Thank you for the idea, Ma'am

Happy Bastille Day, France!
In honour of national pride, I'm writing about a piece that was inspired by our very own Queen Elizabeth II. Since I can't put a matching coat, dress, and hat on a necklace, and can't give beads a stiff upper lip or posh accent, I decided to make this one out of pearls. Have you ever seen a picture of her majesty without a strand or two?There she's rocking some rather unusual pearls, not unlike the shells seen here. Apparently, the royal love of pearls started with Elizabeth I, who was positively dripping with them - "A pale Roman nose, a head of hair loaded with crowns and powdered with diamonds, a vast ruff, a vaster fardingale, and a bushel of pearls, are features by which everybody knows at once the pictures of Queen Elizabeth." (Walpole, "Anecdotes of Painting in England," London, 1849, Vol. I, P. 151.) Princess Diana and Mary Queen of Scots also had quite a few pearl necklaces (remember that gorgeous multi pearl and diamond choker Diana wore often?) If you're interested, there's an entire site about Princess Diana's pearl jewelry that can be visited here.
In the interest of the economy, I decided to cheat and use glass pearls for this necklace. Real pearls are absolutely gorgeous, but its hard to find perfectly round ones at a cheap price, so glass it is (but if anyone requests Darby Jewelry make them a 'real' pearl necklace, we won't say no!) To be honest, as long as these dont get scratched (which would take a lot of stepping on, dropping, or running through a rock tumbler to do), no one will ever know they're not fresh out of an oyster.



To end with, here are a few things to note if you ever meet the queen:
1. You address her as 'Your Majesty' the first time you greet her, and then call her 'Ma'am' from then on.
2. You're not allowed to touch any member of the Royal family unless they touch you first (there go my hopes of hugging Prince William!)
3. If you're not a British citizen, you don't have to bow or curtsey!

And as always, feel free to visit us at Darby Jewelry.

I'm just Beachy, thanks!

The 'inspiration' for my Darby Jewelry creations is 'the countryside and historical homes of England' (namely my favourite bit of countryside - the bumpy green gloomy Peak District.) As there are only so many bumpy green gloomy necklaces one can sell, I've had to call on things like livestock, buildings, furniture, flowers, and fabrics to help me along. Today, in particular, I decided I would make a piece of jewelry inspired by the beach in Hunstanton, Norfolk.

I would love to say I visited this place as a child and have fond memories of baking in the sun, playing with beach balls in the ocean spray, building sandcastles adorned with sand-dollars and shells, and eating ice cream sundaes until my swimsuit seams popped. This isn't quite the case. As anyone who has been to the beach in England (or even worse, Scotland), can tell you, nine times out of ten it is raining or at least dreary. The particular time I remember going it rained. A lot. Really the only bits of trips that I remember were the pony rides along the beach, 'rock' candy (Americans: this is not sugary crystals on a popsicle stick. See here.) and an otter sanctuary/Sea Life centre. Otters and ponies don't really make good necklaces (too big) and seaside rock candy would be best left to someone who works with clay beads, so I decided to work with shells! Beachy, right? Well Hunstanton isn't really a beach you can run along and come out of with giant pretty shells like the ones they sell in cheesy Florida surf shops. So I used some 'british' shells - reserved, pretty, and subtle - along with lots of glass (which is made with sand!), red and green Aventurine, and some Swarovski crystals to add 'bling.' Over all, the result is quite like the picture above - stripey and rather stunning!

If you like the look of Hunstanton, Norfolk is quite a pretty (although flat) part of England to go to! They're supposed to have England's best beaches (Great Yarmouth, Cromer, and Holkham Bay). If beaches aren't really your thing, be sure to check out Sandringham (one of the Queen's lovely homes), Castle Rising, any of the numerous Lavender farms, various sports in the area (water-skiing, tennis, and golf), or just borrow a boat and check out some mills along the Broads!

And, as always, if you don't have the cash to fly on over to the UK for a week, check out my store, DarbyJewelry, and give yourself or someone you love a little bit of the English countryside.