Folksy Friday...a Silver Clay Spectacular!

I will start posting blog posts other than Folksy Fridays I promise, but I have my upgrade from Mphil to PhD status viva on Wednesday next week so most of my spare time is being spent reading and cramming my brain with as much knowledge as possible.

I had a dabble in silver clay/art clay silver/PMC a while ago and when I get the time I want to do more...so in honour this week's selection is a silver clay spectacular - trust me it was really hard to narrow it down to just 6 pieces!

1.) I know Summer is just getting going, but I love these wintery themed earrings by Willow Wire Creations - I like the shape and the patina on them gives them a real ethereal winter quality2.) These teeny stud earrings from NG Jewellery are just dainty and very cute - love the oxidisation to make the heart pattern really 'pop'3.) AliBali Jewellery has sooooo many droolworthy silver (and copper) clay pieces it was hard to pick just one to feature but I settled on this 'broken heart' pendant because I just love the concept4.) More hearts, this time by CeeGee Jewellery designs - I think these earrings are gorgeous and delicate and very feminine5.) A flower pendant by Crafty Little Mia - I think the off centre cut out design is really nice - and the teeny little leaf motif is a really great finishing touch6.) This pretty lace textured silver clay flower charm is really well complimented by the choice of semi-precious stones in this wonderful bracelet by Trinket Box
Now I'm going to sit here for the rest of the day wishing I had some silver clay to sit and play with!
NXOXO

Folksy Friday - things that go neeeeeeeiiiiigghhh!

Sitting at my desk in the office gazing longingly out at the sunshine, it's this kind of weather that always makes me wish I had the time (and didn't live in London) to have my own horse/pony and go for long hacks out in the countryside. So, today's Folksy Friday post has an equestrian theme - hope you like!






1.) An adorable recycled cuddly horse from Noonoo and Me - I want to ruffle his sweet little felty mane :)2.) Gorgeous horse art print by Marmalime - the big brown eyes are what draw my attention in3.) Another lovely art print, this time from Bonbi Forest - I'd love something like this on my bedroom wall4.) A little donkey print card from James Green Printworks - donkeys are fantastic (I always want to play with their ears), I like how this print has the donkey standing their patiently with his little shadow5.) Cuteness overload with these wee horses from Quernus Crafts - you can even get one custom made to look like your own gee gee!6.) Some more lovely artwork by Hearts & Crafts in this pretty mare & foal scene
Hope you aren't all horsed-out after that lot!
N XOXO

Folksy Friday - Seed Beed Special

I joined the Beadworkers Guild last week and just received my membership card and copy of their journal - saving it for my train journey up to Edinburgh tomorrow, but had a quick flick and looks quite interesting. So, as I'm a seed beader at heart I scoured Folksy for all things seed beaded and beadwoven for today's Folksy Friday. Enjoy!









1.) A lovely elegant dark purple flower by Songbeads
2.) I'm not a gold fan myself, but it looks stunning next to the turquoise cabochons and seed beads in this statement necklace by Art, Jewellery and Accessories
3.) A beaded cocktail ring with plenty of crystal bling by Sarah Paris
4.) A fantastic blue beaded flower - imagine a wedding bouquet made up of these pretties - from Beads in Bloom by Nichola
5.) I love big chunky spirals, especially in bracelet form, so I think this one in bright candy shades by Bowerbird Jewellery is ace
6.) A rainbow coloured chunky chain bracelet...no findings needed here! by MysticDNA Contemporary and Vintage Jewellery

Hope you like this weeks picks...have a nice weekend!

N

XOXO

Folksy Friday....Metalwork

I've just started a 5 week beginners silver jewellery course so I am learning to saw, file, hammer, texture and solder, so what better way to start my contribution to the Folksy Friday movement by having a 'metalwork' theme...only problem was once I started looking I had trouble choosing just 6 pieces!!

And whilst I was looking for Folksy Friday pieces I spotted the earrings below, fab resin gummy bear earrings by PennyDog Jewellery and I just had to buy them! Can't wait til these arrive :)

N 

XOXO

California Dreaming

So if you are a follower of mine on Twitter you might have noticed I was rather quiet the past two weeks. The reason…a fortnight in sunny California! A week in Disneyland Anaheim as part of my job and then a week’s holiday to soak up some sunshine and have a bit of a break before returning to work again.

So what did I get up to? Well, it’d be rude not to show some holiday snaps…not too many though!

We drove from Anaheim to Palm Springs where we stayed a few nights.

Using Palm Springs as our base we visited the Joshua Tree National Park…

 

And took a tram ride up 10,000ft to a snowy mountain top…

 

Then, we hit the road again heading towards San Diego where we enjoyed a day at the world famous San Diego, a place I’ve wanted to visit since I can remember.

 

And we also went out on a boat whale watching to catch the migrating pacific gray whales (note, NEVER go inside the boat, it WILL make you seasick!)

But the highlight has to be seeing the ladies below in the flesh…please excuse me looking ultra dorky in my glasses…but just look what I am standing in front of :D

All in all a great trip…but now it’s back to work. Have a few things to look forward to though. Going to learn to knit next week at The Make Lounge and also going to see the Calendar Girls on tour with my mum. Plus, I have just booked myself onto a 5 week silversmithing course in April which I am very excited about!!

That’s all folks, hope you like my pics

N

xoxo 

A very belated happy new year!!

 

Yes, yes I know I am very bad for not blogging at all so for in 2010 but I have been busy with real work (aka my day job that pays for my beads!!) as I am off to the states for a conference in 2 weeks…so I think that is a reasonable excuse!

I am very much hoping that 2010 will be a good year for my jewellery making. Fingers crossed that before I go away I’ll get confirmation of an exciting happening currently in the pipeline, so if all goes to plan I shall let you know :)

I have started a few seed bead pieces in front of the telly in the last week, including a new colourway of my bouquet bracelet. I also got some art clay silver pieces kiln fired before Christmas which I am going to have as charms on some simple strung bracelets. Here’s a sample of what I made:

A couple of silver paste leaves – the one on the left has the better texture by far…chose the wrong leaf for the right hand one, but you live and learn these things!

A textured star…I cut my own texture pad out using some rubber carving block and a lino tool to make the pattern…have plenty of ideas for other texture pads I want to make to use on clay after doing this one – I may well LOS this one to make the texture really stand out.

And some dinky charms – a pair of hearts textured with paste and a mini star that was textured using…sequins! Again I might have a go with the LOS on the star to bring out the detail in the texture.

If I get any of these made up into jewellery before I go off on my American adventure I will be sure to post pictures!!

Well, that’s all for now – sorry there’s not more to show for 2010 so far, I hope to rectify this when I get back from the US.

N

XoXo

Hectic times, but some exciting times ahead too!

 

I am sooooo looking forward to Christmas! For all the obvious reasons (Christmas pudding, crackers, mince pies, seeing my family etc), but also because I will get almost 2 weeks off work! PhD are hard work and I have been working like a busy bee in recent months to meet some deadlines so I’ve had no extended time off since I went on my riding holiday long weekend to France in July. In a nutshell…I need a holiday!!!

I love what I do and it is what I wanted and worked hard for, but when it eats into my life outside of my PhD it sometimes gets frustrating. For example, I joined my uni’s polo club but because it happens on Wednesday afternoons (which all undergraduates get off for “sports”…but postgrads don’t :( ) it means at the moment I cannot justify losing whole afternoon of work time. It has meant that I’ve instead been able to go to life drawing classes on a Wednesday evening which I am really enjoying. I had to give up art at A level to carry on my science stuff so it has been nice to get my hand back in with some proper drawing. I would post pics of my work but not sure whether blogger allows nakedness in the medium of paper and pencil and I don’t want to get in trouble!!

There has also been an exciting development in my jewellery making “career” which I hope to be able to say more about once I know for sure that it is definitely happening. Going to spend the weekend working on “my part” and hopefully in the next few weeks I’ll be able to tell you more.

Hoping to have a productive crafty weekend so I’ll try and take some pics (cos all writing blog posts are a wee bit boring aren’t they?)

N

XoXo