TANIA
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As a young girl I was always playing with my Mum's button and beading boxes. I was fascinated with the colours and textures of all the different antique buttons and beads. When I was 12 years old I made a cosmetic case for my Mum and beaded her name on it. She loved it and still uses it today - 35 years later! I just kept beading and making various things. Then in 1993 I beaded my wedding dress and the headbands for my bridesmaids. It took me 86 hours for the dress and 20 hours for the headbands. Lucky I will only have to do that once in my lifetime!! 
My beading took a break during the years that my children were little - fear of them tipping over the box creating a colourful and dangerous carpet. Then in 2006 looking for a gift for a friend's 40th birthday, I saw this magnificent necklace and thought that it was great but not perfect. It was that moment that I thought "I can make something unique for her". It was my first piece of jewellery. I was so proud of myself for being inspired and making something special for my friend.
Then another friend in 2007 who is sooooo stylish was about to turn 40. I could not find the exact necklace that would suit her so I let inspiration take hold and this was the result.
She loved the design and I showed the photo to other friends who asked if I could make necklaces for them. This encouraged me to expand my bead collection. My children (Design Girl, Cricketer and Mini Comic) all loved the idea of mum designing necklaces - they requested that I make some for their teachers as end of year thank you gifts.
So my first collection of necklaces were gifts for friends. Then in 2007 a friend started up a charity called "Life's Little Treasures Foundation (LLTF)" which supports families that have a premature baby. I offered to make 11 necklaces (one for each table of guests) for the inaugural dinner.
That was my gift to the LLT foundation and in return I was overjoyed to meet 11 people who raved about my jewellery. One gentleman in particular was so thrilled that he would be going home from what was technically a "work" dinner with jewellery for his wife. I was overjoyed at the reaction to my jewellery.
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| One of the necklaces that Tania made for Life's Little Treasures inaugural charity dinner |
Since then I have created numerous necklaces for friends and family. Other necklaces have been donated to charity events and auctioned to raise funds for a variety of great causes. With a bit of creative input from my young daughter the bead collection now takes up most of the desk space in the office. I have sourced beads from UK, USA, India, Greece, Italy and the list goes on.
Most of my designs are archived according to the date that they were made. Have a look at the entire collection on the Gallery page of the blog and see how it has changed over the years.
I have now branched out into making necklaces, earrings and brooches from different materials - such as fabric, coiled metal, buttons, glass and wooden beads, resin beads, and crocheted flowers.
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| A favourite necklace made for Cricketer's teacher in 2008. |
JANE
I have this friend (the one mentioned above) who is a mad keen beader - she will bead anything that is stationary. Not content to bead alone she convinced me that jewellery making is a creative pursuit that I can mix with children, a renovation, and a generally hectic lifestyle. She is right - the last few years have seen me become hooked on sourcing gorgeous beads and using my design talents to turn them into necklaces that receive the "OMG...I love it...can you make me one" response from my friends and family.
I get such satisfaction from finding the beads, workshopping the design and then putting it into practice. Oddly it is a calming activity and so rewarding. I think that I an now officially a jewellery designer for life. I am focusing on the children's collection for NeckSpice and the Silky Pebble designs in the adults range. I have so many designs in mind but not enough hours in the day...
Here is one of my favourite pieces that I have created ... many more to come.
CREATION OF NeckSpice
As the requests for jewellery are growing we thought we need a name - we had outgrown the title "our hobby". So after numerous cafe lattes NeckSpice was born. We are now able to sell our necklaces to friends and others who appreciate quirky designs and custom made jewellery.
Watch this blog for future designs and check out
some of the previous collections in the Gallery of Necklaces page
The 2013/2014 collection is now available on the Necklaces for Sale page
Hope that you enjoy reading our blog and please feel free to comment if you like the designs.
