Birdie Love

I am fascinated by birds, always have been, so I couldn't have been more pleased when I started noticing more and more avian-stuff in fashion - suddenly birds were everywhere, from teacups to logos to jewellery. 

And I promise it is without an ounce of illwill to all those members of my family with a pronounced aversion to our feathered friends, and just purely as a tribute to this wonderful group of animals (now come on, who hasn't wondered how it feels to actually be a bird in flight, huh?) that I set out to create a few bird-related pieces:

A bird in a fountain ring in sterling silver.  He really looks like he's having a bath.

A selection of foresty charms of which one was, of course, an adorable little feathered creature:

And then this handsome fellow. 

This aristo peacock is a brooch, and at nearly 10cm long by 7cm wide, and made entirely in fine silver, there is just one of him.

I'll introduce him properly on a later post.

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.  

My Level II Adventures

I have - today - sent off my pieces to be judged by the Art Clay Guild for the Level II Senior Instructor certificate.

They're off and I can't polish them just one last time.   That is probably one very good thing, as my prehnite tree will tell you.   The poor tree was polished until he could shine no more, and then, the "one last time syndrome" that I suffer from made me overpolish the already thin bezel strip and a teeny tiny piece of bezel came flying off and I went from having worked with the tree for many days, to suddenly not being able to enter him in the talent show for his kind.  This tiny missing piece would be unnoticeable to most people, but the judges would spot it right away...

I did swear.  Probably quite a lot.

Do fellow jewellery makers find that every so often, they actually fall a little bit in love with a piece that they have made?  I think I just did with this one.  My default on finishing any piece is that I'm never entirely sure that anyone will like it, so I was definitely surprised by not caring too much if others do or don't like this one, just because I do.  When I realised my tree couldn't go to the ball, i felt really quite sorry for it.

So whilst the others are in the hands of the Guild gods, this little tree is staying right here with me.

Loving my New Kiln

I got it, I got my new kiln - and I'm so happy with it.  It's a Paragon SC2 with the window so I can check on the progress of the pieces I'm making.  I love the window, it really is the best option for curious makers.

Today is a Good Day

And in honour of the inauguration of the new president of the US on this day last year, I have Obama-ised my little girl, based on the iconic "Hope" poster by Shepard Fairey.  Get your own icon here

A Very Very Special Order

One of my best friends has a very generous auntie who came to me with a special request - to make a family keepsake bracelet for her gorgeous niece, in sterling silver, which was to include fine silver charms of fingerprints and handprints of every member of her family.

This turned out to be quite a duplicitous task that had hubby and auntie plotting visits to other members to take prints, tricky that it was not to have her smaller children blurt out the secret plans.    Some days later, the subterfuge paid out and the bracelet turned out great, and I am honoured that she calls it "the one item she would save in a fire".   This is coming from the girl who only wears real Prada.   Aww.  I'm all puffed up.