Looking at my son Lucas it's hard to believe that as a baby he was classified as "failing to thrive" and that because of a serious bone disease doctors told me he would probably never walk and may not even survive.
Thankfully he is now a thriving 21 year old who walks just fine thanks to a consultant in the last weeks of his career who recognised his rare condition as one he was shown as a medical student because of its rarity.
Throughout his long hospital stays Lucas had "Lamby", a soft cuddly toy which was his comfort throughout many painful tests and slept with him in his hospital cot. We actually bought Lamby before he was born after the ultrasound scan which showed me that for the third time we were expecting a boy.
Lamby now sits atop a cream easy chair in our lounge, a little saggy and tired, much like me.
Recently I heard about a talented jewellery designer and creator, Sarah Heulwen Lewis whose latest venture is creating amazing bespoke charms from images of your precious baby keepsakes. (AD) She offered to recreate Lamby as a gorgeous pendant for me to remember how lucky we are to have our boy with us, fit and healthy. (GIFTED)
About Heulwen Lewis Bespoke
Heulwen Lewis Bespoke specialises in designing and creating beautiful custom-made jewellery. Whether designing a bespoke piece of jewellery or remodelling a vintage keepsake there is always a sentimental treasure produced at the end of the creative process. Owner Sarah loves crafting jewellery with everlasting appeal and personality, that captures special sentiments and gathers meaning for generations to come.
Sarah began drawing (and signing) her ‘masterpieces’ anywhere and everywhere: underneath her exasperated Mam’s favourite coffee table was a favourite spot. Soon Sarah was rethreading her Nan’s broken necklaces and fashioning paper shoes for her dolls, too.
Following Dreams
‘Follow your dreams,’ Sarah’s Grandad urged. With her artistic family behind her, Sarah left her beautiful hometown of Ebbw Vale, in South Wales, to study at Hereford Art College. A BA in Applied Arts specialising in Jewellery from North Wales School of Art, where she gained a 2:1 soon followed. Five years later, Sarah was awarded a Distinction in her prestigious MA in Fashion Artefacts from The London College of Fashion.
Since her first job as a Design Assistant for Arabel Lebrusan, Sarah has clocked up over 14 years of experience in the Fine Jewellery Trade. While developing as a CAD designer, she acquired an extensive knowledge of bench and setting. She continues to draw on these skills today, offering a design and CAD consultancy service for multiple award-winning companies.
A stint as Head Designer for St Albans company — Kings Hill — saw her setting up and running the Bespoke Jewellery Department. Other career highlights include winning the Lonmin Award for Innovative Design in platinum and being featured in Parisian Vogue.
But for Sarah, it was setting up Heulwen Lewis Bespoke in June 2017 that has meant the most. ‘Without my family, I wouldn’t be here, Sarah says. ‘They’re my biggest inspiration. Each piece I make is a reminder that I’ve succeeded in my dream. Our dream. This is why I want to create precious keepsakes for others: to tell their stories and create mementoes that will be cherished for generations to come.’
Introducing the Seren Collection
Seren Special Moments is a new collection that captures babies first moment forever - it’s items kept, cherished or ‘baby firsts’. It is a sentimental collection and in keeping with Sarah’s overall approach to memories.
The customer sends Sarah a special item/(s), either by emailing a photo or sending her the physical thing, they would like made into a charm. It could be their first shoes, first blanket or favourite blanket. Dates can be engraved, so for instance if it is a shoe, she can put the date in with their first steps. If the item was a favourite book maybe their first word or the name of their cuddly toy.
Every single item is made bespoke to the customer, to be sentimental to them. Sarah designs the items as a pendant, typically 15mm, but they can be bigger or smaller or could be created to be a charm on a bracelet too.
There are so many reasons to have a memory captured as jewellery. These beautiful pieces would be particularly appealing to those with children from 0-2 years; or those looking to buy a special gift for a newish parent for a christening, first birthday or xmas or those wishing to mark a special birthday like a 21st with a sentimental gift. They would be especially precious to those who have lost a child, at whatever age.
Lucas turned 21 this year so it was especially nice to have Lamby immortalised in this way. Those baby days seem a long time ago!
Although Sarah is based in Hertfordshire quite close to where I live, because of coronavirus we had our first consultation over email and the phone. She's happy to do video calls too so her service is available pretty much anywhere.
She was very friendly and I felt instantly at my ease with her and she seemed to understand immediately why Lamby was precious to me.
I sent photographs taken on my phone of the cuddly toy from a few angles as the charms are 3D. We chatted about whether I wanted an engraving on it and we decided Lucas' name on Lamby's tummy would be nice.
I chose silver as the material with a medium length chain but if you wanted gold or other precious metals you can bring that up during your initial consultation.
We said goodbye with me feeling happy and confident that Sarah would do a good job.
However when she sent over the initial sketches and mock-up of my jewellery I was astounded. They were way above and beyond what I expected. Just seeing them made me feel emotional and I knew this was going to be a very special piece of jewellery.
Opening it revealed a gorgeously cute miniature replica of our beloved Lamby on a chain all ready to wear. It looks and feels lovely and I love that it has such a great story behind it.
Prices vary depending on your requirements so why not get in touch with Sarah for a friendly chat?
Email her at info@heulwenlewisbespoke.com
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