This article originally appeared on FashioNZ but I wanted to share it here with anyone who may have missed it. Okay, past tense taking over in five, four...

We love discovering talented young locals doing inspiring creative work. Albertine Lello, the one-woman band behind jewellery brand Pigment Studio is our latest discovery. We love her innovative, simple and incredibly versatile pieces. Recently I got in touch with Albertine to find out more about Pigment Studio and where her inspiration comes from.

How did you come up with the idea for Pigment Studio? -The idea to create Pigment Studio was kind of the result of messing around with making a few items of jewellery. Initially I was just selling my pieces through Instagram, but eventually I was getting quite a few orders so I decided to make an actual online store to facilitate the selling process. Pigment Studio is also the name of my blog, which is an amalgamation of some of my interests including skincare, beauty, fashion, etc. 

Who is the Pigment Studio woman? -I like to think that she is someone who appreciates unique and handcrafted pieces, someone who is forward thinking and isn't afraid to go against the grain.

What is your favourite thing about creating unique jewellery? -I love being able to create pieces of art that people can wear! It's a form of art that you can touch and interact with, which is really awesome!

Who would your dream collaboration be with? What would you create? -Hmm...that's a really difficult one because I have so many people/brands I'd love to collaborate with! One of the people I can think of at the moment is Solange Knowles. I love her music and her general vibe and aesthetic, so I think she'd be a really awesome lady to work with. If I had the chance to create a line with her, I'd be so down to design a bunch of cool dangly earrings and maybe some contemporary bangles.

Which of your pieces is your favourite to wear and why? -I really love the Tabitha's, not only because the design is really simple and contemporary, but also because they are named after my lovely cousin who I absolutely adore. The Tabitha earrings have a textured surface to them, which is created by an oyster shell I picked up one day, when Tabitha and I were at the beach. They will always be a special piece in the collection to me.

We love that you use materials like clay and wire in your pieces. Which is your favourite material to work with? -I love working with both wire and clay because they are complete opposites in terms of materiality. Wire is linear, hard and requires tools to manipulate, whereas clay is squishy and mould-able. Clay also means that I can experiment with more colorus and textures which is always fun!

What is in the pipeline for Pigment Studio? Can you give us any sneak peeks? -I have a couple of things in the works, which is very exciting! I am working on some new designs as well as some new collections...*cough necklaces and hair accessories cough*. I don't want to give too much away yet but all will be revealed soon!

Finally, if you could have one iconic women wear your pieces, who would it be and why? -Well as I mentioned before, Solange is an obvious choice, but two other women who I would love to see wearing my pieces are Grace Coddington and Lea Seydoux. I think these ladies are so gorgeous and talented at what they do. Is it obvious I have a hard time choosing just one person!?

*You can shop Albertine's pieces online here and also in Auckland at The Bread and Butter Letter and Auckland Art Gallery.

Guess who's back? After my week's break I am back and read to blog all the things. Well maybe not all, that's just a bit too overambitious. I am back for now and seriously missed blogging although if anything taking a break has reminded me that it's good to press pause every now and again. Today I have another edition of the bookdate, aka the literary speed date if you will. Admittedly I've really not read and finished a lot lately. What I have read and liked though has for the most part been brilliant. Before this intro gets any longer, let's get on with the books shall we?

Book Club: So I finally finished The Cows* by Dawn O'Porter this month. I'm not sure why it really took me so long to read this book because once I properly started it, it was very difficult to put down. I gave this 4 out of 5 stars over on Goodreads. For me, The Cows was the perfect blend of frank and funny. It covered a wide range of topics; feminism, childlessness and internet trolls to name but a few.  My only qualm with this book was the character Stella's storyline. It was just a bit too twisted and weird to be plausible. Maybe that's the whole point. In saying that her plot was wrapped up in an incredibly satisfying way. That little niggling complaint aside, I thoroughly enjoyed this one. Another brilliant read from Dawn. 

Emma Watson's book club, Our Shared Shelf are reading The Handmaid's Tale by Margaret Atwood. It's a book I've wanted to read for ages and with the new television series sending the world into a frenzy it seemed the perfect time. It's also one of my good friend's favourite books. Anyway, because I've been terrible at reading all month I'm still not very far into it but I am finding what I've read so far brilliant. Keep an eye out for an update next month.

20 Years of Harry Potter: As I type this, Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone was published twenty years ago. I was four, nearly five at the time and didn't read it until I was seven so it had been out in the world for two years by that point. Nonetheless, as a Harry Potter fan and someone who grew up utterly immersed in all of J.K. Rowling's magnificence today still feels very special. Last year I bought my eight year old cousin the first book and he loved it and is now reading the rest of the series. If that doesn't prove their timelessness and ability to transcend generations, in an ever-increasing digital age, I don't know what does. Happy Birthday Harry. Thanks for the magic.

Recently Read: / The Lottie Project by Jacqueline Wilson. I was recently sent Jacqueline Wilson's latest book. She's published over 100 titles now. Isn't that amazing? Anyway, for nostalgia's sake and in preparation for a post, I decided to revisit some of her titles. The Lottie Project was one of the first of her books I read and it's still just as brilliant in my nostalgically biased, rose-tinted eyes. Lottie, aka Charlotte is a schoolgirl tasked with doing a project on the Victorians. Bored by the mundane books she has to choose from, she decides to create a journal about Victorian life. She cleverly interprets events from the present day for the earlier times. I like how the journal's handwritten in Nick Sharratt's illustrative script too. So good. So nostalgic. I love it. / Moranthology by Caitlin Moran. Newcomers around here mightn't know I'm a bit obsessed with Moran's writing. Everyone else, yes I am talking about Caitlin again. Moranthology is a bind-up of Caitlin's columns covering everything from Amy Winehouse to Downton Abbey, in a rather hilarious recap or two. She introduces each column with afterthoughts which are equally as brilliant. I really hope she releases another book soon because I've only got her novel left to read and then I'll have covered everything. Send help, or new Moran-isms. 

The Wishlist: / Face Paint by Lisa Eldridge. Believe it or not I've actually not read this book. I have flicked through it though and it looks brilliant. Lisa is so knowledgeable and I have a birthday coming up so. Hint hint, family.  / Without A Doubt by Marcia Clark. I'm a bit obsessed with The People vs OJ Simpson and only have the last episode left. Much to my dismay. Sarah Paulson as Marcia Clark is amazing and we all know I love memoirs so I really want to read her book about this incredibly fascinating trial. She actually writes crime novels too but it's this book in particular I'm intrigued by.  / Play It as It Lays by Joan Didion. More Didion. This time set in the sixties and shining Didion's microscopic lens on Hollywood. Like Moran, I want to read everything of Didion's and this is next on my well-established list.

-What have you read lately?

*Review copy but enthusiasm for O'Porter's words and general brilliance is all my own.

"Take your broken heart, make it into art." -Carrie Fisher

I've been umming and ahhing over doing this post all week. Well if I'm honest, longer than a week. I considered just leaving my blog as is and returning, no explanations, nothing. While I certainly don't feel obligated to divulge every last detail of life and the like, Nana Wintour has been around for nearly six years. In that time I've taken barely any time away from blogging. Even when life has been stressful or hectic. Writing is my antidote.

That being said, a lot has been going on lately. A lot. To anyone who I know personally, offline or my Internet squad, cringe at the cheese factor there but I consider some of you as family and therefore a wider extension of my tribe, squad etc, please do not worry about me. I am okay. I will not be going into great detail here. There are definitely aspects I might write about at some stage but for now I won't be discussing it. You may have noticed this blog and my social channels have been all over the place lately. My writing in particular is taking a bit of a hit and as a result I'm being unfair on myself. Missing my own deadlines that don't really affect anybody other than myself, not taking good enough pictures in my eyes and vice versa. 

I love writing with every fibre of my being. Always have. Always will. I don't want this corner of the interwebs to suffer so for the time being I'm going to take a break. It might be a week, it could be a month. I'll be back when I'm ready. Instagram may be a bit inconsistent too but I genuinely love sharing on there so I will try to keep posting. 

Again just to reiterate, I am okay. This post is not me asking for attention and if you want to troll, please refrain because quite honestly I don't need it right now. I just felt like I owed you my readers an update.

I hope you are all great and I will be back soon! x

It feels like I only just did one of these posts but when I went back to check it was a good couple of months ago. Time flies when you're blogging, apparently. Today we have a neat lil' edit of books I acquired during May and June. If you follow my @whatsophieread Instagram, you will know I'm on a bit of a book buying ban for the foreseeable future. It's getting a bit crowded at the literary inn that is my bedroom for one, that and I'm saving up for some arguably more luxe purchases. More on that another time. Anyway anyway, six books, waiting to be read and considered...

Bluets by Maggie Nelson: At this point I can't remember who exactly recommended this book but it has been on my radar for a while. Last year I read The Argonauts also by Nelson and I found it quite the experience for lack of better words. I'll be honest, I don't know a lot about this book on purpose and I'm not going to find out. What I do know to expect however is beautiful writing. 

Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone, 20th Anniversary Edition by JK Rowling: How insane is it that it's been twenty years nearly, June 26th is the official day I believe, since this absolute treasure of a book was published? I didn't read it until 1999, I know this because I marked my name and age in the front of my well-loved copy. I read and reread and reenacted scenes with friends among other things. Harry Potter is always going to have a special place in my heart. These house editions, released by Bloomsbury are just exquisite. I prefer the paperbacks because if I'm honest, I'm not hugely fond of sprayed paper edges but the embossed covers are enough to win me over. That and it's got some special content, just for the anniversary. Oh-and it's always good to have a backup because my original copy is getting pretty battered. 

The Wonder by Emma Donoghue: I still can't bring myself to read Room. A friend of mine thinks I'll find it really sad so I decided to grab Donoghue's latest novel first. An eleven year old girl in 1850 stops eating yet somehow remains alive and well. Pitched as "a child's murder threatening to happen in slow motion before our eyes." This is very different to what I usually read but it sounds so riveting. I'm looking forward to branching out of my narrow, contemporary fiction comfort zone.

How To Be A Grown-Up by Daisy Buchanan: After seeing and hearing rave reviews of this book from the likes of Liv and Rosalind and then reading its premise, I was hooked. I've said it before that there seems to be an almost unrealistic expectation to have it all together and mapped out so to speak, the minute we graduate high school. The reality however is very few of us are that way, although that being said I know what I want to ultimately do, I just have to work to get there. Anyway, this book is essentially a comforting read designed to help us twenty-somethings negotiate what can feel like a treacherous decade. As someone who does feel the odd pang of inadequacy every now and again, I'm sure I'll love this book. Keep an eye out for my review and takeaways from it.

Abandon Me by Melissa Febos: Described as the book of the year, and another memoir. Surprise surprise. Again I deliberately don't know much about it, other than the obvious themes of abandonment. It also explores the idea of heritage and coming to terms with our roots and behavioural aspects, such as addiction that we may inherit from our parents. 

Wave Me Goodbye* by Jacqueline Wilson: Here's a nostalgic read if ever there was one. I requested a copy of Jacqueline Wilson's newest novel. I've also been re-reading some of her other books, all in the name of a blog post. Set in 1939, Shirley is sent away from her family as WW2 begins. She's billeted in the country with two boys and a reclusive guardian. This is the first book Wilson has done set in this period, I know she's done a fair few that take place during Victorian times so it'll be interesting to see what it's like and to revisit her writing. 

-Have you acquired any new books lately? I'd love to know what you're reading in the comments.

*Review copy