.. there was a little girl who loved collecting sparkly things, beads and dressing up with necklaces and earrings as big as Pat Butcher's.
Fast forward many years, and here I am today SO grateful to be sharing my love for jewellery and making special and sentimental pieces for you lovely people.
This is just a little intro on who I am and how I got here - following posts will go in to a bit more detail about each of the collections I currently have, processes and inspirations. My name is Paraskevi, known as Paris to some, Skevi to others. Having Greek-Cypriot roots, I have learnt to embrace the variations of my name and what my culture brings to the table. I grew up in the small seaside town of Hastings, moved away for university, worked in London for a few years, then met my husband in Hastings and have been back here since!
So - how did I get here?
After a music degree and some years of teaching music in schools for various music services, I wanted to explore my love of jewellery. Although I still love playing and tutoring privately, sometimes you need to take the leap and follow your heart!
When I was about 7 months pregnant with my 1st child, I attended a Silversmithing course and was hooked. All the loud hammering of the silver used to make my son dance about and kick in my tummy, and although he was probably wanting me to shut up so he could get some sleep, I remember being overwhelmed with emotion at his movements, always remembering that really special time in my life. I guess something just changes in you once you know you are carrying a life and how much your own life is about to change.
I've always been a really sentimental person, keeping boxes upon boxes of gifts, notes, and letters from special people in my life. So it was a natural progression for me to be fascinated by fingerprint jewellery after attending a Silver Keepsake course once I'd had my second child. Here I was introduced to the incredible material silver clay. Silver clay is worked and moulded like traditional clay in its wet form, and when dried then heated or 'fired', it becomes pure silver.
Watch this space - my next post will be about my gorgeous seaside hometown Hastings, all of its nautical treasures and the way this is tied in to my coastal collection. I've been asked how I make the 3D structural jewellery such as net huts and beach huts, so I will share an insight in to the fun of that!
In the meantime, I've been blown away by all the love, support, and positivity from local people but also those further afield, each and every order that comes through makes me smile as I feel privileged to make something so personal and individual for you. So thank you from the bottom of my heart. Back to my outbuilding studio I go to polish a fingerprint order .. <3
