Hugged by Nature

Vendor Biography

Hi, I’m Nicole a deep nature lover who happens to make jewellery!

I started making jewellery as one way to stay connected with the beautiful coast and countryside I call home, bringing it to an (almost) equally strong love of foraging, gathering, collecting and repurposing the things I find, and a curiosity about silver clay.  And I love the process of getting to know the things I find and transforming them into silver or sea-glass pieces.

I live with my husband and Sparky (The Cat) – and when he’s here and not at Uni my teenage son – on the edge of the South Downs National Park in Hampshire, within a stone’s throw of the New Forest and the beaches of Hampshire/Dorset.  I am also a regular visitor to the North-East coast when I visit family, and The Lake District and Cornwall.

This is my ‘second spring’ after many years in the corporate world of HR and ED&I and as I get to devote more time to creating & making, I am learning & trying new techniques all the time, developing my skills and LOVING the journey (it’s such a different feeling from the years of working with corporates!).   It gives me the BIGGEST warm and fuzzy feeling to see people wearing things I have created with a smile on their face.

So far it has also been a wonderful path of personal discovery (not least, aiding my life as a ‘recovering perfectionist’!!) – as I have found, the life of a creative maker is full of ‘failures’ and random, unexpected surprises and you have to learn to embrace them.

When not doing the jewellery things, I also love getting out and about in the woods and wilds of Hampshire (alone or with friends – walks with a pub at the end are one of my faves!), playing Mahjong and starting my day by breathing in the morning air with a properly made, lush cup of coffee, outside.

About my Jewellery

I found my first piece of sea-glass on the beach in Porthcurno in Cornwall over 20 years ago – and when I picked it up I had a thought in my mind that it would make beautiful jewellery with silver, which lead to a collecting addiction and a long wait before I actually put my idea into action!!

Now, alongside shells, leaves, seeds, herbs, flowers and fossils, the sea-glass that I have been collecting all these years is an integral part of many of my designs. Larger pieces are either wire-wrapped, encased in silver with a flat silver strip called bezel or drilled and hung just as they are; smaller pieces are usually wire-wrapped in fine-silver wire, and often paired with a silver leaf, shell or fossil.  How I decide to make a piece of jewellery from individual bits of sea glass is very much determined by their size and shape – I choose not to file or change how the pieces look,  instead working with the uniqueness of what the sand and sea have given me, to create truly one-off pieces!

Besides sea-glass I work mainly with silver-clay, creating replicas of fossils, shells and other things like berries from the hedgerows, using moulds; imprints of flowers and leaves (often of herbs from the garden); creating shapes and textures inspired by things I see and find; and also using silver clay paste to turn leaves and seeds into silver.  Many of my silver designs are also accompanied by small pieces of sea-glass wrapped in fine silver wire, reflecting the land and sea of Hampshire!

Commissions

Because the things I make are generally one-off/one-of-a kind, I am really happy to make to order and to take commissions (previous commissions have included pendants/earrings of sea-glass (you can bring your own or choose your pieces from my collection) shells, herbs & leaves (you choose your favourite) and even a catkin bookmark!) – so if you have a particular leaf that you’d like, or a herb, a special shell or a piece of sea-glass you’ve collected and you’re not sure what to do with it – I’d love to chat and see whether I could transform it into a wearable treasure! Just drop me a message…

Sustainability

In full awareness of the climate and bio-diversity crisis, I am keen to ensure not only that my pieces are ‘timeless’ but also that all the packaging and materials I use are sustainable.  So as far as I possibly can I use recycled silver  and all my gift and postal packaging is recyclable &/or recycled and sustainably produced.  I also buy British/UK made whenever I can.

With warm wishes and thanks for visiting,

Nicole