Introducing Fellow Madeit Seller - Lauren - from 'Ayana Jewellery'

As I love encouraging others, particularly those that handcraft items, I thought I would dedicate a blogpost once a month, sharing some information about other handcrafters that I have met.

This month I have great pleasure to introduce to you, Lauren from 'Ayana Jewellery'.

 Lauren is a very skilled jewellery maker that handcrafts rings, earrings, bracelets and necklaces. I met Lauren through the handmade market site, Madeit. I asked Lauren a few questions about her craft. Grab a cup of tea and enjoy reading about her journey ...

Tell us a bit about 'Ayana Jewellery'.

Behind Ayana Jewellery is myself and my partner Vincent. While I develop, design and handmake each item, Vincent supports me with the business side of things from marketing to bouncing ideas.

After studying as a silversmith in New Zealand, I moved to London where I met Vincent. Together
the journey of Ayana Jewellery began. I spend long evenings in my bedroom apartment making and designing jewellery. Vincent helping where he could.
We re-located to Sydney in early 2015 and re-launched Ayana Jewellery. We now design and make contemporary fashion accessories from our creative home studio in Neutral Bay (Sydney).
The artistic inspiration for our products comes from our travels. The ones ‘desire’ to see, feel, taste and yearn.

Resonating from cultural motifs to architectural shapes and forms.

Each jewellery item in our range is handcrafted with love from start to finish, with each piece not quite the same as the one before. We design and make with the fun loving women in mind and the idea that jewellery is to be worn and enjoyed every day. 

What do you like most about being a handmade designer/creator?

I predominately work with sterling silver (925) so popping on my apron and taking to the bench with saws, hammers and solder to bend, curve and form shapes making the jewellery come to life has to be my favourite part of being a creator. On the other side, I just love when I sell something and get awesome feedback from the customer - you never stop getting that little buzz!

Why did you choose to create jewellery?

I never really know how to answer this question - I just love jewellery and it fascinated me that I could create my own from a few lengths of wire, some sheets of silver and a soldering torch. After doing a night course I was hooked and went on to do a full-time course.

What is next? Do you have any new products/designs/ideas planned?

We have just started doing markets in Sydney which are awesome and a great way to interact with customers, so we'll be doing more of those in the next few months. We also have a new range of Drop Designs which we have tested at the markets, they will be going up online in the next few weeks.

Our plan for the next few months is to get our jewellery into a few more shops and get more locally handmade items out there whilst educating the customers so they can understand and appreciate "handmade". We are already stocked with Bonty in Canberra, Boxable Gift Boxes and will soon be in Manly Gallery.

Thank you Lauren for sharing about your handcrafting journey and your beautiful products. I love the simplistic, modern design of your jewellery and I wish you all the best in your endeavours.

If you would like to view more Ayana Jewellery products, simply click here to view what is in store.

Thank you for viewing!

~ Jen

P.S - If you have enjoyed reading about other handcrafters and want to know more about Tupsy Turvy Designs, why not become a 'Golden Ticket Member'? It is FREE and membership entitles you to regular updates, exclusive sales, discounts and opportunities. Simply click here and enter your email address. Easy! I look forward to sharing more ideas with you soon ...

Getting organised and greeting cards

A couple of weekends ago, we celebrated Mother's Day... 

Twelve months ago, I celebrated my first Mother's Day after what seemed like an epic age of heartache. Then, finally, I became a mother of two (very!) bouncy boys through adoption and my world changed. I now experience a different heartache: a heart aching with love my boys, a heartache when they are sick or upset, a heart aching with worry about problems, a heart aching with pride as I witness their amazing growth. It was a special day for me.

Mother's Day is also a time where I like to remind my mother and mother-in-law how much we all love them. I like researching easy, yet beautiful crafts that the boys and I can create together. However, there is only one problem with this ... I always leave the creation part to the last minute. I don't know how it happens ... I make up my mind what to create early enough and have everything ready, but the 'doing' part seems to happen days before it is due for giving. As it is, our creations are still drying and will be late in the post.

I often feel the temptation to 'pop into the shops', however, my creative streak is strong and the determination to make something personal overrides this. That is why I love handmade items and gifts - they are personal and created with love, whether you have made them yourself or bought from someone who enjoys creating. I love that I can have the help from my boys in creating these gifts and this year they have their hand prints (purposely) stamped with paint on them as a record of their growth in a year. Now, if I can only get myself more organised with birthday gift giving ...

Welcome to my new range of mixed media cards! I wanted a new design - something a bit more abstract and eclectic, however, I wanted to maintain the recycled/reclaimed material element. That is why every card uses a background consisting of a used book page. I initially wanted to add words to the card design, however, it just didn't look right, hence they are created without them. This has become a plus, as these cards are now free to be used for any occasion. Handmade cards are a wonderful way to convey personal greetings, particularly when each card incorporates a unique design.

These cards will soon be added to the store. To view what is currently in store, please click here.

Thanks for viewing!

~ Jen.

P.S - If you have enjoyed reading about the story behind Tupsy Turvy Designs' products, why not become a 'Golden Ticket Member'? It is FREE and membership entitles you to regular updates, exclusive sales, discounts and opportunities. Simply click here and enter your email address. Easy! I look forward to sharing more ideas with you soon ...

Showing some love

As shown previously, I have been working on a new colour combination: grey and red. I am absolutely loving this mix and I couldn't help but feature a 'heart' on my latest canvas (as red lends itself to a heart, right?).

I have used ribbon and pearl like beading to embellish the heart that is placed on a mixed media base. I try hard to use materials that are recycled, in this case, lace and book pages are used.

Whilst I was creating this I thought that this canvas could easily become a precious wedding memento - to give to a special couple marking their special day. I played around with various settings...

This canvas features the name of the couple and the wedding date. I also decided to add a wedding verse...

I also decided to add simply the word 'heart'...

I haven't adhered any words down yet. They will also have a border around the edge.

This canvas will soon be placed in the Tupsy Turvy Design madeit.com.au store with the opportunity to choose what lettering you want displayed.

I would love to hear your thoughts!
Thanks for viewing!

A house with character

There is something about houses that intrigues me... I find myself looking in the real estate advertising pages, admiring the quirks and the features of different homes.

After glancing through a craft book, I found adorable, miniature houses. I was then inspired to create my own version of a miniature house, complete with roof and tiny, little windows. Using the artistic, mixed media style that I have adopted, I then transferred that to the pattern I developed to create a unique, miniature house. I just had to have a feature window (the heart) and a removable base to allow a battery operated, tea light candle to be placed in the middle.

I hope to create more of these 'sweet abodes' soon...

Thanks for stopping by!