CraftyBadger, clever friends and pretty pendants..

One of the downsides to having my best friends scattered up and down the country is that I don’t get to see them all as regularly as I’d like to. On the other hand it’s always nice to receive little surprises in the post..

Recently a close friend of mine decided to start a new venture, CraftyBadger, a jewellery making company. Being something of a creative dabbler, a very good dressmaker, and after her boyfriend had recently started his own ceramic and bespoke tile company, TileFire, she decided now was a good a time as any for a new project! When she first mentioned it, I couldn’t wait to see the pieces in real life (although I thought it wouldn’t be for a little while since she lives all the way in Liverpool..) so you can imagine my excitement when I came home from work the other night to a package from CraftyBadger. Made from vintage ophthalmic testing lenses and attached to a long chain, the pendants are decorated with a small design.

I’m a big fan of costume jewellery but I don’t tend to buy a lot from the high street because inevitably you always end up wearing the same piece as someone else. I’m not sure why it doesn’t bother me with clothes but there’s something about jewellery that seems so much more personal. I much prefer finding something a little bit different- whether it’s handmade silver rings from tiny boutiques that I’ve found while on holiday, or vintage costume jewellery from Tynemouth flea market or charity shops. I love antique pieces because they have so much history behind them and I think that’s one of the reasons I fell in love with the pendant Rach sent me. Having got her hands on a selection of antique ophthalmic lenses, they’re all slightly different shapes and thicknesses making each pendant unique. Mine obviously is the lens of a very very blind person because it’s quite a thick convex lens..

If you want to get your hands on one then you can find CraftyBadger on Asos Marketplace.