Friday Feature! Diamonds & Daggers

Yippeeeee.......it's Friday!!!

I'm LOVING today's Friday Feature! I had been admiring the sparkly work of Diamonds& Daggers from afar on Twitter when one day we got Tweeting randomly about hiccups and citrus fruit.......which is a whole other story..........anyway it focused my attention on the gorgeousness of Diamonds& Daggers and I had to share with you all. So enjoy some sparkle on a grey Friday:

• About you......who you are, what you like, what you don’t like…. Basically anything you want to share

Hello! My name is Hayley, I’m 23 and I have a rather large obsession with sparkles, tattoos, anything that contains leopard print and small dogs.

• About your company......when, why and how you started, what your company does and why it does it best, where can we find you

I made my first ever crystal phone case, which was originally all Diamonds and Daggers sold, in the Christmas of 2009. I was looking for a Secret Santa present for a friend and couldn’t find what I was looking for, so after being inspired by Japanese decoden fashion I set about making her a crystal phone case with cupcakes all over it. She loved it and I put a picture of the phone case up on my Facebook page. It sparked a lot of interest and pretty soon I was getting a lot of enquiries from friends and family. I set up an Etsy shop and suddenly everything just took off. It was amazing. Since then I’ve expanded to included lots of different accessories and apparel.

There are lots of companies popping up now doing similar things to what we do, mainly after the success of The Only Way Is Essex. I believe we’re the best at what we do because we offer fair pricing (every crystal is set by hand and can take hours and hours to make one design) and we are honest. I’ve lost count of the amount of people passing off normal rhinestones as Swarovski Crystals. With us, you know what you’re going to get and I pride myself in my work and being able to do what I love. To find out more about Diamonds and Daggers you can visit our website at www.diamondsanddaggers.com or drop us a line to say hello at hello@diamondsanddaggers.com

• What or who inspires you?

I know it sounds cheesy but my Mum inspires me. She worked hard as a single parent to give me the best she could and would teach me arts and crafts when I was younger. We did everything from t-shirt printing to flower pressing and pottery. I can honestly say that Diamonds and Daggers wouldn’t exist if it wasn’t for her.

• Top 3 on your wish list right now?

Christian Louboutin Daffodils

http://www.christianlouboutin.com/#/home

Forever21 Hello Kitty Geek Jumper

http://www.forever21.com

Apple iPhone 4S

http://www.apple.com/uk/iphone/

• Tell us your best/ funniest joke…………go on its Friday!

Oh god I really suck at jokes! OK here goes... 2 drunk men walk into a bar. The first man shouts at the second man “I SLEPT WITH YOUR MUM!”. The second man says “Go home Dad. You’re drunk.”

Awful, I know!

• What do you have planned for this weekend?

I’ll be working on some crystal shoes. We’ve had lots of orders leading up to Christmas. I’ll also be baking up some new jewellery if my supplies arrive in time. No rest for the wicked!

• Finally (thank Chrunchie) what give’s you that ‘Friday-Feeling’

A nice homecooked meal and rubbish TV :)

I’d like to say a massive THANK YOU to Hayley for letting me feature her gorgeous work. The world needs to be a sparklier place :)

We'd love your comments..........................

Have a fabulous, and safe, bonfire weekend!!!

Love Kate x

Wedding Wonder of the Week: Claire Ogden Designs!

It's my birthday so I wanted a really special blog feature, so I saved this one just for today!

Today's Wedding Wonder of the Week is the very lovely Claire from Claire Ogden Designs. I first came across Claire's work in my friends shop Mootiful Gifts. Her jewellery is stunning, fun and really pretty - it's right up my street! As well as the most beautiful jewellery Claire also makes fantastic wedding pieces......

• Tell us a bit about yourself and your company.

I am Claire Ogden, I am 31 years old a mum of two young boys under 10 and wife to my lovely hubbie! I work full time as a secretary in an Architects Practice as well as having an established Handmade Bridal Accessories business of two years.

I began with making jewellery for myself which was so well received I began to sell it, I now create wedding pieces and have a handful of permanent set ranges. It is not yet my full time business but I feel like it is! I work so damn hard, unfortunately you have to do everything from accounts, PR, marketing, touching base, designing, sourcing materials and making, busy times!

 I am self taught, and have to admit I keep working at something until it is perfect too, I have very high standards!

I work in my study at home, which I have transformed into a studio, we are going to redecorate prior to my Exclusive Jewellery Showcase which has been booked in for November.

• Are you married?
• If yes: will you share some of your details?

We are happily married and have been for 8 years now, how time flies. We were married in the most amazing folkloric museum in Cyprus, photographs in the gardens and reception by the harbour, really idyllic indeed.

We wanted to escape everything, getting married in a country we loved with people that mattered and not blow a whole heap of money we really didn’t have. Our day was perfect in every way possible. We booked with First Choice who coordinated the whole event faultlessly and I still wore the traditional dress and had most of the trimmings, the pictures and video really capture the whole day beautifully.

At the time we had one beautiful baby of 20 month old and fell pregnant with our second on the honeymoon! Our gorgeous little honeymoon baby came along nine months later!

My Dad gave me away, he passed away in tragic circumstances nine months later, he missed my first year anniversary and only saw our new baby a couple of times, he was 52. I was very proud he was there to give me away to such a wonderful person, my best friend and husband Stephen.

• What attracted you to working in the wedding industry?

I love the fact that I can be so elaborate with my designs and be so very creative in my work, I have just been commissioned to create my most stunning piece of work yet that contains 303 Swarovski Crystals. I get to meet very lovely and excitable people and help create the perfect accessories for such a special day.

Hope

Breathless

Evolve

• What is your favourite part of working with bride & grooms (to-be)?

Working closely with them and working through ideas to create something completely unique to them and their theme.

Remember

Rosa

• What is your most favourite wedding theme at the moment?

 ‘old word meets new’ bird cages, vintage themes, florals, champagne with ivory colour tones that kind of thing.

• Top wedding tip?

Be open minded when it comes to planning your theme, style, look, this applies especially with wedding dresses, I had a set one in mind had it ordered in especially to try on because I adored the picture, I bought something completely different! Listen to others but make the final decision yourselves and be firm about that decision.

• What do you think the next big wedding trends might be?

I have seen there may be a trend for Victorian style gowns in 2012, which would be lovely because the ‘vintage’ accessories will clearly still work. I want to create ‘timeless’ pieces but I fancy creating something completely outrageous too! I recently provided the tiaras for the Kosibah20th event, the gowns are to die for and if anyone can set a new trend I would have to say it would be Yemi Osunkoya!

http://www.fophotography.co.uk/

• Where can we find your fabulous company?

I have my own website; www.claireogdendesigns.com

Blogspot; www.claireogdendesigns-theblogspot.blogspot.com

I do sell my pieces online at various retailers and I am luckily enough to sell at Mootiful Gifts, Macclesfield and the designs are exclusive to them.

• What are your plans for the future?

Eventually work full time with my jewellery but I am in no rush, I want to continue to build it up and develop my designs and let my creative juices flow!

I'd like to say a huge thank you to Claire for taking the time to share all of this with us and I hope you've fallen in love with Claire's work as much as I have!

I'm now off to enjoy my birthday!
Love Kate x

Friday Feature! Sunshine & Daisies

Happy Friday! (thank Crunchie!)

Today you better be ready for super sparkly loveliness..........I've got the fabulous Miki from Sunshine and Daisies as my Friday Feature!

·         Tell us about you......who you are, what you like, what you don’t like…. Basically anything you want to share

I am Miki....mum, wife, sister, auntie & owner of Sunshine & Daisies! I love being all of those things & all of those things make me happy :) I also LOVE chocolate, my friends, my dogs, my cats & my hens. I don’t like marzipan, turkish delight or inconsiderate people :)

·         About your company......when, why and how you started, what your company does and why it does it best, where can we find you (email, website, shop, etc)

Miki has given me a fabulous ‘story’ of how they started, I couldn’t pick any ‘best bits’ as it’s all so cute…..so get a cuppa and read on….

“Once upon a time in 2006 we had the misfortune of meeting a thief of the worst kind…..a wine thief. Not content with draining one or 2 glasses she continued until all were empty under the guise of ‘Oh, I thought it was mine’. Enough, we thought, time to end this unforgivable misdemeanour…and so….we searched…and searched for some sort of identifier that was worthy of gracing our glasses.

Trouble is, what we found was either acrylic or not quite sparkly enough so we began the hunt for the best crystals & components. Then we found Swarovski crystals & Sunshine & Daisies was born. This put an end to misery & began identifying glasses in a twinkly, sparkly, luxurious (but very cost effective) way that only Swarovski & Sunshine & Daisies combined can do.

And so the wine thief was slayed and we all live happily ever after in our twinkly sparkly design studio………The End!

Well, not quite…that was just the beginning…..and from there Sunshine & Daisies has gone from strength to strength.

Quite simply, we love wine glass charms…we love making them, we love selling them, we love seeing our clients pictures & comments about how much they love them! We love that they are unique & that our clients visit our site because it is exactly what they want. Our web address means there’s no confusion as to what we sell & so our visitors are there because they want to be. We orignally set up from deepest darkest Dorset and we now charm away on the beautiful borders of Tyrone & Fermanagh. We ship internationally & although our main clients are UK based, our charms can be found in USA, Australia & all over Europe. You never know where in the world you might be a Sunshine & Daisies charm pops up on your glass stem!

We only use Swarovski crystals because we believe they are the best for sparkle & pzazz & that’s exactly what our clients deserve. Our collections are available as ‘off the peg’ designs in sets of 6. Currently there’s over 40 different styles, some with colour options, some with droppers, some without droppers & some with Tibetan silver charms. Prices range from just £12.95 a set to £26.50 for full on Swarovski decadence. We can also tailor make a package to suit any budget & have covered weddings, ruby anniversaries, birthday parties, christenings, Bar Mitzvah’s & even a funeral.

On our website, you’ll also find a few other gifty bits & bobs like Swarovski bookmarks, bouquet charms, keepsake charms & mobile charms plus Swarovski Table Crystals.

We are more than happy to provide quotes with absolutely no obligation whatsoever & it doesn’t matter if its for a single charm, a set of 20 or five hundred in bulk. We feel we’re big enough to cover events, but small enough to keep our attention personal to you. Our proven track record in delivery times, customer service & excellent standards are something we are very proud of. Every single order that leaves us is checked & tissue wrapped free of charge, so when your order reaches you, its as exciting for you to receive as it is for us to send.”

Email:- hello@wineglasscharms.co.uk

Website http://www.wineglasscharms.co.uk

Twitter www.twitter.com/wineglasscharms

Facebook www.facebook.com/wineglasscharms

·         What or who inspires you?

My family inspire me to grow myself & build my business.

·         Top 3 on your wish list right now?

A bigger Eglu for my hens as we’ve just built them a new enormous enclosure & the little eglu looks lost!

An outside insulated dog kennel so my dogs can stay out all day & not have to be shut away indoors when I go out in case it rains (which is rather a lot here :))

To book a holiday to somewhere hot & sunny with my family for my 40th next July

·         Tell us your best/ funniest joke…………go on its Friday!

Paddy and Murphy are discussing what day Christmas falls on this year...Paddy says 'I'm sure its a Friday?'. 'Oh no!' says Murphy......'I hope it’s not the 13th? Hahaha (sorry, I’m easily amused!)

·         What do you have planned for this weekend?

It’s a bit of a family affair which is the perfect weekend for me. There’s definitely a trip to soft play as my eldest has spent all summer in plaster & this will be the 1st weekend he can go since the cast came off. Am also working on my new look website which I hope to have live by the end of September so that will feature as much as possible also.

·         Finally (thank Crunchie) what gives you that ‘Friday-Feeling’?

Friday is, without doubt, my favourite day of the week. It always has been since forever!! It’s the beginning of weekend fun time! My husband & I usually meet in the kitchen when we’ve finished work & share a bottle of wine whilst nattering about the weeks events...perfect!

I'd like to say a massive thanks to Miki for sharing all this, and also for keeping sparkly smiles flowing through Twitterland everyday!

It's my birthday in less than 2 weeks - I'd love some of these!! (Hint hint friends and family!)

I think we should all have at least one set of these to help combat wine theft!!

Have a fab Friday and enjoy the weekend.

Love Kate x