Earlier this year when we found ourselves in the first lockdown we launched our latest collaboration…with YOU! We felt it was the perfect time for us to collaborate with the people know our brand best and so launched our design competition to find some stunning new designs for our collection.

Now the time has come to launch the amazing pieces that were chosen to be put into production.

So without further ado please meet the talented design team who brought us our “Carrie Elizabeth x You” collection!

 

"My name is Capucine Huguet, I am 23 years old and I come from Paris. I am currently doing a MA Jewellery Design in Central Saint Martins School, in London. I always have been fascinated by jewels, I think the way we adorn ourselves is a way to express our beliefs, our values, all the things we care about. I see it as a way of communicating about our personalities.

I personally feel very attracted by astrology, and I knew this was something I had in common with your brand, because you already have done a couple of designs with stars, moons, etc. This is why for me it was obvious to express this theme in my design for the competition, and I chose to work on the moon phases, because it's both a natural and spiritual phenomenon. Besides, I thought the medallion was a very powerful jewel because it's worn very close to the heart.

If I can be really honest with you, I think like a lot of people, I was actually a bit depressed by this worldwide situation and the lockdown. When I heard about this competition, I was really happy because it helped me to think about something else for a period of time!"

 

"My name is Kathryn 'Kat' Cho. I'm 31 years old. I am a Korean-born New Zealander living in London! I am an early years nursery teacher. 

The night darkens as the moon wanes to the new moon, and the night sky brightens as the moon waxes to reveal the luminous full moon. 

To me this is much like our lives. We face hardships and sadness, and it can feel like darkness all around at times. But this soon passes with time, patience, and perseverance, to reveal a happier, hopeful, better day. I would like this pendant to remind the beautiful wearer to hold on to hope and positivity always.

I loved being a part of this competition because I was able to bring to life a piece of meaningful jewellery I had envisioned for a while, in partnership with a jewellery brand that crafts jewellery I adore and covet on a daily basis!"

 

"My name is Liz Musson and I'm from Grantham which is on the edge of Lincolnshire. I am 40 years old! In my head I am 22 and yet my body seems to be 84?! I am married to a wonderful man who is my absolute saviour and best friend in life.

I have a business called "Mad Philomena" also named after my late mother. She was a district midwife in 60's London and my logo is a photo of her on her bike. My business started as a Wedding Styling company about 7 years ago and has been evolving ever since to include prop hire, graphic design, greetings cards and more! I love to be creative and will try most creative endeavours. I still haven't decided what I want to be when I grow up and hope one day it will strike me!

When my parents died last year - (yes both of them - it was a terrible sad sad time) I decided to start another business called Pocketful of Memories where I create bespoke memorial cards to keep our lost loved ones close by. 

My inspiration for the competition was my mum, she was truly my best friend in life. When we suddenly lost her last year it created the most enormous hole in all our lives and we have had to learn to embrace this new world again.

There is something about Jewellery and nostalgia. It seems to have a magical ability to speak of times and love and places and connections. It holds so much meaning and can outlive us as it travels through generations. It was easy to design something relating to my mum, it just flowed and felt like a natural way to represent her. Being Irish she loved Celtic symbols and the circle was a natural choice, and I wanted to have an essence of her heritage steeped in storytelling and folklore. Moonstone represents her in a form that isn't physical but is still full of light and beauty, and the 4 stones around her are me and my 3 siblings. Somehow I feel that if I wear this piece she will be closer to me and we will hold together. It embodies all that she was, and reminds me that we are the continuation of her life with the ever joining circle.

It's been such a free competition to enter! Maybe because I already love all the CE jewellery and there were very few restrictions so it was a pleasure to have creative freedom. I've never attempted to design a piece of jewellery - although now my head is full of so many ideas and just sticking to one feels hard! The fact that the piece will be made is incredible. Imaging something then seeing it come to fruition has to be one of the greatest joys of life. Good things can come from loss and grief. Tangible beautiful things, and people have been speaking my mums name and there's nothing more emotive for us than keeping her love alive.

I love that anyone could enter, just get a pencil out and let your thoughts spill out. I think we probably all have a design or two to share. The diversity of the chosen pieces is so interesting and I can't wait to see them sampled."

"My name is Joanne King. Unfortunately Covid-19 resulted in me being made redundant, so I’ve been trying to stay within grips of the jewellery world, hoping that I don’t have to move away from jewellery designing. I had never been made redundant before, and have suffered with mental health for a few years now, so when I saw your competition, it was so nice to feel like I had a bit of a purpose again - I honestly enjoyed completing it so much!!

At the age of 28, I have moved around U.K for various jobs within the jewellery industry, starting in Wales, moving to Brighton and ending up in Leeds! I have thoroughly enjoyed meeting so many people along my travels, and feel so lucky to have the friendship network I have! I love working within jewellery, and never expected myself to end up in it! I would like to say I enjoy exercising (I’ve tried!!) in my spare time, but I don’t! 😂. I much prefer eating chocolate or a huge bag of crisps whilst reading a good book! I have followed Carrie Elizabeth Jewellery for many years now, and always admired the finesse of your products! So when I saw your competition, I was so excited to sketch some ideas down! I think it’s an absolutely wonderful competition, I know it has been a great distraction from the current uncertain times, and I’m sure it has been the same for other candidates."

 Check out the new collection here