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...