our crowns for an alternative Royal Wedding meets The Sex Pistols inspired shoot my initial thoughts were "which pieces do I have in my studio?" and then I thought "Royal Wedding", "alternative, "red, white and blue", "huge" and my reply was "shall I design you an outrageous new one in red, white and blue?"

Of course the answer was yes and I spent a little while thinking about how I could structure such a crown and how I would apply the red, white and blue. I then remembered a piece of art that I'd seen in a magazine a few years ago which was made of strips of painted drift wood and which formed a union jack and it hit me....draped and intertwined strands of red, white and blue crystals around a deep wire frame. The frame needed to be an integral part of the design- it needed to be seen as well as provide a platform with which to work on. And the wire had to be curled to provide the depth and added texture but this would also enable me to thread the beading through the back, middle and front of the frame so that you weren't just faced with a wall of colour but you have a depth of colour as well which also allowed for interesting glimpses of the alternative colours through the more solid sections. Also by draping the strands of colour we can achieve a more abstract feel which in a crown of this size (and believe me it is big!) helps to soften what could be something quite overpowering if it was all straight lines. Overall there's over 100 metres of wire in this piece.

I also chose the colours and textures of the 3290 Swarovski crystals very carefully. The red was easy - I had to use Siam but I also used Siam Ab to break up the mass of red. And the blue was an interesting one. Many of the "royal wedding" designs I'd seen used the shade sapphire but I knew this would be too dull for this crown so I used capri blue mixed in with crystal metallic blue 2X to give a brighter overall colour with the dark metallic crystals giving a different texture and depth. And to finish I chose white alabaster for its opaque quality. So whilst the blue and red crystals allowed for light to pass through them, the white, the lightest of the colours was a block of colour. This provided an interesting texture to the colour that was to be used the least in the whole design. And then a light draping of silver wire was applied on the outside which served as decoration but also allowed me to tie in and hold some of the beaded drapes.

So after 25 hours of ruining my nails and aching wrists this is what I came up with

God Save The Queen

It was such fun bringing this piece into the world but it only started living when it was used for the purpose to which it was born for.....the photoshoot! The photoshoot itself was organised by the wedding blogger Julia of Brides Up North who also starred in this shoot which was captured by Assassynation. The location was Danby castle and the styling was created by The Fine and Funky Events Company. And with gorgeous gowns and veils from The Harrogate Wedding Lounge,accessories by Wedding and Baby and bunting from Little Bundles Bunting as well as God Save The Queen by yours truly this shoot had a wonderful alternative feel. But the addition of leather jackets, boots, red shoes, aviators and tees gave the shoot a true punk edge.

Here are a couple of my favourite images from the shoot of God Save The Queen (as I get more images I will add them to the blog) but for the full shoot on the Brides Up North blog click here.

I hope you have found this interesting - I do love being able to give an insight into designs and I look forward to being able to share more images of this shoot with you soon and also share more design insights as well!

So until next time........

Loving Metal when metal doesn't love you back

2011-03-12T10:11:00.000-08:00

I love my job!

I love colourful designs!

I love problem solving!

I love designing for bride's who are bringing their life and loves into their special day!

I love designing for a bride's special day!

And it's not very often that a client's commission brief helps me tick all these boxes but when Andi contacted me in 2010 I knew that my marker would be put to great use!

I may have mentioned this before but there is more to designing than just coming up with a design - there is also the method you use to come up with that design and the techniques you employ to help you to reflect the personality of the person you are designing for.

Now I would have been over the moon with the fact that Andi informed me that her gown was being handmade and was purple (cue squeal!) and that she and her partner were huge Metallica fans, were having that as their theme (cue squeal number 2!) and asked if I could include the Metallica Ninja logo in the designs and that she wanted a tiara, cuff and choker style necklace (as well as other accessories for her attendants) in purple, silver, black and grey. At this point I had the designs and techniques that I would use in my head already but there was to be a bombshell! You see I was faced with a Heavy Metal fan who is allergic to metal (with the exception of titanium - which is - well it's expensive!). There is something ever so slightly ironic about that! So what to do?

In many respects the tiara was the easiest issue to solve as I always bind my tiara bands in ribbon a) to give a nicer finish, b) to make sure them more comfortable and c) less slippy! And after checking with Andi if I could still use silver as long as I covered it, we were in business. Mind you I was also going to add black coated wire as well which would not only add a new depth to the design but also meant that I could use that when beading the band so that it blended nicely and more importantly it would prevent any metal touching Andi's scalp. Of course one of the disadvantages with coated wire is the coating is quite easy to scrape off especially if it scrapes against other wire so extra time and care was needed to make sure this didn't happen anywhere along the length of the band decoration. And thankfully nothing came off first go (otherwise it could have been a long night!)

So how did I come up with the design? I wanted a design which took the traditional elements of a tiara (ie a peaked design) but I wanted a more industrial feel. Initially when Andi asked me to include the Ninja logo I had the idea of enclosing a pendant in a wire wrap within the tiara but because of sourcing and size difficulties Andi decided that she liked the over all design enough that I could leave out the logo and just carry on with the colours and textures she had chosen. These included Swarovski helix crystals in Purple Velvet and Black Diamond, hematine rondelles, black onyx beads and amethyst gemstone chips.

And what did I do with these? Well I knew Andi wanted something less traditional and quite metallic so I employed a random curled wiring technique similar to one I'd used before and I decided that for that extra edge I would secure the accent beading with crimp beads but rather than finishing them in the traditional way, I made them more of a feature by bending them back on themselves and giving a kind of steel girder feel. And then once all that had been done I used the black wire to twist and turn around the already twisted silver wire to add an extra level of interest to the piece before beading the band quite heavily.

The beading itself was quite interesting texturally as the helix Swarovski shaped beads give a more edgy feel with the black onyx giving a very dense presence in the piece. The use of amethyst gemstone chips gave a really interesting edge to the piece as you had the variations in shape and size but also in terms of tone - some were a mid purple which added a lift in colour whilst the darker purple added a beautiful richness. But my favourite beads of all were the amazing hematine rondelles. Hematine is a man made substance which is virtually identical to genuine hematite which is a form of iron oxide but is obviously easier to source and doesn't need to be mined. Hematite jewellery was really popular in Victorian designs but alot of today's designs now use Hematine instead. They are gorgeously metallic looking with a fantastic lustre and give a really interesting feel.

So that's enough wittering on about it - what does it look like?

Et viola! (by the way the purple is actually a proper cadbury's purple - not the weird bluey colour they've come out in the pic!)

But how do you make a 4 strand choker without metal connectors and how do you attach pendants and drops without headpins and split rings? And how do make a wirey looking cuff when you know it can't touch the skin?

Well in some respects the answers are obvious - we use ribbon instead of clasps, make connectors out of beads and use coated wire instead of headpins and split rings for the pendants. OK so how do I secure it all - knots will be too big, crimps are made of metal! Oh and coated wire runs the risk of scraping and the client wants metal!

So with the choker style necklace we took Swarovski Jet beads and created a 4 strand choker with has a subtle twist in the strands which actually shows up better when it being worn than on the display stand. I added 5 drops using gorgeous Swarovski pendants and gave it a velvet ribbon tie. The crystal beads give a fantastic sparkle even though they are black and it is an incredibly striking piece.

The challenge here was to minimise the metal content of this piece. I made a beaded connector and where I needed to use crimp beads to secure the strands I made sure that they were positioned so that shouldn't need to touch the skin. And because of the velvet ribbon this again lifts the area slightly from the skin again providing extra protection. But just in case I gave the crimps a very thin coat of hypo-allergenic varnish. When it came to the pendant drops the size of the actual beads meant that the crimp beads were naturally kept away from the skin. The pendant drops proved to be slightly easier than I first thought. I used black coated wire to attach the pendants and then beaded the drop hangers and then secured with a crimp. Again I gave these a quick going over with the varnish just to be safe. It wasn't that this was a difficult piece to do but we become so used to how we construct pieces that it almost becomes second nature so when your safety net is taken away, you need to think around the issue to achieve (as close as possible) the same result.

Then we had the cuff. I have been knitting wire cuffs for years and I have done them in a variety of metals and coated wires but the problem with coated wires is as I have previously mentioned, they are prone to being scraped. Now normally (as much as you try to avoid this) if a little bit of the coating is thinned (you don't end up with bare wire!), it doesn't matter. But with a metal allergy you can't risk any weakness in the design. So we came up with the idea of using a thick piece of velvet ribbon and adding the silver wire on top of the ribbon. I swirled the wire around on top of the ribbon and caught it in with black thread. Once the silver was in place I could then begin the happy process of beading the piece using Swarovski Purple Velvet, Black Diamond and Jet together with amethyst gemstone chips. We then added a thinner velvet ribbon to tie the cuff and then backed it with another piece of thicker ribbon to give a flush finish. I love this cuff and I'm off to make myself a similar one soon!

I think you will agree that combined with her gorgeous Deep Purple (oops wrong band) bespoke gown, Andi is going to look rather spectacular on her big day next month.

But aside from how lovely Andi wil look, I also designed a few more accessories for her sister Jo, who is her bridesmaid and a couple of star wands for her flowergirls. Their dresses are in silver and so I used more Swarovski silver shade in Jo's accessories but used more Andi's tiara beading for the flowergirl wands.

Jo's hair accessory

Jo's Pendant in Swarovski Silver Shade

One of the flowergirl wands

Whether or not these designs are to everyone's taste is neither here nor there. They are however what Andi wanted and well "Nothing Else Matters" and it was my pleasure to make sure that she got it! I love the depth, textures and colours of the pieces and the pictures don't do them justice at all! They have a gorgeous life about them and I hope that I will be able to share with you some of her wedding pictures very soon.

I hope you have enjoyed this post and will be back soon with a look at our 2011 summer collection.

So until next time......

Icebar London photoshoot

2011-03-10T07:55:00.000-08:00

I believe it was on New Year's Eve when I received an email from Sarah from Sarah Vivienne Photography asking if she could borrow some of my pieces for a shoot she was doing at the IceBar, London the following week.

After trying to work out how to get the pieces to her in such a short timescale (and with the bank holidays), I thought that as the shoot was in London and well we live in London that I would just take the pieces along myself. At least then I knew they would arrive safely!

The IceBar itself is quite a confined space with walls, bar, art and sculptures all carved and created in ice. Even the glasses are made of ice! It is a fantastic location for an unusual drinks do but it is very, very cold. In fact I don't know how Lilly, the model, didn't freeze! There she was in virtually next to nothing whilst we were dressed in our winter clothes under the large thermal lined cloaks (not a dissimilar fabric to the cool bag affairs you can buy in M&S!) and gloves that are provided before you enter the room and we were still freezing! If you ever get invited to drinks there be careful of your hair as you pull these cloaks over your head and don't wear killer, skimpy heels - wear Uggs or similar furry lines boots! I think my big toe only thawed out last week it was that cold!

I took a few pieces with me but we used the following pieces:

Snowflakes from our 2011 Winter Collection

and our revised version of our Snow Queen crown which was first seen in 2009

Photography by Assassynation

However I decided to update and refine the design for our 2011 Winter Collection and I am delighted to announce that this piece will be available to purchase from May 2011 and here are some lovely shots of it.

I love these pieces so much. Snowflakes is a large asymmetric piece which is made up of layers of individual snowflake shapes created in Swarovski crystal and white opal. It can be worn as a headband or across the forehead as styled in this shoot. It has a wonderful contemporary twist on a 1920s feel with a fabulous extravagance. I love designing pieces which have versatile uses and this piece is no exception.

Snow Queen is a bold structural Swarovski pearl crown with graduating columns that are bound in wire with silver lined seed beads to add a hint of glitter. You need to be brave to wear this piece and it is a proper Winter Wedding Wonder but if you can wear it, it looks stunning!

I love these images (and I hope you do too) and woud like to thank Sarah for wanting to use our pieces in this shoot. And I love the setting for this shoot but trust me I won't be going there again without putting 3 layers of thermals on first!

And for more images please see Sarah's blog

So until next time......

Additional thanks to Toni Creative for their fab hair and make-up talents.

Loving hydrangeas

2011-02-23T12:04:00.000-08:00

Rose and hydrangea heart - Image courtesy of Leafy Couture

When I was getting married, I looked at alot of flowers because we (or should that be my extremely creative mother) were doing the flowers ourselves for the church and reception. I decided I wanted big bold flowers so we went to the flower wholesalers and looked at all the gorgeous blooms and at first I was looking at peonies (but as it was pointed out "not in October you're not") and then I saw the flower that I immediately fell in love with - beautiful large white hydrangeas. Oh how I wanted them and oh how my dreams were shattered when I was told it would be hard to get them in October. In other words they would cost a fortune and we had a big church to fill. I did sulk but then what Mum came up with was amazing and I wouldn't have changed what we had for the world! Although I will be honest and say if I'd had something like this on my top table I wouldn't have been unhappy!

Image by Chris Hanley Photography, floristry by Green Earth Flowers

And who would be unhappy with gorgeously simple bouquets like this?

or even this?

But despite not being able to have these gorgeous blooms on my wedding day, my love for hydrangeas has continued and I love having them in the house (and we are desperately trying to grow them in the garden!). I love the colours and I love their overall boldness but I also love the fact that for all their boldness they are made up of hundreds of delicate petals. And it was whilst I was looking at a beautiful dried hydrangea head last year that I came up with a few ideas for my 2011 Summer Collection - taking the form of the hydrangeas and turning that into beautiful hair accessories.

The initial concept idea was born using gorgeous rose quartz chips

And then having fallen in love with the concept I decided that this idea would form the backbone of the summer collection. And so 5 pieces were designed (and the 6th will be released very soon!). Here are the 3 main designs:

Hydrangeas

Photography by Hannah Duffy Photography

Hydrangea

Hortensia

Photography by Hannah Duffy Photography

I wanted to recreate that feeling of bold yet delicate in the designs so I decided upon beautiful freshwater pearls to give the depth and sparkling Swarovski crystals in various shapes and sizes to give the sense of delicacy and lightness. And by using a mix of singular and clustered beading I was adding an extra layer of texture and interest into the overall look. But the key to these pieces is the wiring and construction. Layers of decreasing circles of wiring are piled on top of each other and then twisted to give a light and airy feel to the pieces whilst maintaining a bold overall look. As you look into these designs you can see a dense core - just as you can see when you look into a hydrangea. These designs represent a beautiful element of summer for me and the range of designs from the bold and striking Hydrangeas through to the small and yet beautiful pins which are fantastic in barrel curls means that they appeal to a wide bridal audience. And indeed these pieces have proved to be a favourite with brides and magazines alike.

And over the next few weeks I will releasing a rather special hydrangea inspired design to celebrate the start of Spring and the move towards the summer season.

All in all though it must be remembered that if it wasn't for the amazing hydrangea none of these designs are likely to exist. They are just the perfect flower - gorgeous when fresh and hauntingly beautiful when dried. And to illustrate their fabulousness I asked Emily Quinton if she had any images of hydrangeas and she sent me some wonderful images which highlight their versatility at every stage of their lifecycle.

Beautifully simple purple hydrangea display

Pretty in Pink

Beautifully delicate when dried

Picture perfect, paper thin detail

Apart from the gorgeousness of the hydrangea, these images just show what a talented botanical (as well as wedding) photographer Emily is and in a few weeks I will be bringing you a feature post on Emily and her fabulous work. So look out for that - I can't wait to share it with you.

I hope you have enjoyed my little post about this beautiful flower and I have been able to share some hydrangea love. It never ceases to amaze me how nature develops such things of beauty I would love to know if anyone else shares my warm and cosy feelings for them or even hear about what floats your boat in terms of blooms.

So until next time......
Special thanks to:
Leafy Couture
Chris Hanley Photography
Hannah Duffy Photography
Emily Quinton
for providing lovely examples of their work and images.

Well seasoned

2011-02-20T06:57:00.000-08:00

The keystone pieces from our four 2011 collections - Spring, Summer, Autumn and Winter. From left to right First Shoots, Hydrangeas, Autumn Bouquet and Snowflakes

One of the things I am often asked is what inspires you and there is no simple answer if I'm honest. There are so many things from nature, buildings, fashion and people and inspiration can come at any time and in any place (hence why I always have a sketch pad or picture taking device with me!).

And so when it was announced that our four collections for 2011 would be called Spring, Summer, Autumn and Winter there was a general consensus as to why I called them that. It must be because I was inspired by the seasons. And the answer to that would of course be - kind of!

You see nature and the seasons are a wonderful thing and the amount of inspiration in terms of form and colour is just amazing. It would be so easy to just copy natural forms and say "here you go - here's my collection" but that is far too obvious for me (and a little unimaginative). Yes I may take a form that inspires and design around that form (see my next post on my Hydrangea designs for our Summer collection) but more than that nature teaches us that as well as being beautiful it is practical. Everything has a place and purpose in nature even if sometimes (like my waffling on) that purpose isn't obvious.

One of the beautiful things about working so closely with our clients is that I can listen to their ideas and concerns very carefully and one of the things that has become obvious to me is that as more and more brides express concerns that they find it hard to find pieces which truly suit the time of year they are getting married. They might find a design but it is too blingy or not blingy enough - or it might be too delicate or it might be too heavy. This is easily rectified for our Tiararama Couture clients as we take their ideas and design for them but what about our clients who don't want to have a piece exclusively designed?

It was second nature to me that when I began to look at designing our 2011 Collections I took the same concerns that our Tiararama Couture clients had into these Collections. I was looking at much more than just the pretty shapes - I was looking at something much deeper. For example when it came to designing my Spring collections I'm not only inspired by the tangible events of spring, I also take inspiration from the essence of Spring - the time of year, the light and the feeling. Each piece in Spring has a clean, compact feel, Summer's designs have a lighter, airy feel, Autumn is warm, elegant and comforting and Winter is full of bold, sparkling, cold and celebratory designs.

Beading and wiring techniques as well as the types, textures and shapes of beads used in the designs suits certain times of the year better as well in terms of light with simple clean beading in Spring, more open wiring techniques in summer, closer beaded pieces in Autumn and more bold, structural beading in Winter. So when I'm designing I'm not just looking at shapes, I'm looking at the techniques to get the best out of the raw materials I use to create designs at a particular time of year. I'm looking at the practical as well as the creative. That isn't to say that a Spring design can only be worn in Spring or an Autumn piece only worn in Autumn. We have adapted a number of designs for brides to better reflect another time of year. For example we created a version of Autumn Bouquet for a summer wedding by changing the bead type and warmed Daisy Chain from our Spring collection up so it looks fabulous for an Autumn wedding.

Going forward our collections will still be called Spring, Summer, Autumn and Winter. I'm taking the same principles into designing our 2012 collections. I may be introducing some quite different techniques (which is very exciting for us and can't wait to show you our new ideas) but one thing you can be sure of - whatever the pretty design, the feel of the piece will reflect the season it falls into.

It is all very exciting here at Tiararama Towers at the moment with lots of drafting and mock ups being created and we are arranging lots of photoshoots for our new (and old) designs. If you would like to get involved with these photoshoots - whether you are a photographer, boutique owner, designer of stunning things 0r if you are organising your own photoshoots and would like to use some of our pieces - get in touch. It would be fabulous to collaborate with you!

So until next time......

Valentine's Day - first shoots of love

2011-02-14T04:38:00.000-08:00

My "surprise" Valentine's Day card from last year

On this lovely sunny Valentine's day I took a turn around the grounds at Tiararama Towers and as I always am at this time of year I was excited to see the new shoots and buds on the trees and shrubs and signs of the new spring bulbs. I couldn't help but turn my thoughts to that exciting buzz I used to feel many years ago as a teenager when I used to get Valentine's cards from my many admirers (well one or two and one of those was probably my sister playing a trick on me) and the thrill of what could be perceived as the potential first shoots of a new romance. When you're 14 it's not hard to imagine all sorts of things like this!

And then of course I considered how since I've been married, it has been my experience that Valentine's Day and the sentiments that go along with it actually tend to last throughout the year rather than being centred on one day....or at least that's what my husband keeps telling me which is why I was so surprised to get a Valentine's Day card last year. But then just look at it....who could have left this on the shelf?

And as I walked back into the house the very first thing I saw was my 2011 Spring and Summer collections glowing and sparkling at me in the sunlight and funnily enough the first piece that really caught my eye was First Shoots

I remember when I first designed it and the thought process and excitement behind it and it suddenly dawned on me that actually now I have started work on our 2012 collections although I still love it, all my excitement and ideas and energy is now being focused on all my new designs and ideas.

In some respects it was quite a sad moment but then I had that lovely realisation that this design and in fact all of our 2011 collections would never go away and as long as I look after the actual pieces they will be with me for quite a while to come. And that is quite comforting!

And as I look over all my sketches and notes and all the mock up pieces that I have created and all the ones that are still to come for our 2012 collections I am getting so excited about sharing them with you and anticipating how they will be received. Ordinarily I would say that you would have to wait until September to catch a first glimpse of one of our new pieces but I am too good to you! For on Saturday I received a lovely surprise (no it wasn't flowers or a card....alas!)! It was the very first shot of one of my 2012 Summer Collection pieces in the Spring issue of Asiana Wedding Magazine.

And here it is.....

All other information is of course under wraps until September but I'm sure there will be some more lovely sneaky peeks coming up soon!

So may I take this opportunity to wish you all a very happy valentine's day - a time to be excited about new possibilities, a time to remind ourselves of what we have now and to remember. And congratulations to any lucky girl (or boy) who have received (or even receive - the day is still young) a proposal! May the excitement continue.......

So until next time.......

What happened to January?

2011-01-28T07:31:00.000-08:00

I know it is January 28th and there are 3 days left in this month but what I want to know is, why are there only 3 days left in this month? It was only New Year two seconds ago! Actually today I am also asking where did last year go because a year ago today my gorgeous little niece Sophie was born and that only seems like 5 minutes ago! But I digress!

As I get older I think time is flying by faster but then I realise it's only really because I work so hard. I am constantly thinking up new and gorgeous designs, sourcing materials, working on new techniques and ideas and most importantly of all dealing with all my lovely clients and creating their fabulous designs (and all the other stuff that goes hand in hand with running a business!).

And January has been no exception!

We have been working on new and exciting projects this month. Alas they are top secret but they will be worth the wait! All I can say is each little milestone we reach in the development of these plans is so exciting that we are making a big occasion of it here at Tiararama Towers! And of course on top of that we have started drafting our 2012 Summer collection and started making the mock ups of our 2012 Spring collection! I am so looking forward to sharing everything with you all....can you all wait until September? Well I hope you can!

But apart from secret squirrelling we have been creating some gorgeous client pieces, designing some fabulous client pieces and we are also seeing the fruits of our hard labours with our first set of collections. We are seeing fabulous sales for our 2011 collections as well as alot of interest from both potential clients and the press. In fact we are starting to see more of our products in magazines and I will be updating our Press Coverage blog over the next few weeks.

Our work was used in a really cool photoshoot this month by Sarah Vivienne Photography. And by cool I mean cold - very cold. -6 degrees to be precise and that was indoors! I swear I have frost bite in my big toe still! I can't wait to see the images from this shoot and be able to share them with you.

And speaking of photoshoots, these are a fabulous way for you (our readers and potential clients) to see how our work looks on. I love seeing how different stylists use our designs - some use them in ways that even I hadn't thought of! But what we really love is seeing them on our brides. So when we were having one of our planning meetings at Tiararama Towers this month and we were talking about the revisions which we will need to implement on the website for our 2012 collections we decided to add functionality so that you can see alternative images of our collections. And then when I thought about it, I decided that not only did I want to show you our collection pieces on model shoots that we have commissioned but I wanted to show you all the other ways our pieces have been used in other shoots or worn by gorgeous brides. This way you get even more inspiration and if you needed another reason to buy one of our collection pieces (if you need one!) seeing it in action might be what swings your decision!

Now of course we were talking about our 2012 website here but this is 2011. How can I share any images I have already of our 2011 collections? Well we have come up with a simple solution for now. We have added a link onto each product page where we have additional images to share with you. We will be refining this over the next few months and adding more links as we get more images of our collection pieces sent to us (and if you are a Tiararama bride or you have images of one of our designs please do get in touch). We hope you find this function useful and look forward to sharing more images with you soon.

At the moment these pieces all have additional images you can view

From our 2011 Spring Collection
First shoots

See the product page here

From our 2011 Summer Collection
Hydrangeas

See the product page here

Hortensia

See the product page here

From our 2011 Autumn Collection
Autumn

See the product page here

From our 2011 Winter Collection
Snow Queen

See the product page here

Snow Princess

See the product page here

Snow Storm

See the product page here

I can't wait to add more links very soon!

So until next time........

How do you solve a problem like Maria?

2011-01-20T12:44:00.000-08:00

A few weeks ago I was asked by someone where a blog post I did a while ago about our ever popular Maria headband had gone. Well quite simply it was on our old blog but when I thought about it, it dawned on me that even after all this time Maria is still one of our best sellers. So I decided to dig out the old post, revamp it and put it to you for your delectation and delight. I hope you enjoy!

It is a little known fact that I almost walked down the aisle to "How do you solve a problem like Maria?". I've always loved the wedding scene from The Sound of Music. So when we were trying to decide which piece of music I should walk in to one of the suggestions was The Wedding March from that musical. This march, for those of you who are unfamiliar with the Sound of Music (I don't know what's worse - knowing what I am talking about or not?), incorporates this song. However, we just intended to use the more grandiose orchestral and organ section of the march not realising that the sheet music our organist had finally tracked down started way before this section. So at our wedding rehearsal we got to hear it for the first time and had a panic that he had obtained the wrong music as "How do you solve a problem like Maria? rang out. My Dad rushed up and said "no she wants it to start it at here" and the organist scribbled some notes and started at our chosen section. Problem solved! The thing we still find amusing is that no one (apart from us and my family) knew what the music was and no one believed us when we told them! So why am I telling you this? Well it will make sense in a minute...honestly!

One of the things I get asked a lot by family, friends and customers is "Are you busy?" Well I'm always busy and this time of year I am undoubtedly at my busiest. But this year I am unusually busy. This is of course a great thing and given the current economic climate I am extremely grateful and thankful that our work is still being well received. But there is one element that is helping to contribute to this year's success and that is a very simple design of ours called Maria (are you beginning to see the link yet?).

So to celebrate its success I thought that I would tell you a little something about Maria.

Maria

Maria was designed for an exhibition I did back in 2006 to bridge a gap in my collection and yes it was named as a nod to our favourite singing nun. However it didn't make another public appearance until we relaunched the website (the first time) in April 2008. Then one day in May 2008 I received a call from a customer who had seen our Louise design and loved the textures in it but didn't want it to be as deep as the original design

Louise

We discussed reducing the depth in great detail. We discussed changing the shape, we discussed changing the beading, we discussed changing the materials, we discussed her gown, we discussed her hair, we discussed everything but the kitchen sink and yet she was having a bit of trouble deciding what she wanted. In the end it came down to what did I think would suit her from a professional perspective. I could tell that she was quite a bubbly person but didn't like a lot of fuss. So I asked her to send me a picture of herself so I could gauge the best depth of headband for her and to make sure that the Louise style would actually suit her face shape. Once I saw the customer's short spiky hair with heavy fringe and face shape one design immediately sprang to mind...it wasn't Louise but Maria. And the strange thing was the customer's name was Maria as well! The first thing she said when she saw the design was "I love the texture...can I have that one?" So problem solved for Maria by Maria.

This sale was the first of many and for the last few years Maria has been one of our best selling products. So what is the key to Maria's success?

Essentially it is a thin decorated headband but what makes it special are the textures of the materials. You have the beautiful mix of Swarovski crystal and pearl which provides one level of texture and then the variation of pearl sizes as well as crystal sizes and shapes gives the piece that extra level of texture and interest. Although simple it is an incredibly elegant design and perfect for any bride who believes in the principle of less is more. But what also makes this piece so special is its versatility. It adds subtle texture to plainer gowns, it complements the texture of lace covered gowns, it suits short hair and long hair alike, it can be worn around a bun, it can be customised very easily, it is ideal for bridesmaids and brides alike and it suits all ages. It is also great as a special occasion accessory - not just as a wedding accessory. With all that going for it, it is easy to see why it is such a popular piece. Since it was launched in 2008 we've adapted this design so many times in so many colour ways and materials and we've even made double and triple banded versions! And since we included it in our 2011 Spring Collection, it is again proving to be a real winner!

So if you would like to own your very own Maria - either as it is on the website or customised to suit your own requirements (which may mean the price is higher than advertised if the materials used are more expensive) then simply click here .

And over the next few months I will be telling you about the inspiration behind more of our 2011 collections and showing off some of our new concept pieces which I have designed just because.....

So until next time..........

Great Expectations

2011-01-11T09:54:00.000-08:00

Fear not this is not an epic post along the lines of my last 3! As a reward for sitting through our review of fabulous 2010 (not read it yet? Here you go Part 1, Part Deux and Part 3) I thought it might be nice to tell you all about everything we have planned for 2011.

Well of course it would be nice to tell you about everything we have planned but I won't! We have great expectations for 2011 and if I tell you everything now I won't have anything to surprise you with later on so here are a few teasers for you to ponder.

1. The Tiararama family is expanding (and it is Tiararama that is expanding not me!)

2. Lots of photoshoots

3. Very different design concepts for 2012

4. A big show

5. Lots more chances to see our work

6. And much, much more....

There that was short and sweet wasn't it? Shame my to do list isn't as short but if I didn't love it, I wouldn't be doing it!

So until next time.....

First Shoots 2011 Spring Collection

2010 where did you go? Part 3

2011-01-05T13:32:00.000-08:00

Ice Queen from our 2011 Winter Collection and Daisy Chain from our 2011 Spring Collection

So you've sat through parts 1 and 2 of our review of the year and I must say I admire your stamina! And now to the final part of our travels through 2010 - September to December (you may need a cup of tea again!)

September 2010
Well the first half of September was rather pleasant as there was a bit of sightseeing

wine chasing

and quite a bit of this

However it wasn't all sightseeing, wine drinking and ice cream eating (or seafood, cheese, pate and bread eating for that matter!). We were also WIFI hunting so I could keep in touch with the world and I was sat there designing and creating some gorgeous pieces. As well as Ice Queen and Daisy Chain (see the top of the post), I also busy creating

and finishing off hairpins and headchains.

OK so it wasn't a total break from work but it was a gorgeous holiday and was relaxing enough to provide me with the energy to hit work running on our return.

And boy did I need the energy! I came back to website designs, logo designs, stationery designs, press releases, clients and all sorts of other work. It was incredibly exciting as all the hard work of not just the last few months but since January was starting to pay off and I do love it when a plan comes together!

October 2010

October came in with a bang and a big *gulp*! It was launch month for our 2011 Collections, our rebranded design service and our new website and I was to say the least a little nervous. You see this was our first dedicated set of collections that were being launched and like anything new it was quite daunting!

But it was also scary because I was the subject of a photoshoot! I had decided that it was time that I inflicted a picture of myself on the website and in promotional work so I invited the very talented and super lovely Emily Quinton to Tiararama Towers to take my picture. As nervous as I was about this it was a fabulous experience which I loved and the images (and Emily) were just fab!

Now I am often asked now why I always say that I launched my collections and not my collection. Well quite simply I launched 4 in one go....Spring, Summer, Autumn and Winter. And why did I launch 4 collections? I mean surely I could have launched one and no one would have minded? Maybe they wouldn't but I would. You see each season has a very specific feel and this is reflected in the use of different bead shapes and textures and different beading and wiring techniques. The amount of love and attention that went into achieving the right feel and best sparkle for each season was considerable. And whenever you put alot of love and consideration into anything it really matters to you. So it was with some trepidation that on October 19th (our wedding anniversary celebrations took rather a backseat to work on this occasion) and 20th we pulled all our hard work together and off went our press release and at midnight our new website and collections went live.

The four signature pieces of our 2011 collections:

First Shoots - Spring 2011 collection, Hydrangeas - Summer 2011 collection, Autumn Bouquet - Autumn 2011 collection, Snowflakes - Winter 2011 Collection

And did I need to be worried? Well no! We were (and still are if we're honest) delighted with the amount of love we received from all corners of the industry for our new collections. It was fantastic when the emails and tweets and phonecalls started to come in and I was hearing words like impressive, innovative, classy with a twist, gorgeous, beautiful, intricate, fantabulous (not sure that is a word but hey!) and Supercalifragilisticexpialidocios (yes I do know some strange people!)

I was so pleased that all went well and that the collection was so well received and blown away by those who were so generous in their support of us (and their continued support is a blessing and will never be taken for granted!). After months of hard work and sleepless nights I could at last have a small break to celebrate our successful launch. I was back at work on the Monday!

November 2010
Following on from our successful collection launch and rebrand we began to get more press interest and our new collection was being called in for photoshoots by magazines and photographers. Not only did I have a diary but some of my pieces were starting to need social diaries! In fact in November my appointment room looked quite glum. For months my new collection had started to adorn it but once they started to go out on shoots it looked quite bare at times. In fact as I type we still have a box of pieces out with a magazine!

And whilst this was all going on, apart from our usual client work, I was drafting......our 2012 collection!

And here are some lovely images from one of those shoots by Hannah Duffy Photography
Hydrangeas from our 2011 Summer Collection

and our beautiful Hortensia comb from our 2011 Summer Collection

December 2010

The product call ins continued with some more pieces being called in for quite high profile shoots (fingers crossed on those) and our schedule was full of order making in time for Christmas. And a lovely spot of afternoon tea cemented an idea that I had been thinking about for a while!

It was a very busy time to the end of the year and one which has filled me with the knowledge that 2011 will be an incredible year for us. And if 2010 was busy, it was nothing compared to how busy 2011 will be. This year is the 2nd year of our 3 year business development schedule but it is without doubt the busiest. We have new collections to show you, new ideas and we're at the National Wedding Show again (at Earl's Court in the autumn this time). And we are so looking forward to serving those of you who no wedding business can do without - our lovely brides. We are so looking forward to meeting you and designing the hair accessories of your dreams and we know it will be a good idea!

And speaking of designing the Hair Accessory of your Dreams - watch this space. We will soon be announcing details of our amazing competition to have the hair accessory of your dreams designed and created for you.

But in the meantime I will leave you with a beautiful image of our Ice Queen from a magazine shoot and hope to be able to show you lots more over the next year.

Image courtesy of Asiana Magazine

I hope you have enjoyed reading about our 2010 and hope you will join me this time next year for our 2011 round up.

So until next time.....

2010 where did you go? Part Deux

2011-01-05T06:56:00.000-08:00

Snow Princess and Snowflake from our 2011 Winter Collection

Have you recovered from "2010 where did you go? Part 1" yet? Have you got yourself a cup of tea? Are you sitting comfortably? If so, here's the tale of May to August 2010 at Tiararama Towers.

May 2010
May saw us in full wedding season flow. Orders were flying in and we faced something that we hadn't seen before....all of the orders were for weddings within 3 months. Normally we deal with clients over 6 to 18 months but this sudden rush of clients was a bit unusual. Some of the new clients had seen us at the National Wedding Show (fair enough!), some had seen some of our new batches of advertising (fair enough!) and some (most touchly) had waited until they had sorted most of their wedding expenditure to see if they had enough left over to commission us to design for them. It was so touching when I received a phone call one morning from a bride-to-be to see if we still had any availability left for their wedding in 10 weeks time and when I said yes she burst into tears.

This might sound like the ultimate piece of bragging here but for me this phone call hit me like a sledge hammer. You see when you run a business you brag about it, you advertise it and you market it and you hope that at the end of all that hard work you get clients. All businesses want clients. But I had the sudden realisation that not only did I (Tiararama) want clients but also that clients wanted Tiararama. It wasn't just a case of "I like that tiara - I will buy it", it was a case of "I want a tiara designed for me by Tiararama" and that was one of the most special and defining moments of 2010 for me. It might seem silly to you but it fed the joy and happiness in Tiararama Towers for a good few days!

May was also the month that two bridal accessory greats finally met after many years of speaking.....you know who you are!

Creating a storm - Snow Storm and Ice Storm from our 2011 Winter Collection

June 2010
It was in June that the final touches were being put to our soon to be relaunched and rebranded Tiara Designer service. We had been working on the wording and the branding for a few months but it was now that I really began to define the service. You see Tiararama Couture (as it is now called) is more than just a design service - it is a highly personalised experience. You must forgive me for not giving the game away here but my clients only get the best and so to add to the personalisation of our service I commissioned new stationery for our Couture clients. You can read all about this in our blog post Sweet as Sugalily

June was also the month that saw the finishing touches carried out on some of our Autumn Collection. I had a lovely time working with gorgeous freshwater pearls and Swarovski's beautiful golden shadow crystals. This combination gives a glorious glowing warmth to the pieces and embodies all that autumn is meant to be.

Autumn Roses, Autumn Bouquet and Catherine Wheel headchain from our 2011 Autumn Collection

July 2010
This was the month that I started to plan the launch of our new 2011 Collections. It really was time to get my head down to finish the collection, instruct Kevin on the website, commission artwork and make sure my PR were up to speed and briefed. I love and loathe work like this in equal measure. I love coming up with ways to develop and build my business but I hate the fact that it takes me away from my love of designing and creating. I had originally aimed for a late September launch but realised it would be impossible especially as we were off on holiday in September! So the decision was taken to opt for October 14th (did we make it I wonder?!!).

July was also the month that I completed the majority of our 2010 summer season pieces (I had planned it this way so that I allowed myself adequate planning time for the big push) and just as I thought "oh I can really get my teeth into my launch work", the enquiries and orders suddenly went mental again. One commission in particular springs to mind. I was contacted late on a Friday afternoon and asked to design a floral based design. That's fine say I. Then I asked her when the wedding was "next Friday and we're leaving for the venue on Wednesday morning". Something kicks in when you get a call like this. The sensible side says "run away....put the phone down" and the other half says (knowing full well that this will be a job and a half) "not a problem, I will have the drafts to you tomorrow morning and upon approval of the drafts I can start work on Sunday" And then you realise you need to put a stock order in! But thankfully I am blessed with some workaholic suppliers who had everything to me on the Saturday!

And this was what we created for her in 2 days

There is an important message here - don't assume that because we handcraft our designs from scratch that we can't create something for you on a tight timescale. We are always very happy to help. On the other hand, please don't leave everything to the last minute!

August 2010
August was another busy planning month. Sadly that is as exciting as August got. There were lots of new designs being designed for clients and lots of plans coming together but generally it was one of those months where there was a lot of work done but there didn't seem to be much to show for it. Of course without this work there would be nothing to show anyone so it was totally necessary. But we did get some gorgeous images of our work used in a magazine which as it turned out was the first of many!

On the left Snow Storm styled in a completely different way and on the right Myrtle, a beautiful pearl and diamante encrusted headband.
Images from Autumn issue of Asiana Wedding Magazine.

So that is it for part deux! Part 3 is where is gets very, very exciting!

Hope you enjoyed and I'll be posting part 3 in the next few days.

So until next time.....

2010 where did you go? Part 1

2011-01-03T13:30:00.000-08:00

Snowflakes from our 2011 Winter Collection & Autumn Bouquet from our 2011 Autumn Collection

As I sit here wishing you all a very happy new year and hoping that you all had a fantastic Christmas, I also find myself thinking "Where did 2010 go?" and then thinking "What exactly did we achieve in 2010?" and then I find I have more material than is seemly for a single post!

So here in brief installments (I fear they won't be!) is a run down of our year in words and pictures.

January 2010
I remember sitting down in January with my brand new diary and my business plan for 2010 and writing in a list of important dates and tasks and thinking "oh dear lord what have I let myself in for?" You see all the imminent tasks seemed to relate to our exhibiting at the National Wedding Show at Olympia in February and we had furniture to assemble and paint, I had props to buy, fabric to source, artwork to finalise and sign off, printing to arrive, design ideas to prepare for the catwalk, materials to order and last but not least I had to make up a shed load of designs to actually exhibit! And of course as well as dealing with the usual start of year rush, we also had the excitement (and sisterly worries) of the imminent arrival of my sister's 2nd baby.

Most days seemed to be split into stand planning, making up pieces, getting annoyed with people and finding myself slipping from my relatively laid back self into my previous life as the phrase "I don't care how you do it, how late you have to work, I want it tomorrow" started being used more and more (there were even times I was shouting it at myself....in my head of course!). My appointment room became the stand, we were tripping up over boxes of printing, stock, completed pieces, props, tins of paint, I was outside spray painting at -2 degrees and my friend came round to make the flowers for the stand decoration. Then of course Tiararama Towers turned into full Auntie mode on January 29th as my gorgeous niece Sophie had been born the day before and there was much present buying to be done!

January was a month of long hours, constant planning and creativity. It was hard work but great fun (yes I am lucky to love my job enough to get a kick out of working hard!)

Alice - one of the designs we took to the National Wedding Show

February 2010

If January was busy, February was hectic! There were alot of people who seemed determined to throw spanners into the smooth running wheels of our exhibition preparation but as quickly as they were being thrown, I was sorting the issues out (mainly by shouting and threatening to speak to managers!). We were busy making up pieces to exhibit and as we had not heard by the week before the show started that any of our pieces were needed for the catwalk we made one very big assumption - an understandable assumption of course and that was that none of our pieces were needed and a sense of calm order fell upon Tiararama Towers. All was going swimmingly and we were to have finished our preparation with plenty of time to spare. There weren't going to be any all night creating sessions, there wasn't going to be any running around like headless chickens and we were quite pleased with ourselves.

Of course how stupid were we to make that assumption? Yes it was the week before the exhibition but that doesn't mean that we weren't going to get an email late on a Monday evening to say "We would like 8 of your designs to be with us next Tuesday". 8 designs meant one thing and one thing only - alot of work! Most of my pieces take days to make so 8 in 8 days was a big call but we weren't going to let that put us off. So whilst we were acting like a swan - graceful on top and paddling manically underneath - we said there would be no problem to get those pieces to them. And of course it wasn't just these 8 pieces we needed to finish! It was all the other pieces that would have been completed in plenty of time for the exhibition as well. In fact we had 14 pieces to finish in 8 days. We didn't sleep much, Kevin had to take over alot of the stand tasks I had planned to do and between us when February 19th arrived, we had a fully laden stand erected at Olympia with 8 pieces on the catwalk.

The show was the biggest exhibition we had ever done and it was incredibly hard work but we got so many new clients and met so many brides who were marrying later in 2011/2012 as well as industry contacts that it can only be described as a success for us. And to cap it all we had the pleasure of seeing some of our work on the catwalk supporting the whole Sottero Midgeley scene - I can't begin to tell you how emotional it is (no matter how many times your work is used on catwalks/on the television) when you see your work displayed in such a way. It is such a fab feeling and it was such an honour. Here are some images for your delectation and delight.

Two versions of First Shoots from our 2011 Spring Collection and Hydrangeas from our 2011 Summer Collection

Two versions of Autumn from our 2011 Autumn Collection and Snow Storm from our 2011 Winter Collection

March 2011

If February was hectic, March was manic!

Following our success at the National Wedding Show we had alot of enquiries and alot of those turned into fabulous clients. We were designing, preparing mood boards for appointments and we also began our usual busy creating period which runs from March to August each year (although autumn and winter weddings are becoming more popular, summer weddings are still way ahead of them!). This was so much busier due to the extra work from the National Wedding Show but we began to work on some incredible designs.

When you design exclusively for your clients the kind of styles you end up designing is eclectic to say the least. But 2010 seemed more varied than usual. We were designing everything from large encrusted crowns, beautiful pearl headbands and wonderfully light wire work tiaras and comb.

2010 was also the year of asymmetry - from asymmetric tiaras to combs and large statement hairpins. In particular floral designs were incredibly popular this year and we created pieces in silk fabrics, hand beaded fabrics (which we hand beaded ourselves) and beaded/encrusted pieces.

Just some of the pieces we created for our clients

April 2010

April was again busy with designing and creating but it was in this month that a few business truths began to rear their ugly head and thankfully a solution miraculously appeared!

In order to run a successful business you can't just rely on having a great product. There is so much that goes on behind the scenes and when you run your own business you often have to become a jack of all trades and very much a master of none. I know I am a qualified accountant and I know I used to work in finance and I know I studied marketing and I know I used to advise small businesses but honestly when you have to apply it to your own business you find yourself becoming really frustrated because you know there aren't enough hours in the day to do everything properly. It is so hard to keep juggling everything but it is a piece of cake compared to a control freak like me admitting that you need help. And I will never admit that but I'm not daft and when you receive a very unexpected email offering help, occasionally you stop and read it.

And this was the case when I received an email from a PR company who rather than giving you all the usual bland (and frankly boring) sales pitch actually sold themselves to me. You see this company wasn't just approaching me because they were targeting anonymous businesses, they contacted me because unbeknownst to me, they actually knew something about me. How could this be? Well remember what I did in February? Whilst at the show my new PR representative had gained first hand experience of us as her sister had visited our stand and was so impressed with us and our products, she decided to see if she could represent us. And after alot of consideration we decided that we should at least have a chat! Even this was a big step for me and thankfully now we have someone else involved in the hard work of getting the good news from Tiararama Towers known in the world!

And it was also at this time that I finalised the key pieces for our 2011 Summer Collection and here are a few images for you.

Hydrangea, Hortensia, Hortense and Hydrangeas from our 2011 Summer Collection

If you are still reading this, may I offer you my congratulations! And I hope that you will be back to read part deux and 3 which will be posted over the next few days.

So until next time.....

Sweet as Sugalily

2010-12-22T06:41:00.000-08:00

When I was thinking about the direction that Tiararama would be taking over the next few years, one thing I was sure about was that I wanted to offer my Tiararama Couture clients not just fabulous designs but also an exceptional experience. I want all my clients to feel special not just during the design process or up to the day they receive their exclusively designed, handcrafted pieces but all the way up to their wedding day and beyond. So I decided that these clients will receive more than just their order! (Unfortunately I have to be a little cryptic....we don't want to spoil any surprises for said clients now do we?)

But one thing is for certain, whatever my clients get it has to be of the highest quality and so when I decided that I needed some more personalised stationery designed for me to give to my clients I wouldn't be happy unless it came from a company that was fresh, funky and above all could design and create a product that was simple, classy, gorgeous and had the whiff of luxury that seems effortless. But where to find such a company?

Back in 2009 I joined Twitter (for those not already following me and would like to click here) and for the life of me I can't remember whether I followed her or she followed me first but I slowly got to know and see the work of Abbey from Sugalily and both impressed me greatly. So when I decided to start looking for said stationery to be honest there was only one choice as far as I was concerned.....I just hoped that they did the kind of thing I was looking for. And so with a certain amount of trepidation I contacted Abbey and explained to her my great master plan for Tiararama and my need and reason for more personalised stationery. Thankfully Abbey was on board straight away and we met on a lovely sunny day in June for lunch to discuss ideas (and have a gossip...well it would be rude not to!).

I was so impressed with Abbey and her ideas....she doesn't just talk the talk...she walks the walk too! She "got" what I was after straight away and made some fabulous suggestions to add more versatility to what I was looking for. I couldn't wait to see what she came up with. And I wasn't disappointed. Abbey's designs were spot on and whenever I wanted to make an amendment it was so easy....it really was a pain free and pleasurable experience (well for me anyway...she might have other thoughts!).

And so it is with great pleasure that I give you the beautiful postcards that Abbey designed for me.
The front of the card is a beautifully intricate, foiled crown which took its inspiration from our sadly missed Jadis crown and the reverse has gorgeous font work. They are printed on fantastic quality stock and the edges have been hand finished with silver. They are amazing quality and I am so impressed. They are an absolute joy to behold!

I know you probably hear this all the time (and sometimes it is too easily said) but honestly when I say I cannot recommend a company enough I mean it and I cannot thank Abbey (and the rest of the girls at Sugalily) enough for all their hard work and effort. They've been bloomin' marvellous and if you are looking for any kind of stationery - whether it be for your wedding, a social occasion or your business you couldn't do any better.

But oh the fabulousness doesn't end there....oh no!

You see via the power of Twitter I also saw that Abbey had designed a wall planner for someone else and I happened to say to her "I got to get me one of those"! Next thing I knew I was sending her images of tiaras, and me and shoes and describing the kind of styling I would like and lo and behold this is what came back

I have well and truly fallen in love with this and can't wait to get it onto the wall in my studio at Tiararama Towers. Again it is fantastic quality as well as being a beautiful creation...it's just such a shame I've got to write all over it! Just hoping we all get the opportunity to order ones for 2012!

Seriously I am so impressed and can safely say that Sugalily will be getting more business from Tiararama in the months and years to come.

For Sugalily's contact details click here

And over the next year I will also be posting about other fabulous people and companies who have and continue to impress me and I think you should all hear about.

So until next time.....

Springing into 2011

2010-12-02T09:26:00.000-08:00

It might be snowing and it might be cold outside but at Tiararama Towers we are thinking about Spring. And one of the things I love about Spring time is the opportunity for new beginnings. So when I was thinking about our 2011 Spring Collection I decided that the 3 key pieces in the collection needed to be fresh, beautiful and full of life.

So which are the 3 key pieces of this part of the our collection and what do you need to know about them? Well the three pieces in question are the gorgeous and sumptuous comb FIrst Shoots, the beautifully textured Gardenia tiara and the simple but elegant Daisy Chain double headband. And this is what inspired me to design them.

First Shoots

One of the things I love about going for a walk in spring is walking through a park and looking at the ground and plants and just noticing the tiny green shoots and leaves. It always gives me a warm fuzzy feeling to know that no matter what is going on in your world, the world in all its glory carries on as usual. So when I began drafting for the collection I decided that I wanted a piece to represent this.

One of our most successful design styles for our couture clients from 2009 were large combs which could be worn asymmetrically as a bold statement piece or which could be worn pushed into a french pleat. And I wanted to use this style of design in the new collection simply because of its versatility. So when thinking about themes for spring I remembered a piece that I had designed for a couture client which was a wonderfully textured mix of curled wire finished with freshwater pearls and Swarovski crystal and had been shaped like an ice cream cone (one of the posh waffle ones). As I looked at the images of this design I began to see the concept behind First Shoots. I decided to cut the design in half and elongate it whilst taking the curled wire with freshwater pearls and crystals theme and make a more compacted base than the original as the basis of First Shoots.

This beautifully textured base represents the sleeping earth, waiting for the spring to push new "First Shoots" through into the new season. And these shoots were achieved by pulling curled strands of wire finished with pearls or crystal pulled up about above the more compacted base. Whilst a fully compacted base gave the piece a heavy, dense feel, by simply adding these extended strands it gave it an altogether lighter feel. This piece is beautifully elegant and extremely versatile. Whilst it looks fantastic pushed into the crease of a french pleat, it also looks amazing worn asymmetrically as it was worn on the catwalk at the National Wedding Show at Olympia earlier this year.

It is a beautiful piece with fantastic texture and depth as well as a gorgeous natural sparkle. It is the ideal accompaniment to a multitude of gown styles and with its versatile styling it allows the bride to show off her personality even more.

Gardenia

My favourite type of garden border is one where there is a mix of plants and flowers which interweave with each other so you can see lots of different colours and textures all intermingled and I so look forward to the spring as this is in when the first of these borders appears in our garden. And when it comes to designing pieces I always think that this kind of technique - where colours and textures all intermingle - is ideal for tiaras. I love tiaras to have texture. It gives them more of a personality, and rather than just being a piece of bling, it gives them depth.

Taking the idea of a mixed garden border I decided to design Gardenia, a traditional style tiara (one of the only traditionally styled tiaras in all four of the collections) which was based on layers of branched wire, curled and finished with freshwater pearl or crystal to give a beautiful texture and depth. This almost allows the piece to breathe and allows light to penetrate all around. This gives the piece a wonderful sparkle and adds warmth to the creamy pearls. Although Gardenia is quite busy it has quite a light, delicate feel whilst retaining a rich air as well. It is a wonderfully elegant design which takes a simple idea, adds a twist and creates a piece which is much more interesting and complex. This makes the piece ideal for spring weddings to accompany beautiful gowns in rich, soft fabrics or worn with textured, embroidered bodices. But it will also look fantastic at any time of the year as the varying lights will either enhance the sparkle or add richness to the pearls to suit weddings all year round.

Daisy Chain

You don't need to have a fancy, elaborate design to be a key piece in a collection. In fact simple designs are often the hardest to do as there is nowhere to hide! And Daisy Chain is no exception.

What I love about late spring is that after the lawn has been cut from its winter slumber, the tiny white dots of daisy heads begin to appear. I used to love making daisy chains as a child and now that I'm an auntie I get to make them all over again with my nieces and nephews. And having made one with my nephew and actually looked at it more closely through his fascinated eyes (read into that he asked alot of questions usually starting with "Why....?"), I noticed a beautiful pattern.

When you make a daisy chain the stems always seem to slope down to the flower head and the more I looked at this the more I began to see a headband. So I decided to think about what I love about daisies. Quite simply I love their radiance - they almost have the ability to add sparkle to your lawn. Sowhen I was looking at materials to use in this piece my immediate thought was to use crisp diamante for the centres of the floral motifs and beautiful freshwater pearls for the "petals". Then to provide continuity I used these freshwater pearls for the interconnecting "stems". This gives a lovely rich motif which can be repeated to form an elegant, striking design. And of course what gives this piece such presence is the fact that it is down on a double band. And the fact that it is on a double band allows for an additional amount of interest in as much as the motifs on each band are offset from each other so the sparkle is more evenly distributed.

It is a beautifully simple piece which looks amazing on and has of course spawned a number of spin offs. There is Daisy, the single headband. The Daisy combs - simple combs that use the simple motif and soon there will be Daisy hairpins. The motif can even be made into jewellery. But whichever version of Daisy Chain you choose, you are always guaranteed to wear a piece which is elegant, rich and sparkly whilst maintaining an unfussy feel. And this makes the piece ideal for so many styles of gown and hair style and also makes it ideal for weddings at any time of the year.

I hope you have enjoyed reading about these pieces. Of course there are other pieces in the collection which are stunning in their own way and I would strongly advise you to check out our website at the end of January when there will be a couple of additional pieces making their way into our 2011 Spring Collection. But for now I hope that reading this has made you feel a little warmer in the midst of this cold weather.

So until next time........

You can see our 2011 Collections by clicking here

Requiem for a crown

2010-11-03T11:24:00.000-07:00

One of the best things about designing is that every piece you design has a life of its own and it is a life which you bring into the world. They all have an inspiration and a thought process behind how to bring them life and they all have a great deal of care put into their creation. People often giggle when I refer to certain designs as "she" but as with us, although everyone is special, there are those who stand out above the rest. And certain of my designs - those who are referred to as "she" have a character above and beyond just a lovely design.

At Tiararama Towers there are a number of these characterful design samples but one of the most popular, talked about and loved is our very first mega crown, Jadis.

The very first Jadis sample

And so it is with great sadness that I must announce that Jadis is no more.

Designed at the end of 2007 and named after the White Queen in The Lion, The Witch and the Wardrobe, she first appeared on our website in April 2008 and stood at an impressive 16cm tall and 20cm wide. Her twisted and curved peaks were set behind and in front of the band to give an extra dimension and depth to her design and each peak alternated between swags of crystal and wire and a more delicate interlaced design where the crystals were looped with wire. In total she had over 500 crystals.

She always attracted alot of attention at consultations, appeared in a few bridal magazines and has always been a bloggers favourite but she was at her best at photoshoots. In fact it was photoshoots that delayed the inevitable for her. Every time I decided that the best thing for her tired frame would be to see her safely to tiara heaven, she was called in for a photoshoot. But on Monday she gave up the ghost. Two years of constantly being prodded, poked and pulled around (as well as being dropped quite a few times) finally took their toll and when I picked her up I realised that there was no way to bring her back to her former glory and so today I began the sad task of dismantling her.

She has been a real tour de force in our design range. She has inspired many brides and spawned many similar designs and we have recreated her to adorn a few gorgeous brides too. And of course although her sample has died, her design lives on and we will still be able to recreate her for future brides. And I can look at her every day as her picture still has a place in a our studio.

Image by Assassynation

So au revoir my lovely (and thanks for the donation of the crystals - these will be put to good use in the creation of other gorgeous designs!) - you may not be sat twinkling away at me but you certainly won't be forgotten.

And in the next installment of news and views at Tiararama Towers, I will be telling you the story behind something new - our Spring Collection.

So until next time......

We've been nominated

2010-11-02T10:17:00.000-07:00

"Gardenia" part of our Spring 2011 Collection

I am delighted to announce that Tiararama has been nominated in the Best Bridal Accessories category of the Wedding Ideas Magazine Awards and we would be delighted if you would take the time to vote for us.

If you are kind enough to support us, leave a comment and you will be entered into a draw to win to a bracelet which we will design exclusively for you.

Every vote counts so whether you are an existing client, a past client or someone who simply admires our work, we would be so grateful for your support.

Vote now for the Wedding Ideas Awards - The UK's only wedding industry awards voted for by the readers - click here

The All New Tiararama Show

2010-10-27T07:08:00.000-07:00

Snowflake from our 2011 Winter collection

On October 21st 2010 Tiararama Towers was a relative haven of calm following the frenzied weeks in the run up to the launch of our new collections, our new website and the rebrand of our Couture Service to Tiararama Couture. In fact we were still working behind the scenes at gone midnight to make sure everything was as ready as it could be for the morning. But once we had launched I could relax knowing that all our hard work had paid off as all the lovely comments started to flood in from bridal magazines, other wedding suppliers and past, existing and new clients. And we have also had some lovely blog articles written about our launch which we love and we are extremely appreciative of.

You can find our new collections on our website http://www.tiararama.co.uk/ and we will be telling the stories behind each of our collections over the next couple of weeks but in the meantime for your delectation and delight here are some links to the lovely blog pieces written about us so far.

English Wedding - thank you to Claire and her lovely blog English Wedding for her fantastic in depth blog piece on our launch. Check out the rest of her blog for fantastic inspiration for your wedding.
Tiararama Couture Launch

The Wedding Community - thank you to lovely Kim and David for this announcement on your website. Very grateful to have our latest news included on this wonderful wedding resource website for brides.
Tiararama launches its first ever collection of bridal hair accessories for 2011

Victoria James Weddings - thank you to the gorgeous Victoria for this lovely blog post. Victoria is an award winning wedding planner in the Midlands and her support of our launch is greatly appreciated.
Swooning for Tiararama

Plans and Presents - thank you to the lovely Alison for this blog post. Alison is a wedding planner in Glasgow and we do appreciate her support for our launch.
Supplier Spotlight - Tiararama [including 2011 Collection Launch]

I look forward to sharing our new collections with you in more detail over the next few weeks but the collections, website and our rebrand are not the only new things to come to Tiararama Towers. We are also launching our new blog. You can still see some of our old blog posts here but from now on this is the place for all the hot news and articles from Tiararama.

So until next time.....