New shop on Ruby Plaza

We have just opened a shop on Ruby Plaza, I have not put any of The Gold Collection pieces of jewellery in as I would prefer to put them on our own web site at least for now but there are some lovely gemstone necklaces, a bracelet and earrings, I shall be adding more during the weeks to come. The link to the shop is on the right just click it and you will be taken right to it.

The decision to try a shop was not taken lightly and hopefully it will work out, if you have never been to Ruby Plaza it is a sister online shopping mall to Ruby Lane,.I didn't find it very easy to begin with as there are so many do's and dont's lol.

There are such a lot of these places online now days it is a bit difficult to know just what would suit us best. Artfire seems quite good, so does DaWanda UK although nothing seems to be moving very fast in the present climate and I do think you can overstretch yourself and spend so much time putting items up on these places etc there is no time left for creating. Having said that I am hopeless at the selling side of things can't seem to manage it at all well, I think I have lost the art of writing good content over the years, although I used to enjoy writing and even wrote articles for a magazine at one time. I hope maybe someone will take a look at the new shop.

My autumn necklace this year is of course a Gold Collection piece. The strung necklace is peach moonstones with grey moonstone stars. I just couldn't resist these beautiful Jasper stones, they remind me of wild places in the dawn, just as the sun is coming up, streams with reeds, home to swans and birds aahhh what it is to dream!

New Jewellery at last

The London trip was nice but would have been a lot better if Lara and I had not both picked up some old virus there, which really spoilt the week! I have been unwell with it ever since which is a really long time and why I did not feel like writing anything as it was all doom and gloom lol. Now I am feeling much better and I have been moving forward with 'The Gold Collection' if your wondering why gold? Well gold polymer clay simply makes my art necklaces and pendants affordable, most people couldn't afford to buy my art designs in high carat gold, so this was a way of making them affordable.

I am useing many beautiful handcut Jaspers, Agates, Fossil materials and rare stones. Faceted and smooth gemstones in variety and choosing the most beautiful high quality gemstone beads and pearls for stringing. It has also been a time of experimentation, I am trying different things and cut the templates from my sketches, finding ways to set gemstones in the clay and I am loving it!

My ideas are moving forward, I have been especially inspired by ferns of all kinds recently; a number of different ones grow in my garden I am particularly fond of the Hart's Tongue fern. The hedgerows and places around here abound with ferns hiding between rocks and carpeting the moss grown floor under trees. So here is a necklace and pendant from The Gold Collection celebrating the Hart's Tongue and other ferns. The necklace will be for sale but the pendant I made as a gift for a dear friend.

I would love it if you would leave me a comment.

Desert Flower

This will be just a short post as my daughter and I are off tomorrow up to London, we stay with a friend just outside the city and tube in, so get the best of both worlds. We have several things planned to do, lunch with a cousin, visiting favourite shops, galleries and maybe a museum, we may go to the theatre and generally enjoy ourselves. We are both looking forward to this annual break.

We have had guests so I haven't been very creative recently but I have just finished an interesting asymetrical necklace which I named Desert Flower. The circles and tiny round beads are picture Jasper, the beautiful colour of these turquoise coloured stones look great in the centre of each circle with little silver beads the lovely chain is also silver I added just a sprinkling of Swarovski crystals in copper. I found the lovely silver flower toggle which seemed just right and Desert Flower was born! I think it turned out quite well.

Please do leave a comment if you would like to I love to hear from you all.

Summer flowers

Oh dear I have been so busy I have forgotten to post for ages so here I am at last.
The garden is coming along quite well, we desperately needed the rain, well now we have it, I suppose it just won't stop, July seems to always be a fairly wet month down here.

Lara and I are off up to London for a week in August to stay with a friend, meet up with my cousin for lunch, take in a show etc etc, we always have the best time and we are both looking forward to it as a nice break.

I have been adding to my Gold Collection and made several art necklaces two for a challenge which I can't put on the blog yet but I am adding a lovely summer flower pendant from the Gold Collection, which I just finished its in warm summer shades and is embellished with some beautiful vintage Swarovski AB crystals which are not too easy to see as they are tucked between the petals but they add a sparkle and shine the centre of the large flower has a vintage Swarovski and the little salmon pinkflowers have rows of tiny 2mm crystals as well, lots of sunshine in this piece!

I grow orchids so created this necklace of pink and white orchids and blue forget me nots. I made the sketch for this earlier in the year but never got round to making it till last month, once I started it was such a pretty piece to work on, I did enjoy finding just the right pale pink nugget pearls to add to it and the silver hook clasp which you can't see has a little flower too. Both these pieces will be going up for sale on the web site soon but if you are interested in either of them you can just email me now. .

Opal necklaces

It seems ages since I have been able to write anything on the blog, or even go to peek at what everyone is doing at the moment. The web site is still unfinished, but we now have a nice new panelled front door frame and the door has been repainted. Lara and I have been working hard in the garden clearing brambles that have come in from next door, ready for the fencing. This holiday weekend all three of us have been working hard cutting back and clearing, clearing, clearing, getting ready for the new fences to go up hopefully in two to three weeks time


I have completed two necklaces both with opals set in gold polymer clay they are in an antique style. I start with sketches, then make templates, I really enjoyed making these just not quite as much as creating the Pandora's lol.

The double strand necklace has a piece of boulder opal set in the focal which has sculpted ends the fantastic iridescent enameled effect was achieved with mica powders, I love using these! The beads are Amazonite and a beautiful Brazilian Amazonite it is such a wonderful colour very soft teal/aqua, almost the last of my white baroque pearls and glass beads that were just a perfect colour, it drapes well and looks lovely on.


The second necklace is quite unusual as it is in three pieces not quite as I envisaged it in the beginning though! Two lovely pieces of boulder opal grace the side panels and an opal triplet the central panel, you can't really see the colours opal is so difficult to photograph, but they are beautiful. I used the mica powders again on the sculpted pieces to give an iridescent enamel effect. The gemstones for the necklace are Apatite bricks with yellow Fluorite rounds and Apatite chips with glass beads to link the pieces together.


I adore the colours in these two necklaces as I live by the sea it just reflects the wonderful tones and shades of the ocean seen from my window on any day. These are not on the web site as yet I thought I would preview them here first, what do you think I would love to hear from you?

Feeling Creative!

Our overhaul of the web site this year seems to be taking forever, Lara who is also the webmaster has been so busy with her commissions and other work that it is on a go slow and only half finished. We really wanted to showcase not just work for sale but commissions, work in progress artwork, jewellery and sculptures.

There just seems to be so much to do with work progressing in the house, it is a very old house so needs constant attention and it has taken us years to eventually get down to the bottom floor, there are four floors and we finished the kitchen last Christmas but still more to do, when I say finished the kitchen I mean it was gutted completely right up to the joists, my husband did all the work himself so it all takes a lot of time. Right now he is finishing two of the windows we had double glazed last year but never got to finish around them. then there is the front door the frame is all rotted out so needs replacing but of course it isn't that easy or straightforward, never is in this house, so we await the various carpenters who will hopefully submit their prices in the not to distant future. I haven't even mentioned the garden yet! The fences one side are falling down and have to be replaced and the whole garden sorted out and my lovely canal pond filled in as being at the bottom of the garden it has become a lot of work to clean it etc. So I will have to bring my large Koi up to the top pond and somehow enlarge it a little bit as I hand feed them and couldn't bring myself to part with them, they are like old friends.

Not much time for web sites you might say, I have been in a very creative mood recently, but now I feel strangely restive with too many ideas popping up in my thoughts and none of them really settling into something definite I can work with, so I am going to show you some of the things I have finished in my Pandora collection.

The little blue lilies pendant has bronze wire the loop at the bottom I was going to add something but don't know just what yet! The Pandora necklace took a very long time to construct as it was so complicated it was really inspiring to create, have to say I enjoyed it immensely and is so comfortable to wear, I love it!

Pandora

Lara and I went to see the film Avatar in 3D earlier this year, I loved the concept of an unspoiled planet full of natural wonders, we bought the hardback book Avatar to share between us a few weeks later and although not a thick book it was interesting and gave some insight into the design and making of the film. The use of colours intrigued me as did the idea of floating mountains in fact I found it all quite enchanting.

Since then I have been working on my Pandora collection of pendants and necklaces inspired by the strangely beautiful alien world of Pandora. Sculpted in Polymer clay, the photos don't really show them to best effect as they are dusted with interference and mica powders to add that special iridescence the pendants and necklaces were exciting and intricate to design I really enjoyed making them, so I thought I would share some of them with you, I hope you like them to!

Easter Sunday Afternoon

This afternoon I went with my daughter and husband to a graveyard at the top of a hill, the sun was shining and the sweet smell of the glorious white narcissi and yellow daffodils lining the paths between the tall stately ceders wafted on the breeze. Each year for the last three years my daughter has visited the last earthly resting place of her dear friend Anthony, who lost his brave battle just a few days after his 22nd birthday.
Each year Lara has put a sprig of Rosemary for remembrance on the grave, I always cut the stems carefully for her and we bind them with ribbon in his favourite colour royal blue. Lara believes that knowing Anthony has made her a better more careing person, he will always be remembered and his courage in the face of great odds, will perhaps make us grateful for the health we have right now and the love we share as a family.

Lara's Art

Today I wanted to share with you my daughters art, Lara took a diploma course at the London Art College in Pet Portraiture and received a pass with merit at the end of 2008, needless to say her dad and I were very proud of her and she has had many commissions since, though mostly fantasy art, in fact her fantasy work and cartoons are all over the net lol. So I thought it would be rather nice to showcase some of the non fantasy pictures Lara did to win her diploma.

The horses head I really like as I love horses and used to ride a lot when younger, it was also the first horse she had ever drawn. The Borzoi is not one of ours and I have asked her to do portraits of our Borzois all sadly passed away now, I still miss them, both these portraits are in Derwent coloured pencil her medium of choice.

The third portrait is a rather thoughtful forest Gorilla in Acrylic it was the final piece submitted for her exam.

I hope you enjoy these pictures as much as I enjoyed sharing them with you.

Spring Weddings & Inspiration

I am not sure the two always go together but in this case they do, as I have a bridal commision for a May wedding the bride and four bridesmaids, I am halfway through and really enjoying it. How delightful to design something for a big day, no matter whether it be gowns or jewellery. In my case it is jewellery and the colours are silver and purple.

The bride likes a very dainty necklace and happily I had some of the tiniest purple nugget pearls which she fell in love with, so that made a good base to start from. I added purple velvet crystals and some lavendar blue pearl rondels, then she chose a silver filigree flower with clear crystal petals and a centre of lavendar blue, I offset the flower to just below her collarbone, I hope she likes it when she sees it tomorrow.

Well now it is Sunday and my bride loves her necklace! I finished the rest yesterday and have taken a couple of pictures to show the brides and three of the bridesmaids necklaces. The bridesmaids dresses are purple with gold embellishments.

I have also added some of the necklaces we have in our spring sale, you can see them on the right hand side of the page just email if you would like anything!

Spring Inspiration!

At last I am updating the blog after the OWOH, time has just slipped away from me and I so wanted to show you some new spring designs. Having lacked inspiration since Christmas and the two viruses one after the other; suddenly my muse is back and I am so busy creating new art jewellery, especially in Polymer clay. I love working with colour, just like painting, then I can add silver, bronze, glass, gemstones, crystals it is just amazing what a fantastic medium it is, I can't imagine a world without colour!

I love Camellias and grow several in my garden, I especially like this small stripped one with a huge boss of golden stamens, each Camellia I made has a centre of Swarovski crystal, the armature is Sterling Silver and for fun I made it in two parts. I joined them with the silver wire and added round Garnet gemstones and little silver beads, it will have a chain added made to length, the pendant measures just four inches from the top of the longest silver curl to the bottom of the lower flower and I signed it on the back. I think it worked out rather well don't you? It hasn't gone on the web site yet as I thought I would preview it here first, but enquiries are always welcome.

I will have more spring inspirations to share with you later this week.

One World One Heart winners

At last I am able to publish the winners of my giveaways, I had to wait a bit as one person was unable to contact me, I have really enjoyed doing this and hope to join in again next year if it is still going.
The winner of my necklace is Jasmine of Natures Whispers blog, Jasmine makes the most beautiful embellished felt scarves and felt necklaces I am not sure how to put links to sites yet as it won't copy and paste!
The winner of the freeform Forest Heart is Linda of The Briar Rose Gate who does the most delightful animal paintings.
The winner of the second freeform Forest Heart is Sharon of SharDon Exclusives, Sharon makes elegant beaded jewellery.
I will have some new things to write about in the journal later this week but need to take some photos first.

Another Giveaway

Well I am both surprised and delighted to find there were so many comments on my giveaway, thank you all so very much. I am also thrilled that I now have some new followers and what I would love to do is another little giveway ( not sure just what yet though ), for all of my new followers, I will draw this the same day as the other two. I will let the winners of all the giveaways know by the 16th/17th as I will be away tomorrow and unable to complete the draw. I have some more of your blogs to get to this evening before it all closes down so I had better hurry!

One World One Heart

This is the first time I have participated in One World One Heart and I hope it will be a wonderful journey of discovery to meet new people and hopefully make new friends, a ride on the magic carpet no less, I hope that you will join me on the ride!

I have two items from our organic collection. First I have a lovely handmade necklace made by myself. Second is a polymer clay forest heart to give away at the end of the journey February the 15th. To be eligable you must leave a comment and a link or email address so I can contact you if you should be a winner.

The necklace is made from Peruvian pink opal, black onyx with a pi pendant of fossil stone, wire wrapped in silver with a small silver hook to fasten.

Polymer clay heart with forest leaves and flowers, small hole for stringing through the top.

New Year New Ideas?

I am not quite sure this is the right title as I seem to be all out of good ideas and inspiration right now. I think it must be a combination of the old virus thing I got Christmas day and seems to have left me with lethagy and an overwhelming sense of doom and gloom or maybe it is the unacustomed cold in my part of the world. Whatever it is I need to shake it off fast, I have had a look at all my inspirational pictures, done the colour thing, got out wool and beads sorted pearls all to no avail, my muse has deserted me I know it won't be forever and I really need to concentrate on spring making everything new and fresh. It is not that I haven't tried any ideas I have, I just can't seem to make them take shape on paper or in clay. Maybe I am trying too hard perhaps I should sit down with a good book and just wait for it to happen.

Is anyone else feeling like this at this time of year?

A new year, new start is such a wonderful feeling, what will the year bring and what will we bring to it. I shall leave this post with a necklace I made just before Christmas for a dinner I went to with my daughter. Made with amazing silvered lampwork lentils, I had just enough of the gorgeous matching stick pearls, it is like they were just waiting for these lovely lampwork beads made by Connie Poggi, I added some black onyx rondelles and a sprinkling of gold fill spacers and my favourite S clasp. Perhaps just posting will galvanise me into action who knows!

Flower pendant

One of my resolutions for the New Year is to post more in this journal, my daughter was supposed to be posting her things in here and I was writing my Wordpress journal well it hasn't worked as I seem to be left to do both so I am making a start with a little picture of a polymer clay chrysanthemum I made in the autumn.

I decided I would like to make a pendant I started with a sketch and decided to use some heavy gague sterling silver for the form I could then add a silver chain later. I wanted the leaves to climb up the silver with the flower and bud at the base I used a large faceted amethyst for the centre of the flower and tucked pearls in between the petals and at the end of the bud. A leaf is embellished with have some tiny glass beads, Christi Friesens wonderful work was the inspiration for the flower.

Lara gave our web site a bit of a make over before Christmas and we have a huge sale with up to 60% off to make way for some new designs and projects in the New Year