News, Sales, Awards and Coffee!

I have been a very bad girl and not blogged for ages but I'm back!!

2014 is showing much more promise than 2013 which was a rubbish year in lots of ways, mostly on a personal level, not professionally.  So, the very biggest news for this year is that I will be going back to college in September to study for a BA in Jewellery and Silversmithing.  I've been offered a place at Plymouth College of Art and I'm really looking forward to it (apart from waking up at night in a cold sweat thinking about workload, whether my poor little brain cells are up to it and whether I might be the only 'mature' student!!).

Last year saw me building up a reasonable number of stockists and exhibiting at some great venues around the country as well as being accepted for some fab shows like Crux.  Whilst I was at one of the events I found myself thinking the future and wondering what might come next.  When you're largely self-taught it can be quite hard to keep pushing your boundaries, especially if you feel that better skills would allow you to take your work to another level. This is where I'm at. I'm happy enough with what I make and you all seem to like it which is wonderful, but, I might be capable of achieving even more! Also very important is the access to opportunites that might come my way.

Have you visited my website lately? There's a sale! A SALE!! There's 20% off vitually everything (only a couple of things not in the sale) so hurry over and get your favourite piece before the end of January! SlickSilver Jewellery Sale

In other news I had an amazing birthday present towards the end of last year from my daughter and son-in-law - a mother and daughter photo shoot.  I cannot begin to tell you how much fun we had! My facial muscles were aching from smiling and laughing so much.  We settled on a date which turned out to be a very stormy day, outdoor shots were out of the question so Kinga, the lovely photographer suggested a cosy coffee shop with some shots being taken from outside in the dark and the rain looking in on us having our coffee. Do you like them? Photo courtesy of Kinga Burakowska Photography.

I've also been nominated for a Selected Award from Craft and Design Magazine, so if any of you lovely, lovely people would like to vote for me here's the link. Val Williams Thank you for voting for me! See you all soon!

 

Wall Art and Selected

Hi all, it's that time again!

Well today is a fast day (I'm following the 5:2 diet) so I thought I'd write my blog to distract me from wanting to eat as the bowl of melon did not even begin to cut it this morning! So now I'll have a nice cup of green tea and talk to all of you instead.

I had a lovely girlie day out with my daughter on Friday and she said she really liked my aluminium wall art so I had a go at another one over the weekend, very colourful result! What do you all think?

I'm slowly getting back into work mode but find that I have to rest my hand for a few days after making anything.  Over the past couple of weeks I've been working on a bespoke selection of jewellery for a bride's mum, a commission which came to me through Nicola Hurst Designer Jewellery, a lovely gallery and one of my main stockists. A customer had been into the shop and liked my work but really wanted something to match her hat.  She left a tiny piece of straw taken from the hat for me to work to and she was really pleased with the results.  I made two necklaces, a bracelet and two pairs of earrings for her to choose from and she chose a set and was very happy.  I thoroughly enjoyed the challenge of dyeing and mixing and painting until i'd got a good colour match! So if you, or anyone else you know, can't find the exact shade of jewellery to match your outfit or compliment it then let me know, I might just be able to help you there!

Can I ask you all to vote for me in the Craft and Design Selected Awards? Thank you so much! Just follow this link. Val Williams - SlickSilver Jewellery




It would be amazing to get at least a few votes as this is the first time I've been nominated!

There will also be a completely new range of upcycled jewellery coming soon made from old book covers that will knock your socks off. Quirky and original! I can't wait for you to see them!

I'm also looking to find artists, artisans, musicians, ceramicists, celebrities, indeed anyone interesting or with an interest in the arts for a new type of blog collaboration called Three Beautiful Things.  Let me know if you are interested or if you could suggest someone who might like to take part

Until next week!

Friends, Awards and Getting Organised!

Hello everyone!

Well the first week of 2013 has come and gone and what have I achieved?

My good friend via Twitter, Sarah S L Jewellery and I decided back in 2012 that we were going to take over the world, the jewellery world anyway - oh well, ok then, we were going to be a bit better organised!! We email each other regularly (she lives in Wales, I live in Devon and we've never met) with ideas that we need feedback on and other stuff and it really works for us. Sarah told me that she'd made a target plan for the year and I thought I would do the same and so that's what I've been doing this week (as well as my accounts - groan). Organisational stuff is still pretty much all I can do as my splint is still in place, however, physiotherapy starts this week and I have high hopes and lots of painkillers!

I mentioned last week that the Craft & Design Magazine Selected Awards were going to be under way soon and they are now live.  If you like my work, then of course I would appreciate your vote, but there are lots of talented makers featured and several categories to vote in. You can vote for me here. SlickSilver Jewellery Just scroll down my page and then click on the banner to register your vote. Thank you!

So what shall I be doing this week?  Well supplying new work to some of my stockists who are, happily, running out and I'd like to tackle using a computer programme I've been meaning to try for ages - sounds like a fun time - I'd rather be making but hey ho!

This gorgeous long necklace in shades of gold, silver and bronze and inspired by last summer's Olympic Games is available from my Signature Collection. It's the only one of it's kind and looks lovely on so why not become the only person to own it?

Look forward to chatting next week!

2013, Onwards!

Hello folks, it's been too long!

Have you missed me? A lot has happened in the Slicky household I can tell you! 

So, it was like this.........
Remember I blogged about my forthcoming exhibition with Flameworks Art2Go? Well I was on my way to the Private View with my husband, artist David Muddyman (also exhibiting) and my son, Simon Dobson (fresh from his BASCA award ceremony!) when I fell over a metal cover sticking up out of the cobbles in the Barbican, Plymouth - invisible in the dark.  I didn't quite land in the harbour but it was close!!  Shock enabled me to pick myself up and continue to the PV even though I didn't feel quite with it and could feel a lot of pain in my hands.  A sleepless night led to a very long morning in A & E resulting in confirmation and treatment for a sprained left wrist, bruised left shoulder and knees and a fractured right ring finger and tendon damage!! Uh-Oh! Not the sort of injuries a hands-on jewellery maker ever wants to have!

A second exhibition a week later meant that I had to withdraw some of my scheduled work as I couldn't finish it and neither could I attend the rest of the craft fairs I had booked or meet my xmas orders :(

I'm now in a rigid splint for about another month which can't be removed so work is on the back burner for the moment - any of my stockists reading this, don't panic I have enough stock - anyone wanting to attend a course with me, feel free still to book and I will liaise with you regarding what I can and can't do and future dates and there is still some beautiful jewellery for sale on my website.

Coral Reef available from SlickSilver Jewellery

So we're nearly at the end of 2012 and what a year of change it's been.  Our family has adopted 'Onwards' as our motto and so it shall be......

Whilst recovering and one finger typing I have been thinking about some new directions that I might take this coming year and one in particular has been inspired by some comments I received from some lovely visitors to my stand at an Artist's Market in Tavistock in October.  A couple of groups of people said that they loved the colours and textures of my work, but didn't wear jewellery.  I must admit to being a little stumped - I had nothing to offer them.  On the way home I started to make plans and as soon as I am able to make again, my aluminium jewellery will be joined by some colourful wall art. Remember you heard it here first! Ideas are already down on paper - just need a right hand that works!

On another note from the 1st Jan until end of March, should you want to, you will be able to vote for me in the Selected Awards at Craft & Design Magazine  You can find me by following the links in the Selected Awards Section and searching for SlickSilver Jewellery, only if you want to of course! This is my first time in such exalted company!

Thank you for following my blog in 2012, keep checking in to my website at http://www.slicksilverjewellery.co.uk to find out what's new! Hope 2013 brings all of us good health, happiness, peace, luck and good fortune!