Brrrrrrrrr!

Blimey, wasn't it cold!!!

Hope you've all survived the snow, ice and fog! The snow here has now all melted and I can't say I'm sorry to see the back of it. It has made getting around very difficult and I've been going a little stir crazy!

And it was SO cold! My workshop is in a single story extension at the back of the house and although it has a central heating radiator, it was just too cold to work in there. I moved my computer onto the dining room table and I've been catching up with admin and stuff all week. However, a new oil-filled radiator was delivered this afternoon and hopefully that will mean I really get down to work next week.

I do have some photographs for you. These are things that were made before Christmas but which I didn't have time to photograph or get onto the website. They will be available on the website by Monday.

First up is a ring. I love rings and hope to be making lots more.
This one features a squiggle of hammered silver and then a plain band at the back. Two of my very favourite people already have one of these... you know who you are!

There are some new squiggle pendants too, this one I really like... well, of course, I like all of them, but some shout louder than others!

This rather dramatic set features some black agate beads which have these circle on them.

They're rather lovely, aren't they? This is a real statement necklace and so I've used some very special Sterling Silver beads which are mini-masterpieces in their own right!

I love turquoise and especially when it's teamed with silver. Cerrillos is the name of a town in New Mexico where they still mine turquoise.


Amazonite is the stone here and it's such a gorgeous colour. I find it very calming.

There are some other sets too, but I'll let you see those when they're loaded.

Several people have asked about the reunion with my brother back in July... It was just wonderful. Emotional, of course, but totally joyous. And, even better, he's promised to come again... soon! I can't wait. Here's a photo of us all...

From the left, my youngest brother, Martha - my daughter, me, Tom - my son, my sister-in-law, my Brazilian sister-in-law, my lovely, lovely Mum, my long lost brother and his daughter.

Right, I'm about done for this week. Time to put the feet up, order the Chinese and open the wine. I hope you all have a great weekend and I'll see you next week.

Take care,

Lesley
xx

Half-Term Happenings

Well, it went by in a flash, didn't it?

Lots to show you. Firstly, the gallery wanted some earrings to go with the squiggle pendants I left there last week:

These are hammered just to widen the curves - and to strengthen the metal.

While these are more heavily hammered to give a texture which means that the light bounces in all directions making them very twinkly.

And these are three squiggles soldered together and very lightly hammered for strength. It was a bit of a fiddle working with such small scrolls, but I was pleased with the outcome.

Because these need polishing to bring up the shine - and because it's half-term and therefore no class at college where I use the big polisher - I had to get out my polishing machine. This hasn't been installed (bolted down to the workbench, dust extraction mechanism devised, cowling to prevent polish going everywhere) yet, so I did a bit of a Heath Robinson and put it into a cardboard box to try and contain the bits of polish which fly in all directions. It worked - but the box kept moving with the vibration of the machine. It was all a bit awkward holding the earrings under the polishing mops while holding the whole thing on the workbench with my elbow!

I left the polisher in situ... and obviously Cleo decided to investigate and rub herself up against the mops...
We now have a tortoiseshell and pink cat!!

I've also been working on a commission for my lovely chum, Anne. A long, long necklace (34"):
There are loads of pearls and then sea glass, chalcedony, fluorite, crystals, blue lace agate and amazonite. Part of the necklace is made with chain and little dangles of the semi-precious stones.

And also for Anne, a kilt pin to be worn with a beige cardigan:

This has Tigers Eye, nephrite, poppy jasper, rhyolite, ocean jasper, fancy jasper, moonstone, Botswana agate, smoky quartz and crystals. There is also mix of gold plate and copper.

There were three sets that also got made this week:

Turquoise rondelles with loads of silver.
Gorgeous lampwork by Clare Scott coupled with sea glass, Swarovski Crystals, black onyx and Sterling Silver. I'm pleased to report that Clare really liked it! It's always a bit of a concern that the lampwork artist will be disappointed with what you've done with their beads, so it's great to get positive feedback from them!

Hang on, I hear you cry, that's only two sets... you said there were three. Correct! I didn't get time to photograph the third set before it was sold! It was Amazonite and silver. It was really pretty and I'm hoping to make something using the same beads - in a different pattern - this week, so you'll get to see something like it soon.

Anyway, it sold at our first visit to the HBOS offices in Bristol. Wow, what beautiful offices they are too. We were selling in their vast atrium which is five stories high and has a glass roof, so the light was fantastic. And we sold LOADS! Absolutely brilliant. And really lovely people too. We're booked to go back about once a month for the rest of the year and really looking forward to it.

So that's about it for jewellery.

On the home front, the big news of the week is that Tom turned 17 yesterday. I know I'm biased but I couldn't wish for a better son. He is a kind, thoughtful, clever and gorgeous boy. And I'm terrifically proud of him and all his achievements. Can you tell?

Last weekend we went to a Sweet Sixteen party and the invitation said we should 'Dress to Impress' - so we all donned our poshest togs. Here's the rest of the family as we're about to set off:
And no, there's no picture of me. I'm the photographer in the family and rarely feature in the pictures. Needless to say, I looked absolutely gorgeous!! LOL!!!

So, that's got you call caught up on events at this end.

I hope you've all had a good week, whatever you've been up to. Have a terrific weekend and I'll be back next week with the next exciting installment.

Much love to all.
xx

Lots of news!

Remember in the last entry I mentioned a local shop wanting some summer jewellery? Well, I took a selection yesterday and the owner took three sets to try in the shop (including Paddling Pools and Fiesta Summer, shown below) and bought a Shaggy Loop bracelet for herself!

She really liked some of the other items I'd taken, but didn't think they'd be suitable for her shop, so recommended that I try the gallery down the road. I called in and made an appointment for today.

I took my pieces in this afternoon and the owner has kept 10 items to display! TEN!!! She loved the squiggle pendants and has taken practically all my stock, so guess what I'll be doing for the next few days? She also took some with lampwork beads, so some of my favourite lampworkers will be represented in the gallery too.

So, if you happen to be in Clevedon anytime, make for Hill Road (loads of other fabulous shops too - super wool shop and don't mention the handmade chocolate shop!) and find Estuary and Fizz - and seek out my stuff. And, if you'd be so kind, make oooo and aaaahh noises over my bits and bobs!! Thanks.

To catch you up, here are the new squiggles the top two of which are now in Fizz.

The one above is made with three pieces of wire, soldered together and gently hammered.
The one below is four pieces, two long, two short, soldered and rather more heavily hammered!

The next one isn't quite right, hence it not going to the gallery, but it's getting there. This is the path I really want to take - to marry my love of silver and my passion for lampwork beads.

The stunning bead is by the ever-talented Isabelle Anderson. I love Izzy's beads, they're so perfect.

Look out for more of this sort of thing coming soon. Also, there will be some squiggle earrings in the next week or so.

On top of all that excitement, Sarah and I are busy sorting out our shows for the summer. When it's so cold and icy it's hard to imagine how hot and sunny it will be (hopefully) by the time we come to do these shows. I think we deserve a good summer, don't you?

Right, I think I'm going to open a bottle of wine in celebration of a really good couple of days.

Cheers, everyone!

Back in harness...

Today is our first event since the onslaught of the pre-Christmas selling. We are in at Clerical Medical offices selling in their canteen. We aren't expecting too much in the way of sales, but it will be good to get back into selling mode.

And it will be interesting to see our customers' (many of whom we're getting to know quite well after our visits there last year) reactions to our new ranges that we've been developing during January.

My squiggle pendants are evolving at quite a rate now.

Here's a triple squiggle pendant:

It's fun to make the individual squiggles and play with them until I get an overall shape that I'm happy with - a bit like doing a jigsaw.

For the next one, I thought I'd try to incorporate something else into the squiggles. I had got these hammered domes, so I bent the wire around them and soldered them in place.

I'm pleased with the way it's turned out. I've called it Islands in the Stream... which is an early nod to Comic Relief as Rob Brydon (Bryn) and Ruth Jones (Nessa) from TV’s Gavin & Stacey are duetting on the charity single. It's released on 9th March and Red Nose Day is on 13th.

I'm currently trying to work out a way to raise money through my blog for Comic Relief... watch this space.

Had a super couple of days... Sunday I went to Chepstow Bead Fair to give my mate, Julie Fountain of Lush Lampwork, a hand with her stall. And then on Monday (yes, through all that snow) the two of us went to Spring Fair at the NEC. I bought lots of lovely new Sterling Silver beads and loads of fabulous new beads... which you'll be seeing over the next few weeks. I'm itching to get to them.

But first, I must away and get packed up for today. Wish us luck!

Hope you're all coping with whatever snow you've had - we had quite a lot on Monday night which all disappeared yesterday, but we're forecast a load on Thursday/Friday. Martha has her fingers crossed as she felt hard done by not having a snowday yesterday.

Take care, all, and keep warm.

Much love
xx

A really good day...

You know how some days, everything just goes to plan... I had one of those yesterday and this is the result...This first one, I am SO excited by. I have, for the longest time, been an Art Nouveau addict and I've tried to express this in my jewellery... and yesterday I finally got it. This piece is three squiggles soldered together. I'm keeping this one for myself, but you will be seeing lots more of this type of thing.

This was the stage before - two squiggles joined together. I love the organic internal shapes that are formed.

This sweet little ring I made using an excellent on-line tutorial from Evan Hollander. Here's the link... http://www.dawnandevan.com/spiral_wire_wrap_ring_tutorial.htm

And this one is a simpler ring, hammered to give texture.


Then, more etching. These were done at college - still waiting to pluck up the courage to try this at home.

These first ones I drew the pattern on with a pen that's used to make printed circuit boards. It doesn't give a crisp design, but I like that. These look like they could be of archealogical interest, don't they? The thing I was trying with these was to get a border - and that worked.

For my next experiment, I pinched a couple of stickers from Martha's card making kit and burnished them onto the silver to make sure they got a firm hold. As you can see, this gives a much sharper outline than the pen. Both of these pairs will be made into stud earrings.

Then one that also used the pen - I really like this one. A pendant, I think...

And this last experiment used strips of address label. I'd read that they could be used as a resist, so thought I'd try it. The paper started to peel off quite quickly once they were in the acid, but obviously the solution was hot and strong enough to have already had an effect.

So, that was yesterday.

Today has been more of a paperwork day, so nothing new to show you. But who knows what tomorrow will bring!

Hope you have had a good day too.

Much love.
xx

Proverbs...

Further to my waffling about naming pieces in a previous post, this next set's name was a gift. The lampwork beads are by the ever-talented Julie Fountain of Lush Lampwork and she calls this style 'Rolling Stones'... and as they are a lovely shade of green... this set is called Gathering Moss.

The beads are threaded onto Sterling Silver wire which has been shaped and hammered to give it texture and strength. The pendant is quite big, so it's rather a statement piece. I can't wait to take it out to earn its keep and see the reaction from customers.

This set features one of my favourite stones, multi-rutilated Quartz. The big square piece is just gorgeous as you can see from the picture below.

I love all the little indentations which must be little holes inside the stone and therefore don't get polished with the smooth surface. The round beads are River Stones and compliment the quartz well, I think.

The next one is made with three different shapes of Amethysts and two different shapes of pearls.

The big irregular nuggets on the front are just lovely and lend an organic feel to the necklace. The second lot of Amethysts are irregular ovals and then at the back are some round ones. I love those big pearls, they're pearls with attitude!

This last picture shows a pendant - with a chain made with gold plated and antique copper rings in a Byzantine chain maille weave.
It gives a really fluid chain and compliments the pendant which is glass and gold plated beads on copper wire.

All these are on the website now, along with a huge batch of spectacle chains that I'd promised myself I'd get on there this week. Yes! Something to tick off the ever-growing list!!

Just got back from taking the cat to the vets. It was only her routine innoculations, but she really HATES going to the vets. As I've said before, she's not an affectionate cat. She rarely sits on anyone's lap and really, really doesn't like being picked up. Last year, the vet couldn't get near her and abandoned all hope of checking her teeth, ears, heart etc. This year was a bit better - I held onto her really tightly and she got a clean bill of health. Phew! That's done for another year...

Tom has now finished his first batch of AS exams and feels pretty confident about them. Now Martha has a week of exams. Hopefully these will help her with her decisions about which GCSEs to opt for. Because she has several that she doesn't have any choice about, she, in fact, can only choose two others, so that's quite difficult.

Is it time for a coffee? Thought so. Black, no sugar, please.

Take care and much love to all.
xx