Mixed Metals Madness

The sun came out in London today. 18°c to be exact. Now I know that's still winter coat attire in many countries, but in London, it is practically sunbathing weather. So I got dolled up and decided it was Mixed Metal day and proceeded to go the whole hog and wear my Nancy studs too. I felt like a million dollars!

For those of you who have seen my YouTube videos - you will know that I have never been a huge fan of long necklaces, especially long chains. But I have to say, the Zoe Lariat forces me to delve into my inner creative depths and I decided to tie a knot in mine - three times, so that it fell onto my six month pregnancy bump. 

Mixed Metals Madness

I was going to team up my Zoe Lariat with the Kahlo Linear Earrings but decided that the sun was shining too much for me not to take advantage of wearing my Gold Nancy Studs!

Nancy Studs and the Zoe Lariat

I then finished off my outfit with the Sparkly Bardot Spiral Bangle. As you can see, I am not the only fan - my son couldn't get his hands (or mouth) off the bling bracelet!

The Sparkly Bardot Spiral Bangle is so versatile, it can also be used as a teether!

Aaren is the perfect bracelet stand

Earrings for a White Wedding

I remember when I was getting married. I actually had two weddings - one Hindu ceremony, where I walked around the fire with my husband Ian and a Catholic wedding, where I got to walk down the aisle with my father in the most colourful church I had ever seen, in a white dress purchased online from China!

I am not a huge of Indian Gold but I do adore Indian style jewellery, so when it came to buying my jewels for my Hindu ceremony, I went for the faux option. This was simply because I preferred my generous parents to invest in some real diamonds for my white wedding, so I could wear them time and again. I was so happy with the outcome.

As you can see, I got to wear stunning, colourful, bling Indian costume jewellery and I simply adore my diamond set from my white wedding (I will post a close up of them when I can get them out of their safe place).

For those of you who need ideas for stunning earrings for a white wedding, I have trawled through the Stella & Dot earrings collection and found some great treasures. I would have been happy with any of these on my wedding day (particularly the Deco Earrings which match my engagement ring to a tee)!

1. Deco Earrings
2. Demi Earrings - Silver
3. Dorothy Pearl Studs

4. Etoile Drops

5. Glint Flower CZ Earrings

6. Isla Drops - White

7. Maddie Pearl Earrings

8. Nancy Studs - Gold

9. Twila Drops

I hope you enjoy the pictures whether you are looking for ideas as a bride, wedding party or simply reminiscing on your own special day...x

Indian Weddings are so vibrant and full of life

Told you the Church was colourful!

Deco Earrings

Demi Pearl Earrings - Silver

 Dorothy Pearl Studs

Etoile Drops

Glint Flower CZ Earrings

Isla Drops - White

Maddie Pearl Earrings

Nancy Studs - Gold

Twila Drops

Blue? Wear it. Don't feel it.

I am waiting patiently for the Summer 2014 Stella & Dot collection. There are still a few months left, however, the March Summer Capsule wardrobe has just been released and made available to us Stylists today! If blues, teals and turquoises are your colour, then you are in luck. I have already placed an order for the  Capri Tote - Jewelled Zebra.

These will be made available on the website for you to buy, from 4th March. However, if you want to order any of the summer Capsule before then, let me know!

Trunk Shows

The Stella & Dot business model is based around the premise of 'Stylists' like myself, buying samples of stunning jewellery and showcasing them at peoples' houses through 'Trunk Shows' and letting women try on the jewellery in a relaxed atmosphere before they buy it. Trunk Shows are the optimum way of showcasing Stella & Dot jewellery and accessories as you can't buy them anywhere, except on the website.

Ladies who host Trunk Shows are called 'Hostesses' and it costs them nothing, except whatever drinks and nibbles they want to serve their guests. They also get jewellery credit, a 40% discount on a minimum of two items and a free gift (the exact figures depend on how much the Trunk Show generates). Read here for exact details.

It's a no brainer really - why wouldn't you host a Trunk Show? It's a chance for you and your friends to see the amazing jewellery, whilst having a great, girly night in with your friends. You literally do not have to do anything except think of a few friends to invite and set a date for your Trunk Show. It's a different type of night in with your friends and there is no pressure on your guests to buy anything. To be honest, I would rather just showcase the jewellery and let the beautiful pieces do all the talking.

If any of you are interested in hosting a Trunk show (either in-person or online), then please get in touch with me as we are doing a great offer for March Trunk Shows and my dates are getting booked up pretty quickly in the lead up to the Summer collection release.

My First Purchases!

As mentioned in my previous post, with the initial £169 starter kit, I received £300 in credit to start purchasing my samples. It is worth mentioning that Stella & Dot provide a list of suggestions for new Stylists of optimum samples. This is pretty useful, as it can be overwhelming deciding what to purchase initially. I made my choices below from the Stella & Dot New Stylist Samples recommended list.

1. Somervell Necklace in Gold 
2. Nancy Studs in Gold
3. Renegade Cluster Bracelet in Gold
4. Christina Link Bracelet in Gold
5. Zoe Lariat Necklace
6. Sardinia Chandeliers
7. Chelsea Tech Wallet - Poppy
8. Palm Springs Scarf - Navy Stripe Elephant
9. Tia Cross Body - Mosaic Tile

The video shows these samples in more depth and gives you a feel of what the jewellery and accessories look like on a normal person, not some gorgeous model!

                         

The Starter Kit

To join Stella & Dot, I paid an initial investment of £169. This provides me with the box of goodies below. The Tia Cross Body - Mosaic Tile handbag that you can see was an added giveaway to new Independent Stylists (that's the official title) joining in the month of February 2014. 

The Stella & Dot Starter Kit

I also received £300 in 'free' accessories (I put free in parentheses as I paid £169, so it really isn't 'free' is it?!)

I also have my own Stella & Dot website which is fantastic and so professionally done. The whole process was seamless and took less than 10 minutes.

All in all, I guess it's pretty reasonable for starting up your own business. The 'Stylist Lounge' as it's called is the intranet for Stylists and contains all kinds of useful training, marketing materials, extra resources and everything that was in the kit can also be found here, in soft copy.

One last thing to mention, the presentation of the Starter Kit is superb. The packaging and the way the Tia Cross Body bag was protected is really impressive. So far so good...