And The Winner Is......

Hi folks!

Yet another busy week draws to a close.  I managed to make a lot of jewellery while my husband was away and yet he doesn't distract me when he's here, but perhaps I feel the need to fill my hours more when he's away! So there's a huge pile for photographing now and now the sun's gone.......harumph....

A sample of what i've been working on this week!

So first of all this week I'd like to thank all of you who took part in last week's competition.  Lots of correct answers, however (drum roll.....) the winner is Lena Smith of Lena Smith Music. Congratulations and a lovely cuff will be on it's way to you this week!

The rest of the entrants will be added to my newsletter list so that they can receive a discount voucher to be used online. If you would also like to receive my monthly newsletter with discounts and special offers and early bird discounts on new collections before they hit the website why not contact me?

So, there's been a lot of deadline meeting this week.  My contract has now been signed and sent for the exhibition at Ordsall Hall, Salford and for selling at the brand new Landing Gallery at Salford Museum and Art Gallery and I've also sent off an application pack for selection for another exhibition so I shall be waiting with baited breath.

For those of you who were concerned for the welfare of the mouse last week, it disappeared without a trace!! Our victorian house has a void underneath, not quite deep enough for a cellar and not accessible to us, so we think that's where it went. At least it escaped the cat!

 

 My very tidy workbench - can't remember when it last looked like that!!

So what are we all up to next week?  Well I need to do my next newsletter and make a batch of earrings as Hannah's at Seale Hayne Gallery have run out! I also need to finish and send all the jewellery up to Manchester and I need to prepare for a workshop I'm running in Liskeard on the 10th August at Cartwheels Craft Centre.  If you would like to book a place, please follow the link.

Ok, thanks for reading and I'll see you next week!

It's Finally Here!

Hello world, have you missed me?

The last three weeks have disappeared into a fog of work, work and a little more work.  I did have a few days away visiting my parents which was lovely and completely internet and phone signal free too (although I confess to being a little panicky about what I might be missing.....).

So what is it that's been taking up so much of my life? It's the new website, that's what. It's now been launched, although there are a couple of little glitches in the way of logos not opening correctly, but the content all works and it does look pretty!  I've also co-incided the launch with the release of some brand new work so take a  look and let me know what you think. Most of the feedback I've received so far has been positive and centred mainly on the colour scheme which people seem to like.

Would you like a sneeky look at one of the pieces I've featured on the new site?  This is Digital and I loved the end result so much that I made myself a cuff and some earrings.  It has been printed on to the aluminium using acetate and then dyed.

Digital Necklace

Artist David Muddyman and myself will be taking part for the first time this year in Drawn To The Valley's Open Studios and will be doing so as part of Plymouth Arts Trail.  There are 101 artists taking part altogether at various points along the Tamar Valley with 27 of us around the Plymouth area.  If you would like further details about our opening times please see Events, however if you would like details about the entire event please take a look at the Drawn To The Valley website. We really hope you'll come and see us if you're in the area, we will have paintings, drawings, jewellery and wall art available for you to buy and take home.  We will be accepting card payments.

So, now that the website's off my hands for a little while I might get back to making jewellery and blogging about it!

Bespoke or Commission

Hello, me again!

I thought this week, I'd look at an aspect of my work which you might be less familiar with - bespoke creations.

What does bespoke actually mean?  Traditionally it's a term used to describe clothing which has been tailored to fit a particular customer ie a made to measure suit, however, it is a term often used to describe other items which have been made in line with a customer's requirements. It is often also known as a commission. 

Bespoke seems to suit my jewellery better than commission does as my end product is specifically to match clothing.  I work with bride's mums who also want to their outfit to look special, often want to compliment colour schemes and who don't really want to come face to face with a guest wearing the same! My journey starts with ideas from the customer on shape, style and design and will then include colour swatches supplied by them and if possible a snippet of material, but if not then some good photographs of the outfit in question.  I dye several samples of aluminium until I'm happy that I've got a good match and then work on a selection of pieces for the customer to choose from. I'm also happy to work with customers who are not mums of brides but do have a special occasion to dress for though!!

Of course, I'm also happy to work on commissions! I recently had a customer ask for a blood red cuff via one of my stockists and the customer was very happy with it, but that highlights the difference for me - yes I was making specifically for a customer, but as a commission, not bespoke to match a particular item.

Anyway, I shall be starting to work on the new website soon and hopefully that will be live from the end of June and I plan to launch with a whole load of new work so make sure you take a look.

This week I've been cutting up a sheet of blue aluminium which is covered in writing - a bit different to my normal work but I'm quite happy with it so far, but I might keep you in suspence until the new site is launched!

This gorgeous pendant will feature on my website soon

See you all next week!

Planning and I need your input!

Hello again everyone!  Hope you've all been enjoying the lovely weather - sadly it's not going to be around after tonight but at least we've had a few days of sunshine to make us all feel better!

I feel like I haven't drawn breath since attending the Crafts Council Hothouse Taster Day! I keep waking up at ridiculous hours with ideas and the need to get things down on paper.  As a result it's been a pretty busy week! I've had some interesting meetings and scheduled some more, attended Tavistock Arts Market and generally had a great week, lots of sales and lots of interest. The type of week when I love working for myself, even though I work far longer hours now than I ever have before and it does feel a little bit like I'm spinning plates!

I'm planning a brand new website in the next couple of months so once again, I'd really like your feedback.  When I visit craft fairs I always dress my stand in black as it makes the colours in the aluminium jewellery really stand out and people often comment on how good it looks.  My question is black or white background for the website? Do you find one or the other easier to look at? Let me know what you think!

I'm looking forward to making some jewellery next week - I haven't had chance to make anything this week! I've got a couple of sheets of aluminium already dyed so I will have something to work with.

I can also tell you about a brand new gallery that have opened the doors this week and which has my jewellery on display - go and have a look at Porters of Station Road, Bovey Tracey, Devon if you get the chance.  It's a lovely shop and Ali will give you a warm welcome!

Have you ever thought about taking a short course in texturing/colouring metal or an aluminium taster day? I offer one to one half day courses in a variety of themes or if you prefer full day group courses I will soon be working with a couple of craft centres in Cornwall to deliver that training - do let me know if you'd like me to pass on your details.



Texture and colour on copper

The second and third pictures are examples of copper that has been heat treated in different ways - playing with texture and colour is great fun and the techniques learned can then be incorporated into your own style of working.

I look forward to your comments regarding the new website! Onwards!

Finished Work and New Plans

Well what a week!

I've had a couple of interesting meetings, one with a web designer who might possible be helping me with a completely unrelated project (I'm now investigating the minefield that is known as funding!!) and another very motivating meeting yesterday with a business mentor who caused me to look at how I view my own work.  As a result I shall be updating my website in the very near future and will use the opportunity to launch my new bronze collection. Do keep checking here http://www.slicksilverjewellery.co.uk for updates.

So what have we all been up to?  I've spent a very long time working on my latest Cherry Blossom piece which has led to some problem solving as I really wanted the central flower to appear unsupported from the front.  Eventually I managed to construct something that worked in the way I wanted it to. So here it is, Flowering Cherry!

Flowering Cherry

My other production this week has been my bronze bracelet.  I have taken pieces of scrap wood foraged on local woodland walks and have cast the pieces in bronze before connecting them into a stylish and unusual piece of jewellery.  Those of you familiar with my work will already know that I'm passionate about organic textures and I can already tell you that a number of rocks and stones from Wembury Beach have been cast and will feature in bronze in my next piece of work along with some gorgeous unpolished gemstones.  I have tried putting a heat patina on to the bronze and it works beautifully, producing fabulous shades of blue and pink, but I think that this will work best on single pendants so again, keep your eye on the website for the launch of the new collection.
Here it is then, Bronze Wood I.

Bronze Wood I

These two pieces have been featured in the Orchid Gallery which forms part of the world-wide Ganoksin Project - an online jewellery community for the whole world, and it has been wonderful to receive some nice comments from members in far flung places.

Anyway, the rest of this week will see me producing even more jewellery, no surprise there! A real treat on Sunday though will be a visit to the Contemporary Craft Fair at Bovey Tracey.  I've been before but couldn't go last year, so I'm really looking forward to seeing the work of other jewellers I admire and am inspired by. I'll let you know all about it next week!

See you then!

SlickSilver Jewellery Silver Spring Sale!

Hello again folks!

It's that time of year again and you all know what that means - yep - spring cleaning!! The last couple of weeks has seen me spring clean my kitchen, my bedroom and yesterday, my studio got the full treatment.  I happily went and bought a wide plastic storage 6 drawer chest for underneath my workbench and put it together - it was only then I panicked that it might not fit under - it's ok though it just fitted!!  It looks pretty smart too and has allowed me to clear the top of my workbench a bit and tools used less frequently are easily still at hand.  Books have been redistributed around the walls and so today I felt like making a couple of pieces which, when photographed, will find their way into the Signature Collection so look out for Willow II and Willow III in gorgeous shades of green and purple/blue.

So with that in mind I thought I might have a little sale on my website!  All the jewellery in the Waves Collection, in the Impressions Collection and in the Colours and Textures Collection has been reduced by 10%.  The price you see now shows the discounted price - get in quick while you can!!

Look forward to hearing from you - and if you have a favourite piece - why not check to see if it's been reduced? http://www.slicksilverjewellery.co.uk

http://slicksilverjewellery.co.uk/page8.htm Impressions Collection

http://slicksilverjewellery.co.uk/page7.htm Waves Collection

http://slicksilverjewellery.co.uk/page9.htm Colour and Texture Collection

It's A Double Giveaway!

Hello again!  Well, it's been a funny old week as my husband has been away and Layla the cat seems to have taken the absence of her favourite man personally.  She keeps glaring at me as if I've got him hidden somewhere and I wouldn't mind, but she's actually my cat and I had her before we met!

I also started another blog on food - we are foodies after all.  Look out for http://slickysfantasyfoodhaul.blogspot.com/

I was hoping to have another blog collaborator this week, however, things have not quite worked out that way and we shall have to wait until another time for the person I had in mind.  Next week, however, I hope we shall have another exciting collaboration to look forward to! So, to make up for not having another artist this week I thought we'd have a little giveaway - details at the bottom of the page.

So, what else has been happening on the jewellery front?  Following my shoulder surgery I've only just started making again so I've been mixing up new dyes (a mid pink, a deep coral and a lovely gold) and trying out some new dyeing techniques.  I tend to texture my aluminium after dyeing and cutting as that helps me to maximise the best areas of the design, however, I have been experimenting with cutting a much smaller sheet, dyeing it once, heavily texturing it and then dyeing it again.  As this only produces a small amount of usable material (commonly the edges of the sheet are lost through trimming) I plan to use this technique to produce some very special signature pieces.

This week I've been chatting by email to Twitter friend S L Jewellery and Accessories about our dreams and plans and about approaching galleries to feature our work.  Today I went into a new gallery and looked at the jewellery on offer.  There were a couple of empty shelves in their display cabinets and I noticed that they didn't sell anything like I make.  I took a chance and introduced myself to the owner.  I always carry business cards and leaflets that show my work, although I don't normally take the cold approach as it doesn't often work.  I guess today was just pure luck, right time right place, etc etc because the gallery owner is very keen to stock my jewellery.  Hopefully it will come to fruition!  Normally if I see I gallery that I like, I email them and ask them to take a look at my website and to let me know if they would be interested in stocking me.  What does everyone else do in this tricky situation? Similarly if there are any gallery owners out there reading this - how do you prefer to be approached? I'd love you to let me know what you think.

So the competition then! The above sample is taken from my Poppies collection - what I'd like to know is - how many different aluminium sets are currently available on my website for sale?

The prizes? Yes, there's two!! And you're not going to be able to see them this time! I'll be giving away two aluminium rings which are adjustable to two lucky winners and the competition closes on Monday 24th October at 7pm.

So get checking and leave your answer as a comment below!

See you next week!

New Website Launch Giveaway!

Well the day has arrived!  Today the new website launches, hopefully with no glitches!! So excited!!

On the new site you will be able to find 4 shops - one for each of my collections and this is a first as some of my aluminium has been available online before, however, my silver and copper have not, so I hope you'll all find something you like.  Make sure that you tell your friends and drop heavy hints to those who might be buying for you!

To celebrate the launch I will be giving away this choker pendant from the Looking Through Stained Glass Windows collection.  It is a beautiful colour.
What do you have to do to enter the draw for this piece?  I'd like you to tell me the size of my Enchanted Forest pendant, so start searching the website and post your comments on here and I will make the draw on Monday 5th September.  Competition will close at 7pm and I will make the draw at 8pm.

 http://www.slicksilverjewellery.co.uk

Looking Through Stained Glass Windows

I am hoping to introduce a forum element to the site where a weekly topic can be discussed too which hopefully will make it interesting to all.  I really would welcome any feedback which you can leave on the Contact page. Are there any features missing that you would like to see included? Can't promise but will certainly try to include any suggestions!

I would just like to take this opportunity to thank David Muddyman for all his hair-tearing hard work on adding the graphics to the site, he's lovely!! He's had a really great week too, with a gallery in Penzance taking 10 of his paintings in one fell swoop!!! Yay!!!

In other news I cried yesterday, seeing my beautiful daughter in her wedding dress at the fitting - yep - proud Mum!

Challenges, Changes and Cherry Cheesecake!

Phew - well last week's blog was an exciting time! I had some lovely comments from people entering the competition, a few new followers and you seemed to enjoy the challenge of searching through for the name of the collection that features on my background and you all got it right!

So challenges and changes are my theme for this week's blog.

My greatest challenge at the moment is that I still can't make my jewellery although my shoulder is finally beginning to improve, so hopefully the day won't be too far away! Luckily I was aware that I wouldn't be able to make anything for some time so I stockpiled before I had surgery and I can confirm that I will be launching my new website with a new aluminium collection or two. Just wait until you see mouthwatering Cherry Cheesecake and Surf's Up!

Cherry Cheesecake - but what is it?

That was a neat little link there to the changes ahead on the new website and the challenges it's bought me (and my husband!).  It was supposed to be so simple, but inevitably, it wasn't!  You can, however, expect on the new site to see a shop for each of my collections, Waves, Impressions, Colour & Texture and Aluminium. I'm also hoping to get a forum going with a different subject for discussion each week if possible but we'll wait and see how good the take up is on that.

The other challenge I've had this week is finding another artist to collaborate with.  I'm looking for designers who produce something out of the ordinary and I have emailed a couple of people whose designs are stunning and totally different from anything else I've ever seen.  I really hope I hear back from them soon, however, I shall carry on looking anyway and if anyone has a suggestion I will gladly take a look and see if it fits in with my own work.

So, hopefully before my next blog we shall be up and running on the new site and may be able to celebrate the launch in some way - another competition do you think?