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!

Anyone can juggle

Harvest Day 1

Our first morning of the grape harvest for 2009. Here are a few photos to show you the vineyard crew in action.

Each of the green or white containers you see in the photos holds approx 1/2 ton of grapes. The vineyard really looks like a farm today with a couple of tractors, fork lift, flat bed truck, loads of cars parked outside and people everywhere! We normally don't have "equipment" everywhere! Even the deer are keeping away as there is too much activity.


The goal today was to harvest 5 tons. They are so fast at picking. It's 10am and they are done! Look carefully at the first photo below - it's taken under the vines and you can just about make out all the legs of the vineyard crew as they pick!


"Heavy storms" are forecast for tomorrow. We haven't had rain since spring so I'm not complaining....By the end of the week, it should be warm again so hopefully the rest of the grapes will be ready to be harvested then. We expect a total harvest of about 20 tons. I had a little taste of the grapes as I wandered around this morning....lots of good flavors.

Sunday's spotlight - The last warm days of the year

By guest blogger Pete.

A couple of weeks ago we paid a visit to our elder daughter, Mary,and her family. We spent some five days with them on that trip. Mary, Fin and the two boys live in a large house with a fair sized garden. They inherited this garden some 6 or 7 years ago and it was obviously one that lacked love from the previous householder. Mary and Fin have worked to keep the garden up to scratch and this year they have had the back garden terraced. One of our trips out whilst at Croxley was to buy plants for the new piece of garden. Pam took some photos so these first two pictures are her's.



On one of the days during our visit, we went to Hatfield House. It doesn't possess what you would call an impressive facade but T.V. and filming crew vehicles covered most of the frontage and even improved it quite a bit!! They were shooting an episode of "Miss Marples" when we were there but they must have been working indoors because we saw very few signs of activity outside. I think it was Henry VIII who deposited his children at Hatfield; at least Elizabeth I spent much of her childhood there.


Fin, like me, is a photography nut. Pam and Mary are into making cards and the two boys into rugby and football ("Why not cricket? I ask.). Thus on the Saturday Pam and Mary went to "Ally Pally" (Alexandra Palace) for a craft event and Fin and I sped off to Kew Gardens. If you've never been to Kew then I'm afraid you've missed a real treat. You must go! It's a wee bit expensive to get in but well worth it. Even though there was not the usual amount of colour that other seasons of the year provide there was still enough to keep Fin and me happy. Many of the trees were glorious and the orchid house was a real splash of vibrant colour.


Next week we're off to the Cotswolds for seven days. When you retire you can get around a bit more than you could when working. This trip will be the last bit of gallivanting for us this year. Mary, Fin and the boys are coming to us for Christmas so we're both looking forward in anticipation to that.

Keep on with the gardening! If you don't do it then someone in the future will have bad thoughts about you!!!!!!

Harvest time - Birdland Merlot

Harvest time is upon us. We will begin on Monday, harvesting 5 tons of our lovely Merlot grapes. The vineyard is looking so beautiful with all these little grapes, in their dark colors against the turning green leaves....so splashes of yellows and reds...

It's such a wonderful time of the year....but also feels a little sad as we've been watching the grapes grow for quite a few months now....and then they all get picked...

and as the first photo above shows - it's a little like being an "empty nester"! Yes, we found three different nests in our vineyard this year - one of them had an egg still in it and another had half an egg!....seems like the grapes took over when the birds left and were "hanging out" in them....


So it'll be a few days before everything is harvested - particularly as rain is due on Tuesday, but think of us...empty nesters...... when all our little babies leave home....

But some of them will return in a couple of years as Birdland Merlot - so I guess we can cope :=D

Sculpting in metal clay

The lovely Wendy from metal clay magic just wrote up a lovely piece about my work today on her http://metalclaymagic.com site.

Thanks Wendy. And for all of you out there who fear sculpting in metal clay - don't worry! Just give it a try!

And Alida selected my Birds on a perch to join her bird collection from Dawanda. Thanks Alida. Click on the picture to go to her blog.

Ladies cufflinks - Time to Bloom

I'm starting a new line of ladies cuff links. It'll be an unusual gift for people to give at Christmas and other occasions, maybe combining it with a french cuff shirt. A new style of jewelry to make a change....Here's a pair entitled "Time to Bloom"


In the corporate world, women are wearing suits so why not add a touch of femininity and individuality and add cufflinks to the ensemble. With a well fitted shirt, there is nothing to complement it more than a pair of cufflinks.


But cuff links are not just for the office either. They can be worn with silk blouses, or tailored shirts for an evening out - or just with a shirt and a pair of jeans.


And while many men's cufflinks are unisex, having a range designed for women will offer a more feminine look and with my whimsical designs - maybe a touch of playfulness too.


To find a suitable shirt, it's best to look for a french cuff, as this provides better support for the cufflink. You can find shirts for cufflinks in the US at Chico's, Liz Claiborne, Jones New York, Brooks Brothers, Nordstram and others or else google "french cuff women's shirt", you'll find quite a few in different price ranges.


I'll be building my line of women's cufflinks (and not excluding men either) and of course, can do custom designs too.... I look forward to seeing your cuffs suitably adorned!

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.....

Anyone can.....appear in Art Jewelry Magazine

Well it's been a good week for getting myself out there this week. It started with my interview on Scoutie Girl,..... then my special delivery necklace was featured in the 2009 PMC Guild Annual....
and yesterday I received my copy of the November 2009 Art Jewelry Magazine and inside were shown my "anyone can bring me flowers" earrings.


I had made the earrings quite a while ago for a challenge on Etsy. The challenge was to make some jewelry using 10g or less of metal clay. At that time, I had only made a few "anyone can" pieces - so I thought it would be a good challenge to see how small I could make "anyone"....and thus the earrings came about, and were selected for the article.



I also heard that my "feed the birds" necklace will appear in Marjorie Oxman's "2010 Metal Clay Calendar" which will be available for sale on Etsy soon.

And yesterday brought the news that a step by step project that I had been invited to submit to Art Jewelry magazine has been accepted!


Gosh - a great spurt of publicity for Birdland Creations......and next week brings another feature too...but I'll tell you about that when it happens!

Church windows

A couple of years ago, I made my mum some earrings of stained glass windows, using resin for the glass effect. When I spoke to her last week, she told me she had lost one of them. As she wears these frequently, I've made her another pair. They are very light weight and have thin ear wires which she needs as she has sensitive little ears :=D

So while I was making her pair (to be the same as her first set), I made another pair - slightly larger and a slightly different style. Still gothic windows...in reds and blues....

Sunday's spotlight - wagons roll

By guest blogger Pete

Many years ago when we lived in Chesterfield I had a treasurer who not only kept the books wonderfully well but also devoted a great deal of time to raising money. Most of the money she raised wasn't for us but for a special enterprise we ran each year.

Our parish was in a deprived part of town where employment was low and poverty fairly common. Each year we used to raise sufficient cash to take 60 or so teenagers away for a two week holiday during their summer school break. 30 girls went to a camp somewhere in the U.K. and 30 boys went camping on the Continent (Europe). We never went to the same place twice. Have you ever taken 30 teenage boys camping? It was quite an adventure and certain single adults gave up their summer holidays to help with one of the two camps. We paid for absolutely everything during those two weeks, except for the children's spending money (and I have an idea that Mary, the treasurer,used to slip some spending money to certain of the teenagers).


One of the ways in which money was raised was through a weekly BIngo session for adults. Of course, at half time we had a break for refreshments. It was at one of these Bigo Sessions that I was introduced to the wonders of "Wagon Wheels". If you've never had a "Wagon Wheel" then don't break your abstinence. They're back on the market again so when Lent comes or if you're feeling adventurous then give them a go.


The first thing I have against "Wagon Wheels" is that they are so LARGE. Inside there is a kind of mushy biscuit surrounded by a gooey white substance, all encased in this "chocolate tasting" outside. I wonder why they put a chocolate tasting outside and not the real thing! You've been warned.


I've enclose a scan of the painting I am working on and which I showed you last week. I've made some progress. I may have mentioned in last week's blog that the drying time had a good effect on the questionable area in the sky so I decided to continue with the rest of the painting. The setting is Lincoln's Castle Square. just outside Exchequer Gate and the Cathedral looking towards the Castle entrance. I haven't really got to the stage yet where I'm wondering what the people in the Square are doing although I suspect that one of them is asking the stall holder if he has any free samples!!


Remember "Wagon Wheels"! Go on! Try one"

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.

Special Delivery - selected for the 2009 PMC Guild Annual

My "special delivery" mailbox necklace has been selected as one of the "exceptional works in metal clay" for the 2009 PMC Guild Annual. I had not submitted any pieces before, so was especially delighted to be selected in my first year.


My Annual just arrived today - and how nice it is to see your work in print. There is some lovely work in there with several pieces created by other members of the Etsy Metal Clay Team.


The Special Delivery necklace is a little mailbox with a hinge that opens and inside is the message "miss you". I've always fancied making this design for a commission but having the message inside read "will you marry me?". Don't you think it would be a great way to propose to someone????

The Love Boat - cocktail ring

I was recently asked to use my love boat necklace design and make a love boat ring. I finished it today!


The boat is 3/4 long - so imagine the size of those two little people sat inside!


The person who commissioned the piece is married to a very keen fisherman, so she asked if it was possible to add a fishing rod to the boat too. So on one side, you can see a little fishing rod, and it was good day - so there is a fish on the end of the rod. Yes, you have to look carefully, as it's quite small!


I loved making it. Two little people, sharing their love as they sail away in their boat (with the advantage that they won't get hungry as they have a fish to eat!).


What do you think? My ring ideas are a buzzin'......