So pleased to announce that.......................

.............the wonderful (Tiffany) Taylor Kenney has joined our boutique.
For most of my American friends,family and customers, you will probably already be aware of her gorgeous designs. But for all my European friends, family and customers she will certainly be a new designer for you/us.

Apart from her designs conjuring up everything that epitomises Mediterranean summers (see her pieces below), what really struck me was what a lovely person she really is.
Trust me, I have dealt with my share of designers who are real brats; the type that believe you owe "them" a living, despite all the free PR and marketing they get from being on our site (sorry, rant over!). Tiffany on the other hand was SO gracious,accommodating and down-to-earth that we really want to pull out all the stops for her.(We have also been approached by Marie Claire (UK) and Good Housekeeping magazines to feature in their mags this summer, and we hope this will give a real boost to her profile in Europe when we are featured).

Just take a look at these gorgeous designs:

>The Crete Necklace is a long statement piece, composed of a vibrant turquoise drop framed by a hand crocheted gold border. The pendant measures 1.5 inches in length and drops from 30 inches of gold filled chain - €88.00


The Vanessa Necklace drops a colorful cascade of brilliant gemstones, including amethyst, garnet, blue topaz and smoky quartz, from a delicate gold chain. This necklace measures seventeen inches long, with the gemstone drop creating an additional two and a half inches of length. 14 karat gold fil -€148.00

(I am definitely buying one of these for summer as it is my namesake!)



The Noelle Necklace is composed of a delicate strand of grey freshwater pearls leading to a stunning sky blue amazonite drop framed in crochet. The drop measures one inch in length. A very unique and lovely piece! Eighteen inches long, 14 karat gold fill - €88.00


The Lily Earrings are glowing baby blue aquamarine drops encased in a frame of handwoven crochet. Such beauties! Just over one inch long. Gold filled earwires - €85.00


The Branch Earrings are meandering gold vermeil branches which have been adorned with tiny blue-green sapphire drops. Finished with gold filled earwires, these earrings measure two inches in length - €85.00



The Celeste Earrings are luminous gold circles lined with teal apatite gemstones.. Suspended beneath these circles are cascades of peridot, apatite and fairly traded gold vermeil faux coral branches. Length is 2.75 inches. Gold filled earwires - €85.00



I personally have already ear-marked some pieces I want for the summer. I would love to hear your thoughts/views.

As a special promotion, we are offering all our blog/Twitter followers a 15% discount on any Taylor Kenney product from our site (there are many more products displayed there). This offer will end on Sunday 13 March 2011.

What my dog Lola taught me.

When I lived in the UK I had a beautiful little terrier called Lola.
Lola was an absolute “babe”. She could lift my spirits within minutes of being with her. She always could sense if I was sad or morose, and at times like this she would quietly come and park herself near me; it was her way of saying “I’m here for you”.

Lola and I would go for long walks, play, run around the garden, visit my Dad who lived up the road (she seemed to always sense when I was visiting him) and generally enjoyed our time together as only man and dog can. But one day Lola taught me a lesson that has come back to me many, many, times.

It happened one day when my husband and I had just returned from a business trip, and as always Lola made us feel so welcome with her wagging tail and little yelps and jumps (she only had little legs). She was so excited to see us she started running all over the place like a little demented thing. So her and I went for a walk in some open spaces. She carried on running around like a terrier on acid ( just try and imagine this!)

After a while it was time for us to go back so I walked up to Lola to put her leash on her. The minute she saw me coming she bolted for it in the opposite direction. I ran after her, but the more I chased her the faster she went. And let me tell you those little legs have some power in them. I chased, and she continued to run faster. The more I chased the farther away she got. This kept on for about 10 minutes. All I kept thinking was how was I going to explain to my husband that I lost our baby; our baby who has tiny little legs and is no taller than a few inches high. Lola obviously thought this was a new game because every time I stopped running, she kept turning around and looking at me, as if to say “catch me if you can”.

Suddenly a new idea came to me. I turned around and started running away from Lola. Immediately she chased after ME, and came right up close so that I could put the leash on her.

So what did this teach me? Well, solutions to our problems are sometimes like Lola. The more we chase after solutions, the farther away they seem to be. The answers seem to run away from us. However, when we stop running and put the problem out of our minds, the answers start running toward us.

Don’t run after the answers to your problems. Just relax, become quiet and let the answers flow into your mind. The longest conversation we have is with ourselves from the moment we wake up to the moment we fall asleep.

Because we are busy talking to ourselves, the internal noise crowds out the very answers we’re seeking. It is in becoming still that we start to hear the answers to our problems; we start to recognize the still small voice of the universe.

It doesn’t matter what the problems are. It could be a matter of money, relationships or health. The same force that solves one problem could solve any of the others. All we have to do is stop running, get quiet and create an environment in our being where the solutions can come to us.

As Lola proved, desperately running after the solutions to your problems causes more resistance, and the very solutions you need will run away from you (it’s one of the principle rules of the Law of Attraction). Stop running, quiet your mind, stop thinking about the problem (this is really important!) and the solutions will come and find you. This really works. Try it!

What solutions do you use for solving your problems?

The Winners Are........................................??

OK, our Twitter competition ended and we were completely over-whelmed by the number of followers we attracted. Our goal was a little ambitious, and I seriously never thought we would get there. So imagine my surprise and appreciation when we surpassed our goal.

So our worthy winners selected by random.org (sorry don't know how to put the image on my blog!) are:




1st prize-@helgwd
2nd prize @altdawn aka The Alternative Wife

(so pleased one of the winners selected was from the blog).

A HUGE thank you to everyone who played. Sorry, if you didn't win, but we will have another competition very soon.

As a thank you to all who participated,we are offering a 20% discount on anything from our boutique for 1 WEEK ONLY (offer ends Wednesday 23 Feb). Gift vouchers cannot be redeemable against this offer.

Valentines Best-sellers!

This is just a very quick post to keep you all posted with what sold best over Valentines (lots of lucky ladies out there today!!)



Of course these are an obvious choice, and this colur and the gun-metal grey (the same ones that are the 2nd prize in our competition) sold very well.



Many of these bracelets were bought with the names of both of the couple engraved on the discs. This is one of my favs for an occassion like Valentines.



Of course Stacking rings are very popular now, so it was inevitable that these would sell well. A great choice as the recipient can add to them as she pleases.


We also sold quite a few of this gorgeous solid silver cuff,which has been designed using real buttons. This will certainly make a girl stand out from the crowd!



Thankfully the men in our lives weren't forgotten either!

There you have it!
Don't forget tomorrow is our competition draw, so keep your eyes peeled. Good luck to all my lovely friends (I wish you could ALL win something!)





All items available from LUXURIA

SMELL THE FLOWERS ON YOUR SIDE OF THE PATH!

This is a really wonderful story…………

An elderly Chinese woman had two large pots, each hung on the ends of a pole which she carried across her neck. One of the pots had a crack in it, while the other was perfect and always delivered a full portion of water. At the end of the long walk from the stream to the house, the cracked pot arrived only half full. For a full two years this went on daily, with the woman bringing home only one and a half pots of water.

Of course the perfect pot was proud of it’s accomplishments. But the poor cracked pot was ashamed of it’s own imperfection and miserable that it could only do half of what what it had been made to do. After 2 years of what it perceived to be bitter failure, it spoke to the woman one day by the stream.



“I am ashamed of myself, because this crack in my side causes water to leak out all the way back to the house”. The old woman smiled, “Did you notice that there are flowers on your side of the path but not on the other pot’s side? That’s’ because I have always known about your flaw, so I planted flower seeds on your side of the path, and every day while we walk back, you water them. For two years I have been able to pick these beautiful flowers to decorate the table. Without you being just the way you are, there would not be this beauty to grace the house.”


Each of us has our own unique flaw. But it’s the cracks and flaws we each have that make our lives together so very interesting and rewarding. You’ve just got to take each person for what they are and look at the good in them.


SO to all my “crack pot” friends, what flaws have you embraced? Whatever they are just remember to smell the flowers on your side of the path!!!!

What Colour Are You?

Being a Psychologist,and now a jewellery designer, I am intrigued by what colours say about a person, and how they see the world.

I am intrigued by the insight you can gain from simple questions about colour; viewing the depths of the person, and seeing the coloured glasses they view themselves through.

I saw this questionnaire (I'm really sorry I can't remember where!) and I have adapted it slightly to learn a bit more about the lovely people who follow my blog.
The original questionnaire was very long (about 50 questions) but I've condensed it as I know time is of the essence for most of us. So I have listed about 15 "adapted" questions below, and will do some others during another post.

Do take a few minutes to play in the hope we can learn more about each other; it's just a few minutes of fun. My answers are in bold italics.


1) What’s your favorite colour?
Deep, rich purple

2) What’s your least favorite color?
Brown (any shade!)

3) What comes to mind when you think about your favorite color?
Rich jewels


4) How does this color make you feel?
Warm,rich, opulent

5) Has ______ always been your favorite color?
From about age 30

6) What does color mean to you?
Beauty, happiness


7) How do you use color in your daily life?
Usually with my jewellery, a good scarf, a small accessory


(Jewellery available from Luxuria)


8) Are you comfortable letting someone else choose the colors you live in? the colors you wear? Perhaps to live in, but not to wear



9) Is it difficult for you to make decisions involving color? If so, why?
No! In fact I had my colours professionally done about 20 years ago, so I know what suits me and what to steer clear of


10) Would you paint your bedroom your favourite colour?
No, but I have used my favorite colour for accents in the past



11) If not, what color would you choose? Why?
Purple would be too heavy in a summer climate. My current bedroom is a soothing Duck Egg Blue


12) What was the last purchase you made based heavily on color?
A bag from Loewe


13) What color was that purchase?
Black and cream

14) What drew you to that color?
It's classic versatility


15) What color do you most like to wear?
Black



p.s for those of you pulling your hair out thinking I've spent "colour" wrong, I haven't. Blame it on my Britishness ;-)

Book Reveiw-29 Gifts

OK, despite being an avid reader (I devour books!) I have never felt strongly enough to do a book review; that was until I read this book- ’29 Gifts’ by Cami Walker.


This is a book about 33 year Cami Walker who was diagnosed with MS a few months after she got married. Her life is about to change forever just as she starts married life with her beloved husband. She really has given up the will to live as she realizes that so many of her dreams will never now come to fruition. Then Cami receives an uncommon prescription from a friend, an African medicine woman named Mbali Creazzo: Give 29 gifts in 29 days. The very skeptical Cami was told “you will be focusing on what you have to offer others, inviting more abundance into your life”. After much reluctance and internal battles, Cami decided to give it a go. She astounded with what unfolded in her life just through the simple act of giving.



29 Gifts is a poignant and unforgettable story of embracing the natural process of giving and receiving-showing just how simple, daily practises of altruism can dramatically alter your outlook on life. It’s not about giving huge amounts of money and expensive gifts. It’s about “giving” a friend a shoulder to cry on or an ear to listen, “giving” something you’ve made, “giving” a gorgeous shell you found on the beach.........the list is endless.



What Cami found was that she had a fundamental shift in her mindset that resulted in a greater sense of freedom and joy. She actually was able to engage in life instead of just tolerating it; showing up in the world in a different way.

I have found personally that giving does other things for the "giver" also:
i)when you give with an open heart, you receive the profound gift of humility
ii) gratitude keeps your heart open
iii) giving opens space for me to receive. The Universe hates a vacuum and it will do it's utmost to fill it.
iv) when you give from a place of service, honesty and fullness you feel revitalised
v) when I practise making mindful connections with others, my life feels meaningful-therefore it is
vi) I rarely move back into a place of scarcity when I remember to give mindfully each day



Cami has a fab website www.29Gifts.org where thousands have now joined the challenge to give for 29 days (why 29 days? You have to read to find out why). She also has a Facebook page where she posts her daily gifts.


I’ve decided to "officially" become part of her worldwide goodwill movement; a collective mission to create a grassroots revival of the giving spirit in the world. As of writing her book nearly 5,000 people in 38 countries have committed themselves to the challenge by signing up on her website. I started my challenge on 1 Feb 2011 and will keep you posted here; why not join me?



Finally, what’s your view about giving? Should it be something that is done anonymously. Is secret giving more powerful? Or do you believe that it’s not necessary for a gift to be kept secret for it to be transformational.
I would love to hear you views.

Luxuria Competition Update!!!!

OK friends, we started our competition 4 days ago, and I am so overwhelmed by the response, that my gratitude has got the better of me (again!).

When we started the competition we had about 250+ followers on Twitter, and our goal was 800 followers. However, despite selection 800, deep-down I thought maybe it was just a tad too ambitious. Well much to my shock, in just 4 days, we have nearly reached 700, and we still have 9 days before the competition ends.

So I have decided to throw another prize into the pot as a thank you to eryone who has supported our competition!

Second prize will be these GORGEOUS Swarovski crystal heart earrings which are in a shade called 'Night-shade'- a divine gun-metal grey. When these catch the light they are really stunning, and I think the lucky recipient will be the envy of all her friends! I have a pair and have had many clients wiling to buy them directly off my ears! They really are beautiful.


Second prize-What do you think?

So my lovely friends, your chances of winning a prize from LUXURIA has just shot up!