As a small child, I always had a fascination with jewellery. From the toy jewellery set I received consisting of bright orange plastic clip-on earrings, a stretchy flower bracelet & matching necklace (in my defence I was only about 4) to the Victorian jewellery my mum had in her collection. I loved it all. I can still remember my joy at Christmas when I opened a children's jewellery-making set full of colourful beads.

During the wacky fashion era of the 1980’s I would trawl around second-hand shops looking for old costume  jewellery that could be repurposed into other unique items.

When the internet took off, I realised I had a whole new world of irresistible shiny things at my fingertips. I started making a few items for myself & friends would ask me to make items to match an outfit or for gifts. One friend then asked me to make her wedding jewellery & it just rolled from there. For about 20 years I continued making jewellery as a hobby until in 2020 I decided to become a limited company. I had a shop on Etsy, which was a great starting point but had its limitations. In 2021 I gave up my full-time job & decided to devote more time to making jewellery & at the beginning of 2023 I decided to create my own website (a steep learning curve…) And here we are today!

My dad was a paint colour-matcher & from an early age I was encouraged to explore colours & shades. My enthusiasm for colour has not waned over the years & is reflected in the jewellery I make. I primarily make colourful jewellery using Murano glass beads from Italy & lampwork glass beads from artisans around the UK & Europe. I have also started working in fused glass & will eventually bring some of these new items into the shop. My aim is to create unique handmade jewellery in contrast to the mass-produced items that flood the market.

While it is just me that makes the jewellery & runs every other aspect of the company, I sometimes refer to ‘we’ or ‘us’ & I am referring to my husband, Chris. It was Chris who set up my office for me, moved the heavy stuff from A to B, listened patiently to me waffling on about ideas & designs & has supported me wholeheartedly in this venture. Without him, this journey would have been a lot harder.

And, finally, where does the company name come from? My initials were ERF & Planeterf is just a play on the words Planet Earth (my mum always said I was on my own planet). And it seemed especially appropriate as I come from London where the ‘th’ is often pronounced as ‘f’.