Featured Shop - Karen Young Jewellery

Our next Featured Shop is by Karen Young who makes the most beautiful jewellery.
I asked Karen if she could tell us a bit about herself and how she came to be running a highly successful jewellery business.

I always had a fascination with jewellery and gemstones that started as a child.  However, my passion for making and creating  took a back seat as I built a successful career in Financial Services for 12 years in central London.

Soon after the birth of my second son, I took a step back from my corporate career to spend more time with my two beautiful boys.  I have also been able to use this opportunity to reacquaint myself with the wondrous process of designing and making beautiful pieces of jewellery and working with gemstones.

My jewellery is  fabricated from silver (Sterling, Fine and my absolute favourite Argentium Silver) with the occasional accents in 18 and 24ct gold.

  I use high-quality precious, and semi-precious gemstones and freshwater pearls, which are all hand-selected by myself, to embellish and complete my jewellery designs.

My distinctive and versatile designs are heavily inspired by intricate and unusual textures and form found in nature and each piece is simple, modern and effortless to wear. I meticulously craft each piece by hand using both traditional and modern silversmithing tools and techniques, and transform precious metals and gemstones into unique and enduring mementos to be treasured, loved and shared.

Sneak peek at Karen's fabulous new collection 

Karen lovingly designs and crafts each and every piece of her distinctive and elegant Handmade Jewellery in her London studio using traditional jewellery making techniques. I think that the care taken in the process shines through with these wonderful, original designs.

Karen is active across all the media channels and has been using Instagram to show off her new collection as it launches.  Be sure to follow her so that you get the latest information! 

The new collection will be posted on Facebook including a competition with the chance to win a piece from the collection on Tuesday, 6th November! 

Website
Etsy
Instagram
Facebook

Featured Shop - The Old Button

Our next Featured Shop is The Old Button - I asked Sharon to tell us all about herself and her amazing products.

I’m Sharon, also known as The Old Button – a name inspired by a box of buttons given to me by my grandmother when I showed an interest in sewing as a small child. My passion is designing and working with fabric, getting a real buzz out of coming up with a new idea and working out how I can translate it into a workable pattern. I love using interesting and quirky materials and my favourite techniques include patchwork, quilting, applique and hand embroidery – with the odd old button thrown in on occasion! 

My range of fun and functional gifts for children (and the young at heart) include reversible aprons, patchwork quilts and CE certificated toys, and as the festive season approaches, quirky Christmas stockings and decorations.

 Reversible Aprons
 I love making children's aprons with a difference. Each is reversible and offers a different theme on each side to give twice as much fun wearing them and I am always coming up with new ideas – my current favourites include these Robot and Car aprons for toddlers.

 
Christmas Stockings 
Santa on Holiday is part of my range of limited production stockings - I choose fun and quirky prints and only make a small number of stockings in each print each year. I also make one-off luxury padded stockings with lots of hand embroidered details and trim – such as this Festive Fairy,

Patchwork quilts 
I love designing patchwork quilts and usually have time to make two or three each season. I haven’t quite finished my Christmas themes ones yet, but here is one of my favourites from this summer – The Princess and the Pea is closely quilted in concentric circles to give it a modern, yet traditional feel.  

      

Play on the Go © Play Scenes  
I designed these fold up travel playmats to keep little ones amused on journeys – this Safari Zoo play scene has lots of hand embroidered felt motifs depicting different habitats and a handy pocket to store the lions and tigers and bears. 

This Christmas I’ve been invited to take part in the Etsy local event in the centre of Cardiff. I am working with a bunch of fantastic crafters and designers from Cardiff and the South Wales valleys in a pop up shop in the Capital ShoppingCentre from the 24th November until Christmas Eve.   So if you are near Cardiff in the run up to Christmas, why not pop in for a chat and maybe pick up a beautiful gift or two.  You can find more information on the Etsy website.  

Sharon can be contacted about her amazing products or found on Social Media in these locations.

Etsy shop - https://www.etsy.com/uk/shop/TheOldButton
Folksy shop - https://www.folksy.com/uk/shop/TheOldButton
https://www.facebook.com/TheOldButton
http://theoldbutton.blogspot.co.uk/
https://twitter.com/TheOldButton
https://www.pinterest.com/theoldbutton/

We wish you well for the forthcoming Festive Season and it has been wonderful getting to know you a bit better!