Girls day out

Recently I had a lovely family come over to my studio to make some jewelry: Jenni, Phoebe and Eve.  It's sort of a complicated story to tell you how I met them - originally a year ago - and that meeting was very brief, but a connection was made that resulted in us all having a great day together.  Jenni is the mum and Phoebe and Eve are her daughters aged around 14 and 11???

They'd never made jewelry before and we had a fabulous time trying out silver metal clay and then they each made an aluminum/aluminium bangle.  It was pretty quiet though - lots of concentration going on!

They had to go back to England before the pieces were fired, so I finished them off and sent them to them.   Not sure if they have received them yet.

The photos are of the pieces before they were fired. Jenni did the bird on the left, Eve did the bird on the right - the collared dove, and the heart, and Phoebe did the stars.  I'll show photos of the finished pieces when I know they have received the jewelry themselves!

I hope they enjoyed the day as much as I did :=D

Good Luck necklace

Ladybirds are a sign of good luck and I was recently asked to make a ladybird necklace for a customer. This one is made using silver and color anodized aluminum.

The aluminum leaf is impressed with the veins of the leaf.

Hope you like it - and hope it brings the wearer good luck.

Nestle down for the night

I just came across this unusual bed! It's designed to look like a bird's nest and comes in three different sizes - up to 15 feet diameter!  I think the mother bird might be a bit scary if she ever finds you sleeping in it, however!

 Can't find a price.... but it looks a fun place to nestle down and chat with friends.

What do you think?

Life's a hoot

Here is the little owl necklace that I made for the step-by-step project for the Art Jewelry magazine article.

He does look like a cute little owl, don't you think?

Notice any similarities to a visitor to our garden?

If you follow the article and make your own, please send me a photo. I'd love to see your creation!

You are the cat's whiskers

You don't hear the phrase "the cat's whiskers" much any more, but it means something is outstanding.

I made these little cat earrings and necklace for a new customer a couple of weeks ago.  She only wanted the earrings, but ended up have the necklace too!

They are happy jiggly cats who wiggle their legs as you wear them.

And yes, they have little tails too:

Hand sculpted in silver, designed to make you smile :-D

Life's a hoot!

Today, the July 2012 issue of Art Jewelry magazine comes out for sale - and included in the magazine is a beginner's step-by-step project that I wrote on how to make my sculpted owl necklace "Life's a hoot" (Page 70).

I was asked by the magazine to write a "sculptural bird project" quite a while ago.  Years ago,  in fact. So it's nice to see it in print. The project shows you how to sculpt basic shapes in metal clay and then put them together and add details to make an owl.

I was also asked to submit a photo of my studio - so one rare day when it was tidy, I took a photo  and it's on the front cover of the magazine - and also page 65!  It shows off my lovely window seat - a favorite place to sit.

I have to say that the people I worked with at Art Jewelry magazine were just a delight - especially Annie.

Hope you like the project!

Quentin Quail

As I mentioned in a recent blog post, I've made a new style necklace of my good friend Quentin Quail.  I hope you like him.

It is like bas relief in silver.

Quentin wandering in the moonlight....  How romantic.  No wonder I always see him with Queenie!

Quentin Quail is back

We have lots of Quentin and Queenie pairs of quails running around the neighborhood right now, so it was timely that I got a request to make a Quentin necklace as a mother's day present.

Quentin has little running shoes on, as they always do seem to run everywhere very quickly!   I was sat on the porch the other day and Quentin walk slowly past me - not noticing I was there, but then Queenie came up behind him, saw me - and ran so fast, so Quentin ran too!  They are so lovely to watch.

Anyhow - my Quentin customer was a delight. He was buying the necklace for one of his daughters.  I do hope she likes it. I made a different styled Q necklace this week too, but haven't finished it yet. Hopefully early next week I'll show it to you.

Flowering

A few years ago, I made a pair of earrings as a gift for a friend of a friend.  Last week, I got a lovely email from the recipient to say how much she still enjoys the earrings and could I make another pair for a friend of hers.

They are not my usual style of earrings, but I did another pair.  Happy spring flowers to recognize a graduation.

Songbirds

I first made my songbird necklace and earrings early on when I started out with metal clay. This week, I made some more with a slightly different design.

This time, I've made them flat backed, instead of a complete 3D bird.  They have always been a best seller, and there must be lots of these little songbirds all over the world.  

As someone who likes long necklaces, I thought the lariat version might be nice too. There's something to be said for keeping designs simple, don't you think?

Tranquility

Following on from last week's serenity post, this time, we're in search of some tranquility.

Take time to make some tea, and find tranquil-tea!  A necklace or bracelet, to act as a reminder.

Animal tracks bracelet

I've simplified the design of my animal tracks bracelet a little, mainly to use less material so when it is in silver, the price isn't so high.

This time, I tried making it in copper, with a footprint toggle clasp.

Can you identify the tracks?

It's a popular piece - I often get requests to make them with a different combination of tracks. And just once, I made it with different size human footprints, to symbolize different family members!

Serenity

se-ren-i-ty
Noun:  1. The state of being calm, peaceful, and untroubled: "an oasis of serenity"
       

For many people, tea is a calming and soothing drink. It makes you stop a while. The act of the teapot, the loose tea or tea bag "performance", waiting for the brew, and then slowly sipping can bring a sense of serenity.

And thus, my latest necklace or it can be a bangle - combines the word and tea = "sereni-tea"

Hope you like it.  I have a couple of other t's coming soon too.

Inspiration

A blog that I read each week is PostSecret.  It is so inspiring, moving, funny, creative....

Take a look at this recent TED talk by the founder of PostSecret and see what you think.  Maybe it'll be a source of inspiration for you.

Happy Easter

Hope you are all having a lovely Easter.

Our Jack Rabbits seem happy hopping through the vineyard.  Maybe they are searching for eggs?

This little bunny looks like he's pretty happy too!

Kale is the new beef

Is it the same where you live?  Do you nowadays see kale everywhere?  It used to be that we only saw kale as a decoration in the meat or fish counter, but now it's being eaten instead of the meat!

I am a kale eater and no longer eat beef, and today, kale was my inspiration for a necklace. How often can you say a vegetable inspired a jewelry creation (although I did once make a "vegetarian bracelet" using the textures of different vegetables!)?

A little reminder necklace to eat your greens! 

And, in case you didn't know, kale is one of the healthiest vegetables you can eat:

One cup of kale contains 36 calories, 5 g fiber, calcium, Vitamin B6, magnesium, Vitamin A, Vitamin C, Vitamin K, copper, potassium, iron, manganese and phosphorus. 

It's health benefits are primarily linked to the high concentration of antioxidant vitamins A, C and K and sulphur-containing phytonutrients. 

So is kale your new beef?

Fresh as a daisy

Are you feeling fresh as a daisy today? I do hope so!

And if you are not, then maybe my new aluminum bangle will cheer up your day!  

And why are daisies considered to be fresh, you may wonder? The English name daisy comes from the old English "daeges-eaye" or "day's eye", referring to the way that many daisies open up their petals during the day, but then close their petals at night.  So I guess, the idea is that closing it's petals suggests it goes to "sleep" at night and so wakens up in the morning all fresh and alert and well rested - and thus "fresh as a daisy".

What a nice thought.  I love the fresh green on this bangle that shows off those fresh daisies too.

Have a good night's sleep tonight!

I am strong

I first made this necklace design for a wonderful friend of mine who was going through a really tricky time. It's a great reminder that we do all have strength within us, when we need it.  Yes, it's not always easy to find but it's there in all of us.

Since then, I've made it for another couple of customers who have cancer, and I recently had a few enquiries to make some more...so I started another.

Half way through, I got an email from a local friend saying she had seen a necklace on my website that she really wanted to get for her friend and could I make one for her.  It was "I am strong" - so as I was half way through, I finished it, thinking of my friend.  I hope it brings strength to her friend.

Pyschoneuroimmunology studies have proven that the use of positive affirmations is an easy and effective way to overcome mental hurdles, boost the immune system and improve health and happiness.