"I am an Opotiki jewellery designer operating under my "Pallina Designs" banner since June 2005. ("Pallina" is Italian for "bead"). I exhibit locally at the Ohope and Waiotahi Craft Markets and have supplied local galleries in the past. Each piece of my jewellery is unique - every piece is different and designs are never duplicated. I especially enjoy working with gemstones, pearls and handmade one-of-a-kind beads sourced both locally and overseas.
My current passion is wire-work - rings, bracelets, pendants and other designs hand-worked using wire and beads into very intricate designs. The success of these wire-worked pieces has buoyed my enthusiasm and appetite for learning new techniques and you can be sure there will be lots of new designs to see in the near future as techniques are learnt, developed and altered during the design process.
I have always loved jewellery and always tampered with handmade craft (from handmade cards as a child to embroidery and free-hand dressmaking as an adult). The medium of jewellery design perfectly suits my love of "sparkly things" and enjoyment of making things myself. I have my own website (
www.pallinadesigns.com) which has proven very successful and I now have clients ranging from local to national and international. I'm always happy to discuss custom orders as I know how frustrating it can be to not be able to find just the right piece to go with that special outfit or to wear to that once-in-a-lifetime occasion.
For inspiration, I draw on all sorts of things. I lived in Edinburgh for five years and toured extensively through western Europe in 1997 - both have been a major source of inspiration to me, even latterly. Sometimes just the colour of the sea as I drive past it each day is enough to set me off on another design pathway, as is the beautiful scenery that surrounds us in the Eastern Bay. I get much enjoyment out of creating beautiful jewellery - I get very "itchy" feet when I can't create!
Among other things, I am a legal secretary, a wife and the mother of two young children aged six and "nearly three" years old."
