Make a wish!

Our friendship charm bracelets are flying out right now so it’s about time we shared a little history behind our favourite wristwear...

Friendship bracelets are a handmade symbol of friendship given from one friend to another.

The History behind them stems from Native America and states that the recipient of a friendship bracelet wear it until the cords wear out and fall off naturally.... the idea is that the friend paid for it with the hard work and love that made it, and the recipient repays the friend by wearing it and honoring the work.

History states that removing the bracelet before it naturally falls off is a sign that the friendship has gone sour !! Another variation of this tradition is that the recipient of a bracelet is entitled to a wish. After the bracelet wears out and falls off naturally, the wish will come true. We can promise that our soft leather friendship bracelets won’t be falling off anytime soon but who says your wishes wont come true!

Giving a friendship bracelet to a friend has real sentimental value and is showing the friend that he or she is special to them.

They are a great, stylish and affordable gift and can be worn by anyone..... and, with our fabulous bespoke service you can load them up with gorgeous silver charms, crystals and gemstones.

You can even add a silver tag inscribed with a name, date or secret shared between best friends!

Emma x

Sweet as honey...

As I’ve just seen what must be the last bee until next year I want pay tribute to this fuzzy little winged insect that has not only been inspiration in my designs, but has also come to symbolise Emma Hadley jewellery.

When it comes to bees do you run to the other end of the garden? or are you happy to let them buzz around you? well love them or hate them, they’re major pollinators of many of our food crops supporting one-third of our diet... and they’re dying out! three species of native British Bumblebees have already become extinct, and five more are under serious threat.....

                                         “No bee’s no honey; no work no money”

We are happy to spread a little love for bees at EH HQ.  Busy bees in the EH garden this summer:

Bee’s have been  important symbols in many cultures and religions for centuries. The ancient Egyptians used them as a symbol of regal power, they've been emblems of the Greek god Eros, and the Hindu god Shiva, Napoleon used them as his personal badge, and the bible described the promised land as ‘flowing with milk and honey’.  And now the fab new symbol for the bee - the Emma Hadley logo! designed by the talented Abi Williams of Rude:

I love bees as symbols of hope, creativity, industry, and intelligence, as well as family, motherhood and the goddess, this is something we can all connect with and take inspiration from!

Favourites pieces with the Emma Hadley signature bee:

Emma (aka Queen bee) XX

Bouquets and bracelets...

Ok I think we know now autumn is well and truly here and so the wedding season is coming to a close.  This year style savvy brides and wedding goers made the most of our bespoke jewellery for something really special, here’s a few of my faves…

One of two vows pendants.  And grooms Lovebird cufflinks which went with Lovebirds with pearls earrings I made for the bride:

Brides pearl and Swarovski set.  Bracelet and earring sets were also made for the bridesmaids with each of their birthstones added as charms which made lovely gifts:

Next year will see a dedicated page for weddings on the website me thinks!

E xx

Get the picture...

A necessity of starting your own business is being able to do it yourself, cos chances are there’s no one else to do it for you! Luckily I’m a ‘do it yourself’ kinda girl, learning new skills can be tough but when you get there it’s pretty cool. 

One of the big challenges with selling jewellery is getting great photos that accurately capture the gorgeous colours and design details, and also show it off as much as possible.  Anyone worth their salt when it comes to photography will tell you that jewellery is the hardest product to photograph, and if you don’t believe them let me tell you it is, it really, really is!  It’s taken Mr EH and me a year to crack it after lot’s of research, advice, and experimenting (plus lot’s of head scratching, grumbling, and late nights!). 

Here’s what we learned: 

You don’t need to use a light cube but can if you want, get 4-5 photography lamps with strong true daylight bulbs  (35W 5500K), position the lamps to get light evenly distributed on all sides of the jewellery, lay it out on glass with white cloth draped underneath to eliminate shadows, position white card around the jewellery to reflect the light back, and learn to cut out photos in photoshop... 

That should keep you busy ;)

E xx

Stuck on me...

Woop woop! the finishing touches have been made to my gorgeous new friendship bracelets (happy sigh)  I'm so excited about this new arm candy I can't seem to go a day with out wearing one, especially layered up with my stack charm bracelets.  So finally... after finding the perfect leather cord in the most delicious candy colours AND learning how to tie the perfect sliding knots (after much finger and thumbs confuddling!) voila:

All the bracelets are personalised and look fab with lots of charms layered on.   
My personal fave, the mini tag cluster with a cupcake charm:

Gorgeous no? 
E xx