Looking forward to the New Year

This time of year always goes very quiet for me probably because I dont push my jewellery enough. Maybe next year I will try and do something about it. SO in the meantime I have already started looking towards a couple of events for next year. Apart from all my usual wedding fayres at the start of the new year, which I might add can be quite a few, I have two other events that I am quite excited about. The first, I am hoping will bring me a little bit of business for next year, is Miss Falkirk 2011 being organised by a girl called Fiona, who's business is called Extensions by Fiona. She has asked me to design two tiaras by way of sponsorship. One for the winner and two for second and third runner up. The design was being left totally up to me. I have also offered a prize of a necklace to the winner which I have still to make. I decided I wanted to make something that said Falkirk and nothing says Falkirk more than the oldest landmark in Falkirk, The Steeple
The local football team have managed to immortalise The Steeple in a simple design to promote their club, so taking the basic shape of the design I managed to create my winners tiara for Miss Falkirk 2011. Here is my take on the design.  As you can see my drawing is not up to much but I knew what I wanted to create.

Here is the finished tiara

The next idea I had was to make the runner up tiara design on Falkirks newest landmark. The Falkirk Wheel. I used the lines and shapes from the Falkirk Wheel to come up with this design.

And here is the finished design.

The other event I am looking forward too but unfortunately I am not directly involved with is The Royal Wedding. I guess its nice to dream that maybe one day I might have the honour of being By Royal Appointment but in the meantime I consider all my brides to be Princesses in Waiting. So I designed a traditional looking tiara fit for a princess for my brides being married in 2011. Here it is and it is called Catherine.

Speak of True Love, A peom by Nicola Sanderson

This Poem was written by Nicola Sanderson for the occasion of Helen Jackson & David Leslie's wedding on the 4th September 2010. It was read at the service in St Wilfrids Church, Burnsall. If you wish to use it for your wedding please remember to credit the penning of this poem to Nicola Sanderson. Thank you.

Speak of True Love
By Nic Sanderson for Helen and Dave

“Come talk of love” you ask,
though countless bards were buried by the task,
for where is love, that we may
drive a pin in it - a butterfly displayed.
Has play, book, verse or essay ream
encompassed its expansive meaning?

Is love encircled by a golden band
or in old age by a comforting hand?
More than desire and longer than life,
a partner through all their pain and strife,
that they would walk hot coals at your behest,
or simply knowing someone likes you best?

Is love heart’s swoop upon first meeting,
or that still it soars on one thousandth greeting?
Entwining souls, a perfect match,
is it fate, a gift, or a fine catch?
Is it the romantic walks on the shore?
Yes, it is this.  And yet it’s more.

When sent in search of love’s true bloom
I consulted our friends, the bride and groom
They said ‘sleepy kisses when first stirred,
or still laughing at lines the second time heard
looking forward to meeting when homeward bound,
Perhaps it’s here that love is found.

They spoke of a caring, trusting bond,
pride in each other and warm fondness,
being a team right from the start,
acceptance of flaws with full heart,
romantic watery settings that portend
to a pair more than special and best of friends

Love is, then, all of this… and none,
for here, today, is love’s definition won
with two short words, and one heart’s beat,
you lay all your tomorrows at love’s feet.
Speak of love you say?
But it is you who teach us all of love, this day.

© Nicola Sanderson

August a busy month!

August saw me and hubby celebrating our silver wedding anniversary.  We had a family BBQ on what I think was the hottest Sunday afternoon of the month.  On the actual day of our anniversary we went to the Lea park Hotel where we had our wedding reception 25 years ago, for a lovely meal.

 The the following Saturday we went off to Gran Canaria for a weeks holiday.  It was very hot there! We stayed a privately owned apartment. The swimming pool was lovely and quiet and the beach was gorgeous. Our one and only excursion was a jeep safari.  It was really good fun, the driver would pretend to fall asleep leaving me panicking as I held on to the steering wheel.  We also went on a camel ride. We had a scary experience there, as the camel behind us was pushed into our camel by the camel behind him who had freaked out. My arm was caught between the metal bars of the seats on the camels as was hubby's knee.We also swam in a reservoir the temperature was 45 degrees in the mountains.

On our return to the UK we only had a few days before we went down to Burnsall in England for a wedding.  Burnsall is a very small village in the middle of nowhere with no mobile phone connection. The hotel where the wedding reception was held was very old and quaint. It was called The Red Lion. The scenery was breathtaking and we fully understood why David & Helen chose to have their wedding there. It gave me the opportunity to make a headdress for myself to wear. I made this one called Hayley.

While we were at the wedding there was a Viking festival. Sometimes we didn't know where we should be..at the wedding or watching what was going on at the festival.  Here are some pictures I took of it while we were at the wedding.

How I work

The pictures that follow are of me working on an order. It was for 3 side tiaras called Claire using clear ab Swarovski crystals and burgundy crystals, silver plated wire and seed beads. I tend to either sit on the settee using a fold down plastic table or if I am at my mums, I sit on the floor using a folding blue plastic table.
As you can see I have already completed 2 side tiaras. 1 adult size and 1 child size. My tools are wire cutters, flat nose pliers and round nose pliers. I used 0.6mm silver plated wire to create the flower and now I am using 0.8mm wire to make the stamens. I have wrapped 2 lengths of 0.8mm wire round my silver plated tiara crown base. I have already pulled the tiara base in to the shape of an Alice band. I prefer to use the tiara crown bases as they are shorter in length than the Alice bands and often my customers dont like the feel of the Alice band around the back of their ears.
I have now threaded on the crystals. In the adult size I have used 4 clear crystals to 1 coloured crystal. Each crystal is separated by a seed bead. In the childs side tiara I have only used 3 clear crystals to 1 coloured crystal. I have finished the end of the wire off by using my round nose pliers to create a small loop and then I have snipped off the excess wire.
Next I have wrapped the flower round the centre of the stamen wires and tiara base. Again I have cut off the excess wire. Its almost finished now.
I create a centre flower using 6 x 5mm and 1 x 6mm coloured crystals to add to the centre of the the big flower. It is then wrapped round the centre of the large flower and the excess wire is cut off.
That's the order completed.

New stuff and competiton

Ok here is the new stuff I have been creating.
First one is the Grace and Emma tiara combined to make a new tiara called Gemma. It is inspired by the hairband worn by Katie Price.


I had a bride come to me last week with lots of ideas so here is what I made for her. The first is a necklace with a 5 inch back drop and is called Necklace Julie



The next thing I made for her was a twisted cake topper. It is the first one I have ever made.



Finally she asked me to design a new tiara for her and all I had to go on was a little sketch which Julie, my bride, had drawn for me. So I came up with 2 designs. The first one which she chose and asked me to call it Kelly (Julie's surname). The second one I am running a competition on Facebook to be named. The prize are 2 pairs of earrings. The first pair to the name I like the best the second pair will go to the best reason given to me for their choice of name.
Kelly

To wear a tiara or not to wear a tiara.....

To wear a tiara or not to wear a tiara that is the question!
It is a very personal decision and ranks high with what jewellery to wear and whether or not to wear a veil. There are no hard and fast rules about how you should look but everyone has an idea and often it can become quite confusing about what is right and what is not.
My rule is if it doesn't feel comfortable then don't wear it, by that I mean if you feel you don't look right in it then don't be pressurised into wearing any of them.
If you want to dress up you hair then I would definitely suggest a visit to dizaTIARAS. I am a small home based hobby business and I aim to help you make this decision. There is never any pressure for you to place an order and I am happy for you to say that you would prefer to think about it than making any rash decisions.
So when should you think about making an appointment.
No less than 3 months before the wedding or a soon as you have your wedding dress if you cant wait. But if you decide the week before your wedding that maybe you would like a tiara then please give me a call. I will always do my best to accommodate you and produce what you want in plenty of time for your special day. It is best to order early as this allows you to have hair trials with your hair stylist.
Often, in the wedding shop, tiaras are place on your head to give you the overall look and sometimes you will instantly fall in love with the tiara that is placed on your head and you will buy it on impulse. That is ok but if you haven't fallen instantly in love with it then please don't dismiss the idea of wearing a tiara. Tiaras come in very many different styles and here at dizaTIARAS I try to make as many different designs as possibly. If you don't see something you like, then if you can describe it, then I will try and create it for you.
Working from home means I don't have shop overheads, which in turn allows me to create high quality product at amazingly affordable prices. What's amazing about it it the bespoke service I offer. All my designs can be changed and altered to suit your colour scheme or simply if you wish to change the components within the design makes each tiara truly unique to you and your wedding.
Can't decide if a tiara is for you.
Come along and try on the very many different samples I have and bring your friend, your mum and your bridesmaids. Its fun trying them all on and I promise there is no hard sales push. The hardest part once you have decided on the style of tiara is customising it for your wedding party. Many times I have had brides to be saying to me, I didnt realise there was so many decisions to make in choosing a tiara. But you can tell they are delighted because there are getting the high quality accessories exactly as they imagine it at an affordable price!

Horse shoe challenge

One of my previous customers (Amanda) challenged me to create a horse shoe for her little girl to give to a friend as a wedding gift. When she came to me in 2007 to make her a tiara she spotted a comb that I had and asked if it could be made into a tiara then she added her own unique idea by changing the paper flowers in the comb to crystal flowers. The tiara was called Amanda Jane

Here is a picture of Amanda wearing her tiara. She looked stunning!

Any way she wanted a keep sake for her friends wedding and decided that she didn't want to give one of those plastic horse shoes easily bought in the card shops. With just the following information, something small, something classy, swarovski crystals, butterfly, lilac/purple colour and a budget could I help her out. Well its always nice to be challenged creatively so I rose to it and below is the result.

A very Special Offer

I have 3 combs and a tiara all made up using clear swarovski crystals and the tiara has some swarovski pearls on the tiara base. Comb 11 normally sells at £25 but as they are already made up and cannot be customised I am selling them at £20 each. The Tiara Enza normally sells at £60 but again as it is already made up and cannot be customised or changed in any way I am selling it at £50. These prices do not include postage and packaging. They are suitable for brides, bridesmaids, first communion and gala days.
To view these items please visit my page on Facebook by clicking the button on the top left hand of the blog. To purchase them please contact me via email diana@dizatiaras.co.uk

A very seasonal hobby business

I must apologise to all you people who are in business for a living to make ends meet. I always post that my business is a hobby. The reasons my business is a hobby are that 1. I am a part time carer for my mum. Part time as my sister is the one responsible for her day to day care but unfortunately she does not drive. This is where I come in. I drive mum to all her doctor and hospital appointments and I do all her shopping. I also pop along in the evening to make sure she gets her supper. 2. Because I am a carer I don't have a great deal of time to put into my business to move it forward from being just a hobby to a full time career. 3. The wedding business is a very seasonal business! But this last month (February) things kind of took off again. A little later than it has done in previous years but none the less it got busy. I was delighted to be invited by the mums of the girls in the Grangemouth Gala Day 2010 along to a meeting for them to choose one of my tiaras. Then I got a phone call from the Gala Day Queens mum for a tiara and finally the Maids of Honour mums contacted me. In between that I took a few internet orders and several other appointments and I am wondering why am I sitting here blogging about when I should be working?
The answer I think to that has to be that I am just feeling so fortunate that people like my work enough to come to me. But the best bit is always return customers or customer referrals, which I have had quite a few of this month also. This week though my mobile phone has gone quiet. I believe I have had my wee spurt of business and that I may have to wait a few weeks more before I get anymore appointments. That's the thing about the wedding business. It never seems to be consistent. I have another couple of wedding fairs coming up and I know I will get either one or two orders from them or appointments but in the meantime I better get on with the few remaining orders I have left. If I clear my feet then I can be creative and make some new stuff like the Celeste tiara and necklaces.


My other half works in Parcel Force, so his wages pays the household bills but unfortunately he does not earn enough for special treats or holidays. My hobby business allows me to make a few extra pounds so that I can treat my teenagers occasionally, and hopefully I can save enough so that me and my hubby can have a little break somewhere to celebrate our 25th Silver Wedding anniversary this summer.

Two recent makes

I am in the middle of trying to renew some of my designs by either remaking them or creating new designs. The first 2 were originally made using fashion, bugle and seed beads and below them are the same side tiaras made up using swarovski crystals, bugle and seed beads.

Here are the designs using the better quality materials.

Then I have been busy making some new designs.
The first was inspired by my hugely popular Elaine tiara and equally liked Stella tiara.
The new design is called Celeste as I think it looks like a star burst and shooting star in one design. To me Celeste means heavenly and that is where we find the stars, heaven wards.
The second design is a solid band of flowers. The crystal pearls have been wired together to form daisy type flowers. I though about calling it Daisy but as there were so many packed together I thought it looked more like a blossom of flowers. Hence the name Blossom. Blossom can be customised by so many different colours I think it will be a great hair accessory to any outfit.

Then and Now

Creativity fascinates me, be it tiaras, jewellery, wall papering and decorating, photography or website creation. I list these specifically as I have dabbled in them all. I have been running my little hobby business now for almost 5 years and tinkering with designs for almost 6 years. I was looking at some old photographes of some of my original designs and I was gobsmacked at how far I have come and how much I have taught myself. Some of the original designs are interesting and possibly sometime in the future I may revive them and bring them more up to date. I used simple fashion beads in their creation and ready made components. Now I use swarovski crystals and pearls and make up all my own components...I even rewire diamantes if I am requested to use them in any of my designs. The images that follow are some of the first tiaras I made.

THEN

It is a far cry from what I am designing these days. I think the one that would make up the best in swarovski crystals is the fourth design and some day I may just do that!

NOW

Wedding Exhibitions

Just a quick short blog as I have to run out the door. Shopping to do, hubby to get out to work and sadly a funeral to attend.
I am going to be busy over the next month and half on Sunday's doing wedding exhibitions at various local hotels. So if you live in Falkirk District or Central Scotland and are getting married and looking for tiaras and jewellery then why not visit me at those wedding fayres. For all the information, dates and times please visit my website and see the new page I have created specially to advertise these wedding exhibitions. See HERE for details.
Happy wedding day shopping!

Happy New Year

Happy New Year. I hope 2010 is a good one for everyone. I have no new year resolutions but I decided to stop using Twitter. So my apologies to you if you were following me there. I have decided to try and use my blog a bit more. Mainly because I felt restricted by the number of characters you could use on twitter. I don't ever have very much to say but I found that when I did have something to say, I could never quite say it in the 140 characters that were allowed. I also found that some poeple were obsessed with getting people to follow them and I found myself following people that had nothing in common with me and said things I had no interest in.
I also did a wee change my tiara website. I removed the colour strip down the side off the page. Seems a bit insignificant but I felt the colour strip made the website look amateurish. Which of course it probably still does as like my tiaras the website is home and hand made. I am quite proud of it as I have never had any formal tuition on website building. My first ever website was for my local parish and I am in the middle of a fourth redesign for the church. I actually like this website the best and that is why I was prompted to make the slight change to my tiara website. The church website can be seen here
I also did a small 3 page website for my local florist. She had a website domain for years but had not been successful in getting the website set up. So I took it as a challenge to create one for her. Her shop colours are pink and black, so I took this to the website. I felt that the colour was too similar to my own so that is why I removed my coloured sidebar.
Any way enough about my computer skills. "Have you created anything new Diana" I hear you all shouting at the computer screen. Of course I am hoping you haven't got bored and stopped reading by now! Ok Just before Christmas I had a young lady who was looking for a thin hair band with some ornate wire work. I showed her Alison and Carmela but she liked the idea of the tiara being thin like Dawn and Dawn 1. So basically she gave me free reign to create her a new style. I love brides like that! Any way here is the tiara and I named it after her Sarah.

I just remembered that I also made a comb from the hairband that I made for myself for my nieces wedding in October, for a mother of the groom, and it turned out lovely. It is from the Olivia side tiaras.