When my mum died I was bereft and left with her ashes. Losing your mum feels as though your roots have been cut. I miss her every single day. I wore her jumper for a long time just to breathe in her smell. I thought about making some kind of keepsake so that I could have a little bit of her with me always. Keepsake jewellery tends to be a bit mawkish and over embellished with angels, roses and quotes. Not for me. I decided to design something really simple. Something beautiful. This is a piece I want to wear every day.

I’m privileged to have been asked to make one for the lovely Abbie Ordway-Dunham. I felt a huge responsibility to Abbie and to her much loved dad. The pictures below show the process from beginning to end and it was a very moving experience. There were tears and there was laughter as is so often the way in losing a loved one. Abbie loves it and wears it every day. That’s as good as it gets for a jeweller. Making people happy makes me happy.