Blue eyes - ladies cufflinks

My latest ladies' cufflinks - my little birdies with bright blue eyes.


The eyes are lab created spinel cabachons, in a nice light blue shade.... .Makes you want to sing Frank Sinatra or Elton John or ...who was it who wrote "don't it make my brown eyes blue"?


I see Talbots have just come out with new cuff shirts......I tell you - you'll be needing cufflinks sooner than you thought!

And yes - guys can wear them too - especially delightful for bird watchers/twitchers ...or maybe even twitters?????

PS Yes, I have blue eyes. What color are yours?

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......

On the street where you live

I've recently been asked to expand my little house range from earrings, to a pendant, to a pin....and I'm also adding cufflinks too - but haven't finished those yet.


The first set of earrings I domed slightly as you can see above, but I've left the new pieces un-domed until I hear back from the customers on what they want.

It's funny. I've had these earrings for sale quite a while, and then on the same day, two people ask about them and want something to go with them. Maybe that was what was needed all along. Two houses should have been three....or four...or more?


More on cufflinks later.....

Music cufflinks

I just finished some cufflinks as a birthday gift for someone. Sounds delightful. Grandparents are buying their grandson his first Tuxedo/Dinner suit and wanted some cufflinks to go with it. The grandson is studying music in San Francisco so will definitely get a lot of use of the dinner suit.


They asked for the cufflinks to have a treble clef on one and a bass clef on the other and then his name across the two. His name is Allo - so here are the cufflinks.


Now whenever he performs, he'll be thinking of his grandparents! Great gift idea.

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!

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!

Gift from the cat

I was recently approached by a cat to do a commission piece for her owner! She wanted me to make her "mum" some cuff-links with her paw prints on them. So we discussed the idea.....found that she also wanted her name on them - and so I came up with some birthday cuff-links for her mum! Hope mummy likes them. Here they are:

How lovely to have cufflinks for women. I think I need to pursue this more...... Let's get those shirts out ladies and get some cool cuff-links in them! If a cat can start this trend - anyone can do it!


PS No cat was injured in the manufacture of these cuff links - and she didn't even get clay in her pads!!!! :0D

Sound of Music....

Do a deer, a female deer,
Re a drop of golden sun,
Mi a name I call myself,
Fa a long long way to go,
So a needle pulling thread,
La a note to follow So,
Te a drink with jam and bread,
That will bring you back to do!
Do, re, mi, fa, so, la, ti, do.

Now who has never seen the Sound of Music? and enjoyed family Von Trapp...........

And before you think it is my all time favourite movie and that's why I have made cufflinks of the do re mi's, I will have to disappoint you. Sorry. Yes, of course it's a great movie - especially for families! But the cufflinks came about from local choirs.

When I moved to California, and started singing here, I was amazed that the choir directors teach solfege - do, re, mi's - as the method to sight read music. I had never done this - I can sight read pretty well, but we never really had a method....yet I'd go to a rehearsals here and everyone around me would be do, ti, fa-ing and I'd be making this non-descript consonant and vowel sound - hoping no one would notice - but generally singing the correct note......

And when you are doing it quickly, I couldn't even the remember the correct order! And I could go whole rehearsals never singing "so"! Yes, I'd sing the note -but could never remember the "word"!!!!!!

So, solfege isn't my thing - but it seems it is used alot in California - and it really does work. It impresses me - but it seems like adding an additional step for me so something extra instead of a useful tool.

Anyhow, I'm heading down to Grace cathedral shortly to sing there - I sing most Sundays there - so thought today is a good day to be thinking of my solfege.......

I made these cufflinks for my musical guy friends! I can just picture them all dressed up smartly for a concert and as they sing, they keep lifting up their cuffs to see the solfege! I suppose it would have been good if I'd made a solfege necklace for myself for rehearsals, as a little crib sheet - but then I'd have had no excuse for mumbling!!!

I also made them as guys don't get many opportunities to wear "jewelry" - and these have a whimsical style to them. Most men don't wear "whimsy" either but they do occasionally if it is cufflinks.

So for all those male singers who wear cuffs........But beware - observers may well break out into song aka Julie Andrews and the family Von Trapp!!