My first blog entry

Hello all and welcome to the first entry of my new blog. Of course the first thing when writing a blog is to decide what to write. I have found a great quote which quite accurately describes what is going on inside my head at the moment..... "Trying to write is very much like trying to put a Chinese puzzle together. We have a pattern in mind which we wish to work out in words, but the words will not fit the spaces, or if they do, they will not match the design." I suppose it would be most fitting to introduce myself and what I intend this blog to evolve into, so here goes....

My name is Rose Ledbury and I am lucky enough to have two major passions in my life. Firstly I am an avid scuba diver - being under water is a little personal nirvana which I try to achieve as often as possible, and secondly I am a designer and maker of jewellery.

OK, so far so good. Let me expand......what can I tell you about diving, well its now September and its coming towards the end of the season. I predominantly dive in the UK and this year has seen diving at Babbacombe and Newquay on south coast, the Isles of Scilly, exploratory diving on Sarn Badrig off north Wales, and St Abbs in Scotland. The major reason why I love diving is the interaction with marine wildlife and I am aiming to tell you more of these little adventures throughout my blog. But the most important thing that has developed from my aquatic escapades is the inspiration behind my business, Aquamarine.

You see a few years ago my dive club branch were having a fund raising auction so I dusted off my tools and made a silver Seahorse necklace. Bidding was fierce between my fellow divers and the necklace made £150 for the club. Soon commissions came flooding in. Here, I thought, is my niche. I designed and made a full collection of jewellery, and launched my website. A year later I quit my job and became self employed. A couple more years down the line and I have expanded to 16 collections, sell through 30 shops across the UK as well as the major dive shows and work as a freelance designer for other jewellery companies.

My major inspiration for my work still is marine wildlife and through this blog I hope to convey my passion (or obsession?) with these fascinating creatures, and explain how these little critters are helping me build my business.
So there you go, my first blog post finished. Turns out its just writing about yourself, which for most of us is in itself a favorite subject. So thank you, dear reader, for getting this far; I'm off hunting wolf fish in Scotland soon - I'll let you know how it goes!