The White Rose and the Red Rose

(c) The Hunterian, University of Glasgow 2012.

Back in October I shared this beautiful work of art with you - the inspiration Rebecca Anderson choose as the inspiration for the second Brit Pack Beaders challenge. I fell in love with it as soon as I opened up the email from Rebecca. It's "The White Rose and the Red Rose" by Margaret MacDonald MacIntosh, and you can read more about her work in my post from October here. Well, today I can finally share with you the pieces I made with the ingredients we pooled together based on the painting!

First of all though, a quick reminder of what I was sent..... a clasp by Rebecca, lovely silk ribbones and cotton cords from Lesley, beads from Claire, hammered links and poppy charms from me and a couple of gorgeous focals from Teresa. I had a few ideas floating around as soon as I saw the focals, and for probably the first time ever in a blog challenge the ideas hardly changed as I made the jewellery.

I assumed that the face focal would be the hardest for me to work with as it's so different from my usual style, but in the end this oxidised copper bracelet was the first thing I made. I like the mix of subtle tones and textures and materials - mixing my materials more is something that I've definitely picked up from Rebecca over the last couple of years!

My favourite, though, is the necklace I made. It's got a very romantic feel and has far more of a vintage style than most of the pieces of jewellery I have made in recent years. The combination of silk, the motive on Teresa's beautiful focal pendant, the frosted glass beads and the oxidised silver give it an almost Victorian feel in my mind. The silk makes it very comfortable to wear. The central drop is quite long, and I can imagine it being worm with a blouse or over a jumper (sweater to my American friends!)

And last but not least, a pair of simple but elegant earrings with beautiful pearls from Claire. I think I'm going to be making some more of these for my next Christmas fair!

I'm really looking forward to seeing what the others have made! We've all scheduled our posts to be published at the same time so that we don't see each others work before we show our own off. Rebecca was down last week for a couple of days of silversmithing fun and I hid my designs so that they would be a surprise! Fancy coming to have a look at their creations with me?

Lesley Watt - Thea Jewellery - www.thegossipinggoddess.blogspot.co.uk
Rebecca Anderson - Songbeads - www.songbeads.blogspot.co.uk
Claire Braunbarth - Smitten Beads - www.smittenbeads.blogspot.co.uk
Teresa Hulley - Bo Hulley Beads - Bo's Facebook page

I've actually been very organised for once, and all these pieces are already listed in my Daisychain Jewellery etsy shop!

Oh, and come back on Tuesday and I'll show you how I made the bail for the pendant!

Metal Prong Challenge Reveal!

This is the second of three challenge reveals this week, and they are all completely different from each other! I wrote about the Metal Prong Challenge (again on Artisan Whimsy) a couple of weeks ago. To be honest I wasn't going to enter, but then realised that it would fit in perfectly with what I'm teaching one of my college classes at the moment. One of the pieces of jewellery that they can choose to make for their assessment is a dress ring, a ring with a stone and a prong setting. The syllabus doesn't say that it has to be a traditionally cut faceted stone or that we have to use a traditional prong setting, so I'm encouraging them to think outside the box and explore how they can set more unusual stones. So, my entry to the challenge is also an example for my college class. They've already seen it part-made, but last night I took it in with the stone set - and now I can show it to you!

I'm really pleased with how it's turned out. The stone is a beautiful Botswana Agate from Designer Cabochons, the first stone that I ever bought from them over two years ago. I had actually started to make the setting over a year ago, always intending that it would be a prong setting as I didn't want to hide the edges of the stone as they're just as lovely as the top. I wasn't happy with how I originally soldered on the prongs though, and the challenge tutorial was just what I needed to finally complete it! I've finished the necklace with a handcrafted chain and a clasp textured to match the pendant.

To see what other people have made for the challenge, please visit the AW challenge page here!

Oh, and the third challenge reveal? Come back this weekend to see what the Brit Pack Beaders have made for Rebecca Anderson's challenge!

P.S. The necklace will be in my Daisychain Jewellery etsy shop this weekend!

Tutorial Tuesday - Forging a wired vine

It's been far too long since I had a Tutorial Tuesday post! I had hoped to have one of my own tutorials ready for you, but it still needs the last few photos editing so I thought I'd share one of my recent favourite finds with you instead. The Artisan Whimsy forum is building up quite a nice collection of tutorials on all aspects of jewellery making, and this is my current favourite. The bail on this necklace is so effective, but with the step by step photos on the Objects and Elements blog it is easy to make. The tutorial includes a lovely way of finishing multiple leather cords too.

British Inspiration!

UPDATE! The winner of the Southampton prize is Sherri Stokey (Knot Just Macramé)

Congratulations Sherri!

The full list of winners is now available on Artisan Whimsy.

Today is the day set for everyone taking part in the UK blog team challenge on Artisan Whimsy to reveal their designs. We challenged forum members to design either a piece of jewellery or a jewellery component using one of our home towns or counties as their inspiration, with a prize on offer for each place. And they have done us proud! The entries include macramé, ceramics, lampwork and wirework, and it has been great to see how the same place can inspire such different pieces of work.

And of course, we couldn't exactly ask everyone else to get to work with out creating something ourselves, could we? So, here is my creation using Southampton as my inspiration.....

It was actually harder than I thought it would be. I'm used to taking my inspiration from the things I see around me - shapes of leaves, colours for example - but to use the city that I live in was different. When I first set the challenge I assumed that I'd use the Titanic as my inspiration, but in the end I took a little inspiration from different aspects of the city. I've used unusual matt Picasso Jasper beads to represent the stony beaches along this stretch of the south coast and freshwater pearls and silk as a nod to the luxury materials that the upper classes of the Titanic passengers would have worn. And the poppy? Well, considering that Southampton is the home of the Spitfire and yesterday was Armistice Day it seemed appropriate to use one of my silver poppy clasps to complete the necklace. It's a fairly simple design, but that seems to be what I've been drawn to over the last week!

I hope that you like it! I'm really looking forward to seeing what everyone else has created, especially those who chose Southampton as their inspiration! I've had a sneak peek at some of the designs as they've been loaded onto the Artisan Whimsy site, but I've saved the Southampton designs for today! I will be posting the winner of the Southampton prize (look here to see what prize I'm offering) by tomorrow morning, and all the winners of the prizes will be posted on the Artisan Whimsy page by Tuesday morning as well.

Below are the blogs of those taking part in the UK Inspiration Challenge as at 11th November - please do visit and admire their designs!

The Hosts
Lesley Watt Gossiping Goddess

Rebecca Anderson Songbeads

Pippa Chandler Pip's Jewellery

Teresa Hulley Bo Hulley Beads

Natalie McKenna Grubbi

Jo Tinley Daisychain Designs

Dorset

Gale White Bantering Bird on Flickr

Ginger Bishop Lilmummylikes

Cece Cormier The Beading Yogini

Therese Frank Therese’s Treasures

Cilla Watkins Tell Your Girlfriends

Sherry Baun Unicorn Jewels

Kay Toodles and Binks

Edinburgh

Therese Frank Therese’s Treasures

Kashmira Patel Sadafulee

Caroline Dewison Blueberribeads

Pam Sears Crazy Creative Corner

Sherry Baun

Leigh Thow Jewellrleigh

Bath

Cynthia Machata  http://antiquitytravelers.blogspot.com

Pam Sears Crazy Creative Corner

Sherry Baun Unicorn Jewels

Isle of Wight

Duane Clark Bizzy Bead

Sharyl McMillian-Nelson Sharyl's Jewelry

Leigh Thow Jewellrleigh

Jean Wright Just Beadey

D Lynne Bowland Islandgirl’s Insights

Lisa Lodge Pine Ridge Treasures
Kathy Lindemer Bay Moon Design

Sherry Baun Unicorn Jewels

Liverpool

Jean A. Wells  http://www.jeanawells.blogspot.com

Shalini Austin   Jewellery by Shalini

Doris Stumpf Glaszwerg

Sherry Baun Unicorn Jewels

Lennis C Windbent

Southampton

Sherri Stokey Knot Just Macramé

Sherry Baun Unicorn Jewels

Leigh Thow Jewellrleigh

Remembering

Our house was quiet this morning at 11am. Well, three of us were quiet and Jamie played with his lego. He's not old enough to understand yet, and probably not old enough to recognise that his Mummy, Daddy and big brother were being quiet and thoughtful. Ben's only just getting old enough to really understand who we are remembering and why at the 11th hour of the 11th day of the 11th month. And I wish that we lived in a world where I didn't have to explain to my boys who we are remembering and giving thanks for and why, and that our armed forces are still fighting for our freedom, but I do. So I was quiet and remembered my Grandad who must have been terrified when he was commanding a tank driving up the beach on D-Day and saw his best friend's tank being blown up beside him, but who continued to do his bit. And I thought of and gave thanks for friends who have served in Afganistan and remembered that no matter what the rights and wrongs are of the war in the Middle East, they have risked their lives to try and make the world a better place.

Remember, remember the fifth of November....

Yes, it's that time off year again - the smell of bonfires in the cold (very cold!) evening air, the bang and flash of fireworks in the sky - and my poor Mille cat almost glued to my lap if I sit still long enough in the evenings! We get a great few of the firework displays in the area from Ben's bedroom window as we're halfway up a hill. In past years we've set off a few small fireworks in our back garden but we weren't that organised this year as we had planned to be up in Suffolk with the rest of my family, celebrating my Grandma's 95th birthday. In the end though we didn't go - Jamie's got a filthy cold and the last thing I wanted to do was to risk passing it on to Grandma. It takes her longer and longer to get over things like that nowadays. And I also wasn't that keen on putting Jamie through a long journey and a family meal when he wasn't well! So, we've had a lazy weekend at home.

For those of you wondering why on earth we crazy Brits stand outside and set off fireworks at such a cold time of year (and quite often in the rain too!), have a look at the latest blog post by the UK blog team on Artisan Whimsy where all will be explained! There's also some lovely Bonfire Night inspired jewellery and beads to feast your eyes on, including my Firelight earrings, Soft Oak bracelet and oak leaf clasps.

Oh, and while you're there, have you signed up for our UK Inspiration Challenge yet? We've got some great prizes, and you can find the details here.

Craft Show Countdown

 

Now it's November and the school halfterm holiday is nearly over I feel that I can mention Christmas! Although as I've been busy with developing new products for my made-to-order designs, ordering new business cards, a new stamp with my new logo and a new banner, and planning out improvements to my displays for my craft stall it feels as though I've been preparing for Christmas ever since we got back from New Zealand! You can read some of my plans for my craft stall in my Art Jewelry Elements blog post published yesterday, and there are lots of links to craft display ideas and tutorials for DIY displays in the post too.

I've got three shows this season, and the first is next week - which is rather a scary thought as a friend and I are the organisers! It's our charity Christmas Shopping Evening in aid of the Wessex Cancer Trust, and it's in it's third year now. This year it's going to be even bigger and better than before, with more local businesses and live music from a fantastic local jazz saxophone group - I know that they're fantastic as one of the member is our neighbour and they sometimes practise round at hers. I always leave the patio doors open in the summer evenings when they're rehearsing so I can hear them better!

If you are in the Southampton area next Friday evening it would be fantastic if you could join us to raise as much money as possible for this great charity, and to support small local businesses. It's a great way to get a lot of beautiful gifts under one roof! Tickets are £3, and include a glass of wine, a mince pie and raffle tickets. And you could also see what you think of my new craft stall displays on their first outing! For more details we have a Facebook event page set up here