Yuletide Greetings

Well the winter solstice crept up on me fast this year, I've been busier that I thought more with family  but I have been playing with the glass and making more beads. I've created a couple of my popular charm style bracelets with some of my own beads.

The snow we had at the start of the week is still hanging about in fact the top of our road is still a bit slippery. But with having a puppy we need to go out and walk so I have been bursting with inspiration wether colours for beads or even an image from a film that has inspired thoughts of a range for men in bronze. Now will I get time to create something in my very cold shed I wonder.

Have a great Christmas.

Victoria

BRRR........

Yes its quite cold here in North Cornwall we had a dusting of Snow on friday but it melted much to my children's disgust. Unfortunately it does mean I  don't wan t to go out in the shed and get cold while working, but the call of making glass beads is strong so no doubt I will be making jewellery out of the beads I hope to create.
I have been catching up on the orders from a Jewellery party, plus I'm busy getting costumes and other bits and bobs sorted for my children's school play and Fayre and there is the christmas shopping as well. I'm coming up to what I call my shut down time I sort of have a bit of a break from mid December to early Feb. I try not to create anything and review what has sold well and what hasn't etc. sometimes I even break up pieces of jewellery that haven't sold for a while, this helps keep my stock fresh and also it's not wasted as more often it is all reused.

Now I'm off to sort out some Cake Baking for Christmas and the School fayre...

Christmas is coming............

The shops have started putting out their christmas stock since early September in fact before their halloween stock. I nearly had kittens when I saw a cream egg in a supermarket but I looked closer and it was a Scream egg. I would be nice that the christmas stock etc wouldn't come out until early November, I think the fact it is out too early does ruin the enjoyment a bit it isn't so much fun when you've had christmas in you face for a third of the year. Halloween in a couple of weeks is a favorite time and I've only just made a Halloween Elf called Boo.....

So I wait until this time of year to make my Yule stock, I just make a few pieces usually cards, Elves etc.. This year I'm having a bit of a change no elves or cards. So what to make well as you can see from the pictures below I've made some Angels, Snowmen and Penguins. They won't go on my website until mid november.

  

What is your favourite colour?

My children ask me this question all the time and I struggle to answer it. Colour is and a important part of what I do; always has been even when I was a Florist. Part of my floristry training included the colour wheel and the theory of primary, tertiary, complimentary etc. Even then when picking flowers for floral displays it was the customers preference, you may have made a lovely tonal bouquet and the customer doesn't like it they love clashing colours. 

Colours can lift moods and evoke memories, Red and Green - I bet you're thinking Christmas, Yellow and Blue - for me the beach, oranges and reds - Autumn leaves.  Take these bracelets I made a few weeks ago.

    

                                                                                                                                                            

The Red bracelet reminded me of the orient and it was inspired by Hong Kong, the Yellow  bracelet with the green reminded me of Sherbet Lemons and the Blue  bracelet with the gold also reminded me of things Oriental. To me every colour has possibility and can be combined with other to evoke many things. So I tell my children I like all colours I have no particular favourite.

 So what is your favourite colour?

Light Side Collection

Well the kids are back at school now and I've been able to get back into my groove. To start with the old MOJO was missing in action but it resurfaced enough for me to make up a few pieces of jewellery for the Light Side Collection. I did the Dark Side collection a month ago and always had plans to make a Light Side to compliment it.

  

As with the Dark Side Collection I have made two necklaces and two bracelets. That wasn't the only thing I've made last week. I quickly made up a couple of bag charms for my daughter and her BF and another of my favorite makes a charm style bracelet with pumpkins and witches just in time for Halloween.

  

The Weekends are always a creative time for me and I managed to get out the glass and Hot Head and made some beads check out my Storm Glass Bead Blog to see what I've been up to.

Creative Bank Holiday

My weekends have been busy and this bank holiday I was determined to get out in my shed and make some jewellery. I had made a second batch of beads a couple of days before so it was jewellery time, it has seemed like ages even though I made a brooch the other weekend. One thing I need to insist on is that if I'm in my shed working the kids need to ask their Dad questions not me I just want to get on, the tinkers. So I made some of my favorite type of bracelets the charm style, and a charm style necklace, and a few little thongs.

And now the kids are back to school today so my week is free so I can make more jewellery, I can't wait.

Autumn is here?

I know it's still the summer holidays but it feels like autumn, today the weather is forecast for rain all day and it's dark like a winter day. Not pleasant for the kids on the last full week of their holidays, they are back to school next week.

I have finally found time to make my first beads you can read all about it in my Storm Glass Bead Blog, the link is on the right.

Autumn Wire Leaf Brooch Copyright Cornish Dragon

This is my entry for the monthly competition on the Making Jewellery Forum, the comp was for a brooch and I don't do brooches. I was going to go for a polymer brooch but I thought about wire leaves, so I had a go. My fingers were a little on the sore side afterwards and I did do six leaves but I removed one as it looked better with five. of course as it was leaves in brown wire it had to have some autumnal colour beads in it. I'm pleased with the result I wonder what we have to make next month.

New Hobby on the way

I seem to collect hobbies like some people collect stamps. during the collecting  I've learned Encaustic painting, Fairy drawing & painting, paper crafts and much more. Some of them I have stuck with and still do for pleasure and work. 

So my new Hobby, well it is something I have always wanted to do for a few years, I even bought a book on the subject that has been sat on my bookshelf gathering dust. Well it's my birthday soon, so encouraged by my friends the hobby I've always wanted to do I can now do so as my lovely Hubby will be getting me a Kit. So what is this new Hobby, well I'm going to get a Hothead kit and I will be trying my hand at making my own beads.

What put me off years back was the fact to sell the beads they need to be annealed in a kiln, so they don't break or crack. Kilns are not cheap and this fact was the sticking point so to speak. But doing some research on forums etc I can batch anneal at a later date. Which gives me time to have fun making beads, practicing techniques while saving for a kiln, or sweet talking hubby to help out. I will be setting up another blog which I will add those first beads how ever bad they turn out. I'm still thinking of names for it so far the winner is Storm Glass or Spy Glass but I can decide on that soon enough.

Oh despite it being the Summer Holidays and having the sprogs at home I have managed to make some jewellery. Beribboned beaded necklace and a vampire inspired necklace.

  

Customizing or Remaking?

So remaking or Customizing something old or new is fun. I bought this watch while I was buying some clothes. It was a bit plain and well it was just begging to have more added to it.

                                                 

So out I went to my shed this week and hmm what can I add to it, well it needed to be perhaps slightly on the dark side without losing some sparkly glam and it needed to be removable. So I added some hearts, crystals, black and dusky colours all very sparkly, then some lucite roses, and of course some charms. Well here is the result.

     

I love my Vamps

I'm really loving exploring my darker side with some Gothic "Wee Folk". I decided to make some Vampires ones to start with to see how they go. On the Left is "I Love Vampires" and on the right is "Bite Me" . I think I may try to see if I can make a fang charm or similar to go with some Jewellery though I may need to hide anything Vamp from my daughter she loved watching the Twilight DvDS and I treated her to a fab Team Edward Bag I nearly kept it myself.

I'm also busy replacing stock I sold and have made a nautical themed charm bracelet. I made it in red white and blue but wonder if I should have done it in black and white. It nearly got called Captain Jack Sparrow but I decided on "A Pirates Life For Me". Along with the nautical theme I'm also doing a Driftwood collection with bits of driftwood found at my local beach. I've done one so far called Seashore and have plans for a few more.

Fascinating

Well the jewellery party went very well, I could have sold one bracelet many times over. I'm now busy getting some orders made up well I will when the stock arrives. I'm not sure which I prefer Jewellery Parties or Craft Stalls? with a party there is less of an overhead and you do have a captive audience but everyone wants the same piece and you may not be able to make another one. With a fair you have more variety of customers but you may not sell anything. I think I like both, but I don't want to be doing Parties every month so I've made a choice to only do one every season and I may do an extra at Christmas, we will see how it goes.

My friends and customers are great as they give me lots of new ideas. A very good friend was discussing why no one wears hats to weddings anymore, this led to a discussion on Fascinators. This set off a train of thought for me could I make them, well I had a look round and they are not much different from a tiara, so well I think I'll have a go and see if local customers will purchase them, and the advantage is you can't get anything like that in our area.

Party Party

I've got my first Jewellery Party tonight, and I'm looking forward to it. I'm going to have a little demo making some Silver Earrings and I will raffle them and the host will give the money to a charity of her choice. The host has also asked if I bring along some Elves so I have a nice selection along with some Kokeshi and my new Fairies. The "Cool Britannia" punk elves get their first public showing tonight, and I'm already planning my next limited edition ones I've got lots of ideas.
  

I've been busy in the shed again making more bits and bobs for the party, If you've been on the Cornish Dragon facebook page you will have spotted them.

Inspiration

I remember being in the shower once and having a bright idea and then having to go and make something on that idea. Now I have lots of notebooks along with pencils scattered around the house and even one in the car. This has now given me a habit of buying gorgeous looking notebooks even if I need them or not the same with pencil cases and pencils though that isn't as bad as the notebook collection that is growing and growing.

Everything can inspire me and I'm hoping that we will have more outings like Saturday to Boscastle.

We were sat happy with Cornish Pasty in hand with drinks enjoying the sunshine and being slightly pestered by a Herring Gull, luckily this was a North Cornish Gull and hasn't learnt to take the pasty from your hand as in some parts. We gave the Witchcraft Museum a miss this time as we will come back later in the year for our annual visit. Later it was a lovely walk back to the car with Ice-cream in hand and spotting the odd fish. I wonder where we will go next Tintagel would be nice but the Hurlers is another favorite place to visit.

The inspiration on the Making Jewellery Forum June competition was a picture and it really got my mind fizzing with ideas. At first I thought of a copper pendant a bit like a brick wall with ivy and tendrils but in the end I just made some Silver Ivy Leaves soldered onto silver wire with some freshwater pearls. I enjoyed the soldering more this time, maybe I'm getting the hang of it.

Elf Stop or Wee Folk?

Was the question I was asking my kids yesterday, I was trying to work out a name for the gifts I make mainly the Elves. Wee Folk won so I've been busy re arranging the old website to make room for them. I haven't done it all yet but I'll get there, I just have to work out the prices for them all.

I also decided to make some limited edition Elves and made these three "Cool Britannia" Punk Elves are the first ones. The mohican was a bit on the difficult side I tried cutting up a spiky rubber bead but it just wouldn't stick so it was back to my original thought felt. I'm pleased with the result but I have to hide them from my daughter as she wants them.

Thats me!

Yep I've decided to put my mug on the blog, so yes thats me. Thank goodness I had my hair cut at the weekend. My hairdresser Charlotte is a genius she does a very good job.

Steamed Leaves?

Oh where did the month go to. I've been busy with bits and bobs including jewellery.

I've tried my hand at Steampunk, well its not true steampunk but more inspired by the genre. I think mine would be Vintage with a Steam twist. The inspiration for it was the Cottingley Fairies & Sir Arthur Conan Doyle.

I've been bashing the metal again and was trying to form a large copper leaf for a necklace. The idea was that I would use the edge of my bench block and form the leaf so it had a nice crease down the centre. Hmm it didn't really work out the copper was old thick pipe it even had Yorkshire Imperial stamped on it. I tried to anneal it so it would be easier to work with, well my little torch wasn't man enough, so I tried 2 torches with little success. I did get the leaf into a pleasing shape in the end but it has made me realize I do need to get a decent torch.

Time for a Ring

I've finally pierced out the copper and have used the leaf I etched on a ring. Well this would be my first attempt at a ring. I used some Sterling Silver wire, the copper and I got to use my ring mandrel for the first time.

I soldered the copper leaf to part of the silver wire I had flattened slightly, the solder didn't take so I pickled the pieces and started again, I had the same result so I cleaned off the borax cone and dish, and remembered to heat the whole of the wire not just where I was soldering and success this time. Then it was shaping the ring it seemed to go well and I soldered it in position and popped it in the pickle and then had to dash to get it out, I had left some binding wire on the ring and now the ring was all copper coloured OOOPPS. But it was saved with sanding down and polishing.

I wear the ring all the time and feel pleased with my first attempt.

Holiday Time

Yes the sproglets are off school for a couple of weeks so I haven't had so much time to create. Mind you the weather the past few days has been lovely & sunny so the sprogs have been out, either terrorizing our chickens (the wee lad) or out all day on a bike (the girlie).
Luckily in between the egg hunts I was able to get out and have a play at etching Copper with a salt water solution and a battery.



I used some black electricians tape to cover the copper and a waterproof pen for the design. As you can see the pen wasn't really up to the job and the etching was a bit blurry. I think I will certainly use this method again and try nail polish or even beeswax for the image. It certainly beats using an acid.

While waiting for the copper to etch I used up some old beads and made four bracelets, I like making things that don't take too long to make.

They will go on the website soon as I'm going to have a bit of a revamp on there.

Expensive Weekend

Arghh I had to make an expensive purchase at the weekend, I noticed that on my digital compact camera something weird was happening with some of the images. Well I've had the camera for 6 years now and I thought I would find out the cost of repair and look at a replacement.

I spent most of Friday evening looking at and comparing Digital cameras, I got very confused and ended up with a big headache. So Saturday was spent in our nearest big town looking at the camera shops.

If you heard a big thunk that was my jaw dropping on the floor it would cost from £175 to repair my camera. The whimpering later was me paying out for a new camera Ouch. I shouldn't begrudge it really as it is handy with work as I do need to take photos of my finished jewellery to put on my website and brochures.

The rest of the weekend was spent in my shed making a necklace and a few beaded hearts.

Lowen St Piran's dydh

or happy St Piran's day, yes it's a day all the Cornish celebrate the patron saint of miners.
The story of St Piran is interesting he was an Irish saint and the Irish King was not happy that he was more popular than himself. So he had Piran thrown in the sea with a mill stone round his neck. the millstone floated and Piran was washed up on the beach at Perranporth. He was also credited with discovering tin in Cornwall so became the patron of Tin Miners.
The Cornish miners moved to place all over the world like Australia, Canada etc that is why some countries have Cornish town names. The miners even went to Mexico and helped mine the Silver there and apparently even now in certain parts of Mexico they make a version of the Cornish Pasty.




Well I decided to have a go at making some mini charms out of polymer clay to celebrate the day and came up with mini Cornish Pasties and Mini St Piran (Cornish) flags. And later tonight I shall raise a glass of Cornish Mead.

Lowen st piran's dydh.

Brrrrrrr!

Crikey it has been very chilly here it has put me off going out to my shed and I need to finish off a copper bangle. But I have put my time to good use as I have done some watercolour Dark Faeries which I will turn into cards later on.

Raven , Anya & Lyssa

I have so many ideas brimming in my head, I have lots of jewellery ideas as well as some ideas for the Elves I make. I'm definitely looking at my dark side as Punk Elves seem to be something I would like to try out, tartan hats and lots of safety pins etc.

Well Here I am.

I never thought I would ever get round to writing a blog but here I am starting one.

This will be where I will put my pics and inspiration of my Jewellery and a lot more besides.

Last week I was busy making this bracelet out of reycled copper pipe. I love using copper it has a nice colour which patinas lovely with age. the only thing I hated about making this was drilling the holes in the copper, but I feel it was worth it.