Its been a while….

Hello there! I’ts only been 3 years since since my last blog! so I thought it might be time for another… :)

I love the idea of writing regularly. I love writing. But I don’t seem to have many words at the moment even though my brain is very thinky. Juggling life between our beautiful daughter, Marla who needs us a lot, being there for my mum as much as possible who is the sole carer of dad who has dementia, trying to be a good friend ( fail ) a good mum (pass) and a good wife/friend to my husband (debatable) , sister , daughter ….is a lot. Time for work seems scarce and often pushed to the side. I’d really like to change this but i’m not sure how to right now.

What I can do is show you a few recent makes and things in the pipeline and keep writing these small update snippets that I hope don’t send you to sleep while your’e reading.

The starfish was a commission. I carved the starfish from wax and sandcast it in solid silver . I don’t use pearls in my own jewellery but my customer really wanted to use one of her grandmas antique pearls in this piece to make it extra special.

The crucible full of gold belongs to another customers mum who sadly passed away. She would like a bangle made from it , maybe even a couple. I’ll see how much I can get from it. I’ll try to take process pics and show you the golds journey in my next blog. Hopefully sooner than 3 years time 😜x

Peace , Love and thanks as always

Zara x

Cyprus in england

I was looking through a box of old photos yesterday that I found in mum and dad's garage. I laid next to my dad while he slept and looking through images of him young and vibrant and beautiful got me remenicing. My dad came to England from Cyprus when he was 16. His mum sent him here to make a better life for himself. When he arrived he had £20 in his pocket and spoke no English at all. Dad got a job almost immediately, washing up dishes in the Connaught Rooms Hotel where his journey towards speaking English and his new life would begin, so far from home. Dad worked hard and endlessly, every hour he could and after a few years of working in hairdressers ( which he had done in Cyprus) eventually bought his own salon on Ladbroke Grove where he would employ the most beautiful girl in the shortest mini skirt who would soon become his wife and a few years later a mother to my sister, then my brother, then me. My dad was the life and soul. He knew everyone and everyone had time for him. I adored walking down the streets with him. It felt like being with a celebrity. 'Alright Tone?!' passers- by would shout. He was a charmer, a wheeler and dealer, and had a zest for life and success that was magical and inspiring. On hot, balmy London summer days, dad would take all the chairs in the salon outside and customers would get their hair done out on the pavement. Dad would set up extension leads for the hairdryers and music and laughter would flood the street. Dad in his absolute element . He created such a buzz wherever he went. I used to go with him most Saturday mornings to the flower market where we would buy the most exotic flowers. Colours that I didn't know existed. Colours that felt like I'd been taken to foreign lands. Dad would fill our house and the salon with them and plant bulbs in our garden that would transform it in the summer into a wonderland. He grew fig trees wherever he could and every outside space he had, would be transformed into Cyprus. In the middle of London and with his newly learnt language, the Cypriot in him would shine through bright and fierce and beautiful and dad would bring colour wherever he went. We were not rich but mum and dad worked incredibly hard and when we were little, dad decided to dig out a swimming pool in our back garden. We lived on a busy main road but our garden was brimming with figs and grape vines and cucumbers and flowers and eventually a pool. We didn't get an expensive firm to make it. Dad and his friends did it. It took about 6 months and it was incredible. We had such brilliant times in that garden. We would invite neighbours and friends for a swim and it felt like being on holiday. Dad had never learnt to swim. He built the pool for us but also so he could carry on practicing. He never did learn but the pleasure he got from us having fun was enough. While I sat with dad today we spoke about the pool and dad said I broke his dream from last night. He said he had learnt to swim. I hope it was a brilliant dream dad. I love my dad. He came to England with big dreams. I hope he's proud of himself. I am so proud of everything he has achieved since that young boy arriving here. I'm proud to be his daughter. To be half Cypriot. I'm proud to be a part of his story. Stories are so beautiful aren't they? Our own journeys aren't the only ones that shape us. Other peoples stories have a big part to play too. They are what make us, us. I'm so glad to be a part of dad's.

A website....finally!

Well that took a while! Appologies for the wait folks but fitting the time in for all that needs to be done is a struggle. I will be adding to the website regularly and tweaking any problems as I go but here it is! Simple but effective…I hope. Thank you so much for stopping by.

In my blog, I will hopefully post some process pics and videos, talk about the day to day happenings in my workshop and let you know what I'm up to. I like to chat, especially about my daughters who are a constant inspiration to me, so thought this might be a nice place to start. If theres anything you want to ask , or a specific topic you want me to talk about, please let me know.

Here is a little pic of my lovely space that Marlon built for me AND planted all the flowers so I would have a nice view. He will be really cross that I posted this pic before cleaning the windows. Sorry Marlon…..