We had a great evening at Great Northern Contemporary Craft Fair. Where we were sponsoring part of the event, by offering a showcase exhibition to 5 outstanding jewellers. We chose Jane Moore, Tamsin Leighton-Boyce, Julie Mellor, Victoria Walker and Chris Boland.

                       Chris Boland                                                                      Jane Moore

                   Tamsin Leighton-Boyce                                                      Victoria Walker

                             Julie Mellor

I just stubbled accross this wedding dress while browsing the interenet and I had to share it with you. It's made from peacock feathers and is estimated to set you back around $1.4 million!

We had a lovely night last night at the Manchester Metropolitan University Degree show, and we were lucky enough to be asked to presenty an award. Over the next few months we will be displaying the work from each of our winners, so you will be able to come and see their beautiful work. Here is a little taster from each of our winners:

Catherine Chester makes these beautiful pieces using imagery of vintage erotica. We loved the surprising quirkiness of her designs, and the high quality of her making.

Craig Macaulay makes these finely detailed strands in a variety of colours. They are made from nylon thread dipped in resin, which creates this beautiful dewdrop like effect. The impact of the large neck pieces really caught our attention.

Sean Ramsden makes these striking pieces from slate, which contrasts really well with the silver.  The quality and originality of his work really stood out to us.

Would you dare to wear these crazy pieces of jewellery by Rebekha Frank?

Each piece has a meaning and lesson for the wearer from teaching you how to stand correctly so the spikes dont get you but you gain gtreat posture to highlighting the limiting nature of modern high heels. We think that the pieces are beautiful in a scary way but they are maybe best left to the likes of Lady Gaga or Rhianna to wear on stage.

We are loving these unusual wedding ring designs by Kiley Granberg.

Kiley says - Wedding Bands are about commitment. The inherent connotations are a huge part of the piece and, quite often, reveal themselves as a social or sexual comment.

The rings are constructed out of brass then plated in 24k gold. And although the stone is set into the men's ring, when screwed together, the stone actually sits against the woman's finger.

Take a look at these eccentric pieces of jewellery by Designer Dominic Jones, featuring a variety of animals and sea creatures.

We are now putting out our sale stock, with up to 50% off selected items.  The sale officially starts tomorrow morning so come and pick up a bargain before it's all gone.  We have a selection of pieces from some of our best makers, and a lot of the pieces are one offs so you can get an exclusive piece of jewellery at a fracion of the price.

Valentine's Day is just around the corner, so here are a few ideas for all those loved up people who are struggling to find the perfect gift.  If you are care free and single this Valentine's day then why not treat yourself.

We have a new collection of jewellery in store from Tonya O'Hara.  These bold yet delicate pieces have been handmade from recycled plastic bottles.  You can see more from Tonya on her page, and find out her inspiration behind the collection.

Putting up the Christmas tree definatley puts us in the festive mood, but sometimes you want to do something a little different to everyone else.  Here are a few more unusual Christmas trees, they have sparked our inspiration for next year and we hope they do the same for you.  Our favourite is the second one which is made entirely from antlers.  But I think we are more likely to find the materials to make the last one which is made from empty wine bottles

Yesterday we received a beautiful collection of silverware from Ryan McClean.  These pieces have been lovingly handcrafted, with a variety of exciting textures and finishes.  Here is a little taster, but you can see more of his work at this link, and we have even more in store.

We are open late night on Thursday during the run up to Christmas.  We will be open until 9pm, so everyone who works hard all week will get the chance to fit in a bit of Christmas shopping.  There will also be a farmers market on Chorlton Green this week, and on Thursday 21st it will be the Winter Solstice at the Horse and Jockey.  See you there

We love these aviator goggles from Tatty Devine.

Headband                                                        Necklace

After seeing the beautiful fireworks at our local pub The Horse and Jockey on bonfire night.  Last night we saw the amazing fireworks in Manchester city centre at the Christmas lights switch on.  Here are some brooches we have found which were inspired by fireworks.

Lynn Doe                                                                                Tiffany & Co.

Tatty Devine                                                                             Swarovski

Last night we had some drinks and nibbles in store to celebrate our first Birthday.  Thank you to everyone who came and had a drink with us.  We're feeling a bit hungover today but it was definately worth it, bring on year 2.  As our birthday falls on Halloween we also dressed up to add a bit of spook to the night, here are some pictures to give you nightmares.

We recently had this beautiful advert designed by Jon Stunt which was used in the catalogue for The Great Northern Contemporary Craft Fair.  Jon has a done a lot of our graphic design and we love his work.  The jewellery in this advert is by Caroline Royal.

By Jon Stunt - jonstunt@yahoo.co.uk

For all you gamers out there this is the perfect accessory, PacMan rings!

If you like big jewellery check out these pieces by Elizaveta Yankelovich.

This is a great use for old skateboards.  We love the idea of taking something so old and battered and making it into something beautiful again.

We love these colourful brooches by Australian designer Meghan O'Rourke.