A Simple Wish

Photo by Sweta Meininger on Unsplash

Wishing everyone a peaceful and beautiful Christmas. Here's hoping you have a very special time, however you chose to spend these short, winter days.

Shhh...

It's all so quiet, the frost is deep and the shortest day of the year is close at hand...

Jewellery Book Wish List - Christmas 2017

It's December, it's nearly Christmas, and, so far, I've not asked for any new jewellery books this year... having said that, just because I've not actually said I want a copy of one of those potential gems, doesn't mean I wouldn't mind finding one in my stocking/pillowcase come Christmas day morning...

As in last year's post, the books are in no special order (of any kind)...

 

Mixed Metals by Danielle Fox
It may be obvious but I love working with silver, and I've dabbled a little with gold and copper over the years. Integrating different metals together fascinates me and a book that covers those metals and more, and how to use them together, looks to be an interesting read.

Metal Clay for Jewelry Makers by Sue Heaser
I was very impressed with the book by Sue Heaser I received for Christmas last year and this is a way of working with silver that I still haven't explored anywhere near fully enough.

Weave, Wrap, Coil: Creating Artisan Wire Jewelry by Jodi Bombardier
Wire wrapping is a skill I'm increasingly eager to learn more about and this book looks to be a great guide to starting, and progressing, in this kind of jewellery making.




Metalsmithing Made Easy by Kate Ferrant Richbourg
Many jewellery making books deal more with the 'softer' side of the art, involving threads and beads. This one, however, seems focused not just on metals, but how to connect them, covering both soldering and cold connections, topics you can never know enough about if you work with silver.

Christie's: The Jewellery Archives Revealed by Vincent Meylan
This book isn't about making jewellery, but it is about appreciating the skill and work and inspiration that has gone into some of the most beautiful pieces and collections that have passed through one of the most famous auction houses in the world. No doubt also an ideal way to convince yourself that you're not good enough to even pick up a piercing saw ever again...

The Art of Polymer Clay Millefiori Techniques by Donna Kato
Every year I spend a little time working with polymer clay and every year I vow I'll do more, which is no doubt why I'm always attracted back to books on this subject. Plus, I know the author of this one is so good that she even has her own brand of clay...

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If you've read any of these books then do let me know what you think about them, and if they're worth adding to my already heaving jewellery book shelves? And do let me know of any recommendations you have for books I many have missed. I'd love to add to my wishlist!

PS. To see my jewellery book wishlists from Christmases past, then do take a look at my posts from 2016, 2013 and 2012.

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Gifts for a Jeweller...

I always feel a little naughty asking for jewellery gifts for Christmas. It's as if it's a secret indulgence that I'm asking others to provide for me, the equivalent of simply saying "Chocolate will do this year. Any kind you like..."

And I did try to be good this year. I tried not to ask for jewellery books (I failed twice). And I tried not to ask for any tools or devices or materials or anything jewellery connected. Of course, I failed here too and ended up with a (requested) heap of low-temperature enamelling goodies under the tree on Christmas morning.

Since then, life has done its things and thrown up its normal wondrous obstacles to keep me away from much jewellery related. But it's way over midway through January now (how does time go so soon?) and I'm battling back, making time and space to start my post-festive jewellery immersion. Until that battle is a little further underway, and the results noted and photographed, here are some images of my Christmas stash.

At the top of the page is a photo of the aforementioned jewellery books (see January's Jewelled Web under latest Reads), and the picture below here is of some Efcolor low temperature enamel colours, a parcel of copper blanks, and a few of the tools I hope to make some metal magic with.




In non-jewellery-related gifts (I know, it does happen) I'm happy to say I also received a rather large (and exceedingly nice) slab of chocolate fudge, a record player (with records), a pair of slippers (a Christmas classic, and deliciously soft), and a very large and incredibly useful (given the weather we're having so far this year) log basket.

I hope your jewellery-related Christmas gifts were equally inspiring.

Christmas lights like jewels...

Canterbury city centre, including the Christmas Market, is lit up like jewellery this year. I love Christmas lights; they make cold warmer and add such an air of comfort to a cold and dark time of the year. Plus they look a little like gemstones set against a background of ever-changing blues, from gentle shades to deep hues, and everything in between.

I also enjoy the lights much more now I shop more online -  avoiding the long, fraught queues in shops; the noise of Christmas music cashing between shop doorways; the anxiety of what to chose and who to chose it for... okay, shopping online doesn't remove the latter but I did enjoy my trip out to the shops all the more for only having a very short shopping list in my hand.

I hope your Christmas shopping is going well and isn't getting in the way of being able to pause and enjoy some of the (less commercial) magic that this time of year can bring.

Jewellery Book Wish List Fulfilment!

Since jewellery books and Lindt chocolate were both high on my Christmas list this year (and I even wrote a post about the former), I was rather pleased to open a carefully wrapped parcel on Christmas day and find The Art of Soldering for Jewellery Makers Techniques and Projects by Wing Mun Devenney.



The book looks as good as I hoped it would be. I've not finished it yet, and had to wait until after the Christmas rush died down a little to even have a good peruse, but the detail and quality of work it displays looks exceptional.

From getting started, to basic and advanced techniques, to a whole plethora of projects to practice new skills on, or refine old ones, it looks to be a cornucopia of soldering delights. I'm especially loving the gallery of different jewellers' works, each photo featuring a description alongside it of the soldering techniques the artists used - how often do I wonder such a thing when I look at jewellery... yes, I am one of those people who mentally deconstructs items to figure out how they were made (and if I could do it myself!).

When I've read the book in more detail I shall do a more detailed review, but it's enough to say for now I'm very pleased with this particular item from my Christmas list. And I'm also pleased to add that I received more than one box of Lindt chocolate. I couldn't possibly reveal just how many boxes though.

Christmas, New Year, Gales, Chocolate, TV...

So how was your Christmas and New Year? I hope it was good. Mine was busy, busy, busy and then nice and peaceful, which isn't too bad a combination... None of it was helped by the awful weather we've been having in the UK - on Christmas Eve the gales left us with a slight (ahem) roof problem which needed immediate fixing, so come the time when I should have been sitting in front of the TV with a few chocolates and It's A Wonderful Life hitting the spot, I was instead holding a ladder, wishing I was wearing gloves (that wind was very cold), and wondering if I'd get enough time to push the shed back upright before it got dark (I didn't).

However, despite continued bad weather, the electricity stayed on, as did the roof, and the shed remains mostly upright. And all the water has stayed outside the house, a good state of affairs in anyone's book.

The chocolate on the middle left tasted of violets and was exquisite...

I'd hoped for a movie-saturated Christmas but events above and then welcome visitors meant it wasn't until close to the end of the year that I got to indulge myself with chocolates and films on the TV, but it was worth the wait, and Sherlock was a nice way to welcome the New Year in too...

My plans for the new year? Well, writing my blog, of course, a bit of jewellery making/creativity, a lot of blog design, and some careful tidying of my laptop before it explodes from all the photos and links I have insisted on saving to it... I hope your new year brings you much happiness - and thank you so much for reading my blog; the visits and comments mean a lot :)

Shopping and silver on the radio

How busy is this December? And just how slow is the internet on a December evening? I have a feeling that come dusk, everyone goes on the net and hunts furiously for Christmas gifts for several hours, pausing only to sleep, go to the shops, and then repeat the same routine...

I went out yesterday to the shops, literally fought my way across a Tesco Extra (or was it an Express? I'm never sure which is which) to find one small item, fought my way back again to the self-serve tills to the strains of Jona Lewie's Stop the Cavalry, queued, noticed a monitor informing anyone who cared to look that the same self-serve tills had experienced slightly over 1,600 customers that day so far (it was around 1.30pm), paid for my solitary item, and legged it, breathing gulps of fresh cool (okay, cold) air as I left the place.

Every year I say I'll Christmas shop in June, every year I don't quite manage that...ahem.

But my main reason for this post (no, I'm not just using up bandwidth to state the obvious, that the shops are busy in December) is I caught the end of an interesting show about silver and silversmithing on the radio today, and thought it worth sharing the details as it's on iplayer, but only for a week.

Hope you enjoy a listen, and hope your Christmas shopping is going, well, easily...!

(no photo - the net is too slow!!)

2010: A quiet blogging year

SNOW


This is only my third post of the year. Not exactly great statistics. But, on the other hand, I should be able to do better than that next year. I hope.

Moving house one and a half times (next half some time next year!) has taken far more time, energy and patience than I knew I'd need. I've still silversmithed, still made jewellery, but at a far slower rate than I would have liked.

Still, a long-standing birthday gift was finished (more on that in a later post) and some Christmas gifts were started and completed, despite the sudden realisation that I had no idea where half my tumble polisher equipment was (many thanks to my mum for the ingenious tights-as-sieve hint!)

Snow has disrupted my life, like many others, this last month, and I'm spending Christmas far from where my plans expected me to. But it's still very, very beautiful . . .






Merry Christmas!

More items listed . . . and a first Folksy sale!

I've listed a few more pieces on Folksy today, although not as many as I would have done as I needed to take some more photos and the weather has bee so dull and abysmal that the natural light just isn't up to it. Must make one of those handy white boxes I've read about . . . although I don't know how much that'll help with the light. Hmm.

But some more listings anyway.

And my first Folksy sale came on Thursday, just before I was heading out to my silversmithing class! One of my leaf pendants, which always attract attention.



I've another finished and one, a smaller one, as a work in progress but nearly done. I've also a tiny one nearly finished, and some potential tiny ones to create. They're all individual which can make them tough to part with . . .

But I've listed one of my silver ladies



and if I can part with them then I can part with anything!

Progress is slow right now though, with Christmas shopping seeming to take several years to finish . . .