Sometimes you send blogs out into the ether and wonder if anyone reads them ... but this week I met up with a fellow artist, Samantha Barnes, who saw my blog post on thisisyourkingdom about my December Open Studio. She very sweetly contacted me to ask if I'd like to meet up for lunch as it turns out we only live 4 miles apart!

Some of you may recognise this portrait of me from the "About Me" page on my website. This and the other gorgeous pics of my work shown above were all taken by my gifted school friend, Charlotte Broster. Charlotte is a professional photographer who undertakes all types of photography commissions, from wedding and baby portraits to commercial pictures like mine.

Commissioning individual pieces from makers is a great way of getting a unique item which is utterly personal. The collaborative process is usually lots of fun and, if you are unsure of what you want, often discussing your ideas with the artist can open up new possibilities. I have just completed a lovely commission for a forthcoming wedding and it turned out so well I wanted a chance to share it with you (I have been assured that the happy couple aren't likely to be checking my website before the big day!).