Valentines

“Pearls: A Personal Account of My Continued Passion”

Hello and Welcome!
Pearls are part of my everyday life and of course my continued passion. What an interesting few weeks it has been filled with lots of fun, creativity, challenges and quiet moments of contemplation!
Merchandising is also a large part of my business. I so enjoy displaying all types of windows and have the privilege of working with lovely people plus handling amazing pearls and jewellery.

Valentine’s Day Window

As you can imagine Valentines Day was a busy time! After much discussion and planning with one of my clients we decided on the colour hot pink with baby pink accents instead of the traditional red colour for Valentines.
Using baby pink suede material for the panels and cushions in the display it made a lovely light contrast to the dynamic hot pink roses. The rose’s designs were printed onto heart shaped backboards. Using the same design I commissioned a LOVE sign to be made out of individual letters. The letters are all white with internal white swirl light bulbs! Silk roses and petals in the hot pink and baby pink brought the whole window together.
Creating this mood board of colour, texture and design was fun! The scene was set! This is one of the parts I love the best, taking the ideas in your head and making them real. However, you can only do a good job if you are a good listener. Every shop has its own vision on how they want their shops image to be conveyed. It is vital that I listen carefully to my clients to illustrate their message through the power of creativity.
The windows of a shop are the ‘Eyes’. I have found over the years due to normal shop duties and the pressures of running a business unintentionally the windows can take a back seat. Unless you have a designated team/ or person to do the merchandising. Yet they are the first thing a potential customer sees before walking through the door.

Image Courtesy of Lord of London

The Power of Merchandising

How we present ourselves through the power of Merchandising, Advertising and Branding along with top notch customer service is crucial to the success of a business.
The excitement of a blank window makes me tingle! It’s also dusty and dirty work cleaning the windows and doing the essential house keeping before display work begins! I love it! The times customers outside the window ask me’
How much are you?’ (I am in the window) I really should me a millionaire! My response naturally is ‘Priceless!’
After two days of merchandising the LOVE windows,  we were ready! It was time to flick the switch and illuminate the LOVE sign. It looked bright and fresh more importantly my clients and their customers were thrilled with the look. It was also very noticeable from the other side of the road!
I am sitting on the train as I write this, it is 7am. The fields and trees I pass on my journey are covered with sparkling frost, glittering in the misty pale lemon sunrise. A lake is reflecting a pale silver blue light like a moonstone; the world is slowly waking up including me!
I am now travelling to take the LOVE windows out and re dress the window with generic backboards in a colour theme of black and white smothered in ‘Diamond ‘ crystals! By the time I arrive at my destination the lacy shawl of winter has melted and the world looks fresh and green again.
Travelling up and down the Country, gives me time to contemplate, explore and form new ideas in my merchandising mind palace! It also gives me time to think how grateful I am for all the experiences this wonderful trade has and continues to give to me and the good friendships I have made along the way and the new ones yet to be made.

Pearls- My Continued Passion

The other day whilst I was doing some research, I came across a piece of writing. I found it moving and uplifting. What ever spiritual feeling you have I think you will see the beauty in the words…..
We all want to be loved and cared for in good times and tougher ones, these words may inspire a thought or two. I hope you like them. Here are a few extracts.
‘Your life is like the Pearl of the Sea rich and deeply buried but revealing a treasure on discovery’.
‘A Pearl requires time to mould and shape itself, to become a thing of beauty, so too mans life forms from birth through years and time.’
‘I hold your life like a Pearl in the palm of my hand so beautifully formed and yet an undiscovered treasure’
And finally,
‘I will hold you close always like a treasured Pearl in the palm of my hand’
Who does not want to feel treasured? I hope you are all treasured in your daily life and working one.
Speak to you later!
Yours passionate about Pearls (and merchandising!)! Maria x