Pausing...

November seems like a good month to pause. December awaits with its cacophony of noise and light, demands on time and energy (and money...), and the increasing onslaught of Christmas-themed everything.

But this November I've been trying to push back against that a little, to notice my surroundings more, and appreciate them, whether they be a mug of hot chocolate in a warm cafe or a pot of tea by the stove, and whether my feet are hidden under damp, fallen leaves or are crunching over shingle as the sea lashes the shoreline.



I'm also finding this philosophy in my jewellery making too, where simple shapes and simple ways of constructing them in simple materials, like round sterling silver wire, are more pleasing just now than elaborate details and complex finishes.

You could say, and you'd be right to, that I'm trying to be more mindful, in every part of my life, including when I'm sitting at my jewellery bench. I know mindfulness has become one of those words which often makes people either roll their eyes in disdain or nod their head in agreement - well, I'm one of the latter and am attempting to use it more and more every single day and let it help me in any way I can. So far, I think I'm better off with it than without. If you're interested in finding out more then I've found

this book (and free CD) - Mindfulness for Health,

this website - Rachael Kable,

and this (free) course - Mindfulness for Wellbeing and Peak Performance

to be of great use.

But whether you're mindful of mindfulness or not, I hope you get a chance to breathe in some late-autumn tinged air very soon - the scent of fallen leaves with a hint of bonfires is how I'd put it; if only I could bottle it!

Happy the rest of November.

A Ring of Two Stones - Sky Blue Topaz and Labradorite

This is a birthday ring, for this month, and I liked the idea of using a birthstone. Of all the shades topaz comes in, the sky blue variation is, for me, the most beautiful. It does seem to look like a little piece of sky, captured in stone, perhaps even the sky on a November day when the sun is as bright as it can bear at this time of year and the blue around it has that slightly chilled look, as if the heat from our star can't quite warm it to the deeper hues of summer.

The other most usual birthstone for November, according to information on the web, is citrine. And although I've used topaz and citrine together before (see the stones I bought and what I made from them), it just didn't seem to work right for this birthday or the ring I wanted to make.



So when I bought the rose cut cabochons I wrote about in this post, as well as the sky blue topaz which I'd purposely chosen, I bought gems in colours I hoped would match nicely with it. The lapis lazuli was too opaque and the iolite too small (fool that I was not to order it in a larger size) but the labradorite sat perfectly with the topaz. Against the sky blue topaz, the labradorite looks, to me, like stormy skies, with a hint of rainbow, the opposite to clear blue heavens but with a beauty of its own.

I made a simple ring in rectangular wire, with the design left open to be a little adjustable so I didn't have to reveal too much by casually enquiring after someone's ring size - let's face it, when isn't that a giveaway?

When I make this again, I may use a slightly heavier wire as I had to hammer this ring to give it a bit more strength - I didn't want it to be too adjustable... But I'm happy with the colours and cut of the gems against the silver and I hope the recipient is too. I also rather love the way the gems, especially the labradorite, look different in varying lights and I've tried to show that in the photos I've included here.

The Slow Making of a Fluorite and Silver Ring

This fluorite gemstone has been in my jewellery-making stash for a long, long time. I bought it years ago and I loved it straight away, the colours in it, the richness of them and yet also its wonderful transparency, the way the light rushed through it and altered the depth of those purples. And I think I always knew that I'd end up making it into a ring just for myself, it was merely a matter of time and opportunity and all those little things coming together...



Last year I set a gemstone of the same size into a necklace for a loved one, and as I did so I experimented a little with settings. I made up a few, and one of them just wasn't quite right, certainly not good enough to use for a piece of jewellery that wouldn't be mine - I don't know whether other makers are like this, but I'm happy enough to wear my own 'seconds', pieces that I would cringe if someone else wore for but, on me, I'm more than happy with.

And so, when a little serendipity brought both the fluorite gem and the setting onto my work bench at the same time, I knew I could find a home for both of them with each other, and with me.



I did a little more experimenting as I went, adding some tiny silver balls onto the edge of the bezel setting and, while I know the ring is a long way from shop-perfect, it's perfect enough for me. In fact, I rather like the look of it, and I enjoyed making it up, knowing I only had myself to please. With hindsight, I'd have set the silver balls at an angle, rather than at top (or bottom) of the setting as they are now, but, that aside, I'm more than happy to be able to wear that beautiful fluorite at last.

A Gem of a Find - Aquamarine Treasure

I have too many 'jewellery items'; tools, materials, beads and metal, small pots that will come in handy one day to put even smaller things in, and pieces of paper and plastic that have intriguing textures and patterns on that are inpsiring and interesting and, again, will come in handy one day.




Consequently I have a drawer or two (or more, well, okay, definitely more) or slightly random 'items' stored in an extremely ad hoc manner. This makes it hard to find a particular 'item' when I want it, something I know I have but have only a vague idea of where it is. But it also means that when I go searching sometimes I find some real gems. Literally.




I went searching for a couple of underused tools and not only found them (yay) but also found, stored away with them, a small quantity of delicate silver wire (either 0.3 or 0.4 mm - I will need to measure it to be sure) and a tiny bag of beautifully cut aquamarine gemstones.




I'd forgotten just how inspiring gems can sometimes be, especially when they're cut to bounce and reflect light in the most delightful way. Spending some time just looking at these got me thinking of things to make from them and aware that as soon as I did so the simple magnificance of them would be lost a little - not only would they be 'finished' (for now anyway - repurposing gems in jewellery making has been going on since prehistory) but any setting, even plain silver wire, would detract from their beauty...

Does this mean they won't get utilised? I doubt it. But I also know I'll take my time doing so and spend a little more of it at present just looking at them...

An amber & silver pendant, plus a theory of gifts

The amber cabochon, set in silver, held up to the light

It's easy to be so caught up in the minutia of life that birthdays sneak up on us and the best gift we can find at hideously short notice is whatever comes to hand in the right price range at (gulp) the supermarket. It's not good, is it.

I'm very aware that, since I've been making jewellery, I've made a lot of it as gifts. And, as the years have passed, I've wondered how many recipients are smiling through gritted teeth rather than really liking what I've made for them. Most women will appreciate jewellery as a gift but jewellery is also very personal and, even if you know someone well, what you think their style is may not be what they really like. I think I would be suspicious that they were trying too hard if someone wore what I'd made them every time we met, but when I never see them wear anything I've made it does lead me to wonder if they ever do...

So, a combination of this apprehension and trying not to overwhelm with sheer quantity of jewellery has led me to be circumspect when I decide to make a friend or relative a piece of jewellery for their special day. But another combination of a special birthday, a hankering to set a stone (something I've not done in ages), and a bit of a tip-off came together to prompt me to make this pendant for a relative. And I planned it long enough in advance that, barring major soldering disasters, I could avoid any fear of a last minute supermarket dash.



I've not set amber before but I have used amber beads and so knew it was quite a soft substance - just 2 - 2.5 on the Mohs hardness scale, which is extraordinary for something that has survived for many millions of year. In deference to this, I bought myself more than one gemstone, just in case... plus, as I was buying online I figured I should then have at least one good-looking piece to set if I had a few to chose from.

The whole project was quite a process of remembering how to do things, and finding ways to make techniques fit the finished-item-image that I had in my mind (and doodled on a piece of paper). My favourite part was when I, finally, set the amber into the setting. Whether that was pleasure at being near the end, or just the sheer satisfaction of carefully pushing the silver round the stone, I'm not entirely sure. Despite giving myself enough time to finish the pendant, I was always aware that something could go wrong as any moment and I'd have to start over - not that I'm always a pessimist but working with small pieces of silver with a soldering torch and hammer carries obvious risks.

While I made a host of notes of things to do differently, and better, when I next set a stone, the amber survived unscratched and, perhaps even better, the finished necklace was liked and - wait for it - worn...

Half a moon and a whole Pearl

The moon often seems a little bigger in the winter months... when it's not obscured by clouds or fog, that is. I suspect this has much to do with leafless trees and the coldness that descends on clear, dark nights. It's inspired me. The big moon, either full or waxing or waning, and my sooper dooper ever-increasing mandrel selection, got me thinking and experimenting, and this is one of the items that I came up with...

The pearl is such a lunar colour, and it also reminds me of those evenings when the moon has just risen and so has Venus, small but bright on the horizon. It can look a little like the moon also has its own satellite and so is a little less lonely in the massive evening sky...

This necklace is now, with a little regret, in my Folksy shop.

Ahoy, Nautilus Earrings!

Okay, please forgive the truly awful title for this post... I have been to the sea today and I have finished some sea-inspired earrings and it all got too much for me... well, that's my excuse anyway...

While I don't have any photos of the sea (which is unfortunate as the waves were truly magnificent in the stormy winds, despite the gentle sunlight), I do have some images of nautilus shell earrings I've made and listed on Folksy today.


I really enjoyed making these, despite the difficulties of getting the curves just right (without using a jig), and making sure I created two that matched as well as possible.



I'm going to make a matching necklace and perhaps a bracelet too, and I have some very sweet little pearl beads that I think would look wonderful with this design.

Hope your weekend, whether filled with sea spray or not, is a good one.

Less than a word - singular letter jewellery

Since a special birthday often calls for a special gift, I pondered just what to make a close relative a little earlier this year. I'd already made her a necklace and earrings, and probably a bracelet too, once upon a time. I'd also made her a ring, which meant options were increasingly a little short in terms of originality. So I did some browsing, seeing if inspiration would hit me, and eventually it did.

Pinterest is always a wonderful source of ideas when your own mind just needs a jump-start for prompting and letter jewellery (does it have a better name than this?) is pretty popular right now when it comes to personalised jewellery gifts.

Some perusing later, a few sketches, a prototype in copper wire and a few more sketches, I came up with this...





Made with two separate pieces of silver wire (just to complicate things), a little bit of soldering and a lot of polishing. So far it's needed adjusting twice but that can only mean the recipient really wants to wear it...! Do let me know if you've made any letter jewellery lately, and have photos to share, or if you have come up with a better description of, ahem, letter jewellery... seriously, it must have a better name that that...

Multimedia here I come...?

In late April 2011 the price of silver hit £940.67 per kilo, double what it had been six months beforehand. When I started making silver jewellery, a little over ten years ago, bullion cost was around £100 a kilo. At the time of typing this, it's just over £600 a kilo (check out up to date prices here). It's amazing to think back to it being so 'cheap' (relatively, of course). Even then, we were still taught to treat silver as the precious commodity it is, saving offcuts to reuse, and even collecting up sweepings, the tiny shavings created when you saw a piece of silver up. But, now, with the price so high, I'm increasingly nervous of it. And, with that nervousness, the joy of experimenting and creating has decreased a little.

I've been making jewellery with other materials for a while now, just as experiments, and I've been thinking about even more things I could try. I can't imagine turning my back on silver completely; I love it too much and know it too well. But, as the cost of pretty much everything increases dramatically, I think it's fair enough to be more careful with how we use many resources.

Copper, polymer clay, semi-precious stones, wood...

So far, I've experimented with copper (see here and here), and polymer clay (see here, here and here), and have always used beads in my jewellery, combined with silver, both glass and semi-precious.

Next on my list is to use the copper clay that I bought last year, expand my experiments with polymer clay, and also look to fabric and thread, (am fascinated by the idea of Kumihimo braiding already), check out wood and stone, do more with beads, of all types, and try approaching jewellery in a more multimedia-orientated way. I was also pretty inspired by this book about paper jewellery. The idea of combining different materials and techniques with still using silver (just perhaps less of it) really appeals to me.

How about you? Has the cost of materials involved in what you make, whatever it is, altered the way you use it and made you start to consider how you can expand on what you know and do, and perhaps try alternative materials? I'd love to hear, not least to get a little more inspiration!

Hope you're having a good weekend. It's amazingly un-snowy where I am...but the rest of the UK seems to be under snow or water. Hope it's okay wherever you are.

Earrings . . . for a friend

It's always nice to have a special occasion to make someone special something special for. A dear friend I hadn't seen in a while treated me to lunch last month and, as a little thank you, I made her a pair of earrings.

These are they, and another pair I've made in the same design:

Silver Findings

Ready made sterling silver findings are available in many online shops but I've always enjoyed the challenge, and satisfaction, of making my own. I've created many in the past, most of them long-attached to necklaces, bracelets and earrings and either sold or given away as gifts.

Here are some photos of a selection I've made this summer:

Earwires -





Catches, hooks and eyes - ideal for necklaces





Toggle clasps - ideal for bracelets



Little pieces of silver turned into pleasing shapes and designs and all with a strong purpose and goal in mind that informs the design - to hold things firm.

And, on a different note, I played around with the idea of making a silver key. It's only tiny, and quite simple, but I like it.

Still around . . .

My far-off thoughts of having time to throw myself into making jewellery this year have failed to make their way into reality and, given it's nearly June, I'm resigned to another 'slow' year on the creation front.

But, thankfully, people still insist on having birthdays and the like and so I've found myself piecing together bits of workshop and silver in various rooms (and houses) and finding time and room for these few items.


The ring was left unsoldered to allow it to fit any finger, or thumb, without needing measurements - asking always gives the game away.



The simplest of the three to make and rather fun allowing the curve of the silver wire to dictate the curve of the letter.



I enjoyed making the letters although getting them the same length was surprisingly challenging - I think rushing to a deadline doesn't help . . . But the posts were handmade and hand-soldered, which was tricky and not particularly fun work that proved rather satisfying once it was done. I chickened out of making the butterflies myself though. Time was far too pressing for that kind of commitment.

It's only May (just). Time still for this year to be abundant and productive. Here's hoping . . .