France!

Chartres Cathedral...

Moving house...

My bloggy absence is due to moving out of my flat, and onwards to new places...

Normal service should resume in the next few weeks, all being well with Internet connection!

Sorry if I have not replied to emails, I am three weeks behind now, and it's near impossible to sit down at the computer with all the box packing, flat viewings, and long long drives all over the place: I am catching up this week, with a bit of luck.

And if I don't burn the place down to avoid doing any more packing.

Red and yellow...

The midnight sun...

From dusk, till dawn:

The sun never really sets this time of year in the far north of Scotland. These were taken in July, the first pink dusky shot taken at 11.30 pm, and the rest at 12.30 am.

100 Posts! Must buy stuff to celebrate...

Window by ninamint featuring Diane von Furstenberg fashion

My 100th post on this blog! And I've been blogging a year now, so celebrations are in order! I have purchased an enormous, cheap (some might say trashy, but they would be oh so very wrong) spangly necklace (photograph to follow!)made from plastic and the kind of metal that makes you green and itchy (but it looks lovely) in a mad little shop in the north of Scotland, and now I'm needing the perfect black dress for it. I say needing, because I've got a few big events coming up in the next few months: my birthday, a book launch (excited about this one!), and graduation!

While looking for inspiration, I came across this lovely composite image on Polyvore, featuring a photograph from this very blog (a picture of one of the glorious big windows next to my workbench here in Glasgow). A homage to Vermeer, it's a smart and pretty arrangement, and I have it to thank for waking me up again to the wonders of Polyvore (a free site you can use to mix and match images from anywhere on the web).

Polyvore lets you create sets composed of individual images using an easy to use, drag and drop editor. After you have created a set, you can publish and share it with your friends and the Polyvore community.

I like these sets...

a girl with big dreams and hopes of riches by Faithfashion! on Polyvore.com

PyramidSchemes by lovepolyvore on Polyvore.com

Canım Benimmmm :) by @ Nermin @ featuring DKNY watches

Jam On It by BellaMarie featuring Nike shoes

Holy Rude...

Today, at Holy Rude Church, Stirling. Holy rude, what fantastic glass!

Cutting Back...

As anyone who reads this knows, I have had to cut back on making jewellery to sell since I started my MLitt in Creative Writing in September. I just don't have any free time, so I am having to announce (ooh, get me!), or maybe accept, that for the next 6 months jewellery will officially become what it has honestly been for the past 6 months anyway : my private passion! Not that private - I will keep on blogging! About design and jewellery and photography, as always, and about what I make - because yes, I will keep on making jewellery, but simply for the love of design and craft! And not for the millions of pounds I have been basking in up to now, obviously....

I have a couple of designs underway for the sheer pleasure and challenge of it, and all info about those projects will be up here soon. They are pretty cool, one is to do with peacock feathers!

In the mean time, I am writing collected short stories like a demon (my first short story will be in New Writing Scotland, this summer), co-editing an online mag, and starting up a new exciting project that ties in with my love of words (see my writing blog). I am pretty obsessed with Narrative Jewellery, so I hope to kick of very soon with some information about that. Lots of exciting projects are all coming together this year.

I have no doubt that I'll be back, blowtorch at the ready...

Valentines Day

I love Valentines day... I am a sap for hearts, flowers, and love, love, love ;0)

Popgloss

I discovered Popgloss when they I found out they had included my Tree Bark ring on their website; it's a great site, and I love the tree bark purse featured on the same page. Stunning. A great place to go for outfit inspiration, Popgloss is 'a daily womens shopping magazine with the lastest and best designed womens clothing, boots, bags, jewellery accessories and makeup'. It is very easy to make a large shopping wish list though, be warned...!

Grey and White...

Grey and white are perfect together...

Night Owl..

I was lucky enough to get a tour of a falconry a few weeks ago, and this magnificent, perfect bird caught my eye. I love that moment you see a burst of unexpected colour in nature (which is what I have been taking photo's of lately, the one yellow leaf on a tree, or red berries on a winter bush). The falconer told me yellow eyes mean the owl has great night vision, and hunts primarily at night. They must gather up all the starlight in their eyes, until they glow like torches in the dark, and beam around the night. I wonder if everything he sees is yellow tinted, like owl-night-vision-goggles ? I must find out more about owls!

What do you think about some Night Owl inspired jewellery?...

Headcase...

Ever go on a walk, and find something cool and unexpected? Like a skull on a stick? No? Oh.

I see this, and I can understand how so many cultures make jewellery from deliciously creamy bone or tooth. Yes, really, that is what I see.

Ice, Wales, New Years Day 2009

Ice Webs...

Frozen Sky, Wales, New Years Eve 2008...

Frozen, Wales, New Years Eve 2008....

Christmas Ad...

Check it out! Very cool, no? Kindly made for my website by the fabulously talented Director Cosmo Wallace - Thanks Cosmo, you ROCK!

Most of the pieces in the vid are in my shop right now, some of them are on their way very soon...

Exciting stuff!

Amber Lace Hoop Necklace

Statement necklace - a garland of sold sterling silver hoops loop the neck, whirling in organic free-wheeling forms.

Each of the five hoops has unique shape, and they are crowned by the centre piece - an assymetrically set large (10mm x 8mm) oval stone, of natural, golden Amber. The diameter of the central silver hoop on which the amber rests, is 2.5cm - the other hoops and loops are 1-2cm in width.

The necklace sits on and below your collarbone, and the effect is that of lace - with skin peeping through, it is still delicate and feminine - while being bold and original! Each lacey hoop has been individually hand formed, and then linked together - giving this necklace a fluid movement which rests beautifully around the neck.

The necklace is polished to a shining finish, and closes with a simple, beautiful T-bar clasp.

It will transform the simplest evening dress. It can be found here, in my shop.

Pearl and Amethyst Raindrops...

In the shop now, for £85.
The only one, I am going to find it sad to say goodbye to this necklace :(

Blue Stripes Glass Bracelet...

Very funky, very abstract and entirely unique...

For sale in my shop here, at £48 (that's £50 including guaranteed next day delivery, last order date 22nd December).

A one-off design - abstract bold lines of opaque blue glass, fused with glossy, black glass.

The glass measures just under 4cm long, and 2cm wide, and is set in solid silver (including a thick solid sterling silver backplate, for certain strength).

The glass forms rests on a solid sterling silver chain; and is fitted with with a solid sterling silver T-Bar clasp, which is adjustable, as well as attractive and comfortable to wear.

The chain is 21cm long, with 3 adjustable sizes - it will fit around the wrist at a loose 17, 18, or 19cm. It is small-medium sized, so will fit most, but it is worth hooping a tape measure (or piece of string!) around your wrist and measuring, if you are at all unsure about sizing. An average size 15cm circumference wrist will shut on the 17cm hoop comfortably.

It's stunning: alternative, and not even slightly traditional!

Huge Amethyst Raindrop Necklace

One-off design, take a look at it in my shop on this page. I adore it! I love amethyst, precious stones which are purple, blue or green are my absolute favourites. I couldn't resist posting up some more pictures here.

It is Solid sterling silver, in the shape of a leaf, with a beautiful large, transparent Amethyst gemstone 'raindrop'.

The silver leaf was cast by carving the leaf design, then casting molten silver into the lines. This makes this a one off design - no chance of repeating this shape or form (because the carving dies!)...

The raindrop is a fabulous 6mm African Amethyst - a natural gemstone, with excellent transparent pale purple colour saturation, and cut in a faceted design so it sparkles like a rain drop...

The pendant is 2cm at its widest, and 2.5cm long. It hangs from a 16 inch (41cm) solid sterling silver chain. I'll happily put it on an 18 inch or 20 inch chain for no extra charge, if you prefer it longer.

This is a one of a kind design. The process of making this necklace, with a charcoal carving, means there is no way of recreating this pendant. I have only made three gemstone raindrop necklaces so far, and each is unique in size, shape and gemstone, ensuring you will have a exclusive, designer item of jewellery.

24 carat Gold Leaf and Glass...

This jewellery glows: I love my kiln!

There is no other way I would be able to make something like this - with a lot of experimentation...and trial and error.

Three layers of 24 carat Gold Leaf have been fused between two layers of glass (creating a gorgeous rippled texture and a deep gold shade), and overlayed with a single eyecatching shard of silver metallic glass. It's near impossible to get the gold not to heat too high in a kiln, and evaporate entirely (as I found out!).

You can take a closer look at the jewellery on this page in my shop.

Set in polished fine silver, the pendant is 2.2cm long, and 1.5cm wide, and hangs from a 16" solid sterling silver chain. The earrings are available in two sizes. The smaller oval earrings are dinky and delicate, at 1.1cm long, and 0.9cm wide, they are set in fine silver, and hang at 2.5cm from solid sterling silver hooks. The gold is fused directly on top of the glass in a kiln, and burnished to gentle sheen. The medium circular earrings are just as graceful - the main difference is that the golden flakes have been fused beneath a layer of clear glass, giving a real depth and texture to the shine. They have a diameter of 1.3cm, and are also set in fine silver, and hang at 2.5cm from solid sterling silver hooks.

These items can be purchased individually, the necklace is £45, and the earrings are £40. There is a £10 Christmas discount for the a matching set, too, if you are looking for a last moment wow factor gift!

Vine Leaf Cufflinks

Solid sterling silver cufflinks, etched with a vine leaf design, and gently domed to curve over the cuff, and fit smoothly and securely against fabric. Light weight and comfortable.

Modern classic cufflink mechanism, which is very strong and sturdy. These are for sale in my shop, for £30.

Cathedral Window Cufflinks

One of my first jewellery blog posts back in June, was about Cufflinks:

Coventry Cathedral John Piper inspired Stained Glass Cufflinks




Christmas gift cufflinks were requested, for a musician who needs to wear formal attire all the time, and I was inspired by John Piper's designed 195 abstract panels for the Cathedral Baptistery window. As the light changes over the day, it passes through and along them - and it's a spectacular light show.

My pair of 3cm by 2cm glass cufflinks can't really compare with that kind of spectacle, but they did look quite nice and reflect the light brilliantly! They took quite a few firings as I kept cutting the pieces of glass into new shapes and refusing them into different thicknesses and colour combinations, until I got something of the condensed essence of my favourite panels.

My latest cufflinks were based on the colours in the second panel down - those lovely rich blues, pale water blue, royal blue, all glowing with light...

Do stop by my online shop for a closer look!

Black Glass and Silver Scrolls

Black glass and silver - graphic monochrome perfection.

Striking, simple, strong.

Scrolls of solid sterling silver have been fused between two layers of glass, creating this abstract glossy design.

As with 'Hugging Scrolls', the whirls of silver sparkle in the light, and are shine brightly against the graphic black glass.

Set in fine polished silver, the necklace has a solid sterling backing, making it strong and comfortable. It's 2cm long, and just under 2.5cm wide. The necklace hangs at 20" long, from a solid sterling silver chain, and it rests elegantly below the collarbone.

The earrings are also set in fine silver. They are 1.5cm long and 1cm wide, and hang at 3cm long, from hallmarked solid sterling silver hooks.

I love monochrome; you can wear black and silver with anything.

You can find more pictures in my shop, where the necklace costs £50, and the earrings £45. I'm also offering a Christmas discount on all matching sets of £10.

And finally - a snap taken on this gloomy skied Glasgow day - it's so cheery to see the scrolls sparkle through the darkness...

Hugging Scrolls

A striking deep black glass and silver design.

Scrolls of solid sterling silver, have been fused between two layers of glass, creating this abstract glossy black and silver design.

The whirls of silver sparkle in the light, and are emphasised by the contrast with the graphic black glass.

The pendant has two whirls of silver, which somehow remind me of people hugging each other! Set in fine silver, the pendant has a solid sterling backing for extra strength and support. It's 2.3cm long, and just under 2cm wide. The necklace hangs from a 18"solid sterling silver chain, a longer chain which suits its scale perfectly.

The earrings are also set in fine silver. They are 2cm long and 1.3cm wide, and hang at just over 3cm long, from hallmarked solid sterling silver hooks.

Purchased individually, the Necklace costs £50, and the Earrings £45 - I'm offering a Christmas discount on all matching sets of £10 on this page in my shop!

And here is a snap of the necklace taken this afternoon in a very dull and dingy December in Glasgow - somehow, the scrolls still manage to shine out and sparkle away!

The Ocean...

The turquoise ocean...

That's where I would like to be beside right now! But I'm in Glasgow. Oh well!

This necklace is the same deep sea scratched glass design as the coral reef pendant, but set in a classic simple solid sterling silver bezel, with a lovely little hoop of thick silver at top, to hang the chain through.

The pendant is 1.5cm long, and 0.8mm wide, and hangs from a 18" solid sterling silver chain, just that little bit longer, it is so elegant.

A much more understated option, if the glass of coral reef caught your fancy but you prefer more delicate jewellery. This is perfect if you are searching for a simple, classic designs, that can be worn everyday and lift any outfit with its colour. This is for sale in my online shop right now for £35, you can take a look at some more pictures there.

This glass really enhances eye colour and skin tone beautifully.

Coral Reef Necklace

Enough of winter!

Back in the summer, I made a set of jewellery inspired by tangled coral reefs. Deep turquoise blue glass, perfectly capturing the way the sea bleaches to a greener type of blue, as it skirts over white coral reefs...

I have had to revisit this idea, because I like the way the glass I made shifted between green and blue, just like real water.....

The silver is highly polished, intricately shaped and textured to bounce lots of light around. This is an absolute showstopper, highly reflective, it catches the sunlight and refuses to accept that winter is any reason to stop shining!

A holiday in a necklace, a keepsake of sunny days!

The glass is a textured scratched turquoise design, abstract and bold, set into the organic free form 'coral' made of solid sterling silver. The pendant is just under 5cm long, and 2cm wide at its very widest point, and hangs from an 18 inch solid sterling silver chain (which is threaded through the coral design). You can take a look at some more pictures in my shop.

A truly unique and indulgent gift!

Regal Green Glass Jewels

You can take a closer look at these pieces in my online shop, the earrings are £40, the necklace £50, and there is a £10 reduction for the set. Lovely!

Rose Window Necklace

I have been wanting to write about this Rose Window Necklace for a long time, as it is a real stand out moment in my jewellery making. The piece that came about through a combination of design and sheer luck in the kiln...!

Hand pierced from sheet sterling silver, this design originated from my love of stained glass windows - I like the elegant frame designs of rose windows, as much as the glass inside them.

This is a striking monochrome design; thick sterling silver (so it does not warp in the kiln) is fused between two layers of glass. The tiny spaces between the metal and glass create little pockets of trapped air in the heat of the kiln, which solidified into perfect little bubbles, resting in each 'window' - stunning!

The necklace is for sale in my online shop.

To complement the deep glossy black glass, the pendant is set in solid sterling silver, and is 2cm in diameter. It hangs from a longer solid sterling silver chain, 18" in length.

Beetle Green Set

I love this colour! I have written about making the glass cabochons for these pieces here, and now they are for sale in my online shop - the necklace is £40, the earrings are £40, and there is a £10 discount for the set. Here are a couple of snaps of the necklace worn, for scale.

The quirks of glass design are what I enjoy - a totally unpredictable activity.

In the heat of the kiln, a fine sheen of green glass rose to the top of one cabochon (that I ended up using for this necklace - it's a bit special), resulting in a glinting shard of opaque green floating above the deeper glittering layer.

A one-off design, simple, elegant and graceful, but gleefully bright and shimmering. I love em.

Gemstone Raindrop...

This is what I have been up to over the last week - making this solid sterling silver leaf pendant , with a glinting blue gemstone raindrop.

(The other big event has been Made in the Shade at the Lighthouse here in Glasgow, which went really well, and I had loads of fun and met some lovely people!).

The silver leaf was cast in a pretty unusual manner - by carving my leaf design into charcoal, then casting molten silver into it. This makes this a one off design - no chance of repeating this one!

The raindrop is a Madagascan Apatite gemstone - a very unusual natural gem, with excellent transparent blue colour saturation, and cut in a faceted design so it sparkles like a rain drop.

I love this. It is for sale in my shop for £60, there are more pics there if you fancy a closer look.

The pendant is 2.5cm at its widest, and the same length. It hangs from a 16 inch (41cm) solid sterling silver chain. I can put it on an 18 inch or 20 inch chain, if you prefer it longer.

I am working on two more (three is my total for these!) raindrop necklaces - they will all be very different because of the mad casting method, and I am setting them each with different unusual gemstones - the next will be a stunning deep violet amethyst, and for the final one I am using a white freshwater pearl which has a pink glow to it. Lovely!

Designcrafts, Glasgow: 20th December

I am thrilled to be taking part in this very exciting event on the 20th December at the lovely Lighthouse Gallery in Glasgow!

Designcrafts, Contemporary Arts, Craft and Design fair dedicated to all things hand crafted.

Our events are being held at Gallery 5

The Lighthouse, Glasgow.

Stalls featuring Art, Jewellery, Textiles, Glass etc.

from Talented Designer/Makers in Scotland.

It should be a fabulous place to get those last minute very very special design gifts! Designcrafts is run by two talented jewellers, Janet Laurie who designs contemporary experimental silver jewellery, specialising in texture and free-flowing designs, such as this gorgeous brooch:

Rhonda Macleod also specialises in sterling silver jewellery, and it's clear that her background as a biologist has a real impact on the forms and textures she designs, as do textiles. As an embroidery and textile nut myself, I love the time, effort, and sheer attention to detail in the work she is doing with weaving and crocheting silver:

I'm really happy to be part of the event, and glad to be back at The Lighthouse ('Scotland's centre for Art, Design on the City' which has some great exhibitions on at the moment); so if you are passing on the 20th of December it's doubly worth a visit - not least because it's free to visit the exhibitions on a Saturday instead of the normal £4!

Mostly, it would be just lovely to see you, so do pop in and say hello!

Lovely Christmas Packaging

As always, I offer free gift boxing and wrapping with all orders, so your jewellery is ready to give (or receive!) - I thought you might like a peak at the colours and design - black and gold, simple, classic, and elegant.

Made In The Shade

I am taking part in this exciting event at The Lighthouse, with the very lovely people at Made in The Shade! Do come along and say hello!

"The aptly named, ‘Made In The Shade’ market (a slang phrase, popular in the 1950s and synonymous with guaranteed success, or a truly swell situation) launched in Glasgow in May 2008. Having received a wonderfully warm welcome from Glasgow’s discerning vintage shoppers and handmade lovers, the event currently takes place seasonally at The Lighthouse, Scotland’s Centre for Architecture, Design and the City.

Bringing the crème of the city’s independent and creative crop together, the vision of ‘Made In The Shade’ is to showcase new design talent and the work of creative businesses with a view to encouraging customers to relish in the exclusivity of the handmade and vintage one-of. Made In The Shade urges shoppers to support businesses who are working hard to carve out creative identities amidst a mountain of mass-produced items and high street chains."

Glasgow Enterprising Women Showcase

I'm really happy to be part of the ' Enterprising Women 2008' Christmas Showcase!

This is taking place in Glasgow on Tuesday 2nd December, do pop in to The Adelphi Centre in the Gorbals, between 11.30 am and 2.00 pm, should you be around and keen to take a look at our wares.

There will be 15 enterprising women there, and we would love to meet you!

I have been so very busy!

I have been absent from this site a lot recently - that's because I have been working like a loon on my Creative Writing Masters, which is so much fun, and a little exhausting. My course blog (click here if you want to!) has also been taking up much-o time, clinging to my leg and sweetly begging for cookies. BUT - My design blog is very much in my mind, especially with some exciting markets and events around Glasgow coming up over the next month and a half (and new jewellery, to be updated in my shop in the next few weeks!)!

So, I'll be updating here with lots of new exciting things soon.

Time is short before Christmas now!

Northern Lights 3. Sunset

Northern Lights 2. Rainbows

Durness Beach
And more rainbows over other assorted fields and lochs -


It rains a lot in northern Scotland. But I think I saw at least one rainbow every day last week, here are a few of them... Maybe this is why I like dichroic glass so much, with its rainbow colours.

And this last one was the view from my bedroom window one morning last week, while on holiday - I want to live in this house now! This is Loch Broom....

Northern Lights 1. Firelight...

Nothing beats a real fire...

It feels like winter...

Black bristly pines, and grey Scottish skies...

Plique-a-jour...

I love stained glass, and I have wanted to experiment with plique-a-jour since I first got my kiln. I've been thinking lately it's the perfect technique to use with earrings, to make jewellery that is entirely 'open to light' from two sides - so here is my experiment. Stained glass in miniature. I am always excited about enamel - its still new to me, and it means playing with bright colours (yes, that does excite me). I also like glitter, ponies and yogurt in a tube.

Six different shades of translucent enamel are suspended here in thin, fine silver disks - this took about 6 firings, as inevitably the liquids/gums in the enamel (which you mix with the powdered glass to 'hold' it in the gap) burned off and left holes. Its fun, a lot like colouring in. If colouring in burned you, took all day and you had to wear a dust mask, that is. I wanted to make the silver very thin, so despite having glass there, the earrings would be light to wear - and that is emphatically the case, I cannot even feel them on. The reason I used the extra long hooks is so that they are suspended away from any hair (unless you happen to have an exceptionally hairy neck, are you a gorilla or something?) - this ensures the light shines through them, and they glow! I tried to get some shots without the light shining through them so much, so you can catch almost 'sugary' texture of the enamel -
This is in day light, I'm yet to wear them in artificial light, I think they will look even brighter.
I fired them to a level just beyond 'sugar fire' (that's what its called, for obvious reasons), because I wanted a hint of sandy roughness to contrast with the sleek highly polished silver. But I expect you would only notice that if you were very obsessive about texture (which I am). I've been thinking about paring down my writing (I know, when my blogging exhibits such succinctness and insight, it hardly seems possible!) ' can a word or phrase be cut from this without sacrificing anything essential?' - and that is what was going on here with this design- it is a complex technique , used in a clean, sparing design. It also makes me think about precision and design - with plique-a-jour - and a lot of jewellery making, you only get one shot at it, and if your saw slips or you overheat it, you just have to kick something, eat a cookie, and start over again. Its a much more cruel sort of revision (repeat what you did before, but slower, more attentively and without being an idiot) than writing and revision. It's quite masochistic (or demanding of perfectionism). I'm not sure why I enjoy it at all - maybe its the certainty - its either done right, or done wrong (well, it either functions, or not, anyway). Maybe it's the tactility. Maybe I should stop rambling and do some work. Enough blether, more experiments to come with plique-a-jour, it's my new favourite thing to do in a kiln!

Counting Crows...

It's cold outside, the orange sunsets are speeding by and nights are getting shorter and blurrier - but I'm so excited to be starting my MLitt this month! There might be slightly less jewellery demanding my blogging as a consequence, but only slightly less, because the blowtorch is mightier than the pen.
On a random note:
I had just found out the damn good news about my course, and in a celebratory mood, I went for a walk around a local creepy Victorian park at dusk in the rain. I say creepy because a girl was horribly killed there this summer, and I generally avoid it these days in case someone stabs me. I climbed all the way up to the primary coloured playground on the hill, the highest part of the park, where the ground was peppered with fat black crows, enjoying the drizzle. Everything was still, except for one crow who had chosen to swing on the swing, fairly swiftly. He got quicker and quicker. None of the other crows did anything. That's a bit odd, I thought, I'll stick around to watch and hope no one tries to garrott me. The crows were just waiting around, swinging the breeze. This park is the site of the 1568 century Battle of Langside, where 300 men were killed climbing up the hill , before Mary, Queen of Scots left for England and did not return. I wonder if the Crows still remember the delicious battlefield feast they had up here 400 years ago, in tales passed down from crow to crow, and they have been coming back each year on pilgrimages, hoping for another corpse buffet. After about 20 seconds of playing Mr Crow hopped off the swing , and another fella hopped on, and began whooshing back and forth just as vigorously. It was at this point I noticed five more crows had formed a queue behind the swing, and when the second crow hopped off , the next in line jumped on, and had a little swing too. They were really very cool crows. It got to the fourth crows turn, when they all noticed a cross eyed man with an bloody axe jumping out of the bushes and flew off in a deafening black squawking hella-flap. Well, I don't know why they flew off to be honest, but as they did, I immediately thought three things 1) is there a cross eyed man with a bloody axe jumping out of the bushes behind me? 2) I wonder if they play on the slides and see-saws too, or if its just the swings? 3) The collective noun for crows is a murder of crows, shit, I need to get out of the park before I am impaled on a spike by a three headed beast-man. After I triple-bolted the door and drank five restorative bottles of Aldi Vodka to keep my strength up, I googled crows (hey, I was really drunk, and I couldn't get out the house) and found out that a group of crows may be called a 'Murder', but it is also known as a 'Storytelling'. A storytelling of crows. And because of this, I choose to take the swinging crows as a good omen for my upcoming postgrad course all about storytelling (rather than the crazy alternatives a) a bad omen/I'm soon to be caught in a bear trap and decapitated in the park by a pack of tentacled freaks, or b) this event has no consequence whatsoever). So this is why I thought I'd mention this little story about my walk in the park.

There is an interesting site about collective nouns here. It's called 'fun with words', but lets forgive them that. Who knew you could get a 'sedge of bitterns'? I don't know what a 'sedge' is, let alone a 'bittern' (but I know I'm having fun!, with words!).

Highlander...

Yesterday at Loch Lomond, sharing the footpath with a grumpy Highland Cow!

Hitting the bottle...

I absolutely love these gorgeous slumped bottles, made by Paisley based glass designer Becky Potts of 'Aspect Glass Design', in her local glass studio. Such a brilliant way to reuse and recycle! I adore glass work of any kind, and these are really stunning and fun. They sort of recreate the feeling I get when I hit the bottle, too... I'm thinking about getting a lovely deep blue one for myself this Christmas - I think it will make a very funky bedside dish to pop my jewellery in at the end of the night. Becky works with fused glass and stained glass - and she often works to commission, and her prices are ridiculously reasonable too ! You can find these bottles at Sloans Market in Glasgow most Sundays - a great local market I love to visit (and will be trading in myself over Christmas!), or you can swing by her website to get in touch directly. If you are in Glasgow, Sloan's is a cool place for a quick beer or two, it's been around since 1797, and is Glasgow's oldest Bar. And for jewellery lovers, it is located parallel to Argyll Arcade, a sophisticated, Victorian version of a shopping mall, which sells nothing but Jewellery...Heaven!

Feeling Blue...

I took these photo's of a building site tarp a few weeks ago - its the kind of whipped cream texture I'm thinking about using in some bigger silver pieces this year - big flowing billowy folds of metal. I love the colour too.

Pearly whites...

I am planning on ordering some pearls this week, for Christmas sales, which I'm really looking forward to playing with....

cold light and tumbling clouds...

Last week was full of such cloud formations - shades of grey edged with orange - the perfect colour combination, I think.

love...

Spun-gold...

I love love love embroidery - and this is the pretty abstract interpretation of embroidery that I have been enjoying making recently! The thread is whirls of gold thread suspended inside acrylic - and when the plastic dries (after 300 years) and is polished (another lifetime and enough dust to kill a cat - sorry Scrappy!), its just a lovely shiny sparking set of jewellery, that you can see all the way through - either to your skin tone (in the case of the necklace) or to the light behind you (in the case of the earrings). I am a bit of a magpie, I am the sort of person who walks down the street and picks up shiny things people have dropped on the pavement, which is why i have bags full of single earrings/pennies/nuts and bolts/other random crapola. I still fondly remember the day about 12 years ago i found a tenner in the baked goods aisle in Asda! A happy day. I have had a bit of a 12 year lull since, but I'm sure things are looking up...

This jewellery is definitely for the sort of woman who keeps half an eye on the pavement for lost treasure. You can take a look at some more photo's of these two items of jewellery in my online shop!

ps. I didn't really kill a cat in the production of this jewellery. I don't even have a cat! Well, not any more. No,no, I never had a cat.

Torn Daisies...

What I love about this pendant is the totally translucent patch in the South Westerly corner (?) - I had a bit of a bash today photographing skin tones, day-light and the silver chain shining through it. Photographing such translucent jewellery against slate is doing it no favours, so I'm having to improvise to find a way to show its true colours.

They call me Mellow Yellow...

..quite rightly!...

Daisy Japanese Paper Pendant....

Japanese Tree-Clouds...

I think this hand printed japernese paper looks half like primary coloured trees, and half like floating cartoon clouds...

Flower Power....

I am setting up my online shop, oh, how very very exciting!...
Here's a bit of a peek at what is going on in there this week, ready for the launch month of August/September (what do you mean, August/September *not* a 56 day 'month'? I have no idea what you are talking about), where all UK postage will be a barganous next day special delivery for £2 measly quid! Lucky enough to live somewhere more exotic? Call it fiver, because I know you also need to save your exotic coinage for bikinis and burritos to accessorise my jewellery.

I am starting off with putting some lovely Japanese Paper, acrylic and silver pieces in -Oh, they just glow in the light, so delicate - I have been filing, sanding and polishing for the past few weeks, and I am now enjoying a breather for the evening (literally, acrylic dust is a mo-fo on the old lungs) photographing and designing my site.

The shop is not entirely up and running yet , it is 'under construction' - but do feel free to swing your lovely buns by and have a stroll around, if don't mind me wolf whistling at you, that is...

Tree Bark Ring II

The past few weeks has been spent, amongst other things, making this silver and gold ring, an elegant and more regal descendant of these more stout and lusty-beauties from earlier in the year:


which were designed because of these inspiring images:


I say regal, because this time around I used real yellow gold for the centrepiece of a single textured shard of bark (based on the the picture directly above), which was a pleasure to work with, and its highly polished sheen just glows against the cooler matt-textured sterling silver. Its uber comfortable to wear now, too - very smooth and silky inside - and I also worked, probably too obsessively, on making the back of the ring as interesting, textured and lovely as the front - and it does have a delightful rear, I hope you will agree:

It's a shame I had to sell it, really! I'm glad I snaffled a few photo's first, though...

EDIT: 9th Feb 2009: These rings are now available for sale in my shop!

Lochwinnoch wildflowers

It's been flooding here all week, so the very best time of year to visit the Scottish Wetlands then... ! The shapes, colours (everything from heather purple through to white) and sheer variety of just this one plant was surprising, they framed the footpaths, taller than me. I also saw a Great spotted woodpecker! Its good it was something so beautiful as the only other birds I see on a daily basis are seagulls, swooping down our street like its a motorway, casting beautiful shadows inside our flat, but who also wake me up EVERY NIGHT AND MORNING circling around the Clyde in screeching bands chocking like screaming babies every time it rains heavily (which is fairly often).

High Windows...

Some windows around Glasgow today, that aren't quite what they seem...

Green eyed monster...

Here are some of the greeny-blue glass combinations that have resulted in all the kiln fusing of the past week - I particularly love the quirks of the glass that you just can't predict, plan for, or reproduce.

Here are a few of the best - the way a fine opaque sheen of green glass rose to the top of the necklace in the first picture, leaving a little shard of solid green floating. This only happened twice over the week, and I ended up using the second cabochon as a centrepiece for a three stone necklace, which looks incredibly delicate, simple and classical when worn. I am thinking about taking some photos of myself wearing some of the jewellery for the shop, so buyers can accurately judge scale and proportion. The thing about using a macro lens is it can be tricky to imagine the piece on a person, and exactly how jewellery will hang in real life. If anyone is interested in this for a particular piece they like, let me know and I'll grab my camera, put on my party dress (and put away my camera fright) and adorn myself with bijoux!

The third picture above is such an amazing effect - the green blue glass has a beetle shell like sheen of purple to it in certain lights - its stunning in daylight and glows violet in artificial light. Everyone knows about the inspiration insects have had on jewellery and glass designers - well, it's impossible not to love Lalique! And I can't help seeing the purple green colour in this glass, and thinking about the peacock blue/green wings of the Morpho butterfly, which were captured in South American reforests as recently as 1920's-50's, and made into jewellery. I saw one poor critter (in Birmingham's Jewellery Quarter Museum) made into a brooch, and reverse painted- rather confusingly from a geographical perspective-with a beach scene and a palm tree - apparently they were big sellers all over the world! See some images here. I prefer using the colours and forms of the bugs as inspiration! Although I have always fancied those platform shoes with goldfish in the heels...

Both the colour and the oval form of my recent glass jewellery were influenced by the scarab beetle charms I snaffled up on a trip to Egypt years ago. If I remember rightly, In Cairo I swapped my digital watch from a street market (I know, I was way super COOL back then) for a bunch of turquoise green beetely adornments and amulets.. It is very apparent there that the scarab is as symbolically redolent and significant to Egyptians as the Cross is to Christians - the charms are everywhere. The scarab was often buried with its deceased owner to ensure rebirth. The hieroglyphic image of the beetle represents a phonetic that Egyptologists transliterate as as "to come into being", "to become" or "to transform". The derivative term is variously translated as "form", "transformation", "happening", "mode of being" or "what has come into being", depending on the context.

I remember watching a 'street silversmith' in Luxor, setting amber in silver with a portable gas can and a mouth torch - so amazing and inspiring - I bought what I watched him make on the spot. And seeing as I took precisely £60 on a three month trip round the middle east (don't recommend that, by the way, you will look a little frail at the end of it...), that was a big deal!
All of which makes me feel extremely privileged to have such amazing equipment at my disposal.

It was the Street-Silversmith in Luxor that first made me interested in jewellery making. Jewellery making as performance! And maybe all the turquoise scarabs explain why I keep on returning to using greens and blues, like in the enamel pieces below.

The Death of a Computer...

Well, I suppose it is inevitable that the week I decide to launch my online shop, my five year old computer chose to give up the fight, and die entirely. After a long lingering few months of crashing out half way through emails/train ticket orders/ blog posts, it just gave up the fight. Sniff.
So now that its gone to live on the farm ( where its going to chase rabbits all day), I'm working on this rather lovely new machine instead - Here it is sitting on my workbench today, in front of the spectacular view I enjoy every day (and next to my peanut butter on toast, which I clearly forgot to remove from the photo). I love sitting by the window, watching people scuttle around with their umbrellas/Buckie (well, it is Glasgow) and sing and dance and fight. Its the perfect work environment, every time I want life, it's there. When I don't (which is most of the time), I am far enough away to ignore it, or at least just listen to the singing. What a spot. Billy Connolly said that one of the best things about living in Glasgow as a kid was the cosy satisfaction of sitting warmly snuggled in bed, looking out of the window and watching a violent fist fight, while huddled up safe in bed and shouting directions...

Damn, I hope I'm not giving Glasgow a bad rep, it's a lovely spot! I hope everyone gets to come here and watch a fight! You'll love it.

Peppermint apple cucumber greens...

A crazy busy week at the kiln front - I've been obsessing over green and blue all week, and fusing together all sorts of sea glass colours to create stunningly iridescent and often weirdly shaped and textures pieces - I'll be setting the best of the bunch in sterling silver this week, and posting pictures here. My biggest blue green obsession of all this week has taken its form in enameling - this repousse Magnolia 'Cucumber Tree' leaf is one of the fruits of my new favourite technique! I can see I will be doing a lot more enameling, and I will purchase every variety and hue of green, blue and turquoise enamel in existence! Doing this reminds me of the art lesson all kids must get at some point, where they are taken to a field or a wood or a hedge by the local crack den, and told to try and paint all the different shades of green... In fact, enameling is very reminiscent of the playfulness of art at school, totally inventive and a little random, a magical surprise every time you see what you managed to create every day and know for sure you can never exactly recreate it. And its messy. I love it. It is my new favourite thing experienced this week, a tightly fought contest between enameling, visiting Loch Fynn and watching Journey to the Centre of the Earth 3D. Three equally impressive and three dimensional moments in my life.

Repousse indicates the hammering of the design onto metal with punches, which forms and folds the metal back on itself, creating the deep, narrow crevices of a leaf. The leaf was then enameled on both sides around four or five times with different shades and amounts of green dry enamel. This ensures the strength and hardiness of the enamel, and results in its strong textured colour and gloss. One side of the leaf is a shiny apple green, and the other a more matt, dappled peppermint colour, enabling the necklace to be worn either way around.

The leaf is 2" long and 1" wide, and dangles from a solid sterling silver 12" chain. I have been trying so hard to resist the urge to keep it for myself - I think I may have to make some more leaves, probably some native British ones - well, it's a great excuse to go to the park for the day this week...

I am working on having my shop up and running by the end of the week - in some basic form, so I can build it up and work on it online over the next month! That is the plan.

Red hot ripples...

I love it when glass heats and starts to ripple like water. I'm fusing lots of glass this week, and enjoying the randomness and inconsistencies of my kiln, myself, hot glass and hot metal. I've been experimenting with fusing lots of different metals inside glass - aluminum reacts most unexpectedly, vaporising into thousands of bubbles - very very beautiful. I'm going to try this out a lot more with blue and white glasses. Sterling silver ranges (dependant on the glass I use it with) between bright white silver and greenish blue hues, and I have found depletion gilding (heating it very hot and pickling it 3 or 4 times before fusing in glass) brings a fine enough layer of silver to the surface to stay bright white - most of the time... Sometimes the Copper (the 75 parts to the 925 parts of Silver) pipes up determindly inside the glass, smirking green or blue... There is no way to get two pieces the same, and I have tried.

The lake..

I took these back in May at the lake at Culzean Castle in Scotland. I'm spending much of my day today polishing silver to a high shine, and it made me think of the lake.

The Outline...

This is the primary coloured non jewellery related fun I had working on a music video for LA band 'The Outline' last week. It looks pretty damn good thanks to handsome and talented director, Cosmo Wallace! Now I'm trying to make some jewellery, but I can't resist putting up a link to all the crazy textures and colours that ensued.

I now find I love the fine fellows of The Outline as much as I love life itself, as I have been listening while I work to 'You Smash It, We'll Build Around It' all week (while existing solely on a diet of cakes, trifles, marshmallows and lollipops for 9 days now as a result of the kids party props...) And I'm not even sick of either the food or the music yet! It was the first (and hopefully not the last) time I've ever made a stunt trifle, so I am happy with how I spent my weekend!.

It was not just the party set I had fun making , I also had far to much pleasure making a truck load of creepy substances in jars for another scene. I was going for the 'evil persons lair' look, as I do so often in my life. The greatest thing of all (should you wish to recreate my experience) about spending 3 hours putting meat hooks, dead spiders, bacon, lard and hypodermic needles in jars of slimey liquid, is that often, in the end, you don't even see a teeny weeny glimpse of them in the music video you have just made!

Try it, it will give you a whole new perspective on life.

All the freakish potions, E numbers and candy cane colours may have affected the jewellery I'm making this week, though only slightly, I have incorporated no dead critters yet.

The noxious jars are actually really beautiful in their own uniquely repulsive way. Yes, playing that family game of 'euw, what's in that jar' is now more fun than ever.

Tor's Treasure Trove II

What to do with this curious old medicine bottle? And this yellow glass is just radiant. They will make spanking good unique jewellery.

Tor's Treasure Trove...

Oooh! I came home to find a shiny golden gift had winged itself to me all the way from London. A box of swanky french chocolates? Do I have a rich exotic chocolate loving admirer?

No - but I do have a golden box bursting with zillions (approximately) of old ceramic shards! All very brightly coloured and intricately painted. They are dazzling.

Tor and her three sisters grew up in St Margaret's road in Oxford around 50 years ago - and the four of them used to dig for treasure in the flower beds - and this is what they found! I remember doing this too, but I don't remember digging up anything this wondrous. Lots of old bricks and the occasional potato perhaps. I do remember I was digging for Australia at the time though (and I didn't even find it), so maybe I had my mind on exploration at the time, not archeology. I blame my parents for telling me Australia was "on the other side of the world".

Weirdly not cottoning on to my disturbing penchant for over literal interpretation, they deservedly complicated things further by telling me that leaving the television on whilst out of the room resulted in "moving wallpaper". This obviously resulted in me leaving the television on perpetually for the next decade while running in and out of the room trying to catch this fantastical wallpaper spectacle in action. Well, I like to think I have progressed, but I may yet have to attribute my love for a nice yard of real ale to them too, as I most vividly remember being told that people who had lots to drink saw "pink elephants". Oooh! I wanted to see pink elephants too. I still want to! Maybe tonight's the night.

But I digress. Tor has kept every piece the sisters dug up as children, and has now passed them on to me to set into silver and gold, and pass on to you!

Thank you for the family heirloom Tor, and I am quite blown away by your generosity. Some lovely and very special treasure trove necklaces will be winging their way back to you and your sisters very soon.

I love these three shards below. As I am not going to be able to keep all of them for myself, (which is what I want to do, because I am very very greedy) - I think I might have to keep one - maybe this very brightly coloured one below. I'll make it into a simple pendant, pretty much just as it is. I do really like the yellows and ochres of the china below it too, which needs extra special treatment with those colours -maybe I'll set it in copper, even yellow gold might work. I like browns, reds, yellows or oranges with gold. Gorgeous.

I want to be alone...

Well, I like not being alone too, I suppose... - but I am looking at this photograph everyday at the moment. It is stuck up over my workbench and I love it.

A couple of weeks ago I was in a market in Wales, the sort that mostly sells local meats, cheese and rusty old farm tools, and there was also a woman there selling boxes of mildewy old postcards. After rifling through box after box, and boring my companion to death (they bought a lot of cheese to pass the hours) I found this lonely little photograph slinking away into the bottom of the pile. It was the only photograph in all the boxes - I have no idea where it came from, how it got there - there is also no sign of where or when it was taken, or who the figure could be, why are they there, what are they looking at.... A mystery.

I love this solitary figure in a white melting landscape - every part of the photograph is taken up by white snow or white cloud, or black rock. The single black figure has their back to the camera, I think this is what makes it outstanding, singular- they are on top of the world, somewhere, anywhere - and they are totally engaged in their surroundings, facing a tiny gap of white light in the clouds - the focus is not the photographer, the audience.

I can just sink into it. And not do any work for hours... Maybe I should take it down before I become entirely antisocial and it's just me and the cheese forever.

I stuck it up, and the very same day I saw it all over again - the same indifference (?) to the spectator - in some pictures by Denmark's' Vilhelm Hammershoi (1864-1916). There is an Exhibition 'The Poetry of Silence' on at the Royal Academy in London, until September 7th which I am looking forward to seeing so much.

The works I am reminded of are of introspection in interiors - but it is the complete quiet stillness of them that they have in common with my new favourite photograph. That and the questions raised by the presence of a solitary figure, with their back to the viewer. And the clean, minimal tonal range and focus on light that is so like Vermeer. A bit abstract, a bit unreal. I cannot wait to see them in person.




1) A woman in an interior
2) Interior, 1899
3) Lady Reading in an interior
4) Interior, 1903-4
5) A woman in an interior, 1901

I just stumbled across this beautiful image online, by French photographer Antonin Personnaz (1854-1936) - this, believe it or not, is also a (very early) photograph. Now I have to find a way to get hold of his pictures too. I shall be basking in solitude!

Hello July in Scotland!...

Goodbye June...

Eternity Rings...

An engagement ring, wedding ring and eternity ring - in one!

The couple I'm making these bands for have been married for over thirty years, and didn't get engagement rings or wedding rings because they were broke back then, and well, who needs a ring to say you are in love anyway! Now they have decided it would be extremely romantic to mark their thirty plus years together and all the years ahead, with an unconventional type of eternity ring. Its not blessed by a preist or a minister, its blessed by each other, for each other and for no other reason than 'love springs eternal'. It needed to be quite a subtle private ring, I thought.

In fact 'love springs eternal' was the simple brief I was given.

I thought it was really appropriate to adopt the three interlocked bands of traditional Russian wedding rings for them (conventionally made of white, rose and yellow gold) because of everything they symbolise by interlocking - eternity, unity, continence, wholeness, perfection. In Manchester Art Gallery a few months ago I saw a roman wedding ring in the form of a serpent consuming its own tale. Pretty unpleasant looking, with creepy ruby eyes, I found out later it is an ancient symbol, the 'ouroboros' which is represents creation and renewal and the hope for a marriage union that is renewed continually. These ideas are pretty constant when it comes to wedding rings. One of the recipients of my rings being Scottish, we spoke about The Book of Kells and the Celtic knot work patterns that are so often seen on jewellery in these parts- they wanted a hint of that organic flowing, curving and spiraling - and the best way to do it to my mind without being to cheesy or overt was to put the rings together in one big, strong simple knot.

The three bands in this case also represent decade each - and the knot is built of one ring for engagement, one for marriage, and one for everything else now and in the future. I think it was vitally important that the ring should not be in a fixed form, be fluid and free, but strong.

They are not traditional people - one of the requests was that the design should by asymmetrical. The ability of the ring to shift around means the wearer and place the different bands where they want them and prioritise a different colour or texture. All the bands are quite fine and delicate- they don't need to be to obtrusive. They each have their own character though, each with a different finish. One band is made of highly polished and perfectly measured gold - simple but glinting - two slightly finer silver bands mesh around it. The first silver band is brushed and sandy matt colour, the second is hammer textured then polished to a high shine. Neither of these two bands are the same width all the way around, they curve in where I hammered them or ripple about where I thwacked them against some iron to get a nice earthy gravelly look (I used an old iron dumbbell for this, which has a lovely dimpled texture. I am spending more time hammering silver into it then I ever did picking it up). The rings are nicely, perfectly uneven.

I like the way the bands move around and over each other, the different textures shifting to the front. I like wearing jewellery you can play around with, move while you are wearing it and change its shape, look or feel- and I just think its good not to finalise everything I make, it's better to leave something up to the wearer. Whenever I buy jewellery or clothes I usually end up chopping something off or moving something about, and I think most people have the instinct to make things their own.

I'm very tempted to have a go at making some puzzle rings soon for all these reasons, plus they look so ingenious. Though maybe it might all get a bit ugly... They are rings of up to 12 (!) interconnected bands, apparently originally used as wedding rings by suspicious men in the renaissance period, who knew their wives would have to take it off to hook some illicit nooky, whereupon it would dismantle itself into 12 pieces. She would then find it mighty tricky to reassemble correctly (I'm guessing these ladies were presumed to be non too bright, or they would just a)put it together again b) leave it on in the first place c) marry someone less suspicious). Husband would then return, and only pausing to hail good day to some happy looking chap jumping out the window, spy something a bit wonky looking about her jewellery. Then I imagine he would stab the cheating hussy through the heart. Who knew jewellery could be so unpleasant!

My ring is more romantic.

Skeleton Keys...

I found about 50 old keys in an amazing antique and collectable shop today in Wales (Lamplite Antiques and Collectables, 2 Boot Street, Welshpool). They are mostly Victorian and Georgian - they are skeleton keys, house keys, mystery door keys - and all sizes, from tall and skinny to short and chunky, and mostly very rusty - but the very best thing about them, is that the teeth are incredibly ornate and the design of each key is (of course!) totally different. Some have lovely bows (the bit you hold on to when you open a door) too. Some of the teeth look a lot like Space Invaders to me ...


I like their uniqueness. And as they don't have a home any more - I had to adopt them all! Now I just have to find a place to hang all of my lovely keys in a row...

Twinkle twinkle...

The sun setting over the sea, on the edge of Snowdonia this evening. Perfect twinkles...

Remnant King...

Jewellery Quarter Museum...

I visited the Jewellery Quarter Museum in Birmingham yesterday morning. The Smith & Pepper family business for 80 years, it closed down in 1981 and has been preserved as it was on that closing day ever since. It's a slightly creepy time capsule, a little sad but very interesting and very odd. Mr Smiths' (or perhaps Mr Peppers') shoes were still there, as was a milk bill from the 1890's. The equipment is spectacular, and absolutely everywhere, and still fully functional, I imagine.

Towering shelves of punches line the walls.



Nothing much has changed in 80 years in terms of equipment or workspace arrangement, which probably won't surprise anybody that much- but it is surprisingly cool to see that proven. I could take all the equipment home and use it today. Yes, that would be very nice. Perhaps the guide could see the acquisitive glint in my eye, or maybe she didn't like the way I was eyeing up the handsome rolling mills, because she was pretty grumpy!

I was taking photos of these time worn workbenches and rusting tools when she said 'there's nothing to look at there, move your ass', (or something to that effect). Whoa there lady! I'll move, but NOTHING to look at!? Clearly she has no true appreciation of the mouth blow torch for starters - I mean, you have to master circular breathing - and that's before you even make a piece of jewellery!


As this chap explains very well -

   ' With a mouth blow torch, you have control that you do not have with
any other torch, when you get close to the temp to melt the solder,
you can control the pressure of the oxygen, and slow the rate at which
the temp rises. You can reduce the pressure, and hold the temp at a
certain place where the whole piece will become cherry red, the
solder flows, yet not melt your elements....

It takes a bit of getting used to to coordinate holding air in your
cheeks and using this air to breathe out, while inhaling though your
nose to replenish your lungs. You also must fiqure out what to do
with saliva while you are holding the mouthpiece in your lips. It
helps if you do not tilt your head down, sending the saliva down the
hose. If out of anxiousness, you tend to hold your breath while you
solder, you will have trouble using this type if torch. '

Actually, she did have a go with a torch, which was a pretty underwhelming demonstration. I hesitate to be down on a place I would recommend visiting, but I got the feeling some of the staff were a bit bored or maybe just not selected for their love of jewellery making equipment. Obviously though not everyone can be as uber nerdy as myself, which certainly is a very good thing for society.

I managed to get a few snaps in before I was grabbed by the scruff of my neck and thrown into the gift shop. I did buy a very lovely miniture pair of round nose pliers in there, so a happy - even fairy tale - ending to the day (what? No. Seriously. They are great.).

Take a look at this workbench so pocked and caked in borax you can barely see the wood!



They had essentially the same polishing equipment as used today - it made a lot more noise and looked significantly more dangerous though. Way scarier was the way the acids in the air had eaten away at the extraction fan. Hardcore jewellery making! They had no lungs, three fingers and only one eye in the old days but they still managed to make a mean pair of earrings. They probably didn't have any ears to hang them on though.

Spaghetti Hoops...

I'm really happy that my Spaghetti Junction jewellery is getting some love. Some people have had some very interesting, and very nice, things to say about jewellery based on 'our favourite concrete tangle' - cool!;

Metro.co.uk -'Running Rings around Spaghetti Junction' -
'As aesthetically-pleasing creations go, the Spaghetti Junction isn’t up there with the best. In fact, in a city famed for its ugly architecture, the 18-route road probably takes the top spot for unsightliness. But Birmingham-born jewellery designer Elisabeth Ingram has used it as the basis for a new narrative jewellery project... the concrete giant is once again a talking point, but, for the first time, has yielded something nice to look at'

Birmingham: It's Not Shit - 'Spaghetti, Jewel of the Midlands'
Elizabeth Ingram is a jewellery designer of no mean talent and — despite living in Scotland —she’s designed rings based on one of Brum’s most potent forces. She says: “I have just designed some jewellery based on Spaghetti Junction, which seems to confuse people no end as they seem to think I should be taking design inspiration from rare orchids or Picasso or something.” No word on the blog about whether this is the sort of thing I can afford to buy for the other half, but they’re really nice.

Created in Birmingham -
' A fascinating blog post from a jewellery designer who has made rings based on our favourite concrete tangle.'

Fools Gold...

Here is some Pyrite (or 'Fools Gold' - the mineral iron pyrite) I snaffled up on Friday in the Jewellery Quarter here in Birmingham. Looks lovely twinkling away in the sun. Shame it's not gold I suppose , but it is equally (if not more so?) attractive, I think. πύρ (pur) in Greek means 'fire', which relates to the sparks that fly from pyrite when it's thwacked against steel or flint, which I am quite tempted to have a go at witnessing. So if you hear about a forest fire originating in suburban Birmingham tomorrow, you can blame me. I shall get some clearer photos soon of the surface, which is made up of isometric crystals, which look like cubes, octahedrons and dodecahedrons jutting out in a big spangly mass. To the ancient greeks the dodecahedron with its 12 faces was a symbol of the universe, which is food for thought!

I also bought four giant (well, tiny Jersey potato sized!) Haematites, a form of iron oxide that I love most of all stones, and plan to use to extend my Spaghetti Junction range. I will certainly ending up getting some more tomorrow after I've been to the Jewellery Quarter museum - But I am really picky about the size and shape of them! I have little hope of self restraint when it comes to buying iron oxide..

A beautiful mind...

Well, I am really missing my blowtorch and tools while I'm in the Midlands visiting my family (that's not weird, right?).

As I am unable to make any jewellery without my tools - and the serial killer like mass of photos of bumblebees and foliage I have been taking and pinning to the wall all week as a replacement obsession is getting a bit distressing - my lovely brother spent the morning introducing me to the beauty and range of three-dimensional mathematical forms!

These pictures are examples of his polyhedron origami (a dodecahedron), and his 'torus' - two monochrome wall displays made up of loads of hexagons. The dodecahedron and the torus are made out of 'phizz units' - you can read more about that on the website of the chap who invented them!

My bro has been making giant three-dimensional origami models that are real craft - they are maths (zzz), but they are also sculptural (ooh) - these polyhedrons are just very very lovely and great design inspiration. I won't praise him too much though as he does have a poster in his classroom (he is a maths teacher) that says 'Maths is fun!', which certainly sounds implausible to me (though it's not a bad way to introduce reductive fallacies and false dichotomies to a classroom of 12 year olds).

Why does everything have to be fun anyway, that's what I have to say.

The two dimensional black and white pictures are masses of patterned hexagons arranged in two of many possible combinations. Interestingly, the hexagons all have exactly the same pattern on them, which is not something I realised at first glance. They trick the eye. He invented the pattern himself, then soon after found out other people had thought about it years ago, and you can even buy the cardboard tiles pre-made if you fancy a go without making them yourself. Apparently Jon stuck his home made tiles to his kitchen door last year and spent a summer rearranging them into a different pattern every single day! I presume he did other stuff too, though..

He did tell me the mathematical principles behind these figures, which I immediately forgot. I guess this explains why he's he is the the kind of guy who teaches his two year old to say dodecahedron, while I stare at the bumblebees and draw pictures of rainbows all day.

I love pattern and symmetry, and these are such inspiring forms. I am planning on buying a lot of origami paper, and I am going to put up more photos of polyhedra here as I make them. My brother recommended a couple of random galleries of modular orgami which I will be getting some inspiration from. I am going to ask him to write a guest blog on pentagon patterns, which look just like giant snowflakes.

Focus and Industry...

Birmingham Jewellery Quarter...

I spent a beautiful day in Birmingham. After a little time wiled away watching the bees hovering over the poppies, I weaved myself around the Jewellery Quarter for a good five hours. It is a tightly packed small scale industrial landscape, full of large windows and simple brick structures, jammed full of workshops and craftsmen and women. The sound of hammers on metal ping-ponged out from the top floors of Vittoria Street and made me very aware I was right in the heart of a mass of people forging metal and thoughts into fascinating objects.

No one can be in Birmingham long without hearing that it has more canals then Venice - no idea if that is actually true - it is true that the early jewellery industry here came about largely because of the flourishing canal network - the Digbeth branch of Birmingham Canal in 1786-9 - extended between 1800-1824 - was the genesis of the area. I love the fact that the manufacturing and precious metal trades that began life here between 1830 and 1880, in small houses and teeny workshops, in back rooms and over kitchens, is all still going on in the same concentration of 5 or 6 streets today. 40% of jewellery made in the UK today, is made in Birmingham. It is a magical spot.

Some manufacturers are not doing so well - the ruined shells of the Pen and pencil factories on Legge Lane are well worth seeing.


I passed by the Assay Office - still the busiest assay office in the country for official testing and hallmarking of metals, as well as dawdling in Sutton Tools long enough to purchase some terrifyingly expensive equipment, and Cousins Tools where the very nice fella behind the desk asked 'why is it always the most feminine (hah!) of girls who buy the most terrifying looking equipment'. Why indeed. I told the chap he should see my collection of hammers sometime, which seemed to charm him into complete silence. I should probably work on my people skills. Or I could just buy more hammers. I think I will just buy more hammers.

I am off to visit the Jewellery Quarter Museum in the next few days, as I spent so much time doing everything else I missed out on the opening hours. This year it has been named as the third best free tourist attraction in Europe by Tripadvisor, behind the Pantheon in Rome and the National Gallery in London!

I also went to the Graduate Exhibition in the 1880's Municipal School of Jewellery and Silversmithing (now part of the University of Central England's Birmingham Institute of Art and Design), which was wonderful. It is going on until the 21st of June, and is certainly worth seeing. You can call them on 0121 331 5940 to check opening times.

I was absolutely blown away by the strength and clarity of Yezhong Fan's work - 'Table Light Object' made out of laminated paper and perspex, with what looked like a foggy otherworldly city scape, a thousand tiny squares of light in a mist. I felt the sort of awe I have only experienced once in my life, on my first evening in New York City, where I felt like a ladybird in the jungle. I also felt a real rush of humanity in Clare Victoria Pardoe's 'Sensual silver' based on a woman's pregnant form. I would like to buy everything she has ever made or ever will make. I'll have to send her a blank cheque, which probably won't get her that far. And I wanted to wear Ellie Murphy's 'Diamond ring' flat-pack inspired jewellery - so bright, clever and sparky. Amazing talented designers, you can see some of their work on the BIAD website, I believe.

I spent my final portion of the day taking photographs and sketching Birmingham Central Library, the finest example of Brutalist architecture in town. Apparently they are going to knock it down soon (?), which is both utterly predictable and a horrible mistake. I am not sure the fact that most people hate the place is justification for destroying it, call me unconventional.

Anyway, I am thinking about making some nuclear bunker jewellery - as in jewellery inspired by them, and the kind of thing you might pop on in a tearful flourish before nipping down to the nuclear bunker on the last day on earth.

And I just love libraries, especially freaky unloved ones. All that hushed, diverted pent up passion!

Glass Raindrops...

It's a lovely warm sunny day in Glasgow, I should probably be outside picnicking or something, but I'm inside looking at some hot glass fresh out of the kiln, and thinking they look just like nice soothing raindrops. Roll on winter... (I seem to be becoming a little more Scottish every day!).

Glasgow, dear black place...

Sam Bates is a truly talented street artist, whose art - just some of the work is above - has adorned the hoardings in my neck of the woods for about a year now. It is a collection of scenes of Glasgow architecture and life. I was walking down the bottom of my road a couple of days ago, round the Candleriggs area in the Merchant City, and was stopped in my tracks to see a man with no soul (I could tell) standing with a with a roller painting over the whole thing with thick black paint. Nooo! He had already finished, so I there wasn't even any point in tackling him to the ground and stabbing out his eyes with his paint roller.

I wish I had taken something other than these snaps on a rainy day about a month ago... Glasgow means 'dear green place' and I always thought it was particularly brilliant he painted the whole thing with green paint.

So with black walls now surrounding us, which is a bit creepy to be honest, the Merchant City is in mourning, Sam Bates . If I ever own a fence or a wall (I'm a dreamer) will you come and paint it?

I guess the reason they painted over it was because they didn't like the additions of the local artists...

Inspiring women...

I was encouraged back in March this year to be awarded a grant from Enterprising Women in Glasgow. They are a supportive and very nice team situated in the Gorbals who have the most good, honest mission statement I have read in a while - 'inspiring and developing potential'. Should you be a woman in Glasgow wanting business advice , you can call them on o141-420-3573, if you are not, you can just rest easy knowing it's only a matter of time before inspired women take over the world (probably not by blogging about jewellery though...). I just wanted to say thanks to them for the help.

Craftex Exhibition 08...

I found out today I have a piece in 'Craftex 08', the Trades House of Glasgow's annual craft exhibition. The exhibition is on this week at the Trades Hall of Glasgow, 85 Glassford Street in the Merchant City (Thursday 10-7.30pm, Friday/Saturday 10-4.30pm, Sunday 12-4pm, for anyone who can make it). The Trades Hall is a spectacular Robert Adam building, built in 1794 and well worth a visit any time you get the chance. They also have a really good exhibition all year round about the history of Glasgow at the top of the building. As far as I know you can just buzz and ask to look around, but you might want to check that out first!

The piece selected for the exhibition is my 'Rose Window' silver fretwork pendant, inspired by the Sagrada Familia in Barcelona - you can see more pictures right down the very bottom of the page for June, or click on 'Rose Window - Sagrada Familia' in archives on the right hand side.

All the amazing photographs of this piece were taken by Paul O'Callaghan, of OneRedPixel.

Japanese Prints suspended in acrylic...

Circles of Japanese printed paper are suspended inside hoops of silver, and set in clear acrylic. The great thing about painting in watercolours, is the white light of the paper shining through, like light through stained glass - one of my biggest obsessions of all time. The very best thing of all about incorporating paper into this design is that they not only look beautiful against the skin - you can see how they catch the light in the picture above - but when worn as earrings, the light shines right through them (as the acrylic has been absorbed into the fine Japanese paper) and they quite literally glow. I just hang them against a window when I'm not wearing them, like miniature stained glass panels.

Here's a picture of the jewellery taken laying on a light box, you can see how translucent they are:


A few people have asked me about this range, so I may be making a few pieces in a couple of weeks time. Get in touch if you are interested - prices are very reasonable because the materials involved are more affordable than the usual silver and gold.

Here are some of the prints I am thinking about using:

Eensy weensy spider...

Starry starry night ...

'Light echo' glass and silver necklace and earrings






The amazing picture is of a Star (the Red Supergiant V838 Monocerotis, apparently!) viewed through the Hubble space telescope. You can find it on probably the best website of all time for photos, the National Geographic Site, which has awe inspiring pictures of space. This star is cloaked in a cloud structure that reflects the stars light, known as a 'light echo'.

After an initial cutesy kind of half-hearted attraction, I pretty much immediately got sick of seeing every other human being walking around adorned in the star motif (damn Chanel and all who rip them off) over the last few months, so I made these as an alternative interpretation on the theme.

UPDATE: Now available for sale in my new ONLINE SHOP!

Pebbles on the beach...

Spaghetti Junction Heamatite Rings...

First Coventry ('stained glass cufflinks' below) - now - Birmingham!

Actually, I'm spending my holiday in Birmingham next week. I really really like the place. I suggest the unconvinced take a look at 'Birmingham: It's not shit', which says it all, really! As they point out, people do underestimate Birmingham as a holiday destination. I actually do remember the urban myth going around at school that there was a beach under Spaghetti Junction... If you are planning a trip, you might want to get involved in Talk Like a Brummie Day this July, and you should probably prepare yourself fully by using this Brummie Translater to get a bit of practice in.

Here are the sketches and designs for two rings I made, based on aerial views of Britain's first free flowing interchange, built in 1972. Exciting stuff, I think you will agree (?)! I wanted to make some pieces that echoed its complex structure - and some of the conflicting views of the road system as either progress, or horrible aberration and necessary evil. I probably shouldn't base jewellery on horrible aberrations and necessary evils, on reflection. So lets call it jewellery that looks at connections and progress!

I wanted the silver stone settings to be the focus of these rings. I thought they would be a great way to look at infrastructure and our built environment as a whole- and ask what exactly it means to live in a concrete jungle.

My focus in the construction of the settings was not only the need to resemble the roads themselves, but the need for the settings to move around the terrain of the ring, a full 360 degrees. This movement puts the wearer into a position of control, and hopefully raises a few questions about the circularity of travel and routine, and how we interact (for better or worse) with our environment too. I used to travel over the Spaghetti Junction every day, and there is a beauty and chaos apparent even in its smooth concrete functionality, I wanted the attractive side of this criss-crossing mass to be there, but I wanted the dark side to lurk in the bushes, as surely we all do. You can't help but question commuting, unless you are insane, and ask if it is a bind or an entrapment you fall into and get snarled up in (going round and round, back and forth), rather than a liberation. Can you tell I didn't enjoy commuting?

I say liberation because in 1972 Spaghetti Junction linked together every motorway in the country for the first time. In a vital way, it brought the country together. It cut travel time. Its free flowing nature suggested a new era of Utopian travel, no roundabouts or traffic lights required. At the same time, I grew up in full view of the human cost locally - a whole community was demolished and split in half. 160 houses were knocked down from 1958 onwards, then chaos until completion in the 70's. It engulfed the area. I wanted to make the stones overwhelmed - or at least threatened - by the settings, too. I am hoping to speak to some people who remember the process of Spaghetti Junctions construction next week in Birmingham. Now that's what I call a holiday.

I chose Haematite for a very specific reason - it is black because it is iron ore - and its oily sheen is aesthetically perfect for these rings, like little petrol spills. Also, when I think of the West Midlands, I think of construction and industry, and I think of iron and Ironbridge Gorge. The worlds first iron bridge was constructed in the West Midlands over the River Severn in 1779. A pretty different bridge to Spaghetti Junction, but related all the same. And a interesting thing about Haematite is that when it is rubbed against a rough surface (like concrete) it appears to bleed, as it leaves a red deposit of iron ore behind (hence Haematite). I hope it's not to pretentious to say I wanted to indicate the human cost of progress by choosing a stone that bleeds and leaves its mark. Probably, oh well!

As a Brummie living in Glasgow, I see the massive urban regeneration this City is undergoing for the umpteenth time - sometimes you hear a big rumbling thud and know its a tower block being blown up! - and I can't help but think of Brum. I saw the Catherine Yass 'Highwire' exhibition at the Glasgow CCA back in May which looked at some of these issues, and had a whole room attached flowing with books on the topic and showing footage of Glasgow's regeneration in the 1970's - which is now in its turn, largely being demolished in the 2000's. One of the best books on the topic in general I've come across is 'Infrastructure - A field guide to the Industrial Landscape' by Brian Hayes, though no mentions of Glasgow or Brum in there (can it still be a good book?).

I will be putting these in my online shop when it is up - I'm planning on making a range of things between £45 and £105 -I originally made these rings to wear myself (remind myself of the old country) but I will enjoy playing around with some Spaghetti Junction pictures again. I wear my Spaghetti Junction -Ring I - all the time. Email me if you are interested in them in any way, and I will keep in touch.


Spaghetti Junction Ring I









Spaghetti Junction Ring II

Emerald Locket...

One of two lockets I'm exhibiting this week. I don't have any photo's of the other one yet, I'll update over the weekend when I get my jewellery back. I love this one - bling!

Back to the Showcase! - 'Coral Reef 'set...

Here is the turquoise glass and textured silver pendant and earrings set that is in the exhibition this week.



The were designed around sketches and watercolor washes of tangled coral reefs. The deep turquoise blue stone perfectly captures the way the sea seems bleached green blue when it skirts over white coral reefs. It even shifts between green and blue, like real water (I think I managed to capture the way the colour shift in my photographs) Ahh. I need a holiday. The silver is highly polished, intricately shaped and textured to bounce lots of light around. They are really sparkly, and the pendant earrings in particular swing from two different points on the hoop, catching the light with all that movement.


The pendant is around 2.5 cm long - the glass set into the organic free form 'coral' - and hangs on a long silver chain at the moment, though I can shorten it if preferred. The earrings are actually slightly larger and wider, the glass mounted separately to the 'coral' to get even more swing in there!

Sold - email me if you like this design, I can make something similar just for you, with glass of (pretty much) any colour (but the silver won't be identical, it's impossible!). A bit of random advice if you are buying a gift for someone else and are a bit fuddled, - I have green eyes and like to wear blue or green stones or glass a lot of the time (hence the emeralds, and all the blue and green glass you will probably see popping up on this site!), some turquoise blue glass looks particularly good on blue eyed people or those with dark eyes and olive/tanned or darker skin tones, though I also think brown eyes look very lovely with the more crazy speckled multi-toned glass, such as in the 'starry starry night' set - but you can choose, and I can make it!

Commissions and Coventry Cathedral!..

I was left a comment yesterday asking if I do commissions - and I thought it might be nice to post some images of my most recent and favourite so far this year (yes i do do them!), in case anyone is thinking about birthdays or just feeling like they deserve a treat. Prices have ranged from £50 to £250, and it's been a real mixed bag of styles and requests!

Coventry Cathedral John Piper inspired Stained Glass Cufflinks




Christmas gift cufflinks were requested, for a musician who needs to wear formal attire all the time.

I suppose it's possible that not everyone thinks of Coventry as the epicentre of great art and architecture, but Coventry Cathedral is amazing, I don't care what anyone has to say! I immediately wanted to use it as inspiration for some designs, and luckily the client was happy with that. After the old Cathedral was destroyed by Luftwaffe bombs in 1940, rebuilding began in 1956 on the Basil Spense design. I loved the Graham Sutherland High Alter Tapestry as a teenager (which is probably not totally normal, on reflection), and it was that that first tuned me into the sharp and sparky punch of 1950's design. It's the place to go in Coventry (stop laughing), with the shell of the old building, and the starkness of the 'new' one right next to each other.

John Piper's designed 195 abstract panels for the Cathedral Baptistery window. As the light changes over the day, it passes through and along them - and it's a spectacular light show.

My pair of 3cm by 2cm glass cufflinks can't really compare with that kind of spectacle, but they do look quite nice and reflect the light brilliantly. They took quite a few firings as I kept cutting the pieces of glass into new shapes and refusing them into different thicknesses and colour combinations, until I got something of the condensed essence of my favourite panels.

I'm planning on making more jewellery based on these windows very soon, I can't resist.

The other glass set I sold recently that I have a real fondness for is this 'Scratched glass' set, made with shards of differently colours dichroic glass which I carved into, before fusing between black and clear glass and mounting in chunky silver settings. Working with glass has been a really nice change to the majority of the quite delicate work I do with silver.




If anyone is interested in any glass jewellery, please do get in touch with your ideas and I will email you some pictures of my other work as food for thought. I will be putting pieces in my online shop as soon as its up.

Simple pottery pendant and earrings inspired by the Thames Mudlark Necklace.

Another favourite!


These were commissioned as a birthday gift - I wanted to make the sort of striking contemporary pieces that could be worn at a dressy affair and really stand out from the crowd - or just to give an everyday outfit life a bit of a lift! They are surprisingly light as the china is thin - I have ensured their strength by mounting them on thick sterling silver sheet. The pendant earrings have a great swing to them, and are around 2cm long - the pendant is around 3cm long, and on a nice long silver chain.

Contact me if you are interested in these pieces, I would love to make some more and have a collection of beautiful antique china just waiting to be transformed. I am happy to email photos of my china pieces, and you can choose your own colour and designs combinations and get a quote.

My biggest commission to date is still going on - to design a range of jewellery for a c.1400 National Trust Building near Castle Caereinion, Welshpool. I'll be posting details about that in the next month or so.

My all time favourite- Thames Mudlark Necklace....

Mudlarking is essentially beachcombing - except along a river bank not a beach, and instead of finding beautiful shells, pebbles and dead crabs you end up walking through 2,000 years worth of trash. I know, it sounds like fun!

In this case I walked along the Thames - I've not tried it in Glasgow yet as all the recent reports of decapitated heads bobbing around in the Clyde have put me off somewhat. I'm not sure detached body parts make great jewellery. Anyway, I found the pottery shards - blue flowerware from the 1700's and 1800's - that I set in this necklace, out on the banks of the sunny Thames in central London between the Globe and the National Theatre, which seemed to have particularly rich pickings (for anyone interested in doing a bit of treasure hunting of their own). Or is it just me who enjoys rifling through muddy old trash?...

The foreshore of the tidal Thames is said to be one of the richest archaeological sites in the country, I can't recommend it enough for a day trip! And being a mudlark is better than being a grubber (someone who scavenges in drains) or a tosher (someone who scavenges in sewers). There is even a society, which I may well have to join! If you are going to be digging, you need a permit which you can get from the Port of London Authority (020-7743-7900), but that's some pretty hard core amateur archeology in my humble opinion. If you leave your spade at home and are just strolling along picking up odds and ends you should avoid the firing squad. Just check out the Museum of London site first, and don't dig. Oh, and go at low tide!

As well as blueware pottery, there are shards of roman (roof tiles) and medieval (floor tiles) pottery to be found, and most prolific - clay pipes mostly from between 1600-1700. They are eerily bone like - ivory and hollow - and I am holding on to them for a future design. You could just leave them around the house to scare small children though, they are lovely in a really unpleasant way.

For anyone who wants to know more about mudlarking, check out

http://www.bjroche.com/stories/beachcom.htm

and if you go along to the Museum of London and take your finds they might take a look and be able to identify all the makers marks and dates of your pipes

http://www.museumoflondon.org.uk/English/

I have a range of mudlark jewellery planned for next few months. Check back around September time if you are would like to take a look, or email me in the meantime and I can send you some pictures and designs of the new range as soon as I have them.




The shards of pottery are the focus of this necklace,- they are so unique, they deserved the same treatment I would give to diamonds or emeralds. I love irregularity and asymmetry in design so this was a real treat to make. To emphasise the randomness and chance of the Thames throwing the pottery shards in my path on one sunny day a few years ago, I placed the china asymmetrically, and used different sizes of hammered silver circles for the chain, randomly spaced. I wanted to suggest the choppy surface of the Thames, glittering with circular ripples and hiding buried treasure!

Tree Bark Cuff and Ring...

UPDATE : Now available for sale in my online shop!

Rose Window Pendant - Sagrada Familia, Barcelona...

Showcase...

I have 6 pieces in the Showcase 08 Glasgow Metropolitan exhibition, and I wanted to get some information online about the designs for anyone interested (The exhibition finishes Friday 6th June at 12 noon, in case you are in town).

This blog is also a place for me to share what I am working on - my designs, inspirations and finished pieces. I will be updating with details about any stockists, shows, and exhibitions coming up, as well as getting loads of photos online. The aim is also to get a website and online shop up at some point this year. If you would like me to mail you when any of these things occurs, let me know- it would be great to hear from you.

Here's what's in the exhibition -

The first of the six pieces is 'Rose Window', a sterling silver fretwork pendant, based on an unfinished rose window in Gaudi's Sagrada Familia in Barcelona. I spent far to much time with a bundle of saw blades on that one, and became disturbingly familiar with the sound of metal snapping, I even feel slightly nostalgic for the shots of nausea I felt whenever my blowtorch threatened the whole thing with collapse. But it didn't collapse and I am feeling much better, you will be glad to hear.

The second piece in the exhibition is my 'Tree Bark Cuff and Ring', which is pretty self explanatory. The pieces are abstract interpretations of aged flaking tree bark in silver, each with a single shard of brass representing an additional, more densely textured bark.

Third in th