simplicity and complexity

You can say that humble things are beautiful- especially when photographed well! Somehow my work is never quite like that- I can often get over indulgent and carried away with the design process… especially when making jewellery. I have been longing to show two very different pieces on this blog- a brooch that I made for my mother and a necklace which I had made for my sister.

Complex. I love art-deco. You may recall this piece from this drawing from an earlier post. I was trying to push myself with learning new skills which made for a challenging piece. I added lapis lazuli for a jolt of colour, and enamel for its glass-like effect.

Simple. With a deadline and a need for a break from complex pieces, I chose to make a simple necklace for my sister’s birthday. I took the time however, to consider how you can make a simple cut-out shape more intriguing. Lovely. I’m now re-using the shape (same-same but different) for a necklace for myself, which I will show you in time.

the neverending cuff (part two)

I have been wanting to show this to you for a good while. And despite the time that it has taken me to get this far (hence the title 'the neverending cuff'), its not quite finished yet. You see, I'm wanting to drape some silver chain over it and link it through the gaps made by the butterfly wing shapes. Thats if it doesn't look too silly, which I suspect that it could...

This cuff is made from sterling silver which has been cut, soldered, riveted, hammered, textured with a scratch brush and polished to within an inch of its life. Am I proud of it? Certainly. Now I just need a good excuse to wear my extravagant piece of jewellery!

deco jewels

This is just a little sketch of a little brooch. It is on a bit of an art deco meets butterfly wings trip, and is to be quite three dimensional. I've brought a couple of little lapis lazuli stones (the blue ovals) which have lovely little flecks of gold (or something gold-y) through them. The blue-y green areas are to be enamelled. So there are a few new things which I will learn through making this. All I've done so far is cut out the plate for the back and daydreamed...

diamonds

I have jewels on my mind. This little illustration/print appeared one night after jewellery class. I love the jewel bright colours. And this weekend I'm off to check out some gems for a couple of jewellery designs I plan to work on.

the neverending cuff (part 1)

I had Christmas drinks about a week ago for my jewellery class, not only was I asked several times which night class I was in, but also whether I had finished my cuff or not. Quite simply, the answer is no.
I have made it this far though:


The design was orginally meant to have fabric looping through the main part of the cuff, but has developed in a quite organic manner to be a butterfly inspired style. The bulk of the work has been in bending the cuff over and tidying the edges of the cuff so that they don't scratch when you wear it. I still have to finish cutting and filing one more of the wing shapes, then I will solder the 'wings' to the cuff and link silver chain through some of the free loops at the end of the 'wings'. I'm looking at more of a high-shine finish to what it is now, and may possibly add a black stain to it- it has also been suggested that I could enamel the wing shapes. I'm choosing to leave the enamel to another project! I have a good two more cooking in my head, but for now I can admire my work-in- progress pictures and wait until my next round of classes start.

new flat (yay)

Another post with no pictures! And this is supposed to be a craft design blog...

On the flat-hunting front. Much of a source of drama and amusement flat hunting has been, but now I have a flat to move into. Very good. It means that I can play interior designer for as long as I can keep my room tidy-ish, which I suspect wont be for long. Its not too far away from where I used to live, so I am quite familar with the area. It also means that I don't have to pull out into hideous traffic if I'm driving to work. The flat is with a couple and a cat (a hunter I hear), and seems laid back, my room is pale blue and sunny, which is great. My room in my last flat was quite large, but dark, which made it feel ever so lonely, even though I loved having lots of space. Bring on the cozy flat I say!

On the craft front. I'm in a work-in-progress mess. Seriously, I keep convincing myself that I will finish a project soon, but then go and somehow make it more complicated than it needs to be, probably so that I can keep on working on it. Number of works in progress: 4. Number of finished pieces: 0.
I have warned myself not to take on any more embroidery related pieces, even though I want do some crafty Christmas presents. Not having a set postal address held me back ffrom participating in the Christmas Ornament Swap, which I'm in a weird way, kind of grateful for, as I'm sure I would have had too many crafts and not much time...

On the jewellery front. The neverending cuff is still neverending. Uh- oh. And I only have 2 classes left in my term at the jewellery school. This is quite concerning for myself and my tutor (I think he is wanting some closure.) simply because I cannot see myself finishing my piece by the end of the year. I spent last night tidying up the 'butterfly wing' pieces of the cuff, but there is so much more work to be done (more cutting, more filing, sanding, buffing, soldering, polishing....). It really makes you respect jewellery as an artform. I'm watching the graduating fulltime students work on their masterpieces- amazing, but I am hoping that they don't get too strung out about it, like I did over my collection when I was at uni. I'll take a photo of the neverending cuff at the end of the term to show my (slow) progress...

On the auntie front. Only 2 more days of being a live in auntie! I will miss my little nieces when I move out, as they have been so lovely to their old auntie :)

girl with s curve and lace ruffle cuff

back on the jewellery

I'm off to my jewellery class tonight, and I am excited to be able to make some more progress with my work- a cuff that will have coiled fabric draped over and through it. A bit of a challenge I might say. Here are some snippets from my sketchbook (OK diary) to give you an idea of what is to come in a good month or so's time... (I have realised that I really cannot draw hands. This is a little worrying!).

A is for Anna; A is for Auntie (two)

Now that I have a chain to wear it on, I can show you the pendant that I have spent a decent amount of time creating. Of course, given my current camera issues the photo isn't that wonderful, but trust me- it looks far better in real life (note to self: start saving for a better camera now!). It took me a good six classes worth of cutting, filing, sanding, soldering and whacking it with a hammer to create. It really makes you appreciate the amount of work that goes into artisan jewellery- and with jewellery, the smaller the scale, the more difficult it is to create a piece. Next I'm beginning the jewellery vs. clothing project, with a bangle which I will coil and drape fabric around- this will be great for melding the style of jewllery with the garments. I'm thinking of creating a few pieces like this, chunky and drapey jewellery that will compliment the style of clothes that I will somehow end up creating. I'm also thinking of working with pearls- if I can set them into silver that is- I am not keen on strands of pearls- so so very Chanel.

In the weekend I made my version of this cake. Delicious! Even my five year old niece was impressed by the lemon curd. I havent done any decent baking for a while -about a year- since I somehow took (to varied results) to baking from boxes. Now I think Ihave converted back to real cooking again- so much more satisfying!

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! :)

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!