Rupert the bird

You met Humphrey and Trisha on Monday.....well they've been busy (they are love birds!) and here is their son Rupert!

He too hangs around quite a bit....


but while that might sound easy, Rupert says he gets quite tired and has to lie down periodically:


Poor little birdie.....out all day, no little nest to go back to, so he just has to take the weight off his feet sometimes!

Wallace the woodpecker

For the last few weeks as I sit working in my studio, I've had quite an accompaniment. All I hear is this tap, tap, tapping......so loud it feels like someone's tapping on my head.

I quickly realized it was a woodpecker and on several occasions I went outside to see what he was up to - but he'd fly away, squalking! Then I got smart and I'd sneak out....closing the door really quietly and tip-toeing around the back of the house. Then he'd be startled and squalk really loud and fly away!!!


Despite my sneaking, I'm still not sure what exactly he is pecking at .... We are surrounded by trees but obviously something around the roof line in my little attic studio has got his attention......

It gets a little annoying after a while.....but then I figured maybe he was trying to tell me something...and maybe that something was that he wanted a little bit of attention!


And so, I made a necklace of Wallace the woodpecker. It seemed a little odd in design terms to have a woodpecker pecking at a tile roof, so I showed him pecking at a tree...and maybe he will get the hint!

He looks so like a Wallace.....with that little bit of naughtiness and cuteness.....not that I know any other Wallaces..... Do you have any noisy woodpeckers near you, asking to be sculpted in silver?

Birds with Words

As well as the bracelets that I have done in my new "Birds with words" series, like the "Bluebird of happiness", "Be as a bird", and "A little bird told me"...I've also done some as simple little necklaces.

Here's "watch the birdie" - a sweet gift for photographers or bird watchers!


Any of this series can be hung on bracelets, bangles or chains as necklaces..... and maybe I should try them as earrings with the word tag in one ear and the bird in another? What do you think?

YOU are my sunshine

Every morning around breakfast time, I sing the first verse of "you are my sunshine". I sing it to (actually WITH) Harold, my pet parrot. It's his favorite song and he loves to join in. And he is my sunshine. Whatever day it is, whatever has happened, he is always my sunshine and can brighten my day.


A few years ago I made a brooch of the song for myself. It's a similar design to this new necklace but not sculpted. Then the other day I thought that my little "anyone" figures would incorporate nicely into the design and voila! A necklace to warm your heart!


Two little figures are huddling together under an umbrella....rain is pouring down, but they have all the sunshine they need in each other! YOU are my sunshine. I made a tag of the title that hangs down at the clasp.


Hope you have your own sunshine. Who is it? Who always brightens your day??? Go on...tell us!


If you are curious about all the lyrics to the song - here they are

Last Night of the Proms

We went to see the Last Night of the Proms live broadcast today, in Santa Rosa. What a great event! All those people brought together for music. This year there was the full house in the Royal Albert Hall, plus thousands of people at the "Proms in the Park" in County Down, Swansea, Hyde Park, Glasgow and Salford, and then people like us, all over the world watching it live on television or at theaters! I can't imagine how many people that is - united by music.


Just earlier in the week I watched the movie "The Singing Revolution" which is all about how music played such a vital role in Estonia when the people there sought to free themselves from occupation. During the years of occupation, thousands of Estonians gathered in public to sing forbidden patriotic songs - and who can stop 300,000 people singing together?


The Proms was doing the same sort of thing.... showing us the power of music. It was wonderful to watch and hear. Brilliant soloists in Alison Balsam (trumpet) and Sarah Connolly (mezzo), great conducting and speech by American, David Robertson...... Alison and Sarah performed such contrasting styles - all of them astounding - with Sarah singing Purcell's Dido's lament to Gershwin. Loved it all and sang along to Rule Britannia, Jerusalem and Land of Hope and Glory!


We went with friends and two of them had no idea what to expect! They were surprised - and loved it! If you've never seen it - check out the website and you can see the broadcast there. The second half is very different from the first half....think vacuum cleaners as instruments, lots of balloons and streamers, people bobbing up and down...... It's a great example of a British Tradition!

Autumn time....

I'm feeling like I'm ready for cooler weather now.....after the long weekend, it feels like we are leaving summer. The weather here isn't exactly in tune with me - but nevertheless, I thought I'd share a more "autumnal" piece with you today which was made with sage leaves.


You may also notice from today and yesterday's blog posts that I've found out how to make collages! I'd seen them on other people's blogs and thought, "I should learn how to do that!" - so you may well get to see more collages in the future. Hopefully making collages won't get quite so addictive for me as making kaleidoscopes is for my dad :=D

Wherever you live...

I got some older pieces back today. They had gone to a gallery a couple of months ago and some had sold and the rest were going to be put on sale - so I decided to take them back and try and sell them on my own sites instead. It seemed there were a few house pieces.....so I've re-photographed them and will put them up on my websites.

The Street where I live:


Stay at home:


Cobblestone Hill:

I used to do a lot of houses and architectural types of pieces. I enjoyed doing them a lot and still do.... like Miriam's castle more recently:

Do you think my style has changed???

Anyone can be feminine.....

One of my customers asked if my "anyone" figure could be more feminine for a necklace she wanted. I said that "anyone" was designed to be either male or female but I would give it a try. So I made a skirt for anyone - but then "she" looked like a doll so decided against it......

On a couple of other occasions when someone has wanted a girl and a boy together with some distinction between them, I've just changed the hat and made it a little wider brimmed.


So this time, I did my usual hat adaptation but rather than just widening the brim, I also added a couple of flowers.


Hope you think she looks like a girl now! "Anyone can be feminine......."

Mentor - hands necklace

More hands! I just finished another commission yesterday for a friend who wanted two hands, one reaching, one supporting.....


When I finished it, it felt like a mentor relationship between the two hands - the hands weren't clinging or even reaching for each other but more like just touching with the top hand providing support and guidance as and when needed. It seemed more like knowing someone was there.....


But maybe you see it differently....

Let me know.

Home is where the dog is - silver necklace

I've just finished off a couple of new pieces today so thought I'd share the first one with you.


When I was making the "anyone can train a dog" piece last week, I actually made two dogs - so I decided to use the other dog in a new piece - "home is where the dog is"!


Yes, it's like my "home is where the heart is" - but instead of the heart, is the dog!


So for all those dog lovers out there........

Birdhouse necklaces

As I mentioned in my post yesterday, when I was making the birdhouse earrings, the first pair I made were quite large - too big and heavy for earrings - so I decided to carry on with them and make them into necklaces.


They have the same design as the earrings - one round house with a shingle roof and one square house.

Hmmmm. Guess I need to come up with names for them that aren't just "birdhouse".... Hmmm. How about "home tweet home"? Corny, I know :-D

Birdfeeder on Handmade News

Just heard that my "feed the birds" birdfeeder necklace is mentioned in "handmade news" today. It's an article all about attracting birds - with fun facts and quiz. The quiz is all about state birds - I didn't know any of them! Go take a look - and then please click on the "like it" button at the bottom.


The writer mentions my necklace for bird watchers on the go - as you can unscrew the lid and feed the birds as a go with the real birdseed inside!!

Thanks Cyndi for including it.

Sing your heart out

Don't you just love it when you wander outside and a birdie is sat in a tree singing his little heart out. He just keeps on singing. What a happy little bird. And sometimes they are soooooo loud!

Well, while I'm finishing up my "be as a bird" bracelet - I used one of the photopolymer plates and made a necklace - showing a little bird singing his heart out.

So take time out from your worries and stresses and just sing your heart out!

PS the bracelet is coming soon. Please come back to see it!

All dressed up and no place to go....

Here's Mrs Byrd. She's all dressed up and no place to go.......


Look at her smart boots and lovely summer hat with a big flower in it. She'd love to come around for tea. Would that be OK? It seems such a shame to just sit on the nest when you are looking so pretty......


To tell you the truth, when I started making her yesterday, she was going to be a chicken, but I just didn't like how her comb on the top of her head looked...So as I was trying different variations on combs and wattles, the thought came to me that maybe birds sometimes have bad "hair" days, so maybe I should make her a hat to cover it up! So then she became the well dressed Mrs Byrd!

Do invite her out....she'd love to meet you....