Inspiration for the Helping Hands Collection
2020 has been a tough year, to say the least and the problems it has brought are far from over.
As the Coronavirus took it's grip back in March (seems so long ago now) and the country went into lockdown we, at Amanda Coleman Jewellery, were really struggling to understand what was the 'right' thing to do in terms of our jewellery making. We love making jewellery and we know many people also love it but it seemed so trivial in comparison to what many people were going through and the essential jobs people were doing, often putting their health at risks. We thought the last things on peoples minds would be buying jewellery and we felt uncomfortable about actively encouraging people to do so... ie. social media, marketing etc
We moved the workshop back to our house and split it between the cellar and the 'junk room' and thought if anything else it would be a time to make all those crazy, creative pieces I never have the time to do usually, whilst the production manager aka my husband painted the house.
But as the weeks passed and things settled down a bit, I realised I wasn't going to have the time to make those crazy, creative pieces as we were inundated with orders. Along with the orders we received many emails and messages that I was so heartened to read. These were messages from customers thanking us for continuing to make and supply our jewellery, it meant so much to receive these, thank you to everyone who took the time to write.
It was clear that our customers really wanted to show their friends and family they were thinking of them, they wanted to give gifts to their parents neighbours who had helped them out with errands when they were unable to, they wanted to give birthday presents when they were unable to see loved ones to show them they were thinking of them although they were apart. The picture that was built up was one of love, support, friendship for our fellow human beings, that was even more poignant as we went through these tough times.
I had the idea to make some tiny hands. Hands seem symbolic of so many things at this time, starting with the fact we could not touch each other outside of our household bubble. We hold hands, we send love hearts with them, we carry, we support, we comfort but I also wanted to show how important our communities are within this.
So the Helping Hands Collection was born out of these observations, and a desire to celebrate of the power of community, our resiliance and love that can get us through the difficult times, together xxx
