Coriandr Express

Cee Gee Jewellery Design

1. Please introduce us to who you are and tell us a bit about your craft.
My name’s Carolyn and I make sterling silver jewellery mainly using semi-precious gemstones, Murano and lampwork glass. I live with my husband near Knutsford, in lovely Cheshire. I’ve always been a bit of a magpie and drawn to beads and gemstones (I have a necklace from my grandmother than I used to play with when I was little just because I loved the beads), but until a couple of years ago had never considered jewellery as a way of making a living. I began CeeGee Jewellery Design after moving back up North, having spent over 10 years after university living and working in London in investment banking (don’t hate me – I wasn’t a trader :-)). Although I initially was looking to continue my career in a similar vein in Cheshire, a decision to try making some jewellery for my sister’s wedding sparked an idea that led to a complete change of lifestyle!

2. How would you describe your style and how did that style evolve?
It was never a conscious decision to work this way, but people tend to describe my jewellery as looking quite delicate. I like to let the gems and beads speak for themselves so tend to keep things fairly simple. I’m not sure how it’s evolved to be honest – even looking back through my old photos there seems to be no clear pattern. I only make jewellery that I would be happy to wear myself, and that seems to work for me.

3. Who/what inspires you?
I try not to focus too much on other designers as I’m concerned about it affecting my own ideas – although if I see something similar after I’ve made it then so be it! I’m influenced quite a lot by the changing seasons, particularly when it comes to colour, and keep and eye on fashion trends although I aim to make jewellery that won’t date so don’t like to pick up on them too much. Often when I see a bead or stone I’ll know straight away how I want to work with it.


4. What do you do if/when you have a creative block?
I keep a sketch book where I sketch any design ideas I may have and stick pictures torn from magazines. If I’m struggling, a flick through that is usually enough to inspire me. Otherwise, a play with my stock of beads and gemstones is a great way to come up with new ideas.

5. Where do you see yourself being in a year’s time?
That’s a tough one to predict as my husband and I are bracing ourselves for our lives to be turned upside-down with the arrival of our first baby in October! Ideally I’ll be fitting my work around the baby, although I’m aware that’s probably easier said than done so am planning on playing it by ear really. I’ve started teaching myself lampworking so by next year I hope to be good enough to be making my own lampwork beads to sell and to use in my own designs.

6. What do you like about being a seller on Coriandr?
The thing that first attracted me was the clean, professional look of the site – I hate cluttered websites that try to cram too much in and detract from the items on sale. As a seller though, the listing process is fantastically simple with great cropping tools for photos that allow a lot of flexibility. I also really appreciate the fast response from Mat to any questions and queries on the forum, and the feedback tool which enables sellers to have a say in how the site is developed and see what’s in the pipeline. It’s brilliant to see great quality sellers joining and I think the site has fabulous potential.

7. Which other Coriandr Sellers do you like?
There are loads!
I love Lauren Ceramics simple, subtle designs so hope to see a lot more of her stuff on Coriandr.
It would be wonderful to furnish our new baby’s nursery entirely with the beautiful items in Fairbourn’s shop but unfortunately budget won’t allow it.
Finally, I’m a massive fan of Kitschy Coo. Her kids’ clothes are great, and Amanda’s blog is hilarious – well worth a visit.