Happy Homes

I'm so glad when I know that my pieces go to a happy home where they'll be looked after and shown off.  This became the case for one of my little fine silver brushes recently.

This little brush came to be owned by the lovely Nancy from the Netherlands.  Nancy is a talented artist, and her miniature oil painting jewellery pieces are truly beautiful works of art.  These are two of my favourite works by Nancy (out of many!):

How apt then that her loving husband should give her the silver brush for her birthday present.  And how sweet of Nancy to blog about it after receiving it!  This confirmed my suspicion that the brush was going to a lovely person.

Read Nancy's blog entry here.

And do visit Nancy's Etsy shop for more beautiful pieces of wearable art.

In other news...

My beautiful friend's fantastic London wedding which I posted about back in May was featured in an article in Offbeat Bride, and it included the figurines I made for them.

Read the article here.   And see more pics of the figurines on Flickr

Keeping it in the family

I knew my girl liked her jewellery, like her mama.  I knew she loved to string colourful beads and I knew she loved to adorn herself.   However, that she would go away and make her mama a present so apt, so fitting and so in every way adorable, is just the sweetest thing.

My baby made me a ring.  

A ring with her hand drawn on it, and the artist's signature (twice, for good measure)

The mark of a craftsman-in-waiting?  She even sized it. 

I love that girl.

My Inspiration

I have various books of pictures, colours and concepts that I dip in and out of.  My house is a treasure trove of books, leaflets, remnants and bits and bobs that have some creative energy in them, and thus I can't possibly get rid of them and and thus I cannot ever have a tidy house.  I also have a live running list of things that inspire me.  This list is saved on my laptop and is constantly on in the background, ready for me to add a new word, a new idea, a new thought. I retreat to my list on a regular basis, for ideas, for reassurance and for motivation.  There is another, much bigger, source of inspiration however, that is also always on in the background, ready to amaze and amuse and enlighten - her name is Inna.  And Inna started school today.

Inna has a good creative eye already - she was the child who found black the prettiest colour well before pink found its way into the repertoire.  She has decorated the walls and carpets with pens and lipstick because it looks 'improved'.  Given half a chance she would paint herself each and every day just to see how it looks and to be able to show everyone.  She is my biggest fan and my kindest critic.  She drives what I do and if it doesn't pass by her high standards, it does not see the light of day.  She who tells me she knows everything already but keeps asking questions about the world, her favourite concept.  She loves the fact that it turns, and sometimes it shakes - she does a very realistic impression of an earthquake...  So the first day at school will be one to cherish.  Here is to many years of happy learning, baby girl!

Hanging Out

We've just returned from France where we spent some days with family.   Out of all the beautiful and interesting things that France has to offer, and there are many, this little guy just stole my heart.

{If I'm really quiet, they'll never know I'm here.}

Click for a bigger view, and check out those little toes!

Saint George (Sant Jordi)

Today is Saint George's day.  Saint George is patron saint of England where we live, and he is patron saint of beautiful Catalunya, the place we will always call home.  In England there are moves to make St George's day an official holiday and a time for celebration in the same way that St Patrick is celebrated across the world by the Irish, sadly we're not quite there yet and poor St George is not revered in England in the same way as in other parts of the world.  In Catalunya (Catalonia to some), it is an important celebration - it is a day for celebrating love, much in the same way that St Valentine's Day is celebrated in other places.  La Diada de Sant Jordi, as the day is known, is marked with the giving of gifts between lovers, traditionally men give women a rose and women give men a book.  Here is my offering, a little homage to Sant Jordi, brave knight who slayed the dragon to save the king's daughter, a beautiful handcrafted silver rose.  Books in silver will be my next challenge.  

Blown Glass Earrings

At the weekend, I went to a friend's birthday party - where I had been asked to do a model of her having just returned from a shopping trip - here she is in all her finery:

I love this - I honestly sometimes wish I hadn't gone the academic route through school and uni and instead focussed more on the artistic half of my brain!  If you would like to see some more of my work with miniature models and cakes - see my site:  http://www.jasmins-cakes.co.uk/

As a present for birthday girl, I made her a beautiful pair of silver earrings with moutblown glass beads.  These are such a lovely weight, I like them so much I may just offer them in my shop.