Hi there, welcome to my blog which I hope will give you a little insight into what makes me tick and what makes me smile every day.
So, apart from my amazing family (there’s quite a lot of us around the globe from Cornwall to Melbourne!) & lovely friends, my other love is creating jewellery and seeing the pleasure it brings to others, especially when the pieces are given as a gift, and the more unexpected the gift the better!
Summer, weddings, busy, busy, busy!!
Wowee, what an amazing few months since I last blogged; in fact I have been so busy, I cannot believe I have left it so long. So here goes: we have had a beautiful summer here in West Worcestershire, UK, with stunning birdsong to wake us at first light each morning, toasty hot days and long, light evenings; sometimes it seemed that the darkness didn’t fall completely at all some nights!
The highlight of my summer has been helping my daughter Alex and her fiance Jamie to prepare for their wedding which took place on September 5th, just a couple of weeks ago – how time flies!! There were flowers being arranged inside the beautiful 12th Century church (St Mary Magdalene, Broadwas on Teme, Worcestershire- well worth a visit as it is sooo pretty), favours being created for the guests and hair, make-up and dresses being decided upon and ‘practised’, to make sure it was all perfection on the day. I was so honoured to be able to make my daughter’s jewellery for her wedding day, plus a little Tanzanite ‘keepsake’for her ‘something blue’ tradition, which I have featured on the website for you to see. I have to say it was THE most magical day, and both Jamie and Alex smiled and laughed from early Saturday morning, till the early hours of Sunday morning. I have never seen two people so in love (apart from me and my lovely Hubs of course) and I just wish we could do it all over again!!!
I have popped a couple of photos of Alex and Jamie just married, and Alex with her ‘Hens’ and who are her very special friends. Helen who is expecting her baby in October and was the NO 1 wedding enthusiast (I have her number if you need any tips for your wedding preparations; she is amazing!), was also Jamie’s ‘Best Woman’ in addition to his Best Man on the day… All lovely people who were truly thrilled to join Jamie and Alex’s wedding celebrations. More photos to follow as they come back from the photographer so keep watching!
Off to create some gorgeous sterling silver, leather and woven cord key fobs for some very nice chaps. Busy, busy again yippee!!
See you soon xx
My very own blog
My garden is pretty high up the ‘makes me tick’ list, especially my teeny sections of ‘micro garden’. I have a few spots within the larger garden which I watch regularly. They are only around 12 inches square but are full of tiny living things, some crawling, some sprouting, some covered with beautiful mossy shapes and colours, all of which nudge me in the right direction with my drawings and then onto my work desk to create pieces in sterling silver, copper, other metals and natural materials. I’m like a kid with a pocket full of special ‘finds’ from a nature walk… including the odd snail shell!
I also love my ‘crash-bang-wallop’ stuff too… vintage hand tools which belonged to my lovely Mum; she was a very clever maker of clothes, furniture, pretty garden colour schemes and everything to the highest quality. It was she who taught me to be confident when using tools, and it feels like a privilege to be able to use hers in my jewellery work & other projects.
So, my ‘makes me tick’ list has garden nature, shells, birds & feathers, cloud shapes, tools, Mum, yoga for balance and focus, photography (I love taking pictures of my jewellery – hope you like my website images)…
My ‘makes me smile’ list starts with my husband Matt. He is clever, fun, and my BBBB (best bread baking buddy – he makes great bread!) and my beautiful daughter Alex (equally clever and fun but hasn’t tried bread yet!) …and my teeny Grandsons, Lewis and Harrison. They are the original inspiration behind our name ‘Teeny Bean Jewellery’ & they make me smile as soon as I wake up and see their photos next to my bed, and they are just funny, cute and full of positive energy, which I think they get a good chunk of from their fab Dad, Jamie. He is a very focused bundle of triathlete energy, an amazing athlete and the kindest man. They are a really yummy bunch of people; I love them & count myself so lucky to have them in my life. Note to self: Think I should tell them that more often!
Regular smiles come from humour , hugs, eye contact in place of words, my dear old Dad’s smile, novelty cake decorating, drawing, Bach Cello Suite No 1 in G (in full) played really loud so our windows rattle, my attempts at learning to play the piano (badly), watching our 4 dogs play together and grow from puppies, birds nesting, tiny baby spiders in the web in my greenhouse, field mouse sneaking feed from my chicken feeder, pied wagtail visiting daily to collect stray dog hair in her beak (looks like a moustache!) from our garden for her nest, a pair of visiting Song Thrush looking for worms on our lawn each morning, watching fast cars on a local historic hill climb (Shelsley Walsh) and being thrilled by the roar of the engines as they sit growling on the start line, achieving tricky balance positions in yoga …and so much more… too much to mention… today!
Well I just wanted to say hello, and let you see what I see every day in my little world. I hope you like this little insight, and thanks ever so for popping onto my blog.
Current favourite quote: “Logic will take you from A to B. Imagination will take you everywhere”. Albert Einstein.
Jane Hodges
Teeny Bean Jewellery offers individually handcrafted pieces in sterling silver, with elements of copper, leather and beautiful precious and semi-precious gemstones incorporated into unique designs.
A bit about me
My interest in jewellery and design has been a constant element in my life. Never one to just follow the trend, I love being able to express myself by creating original pieces, which reflect my passion for nature, art and movement. It is an organic approach, which gives each piece of jewellery its own unique identity.
Living in semi rural Worcestershire with my husband, Dad, 4 dogs and 2 chickens I am surrounded by a vast array of flora and fauna from which I draw inspiration through shape, movement and interaction with the environment. It is truly inspiring.