Dione: The Next Chapter

There is nothing permanent except change - Heraclitus

How very strange it feels, to be here again and simultaneously somewhere I am visiting for the very first time. Welcome, my dear friends, to Dione Fine Jewellery: the next chapter in the When Caitie met Soda story.

In many ways, this change has always been inevitable; I just didn't realise it. I didn't realise, all of those years ago, how meeting Soda, my soulmate with four paws, would change and ultimately come to shape my life. Perhaps if I'd know then what I know now parts of my journey would have been easier. I'm glad I didn't have any spoilers, though. Because it's been wild. Beautiful, messy and so very difficult, at times. I wonder, sometimes, if dogs have an understanding of the world far beyond our own. When I look at Soda it's often as if he knows exactly how things are going to pan out, but can't tell me. Do you ever have that feeling?

The change from When Caitie met Soda, as this small business of mine has been known since it's creation, to Dione, feels like one of the biggest changes I've made in my life. The uncertainty of dipping my toes into new waters fills me with excitement and fear in equal measure. But, as they often say: it was time.

It was time for me to share with you the changes that I have undergone over the last ten years in order to be standing where I am today. Some of those changes have been welcome and some a complete surprise and at times, unwelcome but all so very necessary. It was time for me to reflect, in my business, the growing that I am so proud to have done and to still be doing.

Dione is the middle name that I was given at birth, but which has taken me thirty-one years around the sun to grow into and embrace as my own. To feel proud of. How strange it feels to have decided to rename my little business after a name that I once didn't particularly like or feel connected to; a name that I wouldn't share with people unless I knew them really well. 

The name Dione symbolises so much for me and the messages that I hope to convey with the pieces of jewellery that I make. It encapsulates the journey that I believe we are all on; the journey to growing into and celebrating who we are and all that we will become. For in your darkest moments, there is still so much to celebrate in being exactly who you are. 

And, of course, Soda is still at the centre of it all; watching life unfold, just as he knew it would and supporting me in ways I never knew I needed. His day-to-day role in the business has changed, as he is now chief child protector and putter-upper-wither in our family and he has truly flourished in his new role. He still struggles with socialising with other dogs on walks, his anxiety as much a part of him as my own is to me, but his contentment with life and all of its facets is an inspiration to me. He is very much at the very core of this little business of mine and always will be. 

Thank you all, for being here and for giving me a place to share the things that I create. I hope that you'll stick around for the next chapter in our journey and I'm so looking forward to sharing with you all what it looks like as I work that out for myself.

There are a range of new pieces available in the shop, which you can peruse at your leisure, here, as well as pieces you may be familiar with which now form our Heritage Collection. It's such a pleasure to be back, friends. Thank you for having me.

With all of my love, always,

Caitie x