Meet Miss Frankie Murray – a tea drinking, vintage loving, blog writing, pretty, pretty jewellery maker. Miss Frankie is the lovely lady behind Swell Vintage – your soon-to-be new favourite shopping destination, come meet her, she’s simply dee-vine!

So Miss Frankie – what is it you do exactly?
I make jewellery using authentic vintage and antique parts. I also blog a lot and write for Queens of Vintage (www.queensofvintage.com). Apart from that I mainly drink tea and potter about.

We’ve got a whole lotta love for the vintage here at Sassy Minx, where and when did your interest in all things vintage begin and how did you turn it into a Swell Vintage business of awesomeness?
As far back as I can remember, I’ve always been a vintage girl. I was lucky enough to grow up in a family with keen interest in history, so my passion for the past probably started there. When I was little, I remember desperately wanting to be an artist, so it was extra disappointing when I grew up and realised I was terrible at art! I couldn’t draw or paint for beans. I felt like a creative person trapped in the useless body of an untalented ape. After years of searching for a creative outlet, I decided to give jewellery making a go…and I could do it! Since then I’ve been lucky enough to have my jewellery sold in a wonderful boutique in Edinburgh and through my etsy shop (http://swellvintage.etsy.com). The response I’ve had has been amazing. I still can’t quite believe it when people like my stuff!

How do you juggle being creative and being business-y too?
To be honest, I really struggle with the business side of things! I am terrible at working out prices. Fortunately my friends and family are far more intelligent than I am, so they’re always on hand to advise me. I find the creative stuff much easier because I just get to play around and experiment.

What’s a day in the life of Ms Swell Vintage like – how do your creations go from an idea in your head to real-life items of pretty?
Sunday is normally the day I dedicate to updating my blog and trying out new ideas. I’ll whack a DVD boxset on and not move from my little desk for the rest of the day. The jewellery making process varies from piece to piece. Sometimes I have a pretty good idea of what I’d like to do in my head, other times I’ll find a really interesting or unusual part and I’ll take it from there. Normally I’ll just chuck some freshwater pearls at it. I like pearls.

What five tracks would be on a SV soundtrack?
My music taste is very broad and random, so bear with me on this…

In no particular order:
1.    Any track off the new Regina Spektor album. I saw her play recently and I’m officially in love.
2.    Omar Coming by my very talented friends The Tupolev Ghost (http://www.thetupolevghost.com). You should really check them out, they are brilliant and are going to be massively famous very soon.
3.    Superfreak by Rick James. It always reminds me of “Little Miss Sunshine” and never fails to make me smile.
4.    You can’t beat a bit of Iron and Wine in the summer. Sunset Soon Forgotten is definitely one of my favourites.
5.    Regulate by Nate Dogg and Warren G. Classic.

What era would you like to go back and visit and why?
Probably the late 20s/early 30s. The style was revolutionary, the men were dapper and their facial hair was impeccible! I would definitely try and marry Hercule Poirot, although I am aware that having a relationship with a fictional character may be tricky…

Who are your inspir-o girls – people that you dig and admire?
There are so many talented people around that never fail to inspire me. Top of the list is definitely my Mum, who is one of the strongest people I know. My new friend Josefine of Mint Siren lingerie (www.mintsiren.com) has such a good business head on her lovely shoulders. We did a photoshoot together recently, and I’m totally in awe of how she operates. In terms of style and beauty, I’m a big fan of Daisy Lowe, Zooey Deschanel, Edie Sedgwick and Audrey Tatou – I love how effortlessy cool and chic they are/were. I’m also really admire Agatha Christie and Harper Lee. They were such strong women for their time who just oozed talent and intelligence.

What do you wish you could go back and tell your teen-girl self?
“Hi teen-Frankie, it’s totally ok that you have such huge lips. Some boys will even like them one day!”

What’s your motto for life?
I like this quote from “Little Miss Sunshine” (that’s the second time I’ve referred to that film in this interview. Can you tell it’s one of my favourites?) – “You do what you like, and f**k the rest”. That’s pretty much how I feel most of the time. Oh wait, am I allowed to swear on this? Whoops. Sorry.

Who and what makes you jump-in-the-air happy?
Who = my family, friends, Simon Pegg.
What = good food, good films, good times, people buying/wearing/liking my jewels!

What do you love about being a girl in the world?
Being a girl is just brilliant, isn’t it? We generally look and smell better than men.

Swell Vintage Sassy List:
Website: www.etsy.com. I am ADDICTED!
Book: To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee
Make-up brand: Ohhh this a toughy…probably Benefit. I use their tinted lip balm every single day.
Place to eat: I am the least fussy eater of all time, so it’s hard to pick just one! Probably The Diner, which is a chain of American diner style restaurants in London. I’m really into pancakes.
Beauty item: Vaseline. There’s nothing that stuff can’t do. And I don’t mean that in a rude way.
Phrase/saying: “Hello my name is Inigo Montoya. You killed my father. Prepare to die”.
Current obsessions: My new laptop, freshwater pearls, Buffy the Vampire Slayer, dried figs, sewing, Cath Kidston.

Go visit Frankie at www.swellvintage.com, tell her Sassy Minx sent you!