I would say that being brought up literally on a beach in Cyprus until I was 15 is the single most powerful ingredient driving my creative spirit. From spending the whole summer on the beach baking to a dark espresso tinge to watching storm waves crash against the jetty (leaving salt deposits on our balcony doors), the sea was the backdrop to our whole existence. It was a simple, not at all glamorous life. Living in a small flat intended for holiday lets, sharing a room with my sister... On the other hand, we had the things that mattered - clean air, crystal clear sea, freedom to roam the hills, commune with nature and be in tune with it.

Add a few decades, a few MAs (one in law and one in landscape architecture) and a few career changes and motherhood, and you find me living in Central London, loving the energy, buzz and the freedom to be exactly who I want to be. Here, there is no small-town mentality, nobody judges you for who you are, what you wear or how you live. Yet I miss the sea...

So I pour my love of the sea, and nature in general, into my jewellery. I collect pebbles and shell fragments during my annual pilgrimage to the seaside and bring them back to London, where they are cast in silver or gold, and polished so as to become an idealised form of nature. Similarly, I collect twigs and plant fragments on weekend walks and subject them to the same treatment. In the beginning, I was very unsure whether anyone else would like what I love creating. Touchingly, my work is being enjoyed around the world, from Portland (Oregon) to São Paulo, from Hong Kong to Florence.

World domination is miles away, but I also don't wish for it! My ideal life would be a good work-life balance where I have a steady flow of orders which I can fulfil myself, and enough time to be a good mother for my Lily.

I am grateful to have an extremely supportive hubby who is my financial lynchpin and biggest fan.