On the catwalk

Last night was the Sophie's Appeal Fashion Show. It was a busy night with about 350 tickets sold and lots of bidding on auction prizes, so I think a lot of money was raised for the charity. It was also a fun experience being behind the scenes of the show when the models were rushing in and changing between scenes - at one point there were three of us helping one girl get changed! If you fancy reading more about it then have a look at the Daily Echo's website here, and photos of my jewellery being worn during the fashion show here. The piece you can see most clearly in the photos is the necklace shown above and the matching bracelet.

I am very tired today though! I knew that I'd need a good range of bigger pieces of jewellery and Lin (Sophie's mum) had asked me to make a couple of pieces in certain lengths/colours. As my working time during the day has been taken up with teaching silversmithing recently (far more enjoyable than teaching GCSEs at school!) the last pieces of jewellery making were done at night. So it's a soak in the bath and an early night for me tonight! And I bet Lin and Sarah Beattie (the organisers of the show) slept well last night!

I'm back!!

Okay, so I haven't actually been anywhere, but I haven't been posting either - sorry! This week has been another busy one, partly due to making jewellery, partly due to teaching jewellery, and of course, family stuff! So..

T had the day off on Monday so I went into town with a friend in the afternoon to try and find an outfit I could wear to a family wedding at the end of the month and also to the bigger craft shows I've got before Christmas. I had set my heart on a brown dress, something that had been in all the shops last year, but obviously not this year! I did, however, see lots of navy cardigans - something I had been looking for last year. Ummm....I don't do too well at clothes shopping. If I have no money to spend I see lots of things I like, if I have some spending money it's a different matter!

Tuesday morning was spent pottering about the house and then hammering etc in the shed while B was at preschool. I've been busy getting more items ready for hallmarking in time for the Sophie's Appeal fashion show in a couple of weeks time.

Wednesday turned into a sofa day with B as he had a slight temperature and was wanting lots of cuddles. I was pretty certain it was just his last teeth coming through and he was fine by bed time which was just as well as because.....

Thursday was spent teaching silversmithing while B was at his childminder's. I'm really enjoying this tuition. It's very different from teaching a class or small group as the whole day is tailored to whatever the student wants to learn. In this case Helen wanted to learn techniques she could use with her lovely dichroic glass pendants. I also had my weekly jewellery class at Spice Art Studios in the evening. All but one of the students on the course are new to jewellery making this time.

So, all in a fairly normal week - until Thursday evening. Since then I've been home alone, and it's a very strange feeling! We had been planning a trip to see friends in Wales, but as the time had been getting closer I had been getting more stressed about having 5 days (we were planning Thursday evening to Tuesday evening) without being able to do any work so close to the shows I've got coming up. So, T suggested that he take B and I stay here, get some work done and maybe have a bit of a break. B has stayed at my parents a couple of times, but I've never been apart from him for more than one night before, and it's very strange! I've got so much work to do that during the day I deliberately haven't given myself any time to miss them, but the evenings are very stange. It's not as bad as I thought it would be as, afterall, B is with his Dad. I did get a bit of a lump in my throat, though, when I read him a bedtime story over the phone tonight.

I've got lots of work done, some of which won't be finished until it gets back from hallmarking so I can't show you that yet. I'm planning to take photos of some of the rest of it tomorrow though, so it may be worth checking back then!

Sophie's Appeal

One of the reasons that I'm so busy now is the number of shows that I'm doing between now and Christmas. I've got at least one big show a month, and a couple of jewellery parties thrown in for good measure, so I'm busy making sure that I've got enough jewellery ready. Of course, as my designs have changed and I'm now using a lot more silver in my work a lot of what I make now has to be hallmarked. That means that I have to plan my work in advance to make sure that I leave enough time for the hallmarking process.

Anyway, the biggest event that I've got coming up next is a fashion show in aid of Sophie's Appeal, a charity set up by Lin and Mike Barringer after their daughter Sophie was diagnosed with a form of cancer of the kidney. Sophie died when she was six, but the funds raised in her name are used to fund research into childhood cancers, sponsor dream holidays for terminally ill children and their families and to establish 'Sophie's Place', a dedicated children's assessment centre.

The fashion show is being organised by James and Sarah Beattie (ex-Southampton footballer, currently plays for Sheffield for those of you, like me, who don't follow football!), who are patrons of the charity and it's being held at the Botley Park Hotel just outside Southampton on Sunday 19th October. I've been involved in a few of the charity's events before, and this is definitely the biggest so far - Southampton's Daily Echo have been promoting the event and ran a competition to find models for the event, the finals of which were held last weekend. There'll be an auction (fancy winning a holiday in the Beatties holiday home in Malaga, anyone?), dance acts, and lots more - oh, and a few stands of fashion related goodies, including me and my jewellery! I'm also lending some of my jewellery to the fashion show, so I'm working on some bigger pieces to show off on the cat walk. I'm really looking forward to it - and so is my mum! I've asked her to come along and help me out, but I think she may be a bit distracted by seeing if she can recognise the footballers and their wives who will hopefully be there!

If you are interested in finding out more about Sophie's Appeal or, if you're in the Southampton area and fancy coming to the fashion show, then please visit http://www.sophiesappeal.org/