The Knitter's Assistant

I was asked to design a pendant for a customer that she could give to a friend of hers who is a keen knitter.  She is also a cat owner so wondered if I could combine that into the design too....and so I came up with "The Knitter's Assistant"

.... a little cat holding onto two balls of wools and some knitting needles!  she definitely has her paws full!

There's no place like home

I have been making some house pieces for a Realtor - some earrings, a pin and necklace and so while I was at it, I thought I'd make some cuff links to add to my new ladies cufflinks line.


They are the simple house design you may have seen in my other pieces and I think they work well for cufflinks..... They could also be worn my men ....and I definitely don't want to exclude men from the cufflink scene!


I bought myself a couple of french cuff shirts last week from the outlets. There were quite a few to choose from but I got mine from Brooks Brothers. I've never shopped there before but in addition to their usual discounted prices, they had an extra 50% off! They had such a good selection - different styles, different colors, plain, striped.....

I was surprised to see Chico's selling two shirts for cufflinks too...... I tell you, if these kinds of stores are selling the shirts...then ladies cufflinks will be "hot" for Christmas presents! So put them on your list.

I'll be making more next week.... a few ideas in my head......

Anyone can juggle!

Quite a few years ago (- gosh too scary to remember how many!) I spent a weekend with my sister at her new apartment. I remember going to Covent Garden on the Sunday and wandering around.... but then when I woke up on the Monday morning, I found I had chicken pox! Ugh!

My sister had to go into work and I felt horrid so I stayed in her apartment for the day - feeling too ill to travel home. It was not a fun day - but luckily a purchase I had made in Covent Garden came to my rescue! I had bought myself some juggling balls. 6 in total! And so, sat up in bed with the pox, I learnt how to juggle!


It was the most productive thing I did for the next few days until I felt well enough to make my way home. And by the end of my stay, I could juggle all 6, albeit briefly!!!


A couple of weeks ago, I was rummaging in some drawers in the laundry room, waiting for my kiln to finish a firing and I found 3 juggling balls! So now, whenever I have a couple of minutes, I'm back at juggling. As I only have three balls, I guess that is my maximum right now. Probably best to leave it at three.


And so, here is my "anyone can juggle" piece. I wanted some balls up in the air - so when you wear the set, the earrings provide 4 balls up high and then there are two more above 'anyone' attached to the chain!


A perfect necklace for someone with too many balls in the air - or a wanna be circus performer!! Hope you like him!

And the winner is.....

Yes, time to announce the winner of the final week of the caption competition...

Drum roll please..dddddddddddrrrrrrrr - this week's winner is Peter! Congratulations! His caption was:

"This one's merlot. This one's merlot. This one's merlot....!"

Little Quails doing quality control! How perfect!!!

As usual, there were so many wonderful entries this week which you can read below. Thanks so much for entering both this week and previous weeks. The quails loved it and are happy to go to their new homes. Thanks also to the judges.

Here are this week's entries:

1. Did we have fun or what?

2. Everyone say merlot!!

3. Back to quail school!

4. Under the Tuscan Sun

5. Toil in the Soil

6. C'mon! Stomp harder!

7. I heard it through the grapevine

8. This one's merlot. This one's merlot. This one's merlot!

9. Quentin and his mates were drunk with excitement at the new harvest

10. Quentin proves that Birdland grapes are naturally potent by seeing double, triple, quadruple and more...

11. Like Birdland Grapes, Quentin and his pals are true to their roots!

12. Quails are a lot like grapes....Great results take time!

13. Quails confused by giant grapes.

14. Better than a McDonald's playscape.

15. Quentin the quail queries his queer name....

16. Work faster! We have 20 tons of Birdland Merlot to stomp today!!!

17. Stop whining about sour grapes!

18. The special on the menu this evening is California Quail stuffed with merlot grapes!

19. Quentin who???

20. The grape crushing by foot was not going well. Quentin yells "I'm gonna need a bigger bird!"

21. "How long does it take for this stuff to ferment????"

22. Hey, did anyone see where my round lapis bead went?"

23. Quentin tries desperately to convince the chef that despite the catchy rhyme of "Quentin au Vin," the "Coq au Vin" is really a much better meal choice.

24. Do you think if we stomp long enough, we can make wine?!

25. Waiting for "Cheers!"

26. Quentin's Dream: Family Stomped Quail Merlot!

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???

Playing Cat and Mouse - silver necklace

Just finished a delightful commission for a wonderful customer of mine in France. She cares for many, many dogs and cats and has bought the "home is where the dog is" necklace and lots of other pieces too. I was happy then when she asked me to make something for her - and she asked for a necklace with a cat and mouse on it - the rest was left open for my interpretation.

So here is the necklace:


I think it is quite a different piece for me. The cat is not as whimsical as usual - or whimsical in a different sense.... but I like the look and line of it.


I think the last cat that I made I didn't like much so my mind was already thinking of doing it differently - and it did! Problem was that I made the mouse first in my usual whimsical style but then that didn't match the cat, so I had to make another mouse! The first mouse is now going to become another necklace that I'll show you later.


Anyhow, the customer loved it and it's on it's way to France. Hope it's a good cat and doesn't cause too much fuss! Maybe the quietest of all she'll be caring for!

Cufflinks - for men AND women

Here are some new cuff links. They utilize the traditional hinge style post that swivels once it's through the cuff and holds it in place.


And maybe not many men wear cuff links nowadays in the US - but the numbers seem to be increasing in the UK. I've made a few pairs before - and they've all sold in England. It seems that it is becoming more popular with younger guys there, who are wearing them on everyday shirts rather than just formal shirts....

But another angle I'd love to get moving is cuff links for women. I made some women's cuff links for a commission - and just thought it was a great idea. You can buy ladies blouses with cuffs for cuff links now - or you could even adapt a blouse/shirt you already have.


This pair is quite subdued in design. As it was my first pair with the hinge back, I kept it simple - sort of just about what my husband could cope with wearing. He does like plain! Nothing flashy for him! But now I like how these have turned out - so the field is open....so long as I can find people who want to wear cuff links!!!


So get out there! Get the man in your life to wear French cuff shirts - or you wear them instead and adorn yourselves with cuff links! Happy to do commissions. Let's start a cuff link movement!

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........

Commissions - II

The second piece I made for Elizabeth for one of her wedding party is like an amalgamation of a couple of pieces I've made before. She liked the idea of a lariat style necklace - like "anyone can fall in love" but decided she would like a cat with the heart instead of "anyone" as the recipient is a cat lover.

So here is Elizabeth's second piece:

If I was naming it, it would probably be something like "my heart belongs to my cat".....

Again, I've put the date of the wedding on the bottom.

I'll show you some more commissions as and when I finish them - but it could be a while yet as one of my dear friends is getting married this weekend. Festivities run from Friday lunch all the way through to Sunday brunch. We are hosting the wedding brunch on the Sunday at our home. I made her some necklaces for the wedding party too - so after this weekend, I'll show you those.

Seems like the blog has gone from sequel posts of "collaborations" to now one about "commissions" .....I wonder what will come next????? "c....."???