A is for Anna; A is for Auntie.

This is the first stage of designing a pendant for my jewellery class. We were briefed to design a monogram pendant, that had areas that were subset from the main piece of silver. For a while I was thinking about not following the brief by creating a cloud- like design that dangled from a corner. However I changed my mind as I explored variations on a simple hand-written 'A'. Thankfully I love typography! :)








To develop the template that I am using I put my hand- drawn 'A' through Illustrator, which gave me a nice clean line to work with- it has helped me save time in the long run as I could go straight into cutting the template out in copper- which is where I am at with the development of this piece
I found it quite interesting to see what my classmates has come up with... strangely I was the only one who has decided to the monogram idea (by then I has decided that it was kinda cool, and was liking my ideas). There were more than a few koru style designs. And I am definately thinking that 'this jewellery business' is going to be a positive contribution to my life.



This girl made an appearance in a notebook of mine at work as I worked on a pattern....unfortunately not of this dress!

Must go. My knitting in its mustard-y yellow glory is beckoning. And a cup of tea too! :)

i am thinking...

I am thinking I might alter that ring I made- resize it and engrave "Auntie" on it...in a fancy, slightly old-fashioned font. Then I might actually wear it.

This jewellery business is potentially creating a monster. I am also now wanting to create a fashion and jewellery range that works together for my portfolio. Very, very tempting.

I am also listening to an excessive amount of Jakob's first CD Subsets of Sets. Very good. I think I shall suport this great band from my hometown and buy one of their other CDs.

look at what I made.

Yesterday I completed my simple silver ring at the jewellery school. It was a little bit of a struggle to complete it, so I am kind of proud that I have managed to create something out of metal. I chose to leave it with a brushed finish, rather than a high polish finish, for a bit of interest (my other rings are high polished, but time tarnished). However, its a little too tight for my finger...

I am now working on a monogram pendant- more about that later! But I am starting to get ideas about future projects, which is good- theres nothing like fresh creative inspiration! :)

hello.

This little sketch appeared in my diary about a week ago. It kind of grew from a basic t-shirt sketch- which is why the arms are probably so much out of proportion- normally the arms on my fashion sketches are quite a lot longer... What I really like though is the sugesstion of a face, and the hair together with the bulk of a poloneck top. Nice for a change.

a new chapter

I haven't disappeared! Things have been quite busy and there has been a bit of chopping and changing in my life- from little things like training myself to get up even earlier in the morning for work (I am by no means a morning person), to an upcoming change of flatmates (and the expense of kitting out the flat all over again).

My crafting hasn't stopped- I am making good progress on my embroidery, and am fussing over the little details- these are, after all, what really makes an embroidery.


I have fixed up the sun, which in it's previous bespectacled state looked kind of lame- I was intent on balancing out the fact that the moon had a face, and so, therefore the sun had to have one too. However the sun ended up looking annoyingly albino like. So I decided to unpick the face and stitch tiny circle over the surface, and add some gold thread detail, which has done the trick, and I am so much more happy with it.


I then added some small creatures- a bumblebee with a staggeringly large pot of honey, and a little spider in a silvery web. I am yet to add a couple of little grey mice climbing up the "Miouw" to the side.


And best of all, I now have a winning suggestion (courtesy of my sister) for the hole in the embroidery- a jumping Jack Russell pup- Miss E's favourite dog. You can't have enough puppies around this little girl!


I am taking a break from my embroidery for a while. It has been eclipsed by my mustard yellow winter scarf that I started last Sunday, which is proving to be an addictive item to knit. (the photo has not done the colour any justice at all- it is far far brighter!!!) I haven't knitted anything since I was little- and even then it was always a half-hearted attempt. I managed to teach myself moss stitch- I really like its nubbly texture, and it works a treat in mustard yellow- there is something vaguely 70's about it (I don't know if thats a good thing or a bad thing...) What I like about knitting (at the expense of sounding really pretentious) is that it is an organic process as you are creating the fabric itself. You skip this step when you sew garments, so it is lovely to see a garment (even a simple scarf) literally grow. I am at that odd stage where I am trying to figure out how many balls of wool I will need for this scarf- so I will be checking my scarf length vs. the amount of wool left. Pedantic, yes.

Last night I started a silversmithing course at the Peter Minturn Jewellery School, and am starting to create a simple silver ring. Next week we are moving on to a more interesting pendant assignment, so I will be planning my design soon- it will be great to be able to wear your own jewellery. I am so far finding the course to be challenging- its as if I am learning to sew all over again... Will keep you posted on this one!