Handmade At Ilkley

So... there's now less than a week before my next show at Ilkley, it's come around so quickly!  I'm looking forward to it, after the success of Saltaire, and this time around, now that most of the prep work is already done, there is a lot less that needs doing!  It will also be nice to get to see somewhere new; it's shameful that I've lived in glorious Yorkshire for so many years now, and a lot of these little towns and villages are still new to me!

I'm also excited to check out some of the amazing work of the other artists exhibiting there too.  Check out The Arts Market's blog!

(Also, I didn't realise how many famous people came from Ilkley - Jilly Cooper, Alan Titchmarsh, Richard Whiteley, AND what's-his-face from the Kaiser Chiefs!!).

Having done most of the prep work already, I've had more time to play around with new ideas and designs.  I've made a few items for friends, including a set of earrings and necklace in rhodonite (a lovely dusky pink) for a friend at work, to wear to a wedding.  But rather stupidly, I forgot to photograph them before I gave them to her!  I was also commissioned to make a necklace for Katherine.  She gave me reasonably free reign over the design, saying that she wanted something with a picture on it, of something architectural.  So off to work I went, and came up with an Eiffel tower/postcard affair...

It's a bit blurry, because the actual finished size is only 2cm across, but you get the general idea!  I wanted to incorporate a few stones and sparkles with it too, so decided to add a few freshwater pearls and Swarovski crystals in tones of beige, grey and orange (sounds an odd combo I know, but somehow it works!) to pick out the colours in the image.  I really hope she likes it, I'm so pleased with how it turned out!

In addition to making lovely things for my friends, I also hassled the ever-obliging Jasmin at Jasmin Studio Crafts for her help with an idea I've been mulling over for some time.  Charm bracelets!  I can't believe I didn't think of that before!  Jasmin sent me a goody-bag of some of her smaller-sized glass cabochons and pendant settings, as I wasn't sure what size would work best.  I had THE best fun looking for ideas, this time I was looking for themes rather than individual images.  I've only made a few so far, but if they go down well at the shows then I will definitely be making more!

Butterflies with carnelian and lapis beads

"love" with freshwater pearls, silver hearts and blue and yellow Swarovski crystals

My favourite! Afternoon tea anyone?  Vintage tea cups and yummy cupcakes, with freshwater pearls and rhodonite beads

There were a few sizes which Jasmin sent me which didn't really work as charms as they were ever so slightly too big, which meant they were too heavy to be comfortable to wear as a bracelet.  However, one small trigger clasp later and... ta da!!!  Bag charms!  I went with a purple theme here, as the picture I had used was pretty purple and yellow pansies, and my gorgeous friends Katie and Laura had given me a massive bag of purple glass beads as a birthday present.  What a treat!

This is literally a one-off, as the butterfly and dragonfly charms came from a couple of necklaces I had which had broken.  Nice to put them to good use!!

And finally...  another make.  Not jewellery this time, but a housewarming gift for my sister.  I think these are so cute, even if I say so myself!

So, that's me off comms, got yet another idea floating around... laters alligators!!

Progress Part II... nearly there!

So I'm nearly there, almost.  Had a really productive week, filling in a few gaps I spotted and coming up with a few new ideas.  One I was particularly pleased with was a pendant version of the 'tangle' earrings I made.  I especially love how the freshwater pearl turned out (I have put pictures of all my makes on My Flickr Photostream).

Love this!!!

I now need to STOP MAKING STUFF!  Otherwise I know exactly what will happen - I'll be sat on the sofa, jump rings and pliers in hand, a total nervous wreck at midnight, hours before I have to be up in time for the show (1st May, people, Victoria Hall, Saltaire, put it in your diaries!!!), and that just won't help anyone at all will it?!

But what I really wanted to tell you all about, what is now my total favourite thing to make, is my picture box collection.  Pendants, earrings, both studs and little dangly ones, and hairgrips.  Possibly bracelets coming soon as well.  I couldn't do any of this without the amazing service of Jasmin Studio Crafts, so I would like to do a bit shouty THANK YOU to Jasmin.  I don't think I've yet found a supplier to better her.  Purchases dispatched within hours of ordering them?  Arriving next day?  Yes please!!!

But the best part of it is searching for images to use.  There is something that draws me to vintage images, often flowers or birds.  Perhaps it's because I'm a bit of  a romantic at heart, or perhaps just because they're just soooo pretty.  But making these also sparks the quirky and kitsch side of me, which is drawn to goldfish, little Russian dolls, geckos and teapots.  The Graphics Fairy blog has been a huge source of inspiration for me, as has good old Google image search.  As long as the images are copyright free, they are fair game!  It's taken a fair bit of trial and error, especially for the hairgrips and earrings.  An image may take my fancy, but if it's too dark or fiddly, once it's shrunk down to 6mm, it more often than not ends up an indistinguishable messy blob.  But the images I have found I completely love, and have even taken the oh-so techy step of getting to grips with my imaging software and playing around with them.

The pendant on the left is one I played with myself.  It is a vintage mirror frame, and a bird (called a tufted titmouse, isn't that a great name?!), which I 'cut out' using the super-clever software and popped him on the edge of the frame.  The pendant on the right uses an old perfume label.  So pretty.

As you can imagine, the possibilities are practically endless.  So I have my thinking hat on to find something to use the lovely big glass tile that Jasmin sent me as a free gift, to make something just for me.  I've been messing around a bit and come up with this...

It still needs a bit more work, but I love the bird, it's called a lazuli bunting, which I thought particularly appropriate as I use lapis lazuli in so many of my designs.  The sheet music is handwritten, from the 1860's and French.  Not sure what the tune is but it looks so lovely!

Earrings, with goldfish, geckos, pastel coloured union flags and Russian babushka dolls

Earrings, with gingerbread men, Japanese lucky cats, crowns and pink patchwork hearts

Hairgrips, with purple coloured union flags, paw prints, pineapples and love hearts

Hairgrips, with little vintage birds, green union flags, purple coloured leopard print and blue and pink coloured union flags

As you can see, I've been busy!!!  But I am now confident that I have enough stock to fill the rather large table I have been given, so it's now the organising side of it I need to get to grips with - deciding what items will go where, making sure I can remember what pricing I've decided on, that kind of thing.  Not long to go now folks!!!

Right, it's Easter Sunday, so it's only correct that I have chocolate and hot cross buns for lunch.  The raisins in the buns count as one of your five a day, right???  Laters alligators!!!