Archive for the ‘Alex’ Category

Just a quick note to say I have been asked to do a lunchtime lecture with slides and films at Morley College on Wednesday 8th June. Should take about an hour or so (but I haven’t prepared anything yet! We were hoping to have our shop open by then but have had a slight delay. It will probably be ready to open during the first week of July, but watch this space!

Anyway, it’s during London Jewellery Week, so save the date if you’re interested. I’ll post more information with details etc as I get it. I had better think about what I’m going to say!

Alex

‘What do Joanna Lumley, Jodie Kidd, Celia Birtwell and Alex Monroe all have in common..?’ (So starts the press release from Burt’s Bees for their Celebrity Bee Hive Campaign, with which I am involved).
I could think of a thousand things, but I still can’t get over being mentioned in the same sentence as Saint Jo of Lumley! Joanna and me, me and Joanna….
Actually I have met her a few times at posh dos, but only in a star struck imbecile sort of a way.
Anyway, back to the business in hand; if you do get a minute away from Royal Weddings and the like, Burt’s Bees are doing an auction of these wonderful bee hives (one of which was designed by yours truely)

Here’s my bit; http://www.britishbee.org.uk/burtsbeesauction/alex/ check them out if you get a mo.

Here’s a bit more info from the press release…..

Burt’s Bees Join Forces with UK Celebrities to help Save the British Honey Bee
What do Joanna Lumley, Jodie Kidd, Celia Birtwell and Alex Monroe all have in common..? The desire to save the UK’s Honey Bee.
Burt’s Bees has worked closely with the four celebrities who have designed beautiful limited edition bee hives to be auctioned during May (1st-8th May 2011), with all proceeds going to The British Beekeepers Association (BBKA) Adopt a Beehive Campaign Programme.
Adopt a Beehive is a fundraising programme run by the BBKA and sponsored by Burt’s Bees. Funds raised fund research into honey bee health, and essential education for beekeepers.

Nature has always been British jewellery designer Alex Monroe’s greatest inspiration and this has been reflected in the poppy field scene he has designed for his hive. Alex’s hive will also be available in the ‘Adopt Me’ section of the BBKA auction website. As with Celia’s hive, the public can adopt this hive and be updated quarterly on its progress as a working hive in Alex’s own private allotment, and they will be sent a jar of honey from the hive itself.
Alex comments: “I think we should give bees a break. These little fellows work so hard for us, making honey and pollinating our food crops. This is about the little guy, buzzing about doing his thing, never complaining and us, the big guys, all take and not much give. Modern farming techniques, pesticides and pollution aren’t helping. And they’re cute as anything and they make our summer what it should be. What’s not to like? I have a hive at home and was keen to get involved with the Burt’s Bee’s Design a Hive Campaign raising money for the British Bee Keeper’s Association. The campaign encourages and educates bee keepers and will help with research in to the health of British honey bees. I hope whoever wins my hive enjoys it as much as I did designing it. Check out (website still to be confirmed) now to bid for my hive online!”

The ‘Buy Me’ and ‘Adopt Me’ hives will go on auction on 1st May 2011 at www.bbka.org.uk/burtsbeesauction. Bidding will close on 8th May, and the highest bidders will be announced online.
More than just a sweet treat, honey has long been renowned for its health benefits. Naturally anti-inflammatory, a powerful antiseptic, soothing and moisturising it is no surprise that the unique properties of honey should be harnessed for use in a range of products from skin care to natural remedies.
However the hardworking, humble honey bee is under threat. In the US the bee-per-hectare count has fallen nearly 90 per cent since 1961, and in China some crops are now pollinated by hand using feather brushes because there aren’t enough bees to do the job.
Brian Ripley, Chairman of the BBKA said: “The situation isn’t quite this extreme in the UK but we can’t be complacent. Winter is always a hard time for bees; three years ago more than one in three of the UK’s honey bees died. The situation is improving, our bees are getting healthier, but they are still not out of intensive care yet.”
Bees are central to our food supply with one third of all crops relying on pollination. No one knows the exact reason why bees are suffering, but loss of habitat, disease, the use of pesticides and even vehicle emissions could all play a part. What we do know is that the impact of bees on our eco-system is critical and direct action is required to protect our environment.
To help raise money for the protection and conservation of the British honey bee, natural skin care brand Burt’s Bees has teamed up with four celebrities who have designed their very own beehives, which will be auctioned off to make as much money as possible for the BBKA. The four wooden hives were kindly donated by Maisemore Apiaries www.bees-online.co.uk
For more information on the British Beekeepers Association and how they are helping with the conservation of the British Bee, please visit www.adoptabeehive.co.uk or www.britishbee.org.uk

How long is this lovely weather going to go on for? Ages I hope. I was just in France with the kids, visiting friends and buying for the new shop. We went to a fantastic brocante in Amiens. It was HUGE! Great fun but I didn’t find any little glass fronted cabinets which I was really looking for. Still, I bought plenty of bits and bobs, and had a lovely week-end with Eric et Lydie. The kids were very pleased to see Picasso the dog looking so well (He’s very old and we always worry he might not still be around when we visit)

Just finished before I dashed off the France was a lovely piece I made to raise more money for the tsunami appeal. H.P., my distributors in Japan asked me to make a special piece for an exhibition in Japan. The piece will be sold on the HP web-site in Japan after the exhibition. I made a little film of how I made it, to add to my Jewellery tutorials series. Have a look if you get a spare few mins. Hope you like it!

Alex

I love Cycling and I love Japan. Here’s a lovely little film by Alan Gardner about cycling in Japan, particularly in the tsunami struck north east. It’s called Tribute to Japan.

I just thought it was very touching, and now I dream of cycling Japan, in a few years when things have got back to normal.

Hope you like it,

Alex

We have many friends, fans and customers in Japan. Our thoughts go out to you all, and we hope for the safety of everyone’s families and friends.

The recent, terrible tragedy in Japan has caused widespread damage and left many thousands homeless. Aid and rescue teams have been working on the ground since the disaster began, and there are a number of ways you can make donations to help the relief effort.

For every item sold through our website over the next 4 weeks, we will donate £5 to the Japanese Red Cross ‘Japan Tsunami Appeal’.

You can find out more information about the appeal by visiting the Red Cross website, where you can also make a personal donation via the website or download a postal donation form. You can also donate to them over the phone by calling 08450 53 53 53.

Must come clean, I’ve been a bit naughty. For 24 years I’ve diligently worked the shows, less so in recent years because Emma does a much better job than I…… but this year my lovely neighbours weren’t going to their house in Barbados this half term, so I bravely stepped up and offered to go for them. Denise found excellent cheap tickets, so that was that. Except she had booked the wrong month so changes were swiftly made. BA were great, but I had to get back for Paris Fashion Week, and the girls couldn’t get a flight until today. So I only got four days there. But who cares. four days is loads better than none, and what an amazing place it is! Check it out, it’s called Little Good Harbour and it’s lovely. It’s up North a bit, on the Caribbean side, by a couple of little villages where the locals fish and have ‘fry-ups’ by the beach. We stated in the  loveliest of the apartments, Frog Choir, and ate in the gorgeous Fish Pot restaurant just across a quite road, sitting overlooking the sea.

Barbados I love. We had a magical time. But it’s back to reality now, off to Paris for the shows tomorrow, got the walk the dog….. it’s freezing!

The Terrace at Frog Choir

Snorkelling at Folkstone

Empty beaches at Little Good Harbour

We have snowdrops, winter Iris’, witch hazel, wintersweet, and helibores all flowering, and everything else is sprouting away like mad. Looks like spring is starting to spring. It was very sweet to see a little bee warming up in the sunshine on Saturday morning. She tried to come into the house so Libby and I put her safely in a warm spot in the garden.

Not sure but think she’s a she and a Bombus Terrestris.

We managed to miss the sunny days when we all went down to the new building for a quick look round. They’re doing amazingly! And we all got slightly vertiginous on the to floor, but we do have fantastic views, if you like big views of SE1 that is!

The balcony and board room

On the roof garden, well, it will be a garden when finished...

The workshop on the second floor

Also I just found this photo of the lovely red gold collection in Harrods…..

London Fashion Week starts any minute, then we’ll open to the public at London Fashion Week-end, then I’m off to Paris…….. busy busy busy, but not too busy……. I’m taking a few days holiday in between it all. I’ll report back with (hopefully) gorgeous pics of sun-drenched beaches.

‘Yikes, help!’, chaps, and ‘How exciting’ gals, it’s nearly Vally Day. I’m in double trouble because it’s Denise’s birthday as well. Heeeelp! All I’ve got so far are some lovely chocs from Holdsworth Chocolates. I need to find her a Summer frock, kind of French style, not posh, imagine shopping in the market in France with a basket on your arm. The best ones I can find are from Boden, what do you think, any suggestions?

I’m in Liberty on Friday evening 5 ’till 7, should be fun, they are doing all sorts for Vally day, we’ll be launching the lovely Daisy Bell collection, so why not pop along and say Hi? That’s this Friday 11th Feb. See you there…… might do some shopping myself while I’m in town….. Nice piece on their blog

Daisy! Daisy! Give me your answer true,

I’m half crazy, oh for the love of you….

It won’t be a stylish marriage,

I can’t afford a carriage,

But you’ll look sweet upon the seat

of a bicycle built for two.

Daisy Bell is available online from us if you can’t make it to Liberty, but it’s always nice to see it in the flesh……..

Also we have a cute Rose gold and Silver collection in Harrods for those romantically inclined…

Look at this! The building is going up sooooooo fast. It arrived from Austria on a lorry, pre-fabricated in lovely sustainable natural wood, and the guys from KLH wasted no time and have put it up in a couple of days. The contractor are Neilcotts, and the site manager is a super chap called Adrian. I can’t stay away so I’m there every few hours. Adrian showed me around this morning. They’re doing such an amazing job!

I’m supposed to be working on New Collections, so it was back to the workshop for a bit of hard labour…

But it hasn’t been all in the workshop. I had a free food day the other day. Breakfast meetings in town, lunch meetings, then over to the Royal exchange for the Press Launch of London Jewellery week. We’re taking part this time opening the new shop of course, but I was there in my official capacity of ‘Ambassador’ to LJW. But hang on, if that’s true, who’s that scruffy bugger on the hunt for canapees?

Liberty came and filmed me. An interview for their web-site. I don’t think I’m ever going to be able to watch these films…. is that really me? Ah well…

I popped down to check up on the new building in Snowsfields the other day, they’re certainly making a mess!

The actual building has been pre-fabricated in Germany, see KLH, and should arrive this week! Very exciting.

We’re hoping for a grand openning during London Jewellery Week in June!

P.S. Saw my mate Lloyd’s play at the Old Vic on Friday and loved it. We took all the kids along to see A flea in her ear (we got the tickets at half price, there’s a deal on), and everyone had a great time. It was really funny! Good old fashioned slapstick, a bit like Faulty Towers, (I think John Cleese was a big fan). Anyway, if you get the chance I really recommend it. Look out for Lloyd Hutchinson, he’s brilliant, and say Hi from me!