A New A-Brooch...

Hi there,

How are you all doing? It's bright but oh-so-cold here!

This week is all about brooches. These first three, available on the website, I have made with Sterling Silver wire and hand-made lampwork beads in different shades. I have made these before - and always wear one on my favourite pink cardigan, but these designs are a little more 'out there ' - I've been a bit more experimental with the flow of the silver. And I'm pleased with how they turned out.




And just in case you're trying to remember who sang 'Autumn Almanac' it was The Kinks... really showing my age there!!

This next brooch is based on a kilt pin. It was commission by my lovely chum, Anne, as a present for her mother-in-law.


The beads include Labradorite, Fluorite, Iolite, Botswana Agate, Sodalite, Blue Lace Agate, Swarovski Crystals and a generous sprinkling of Freshwater Pearls.

I spent a lovely day yesterday with Julie of Lush Lampwork at Chepstow Bead Fair. I have to admit I did buy a 'few' beads, but not too many as we're off to Spring Fair at the NEC next week and I know there will be oodles of temptation there. I will photograph my haul from yesterday and let you see just how restrained I was.

If you have some time to spare (and be warned, you could be there a while), hop over to the Ring a Day Group on Flickr. There you'll find a bunch of jewellery designers who have pledged to make a ring every day FOR A YEAR! I kid you not. In order to fulfil their promise they sometimes have to resort to a ring made from an elastic band or an old bus ticket, but most days they are producing the most fantastic jewellery. I'm totally hooked on seeing what they've made every day. I admire their tenactity and their skill.

On the home front, Tom is off for an interview at Birmingham University on Wednesday, so we all wish him luck. We're in the process of sorting out a 'do' for him for his 18th in a couple of weeks. Where did that time go? Answers on a postcard...

OK, time to get washed and dressed (why is working in your pjs SO much better?) and get on with making something lovely with my beads from yesterday. Our first office sale is on Friday and we're hoping to remind some of the men that Valentine's Day is not far off!

Take care, all.

Much love,

Lesley
xx

Recyling, Repurposing and Re...er... Sunshining!

I've been waiting a couple of days to show you this... the light has just been awful here, so dull, but I couldn't wait any longer. Look at this!


Can you guess what it is? It's a cabochon of Fordite, a remarkable and rare material. It is solidified car paint from the Ford plant at Dagenham. Can you believe it? When the paint shops were closed there was a huge build up of paint on the walls and floors and it was found that this compacted material could be cut, shaped and polished like a stone. The colours and patterns are just fabulous.

I have set the cabochon in Sterling Silver.

So, that's the repurposing, here's the recycling:


These lovely lampwork beads by Tania Grey, of Tan, Of Course, were made into another set, but I wasn't happy with it, so that was taken apart and I've made this new one. The lovely Swarovski pearls compliment the lampwork beautifully.

I've added a few new spectacle chains to the website today too, here are two of them.

And last, but certainly not least, my love and thanks go to Maz Simpson of Amari gems (do pop over and have a look at her blog: here - she makes the most amazing jewellery) who has given me the Sunshine Award. This has really brightened my day, which outside was cold, wet and misty with low lying cloud.

The rules for accepting the Sunshine award

~ Put the logo on your blog or within your post

~ Pass the award onto 12 bloggers ~

~ Link the nominees within your post ~

~ Let the nominees know they have received this award by commenting on their blog.

~ Share the love and link to the person from whom you received this award.

My nomiated award winners are:
(please do go and visit their blogs, they're all really interesting)

Beady Pool
Behind the Scenes at Jewelry Tales
Chameleon Designs
ChatElaine Jewellery
Cristina's Jewelry
Eve's Gems
Fired with Imagination
Kiamyka - Now and Then
Little Castle Designs
Lush Blogs
Made by AnnaK
The Makings of Beads by Clare Scott

OK, that's it for now.

Have a great weekend, everyone.

Much love,

Lesley
xx

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

Happy New Year!

How was your Christmas? Seems ages ago already, doesn't it? We had a lovely time, just the four of us for the actual day, then over to Cardiff to see Brian's family on Boxing Day. Then two days moving furniture - swapping the spare room and Brian's office. It was a lot of work (and a visit to the chiropractor for me!), but very worthwhile.

Mum and my bro and his wife came down on the Tuesday and then Mum stayed until yesterday. It was lovely to have her here, as always... especially as she's a dab hand with the beading!

Our New Year's Eve party was fun with loads of family and friends to help us celebrate.

The kids only went back to school/college for two days and then had two days off for the snow... and then back to school again today. More snow is forecast for Sunday/Monday, so there may be more snow days to come.

This week I've been catching up with the accounts... boring! So no new jewellery. Next week, I shall be getting my nose back to the grindstone and so I'll hopefully have loads to show you.

The BIG news, from just before Christmas, is that Tom has got a place at Trinity College, Oxford to study medicine. There aren't words to describe how proud we are of him. Of course, he still has to get the grades, but I know he can do it.

Hope you're surviving OK with the weather, wherever you are.

Much love to all,

Lesley
xx

Merry Christmas

Wishing you all a very Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year.

Having abandoned you for half the year, I can only promise that 2010 will be different.

With much love to all,

Lesley
xx