Hearts & Tail Ends

Not so Blue Monday…

The beginning of the week began with the well documented ‘Blue Monday’ posts doing the rounds on social media, but I have to say I was feeling rather sunshiny as I made a trip up the M1 to meet Alison of Tail End Jewellery. I am sure if you’ve ever looked for Horsehair Jewellery you will have come across her beautiful work and if you haven’t yet discovered her, you are in for a treat.

Now, I have to confess I have had a little try at making Horsehair Jewellery and, my goodness, it is the fiddliest thing ever, requiring lots of patience! Alison has been making keepsakes from horse hair for 18 years and her experience and skill certainly show in the delicate braids she creates. I have long been an admirer of Alison’s talent and so was thrilled to get together for a chat with her.

The shape of our Hearts…

As we discussed horseshoes and their various styles, shapes and sizes Alison asked me why our Horseshoe Hearts were the shape that they are… Good question! Barry had wanted to develop a heart that had flowing, clean lines. A relatively traditional shaped heart where the beauty would be in it’s simplicity. I, being as mad in love with my ponies as I am, wanted the heart to be still easily recognisable as a horseshoe and did not want the shoe to be cut and welded in any way. I wanted it to remain whole and become something new, while still maintaining the character of what it was.

Alison smiled and said ‘You should tell everyone that!’ I’m not quite sure why we haven’t! One can get so caught up in the making and creating of social media content that one can forget the completely obvious!

I’m not alone!

Time passed so quickly and it was quite a comfort to have a giggle over Christmas Day nerves! Yes that really is a thing! I was shocked to find that after years it doesn’t fade and Alison related completely to that fluttery nervous feeling; that things we had made, loved and toiled over, would be opened as gifts on Christmas Day…

You know that anxious feeling when you buy someone a gift and you really hope they like it? That is magnified ten fold when you’ve made that gift with your own hands. Us small business owners really do hope that you love our creations and with Christmas being the busiest time of the year it really is a frantic whirlwind culminating in a real mix of pride with a large dose of apprehension!

You can view Alison’s Jewellery here including her gorgeous new Horsehair bracelets that can include a photo charm of your horse on them! Simply amazing!