Favourite at the Fair and Inspiration Pics

It's been another busy week folks! What's new, I hear you groan......

You may recall that last blog I was telling you that I was meeting the Ladies Wot Tweat for another lovely lunch and so last Friday, 10 of us met up for lunch at Jolly Jacks.  A fast-paced and hilarious few hours ensued and I didn't return from lunch until well after 4pm! I got chance to speak with those I hadn't managed to chat to before and met another new member and we found that we had musical offspring in common amongst other things.

The weather on Saturday was dire, but, as my husband was on a photography course, I spent the day working and on Sunday we woke up to sunshine so set off as planned to visit the Contemporary Craft Fair at Bovey Tracey, Devon.  I've been before, but the familiar excitement of seeing so much beautiful jewellery soon set in and no, I wasn't disappointed! I couldn't go last year because of surgery on my shoulder but really enjoyed the opportunity of chatting to makers whose work I was already familiar with.  I also met some really lovely designers, who had stunning work on display and who were really friendly.  To the two ladies who were manning stalls and who didn't look up from their mobile phones or acknowledge me the whole time I was looking at their work - bad move! I cannot pass up the chance to mention just a few designers who really caught my eye.  Anne Morgan for her amazing ability to reticulate large pieces of silver, Bryony Stanford's amazing crumpled cuffs, Jed Green's incredible shaped glass tube jewellery and Kokkino for some absolutely stunning new work. I also loved the aesthetically pleasing designs of new jeweller Katie Roberts in the One Year On marquee.  I'm a real sucker for ceramics too and have contacted two of my favourites in the hope that they'll take part in a collaborative blog. Fingers crossed!

Anyway, this week we've had a visitor to stay who was mixing an album with my husband, so after hearing many snippets of music many times, I retired to my studio to work!  I'm hoping to exhibit in the summer so I'm currently working on pieces for that theme.  I'll tell you no more than that, but you can see a picture of one of the pieces so far.

I thought that you might also be interested in seeing what inspires me.  We took a little trip down to Royal William Yard yesterday for a coffee and a look at Plymouth College of Art Degree Show which was well worth a visit, so if you get a chance to visit their two venues down there, do go.  Anyway, on to inspiration.  Texture and colour, every time.  We wandered round and I took some photos for my inspiration board - I hope you like them too.

An amazing rusty old door!

Old stone wall

Peely paintwork

Well, that's all for this week, hope you like my pictures!

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!

Celebrations and Work In Progress

Hello folks! As I type this the jubilee celebrations have just come to an end and I have found myself enjoying it all more than I thought I would.  I have felt proud of our traditions and full of admiration for the queen who can't just think she's going to 'take a day off' and have a sofa day. I imagine she would love to put on comfies and watch rubbish on the tv like the rest of us!

What this weekend has bought home to me though is that no-one any longer gives me a paid bank holiday so today was back to the grindstone!!

Last week I cut out two very curvy painted aluminium shapes and it's taken considerable time to file and finish all the little nooks and crannies and I have to say that there have been moments when I wondered why I started it in the first place! Today has mostly been spent cutting some flowers out of my Cherry Blossom sheet and filing the edges.  I've shaped the original pieces and textured them and my next job will be to dap the flowers and put the piece together.

What do you think so far?

I've also been working on a really stunning and unusual bronze bracelet.  Hopefully I'll have some pictures of that next week to show you.  I'm really enjoying working with bronze at the moment as it means I can explore the organic textures I love so much. I suffered very sunburnt shoulders a couple of weeks ago, gathering rocks on the beach just so that I could have some interesting textures! What it does mean though, is that my bronze pieces are totally unique.

Off to the library in the morning to do some research for a little idea which is lurking in the back of my mind, so watch this space.

See you next week!

Bronze and Blossom

Hello folks, today is our first wedding anniversary and so much has happened during the last year - very many changes on a personal level.  I no longer have a day job! Now I feel properly self-employed (my business was formalised in 2008 but was very part-time up until recently). I've expanded my aluminium range to launch my Signature Collection on the website, which marries the material with silver elements and designs where I can explore my creative ideas.

On leaving my job after 17 years, my lovely colleagues gave me some money 'to be spent on jewellery tools' and so I bought a kiln and I've been experimenting since it's arrival with textures from nature on bronze.  These are not yet available for purchase but will be in to not too distant future.  I'm always drawn to texture and colour around me and I've been making moulds from just about everything I can find! Even the cat's started to eye me up warily and not stay in one place too long!!

I've used silver clay many times in the past, but always torch fired it which was fine.  Bronze clay, unless it's a very small piece, doesn't fire as successfully with a torch and not all of the pieces fired successfully in the kiln, but I think I have the measure of it now. #crossesfingersandtoes









These pieces were cast from pieces of wood and the ring was taken directly from a lump of lavarock and has an adjustable silver ring band.

I've finally launched my Cherry Blossom collection on the website this week too.  Thank you to all those of you who've given me such lovely comments on this one.  I think it's going to be a favourite of mine in the same way that Surf's Up was.  You can find Cherry Blossom at http://slicksilverjewellery.co.uk/page10.htm

So, in other news, yesterday was a bit of an emotional one! All mums out there will know that no matter how big your kids are etc etc.....
Yesterday I packed my very grown up son off on the train that would take him to London, then Heathrow, then Australia - where he's off travelling for 3 months.  He's going to have a fabulous time and he'd better bring me a wallaby back or else......

Tomorrow we're off to our favourite place in all of UK - St. Ives.  We went to St. Ives for our honeymoon so where else could we possibly go for our anniversary? Galleries, here we come!!

SlickSilver Jewellery - The Return!

Well hello all - I'm back from my travels yet again!

We had a wonderful week in London, housesitting for friends in West Hampstead and getting out each day to visit galleries and exhibitions and new places.  My husband, artist and composer David Muddyman, spent most of his life living in the capital, indeed until 5 years ago when he moved to Plymouth and met me, so he truly knows his way around.

As we both love contemporary art, we're perfectly happy to wander around looking at new work and great jewellery and we both found things to inspire us especially in Tate Modern and Electrum Gallery, such exquisite innovative jewellery.  One moment that was really lovely was going into Studio Fusion Gallery in Oxo Towers http://www.studiofusiongallery.co.uk, where we met Louise O'Neill. She took time to tell us about all of the artists involved in Studio Fusion and even showed me her kiln - in all, a really nice lady to have met.

Last monday saw us visiting Brighton (a first for me) which was great but very wet.  It literally poured with rain so we dashed into a shop, bought 2 umbrellas and came back out to glorious sunshine and blue sky and no more rain - oh well!

Since I came back I've been producing new sheets of aluminium pattern ready for cutting.  Very soon you will be able to buy Cherry Blossom and Coral Reef from my website.

Coral Reef

Cherry Blossom

I plan to turn these two gorgeous sheets into a limited number of cuffs, pendants and earrings and perhaps a necklace. The sheets are approximately 10 x 7 inches.

I'm always inspired by nature and I've also been making moulds this week of tree bark, woodgrain, lavarock and all sorts of things in anticipation of my kiln arriving.......one day my kiln will come..........

Ok folks off to wait for the kiln delivery man! I think he may be walking......

Galleries, Museums and birds

This blog is being bought to you this week from London!  We're house-sitting for friends and taking the opportunity to visit galleries and other lovely places!

Yesterday was a wonderful day which was spent at the Victoria & Albert Museum, where we idled many happy hours in the ceramics, contemporary glass, silver and jewellery sections.  My husband is an artist and we are both inspired by colour and texture and whilst we don't always like the same pieces, we are generally happy in the same sections particularly the more contemporary works! I found the more modern jewellery so inspirational. This gorgeous collection of blue birds were made as an installation by Claire Twomey using various shades of Wedgewood clay.

Today was shopping day - well, it has to be done, doesn't it?! Of course, we had to look at all the shoe shops and jewellery shops! We finished the day in Hatton Garden - it's a good thing that I'm not into diamonds!!  I did come away with a Cookson's new catalogue and plenty of ideas for my wishlist.

We're hoping to fit in a visit to Tate Modern, the Lanes in Brighton and as many other lovely arty places as we can.

On that note - I'm off for a cosy night tucked up with my Cookson's catalogue!

See you next week.

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

Blog Collaboration with Laura Parkin

Hello all, ok, I'm back on it!!! Life has taken me by the feet and swung me upside down a few times, but I'm back! The really great news is that for a few months at least, SlickSilver Jewellery is going to get 100% of my work attention! As a result of this new pieces have hit my website, but more on that later.  I want to introduce another blog collaborator, woven textile designer, Laura Parkin.  I found her recently quite by accident and I think her work is really beautiful, so I asked her a few questions about where she finds her inspiration.

1. Where do you get the inspiration for your designs?

The coastal areas where I live in Northumberland influence the ideas of pattern and scale in my work. Stripes are predominant in the areas; I can take ideas of proportion of stripe from objects such as boats. These ideas stripes can be transferred into warp or weft designs in my fabric.

 My clients massively influence my use of colour in my work; I tend to work on a bespoke basis. Clients individual colour ways can be influenced by there personal preference of colour.

2. Is there a craft medium you’ve always had a hankering to try your hand at?

I would love to have a go at spinning, as it would be great to make a product from the beginning. I could start from the raw materials can work all the way through to the final finished products.

3. If you could see one famous person owning one of your designs, who would it be?

Amelia Fox. I always see her on Silent Witness wearing lovely scarves, I think one of mine would look lovely on her.

4. Where can fans buy your work?

My work can be bought from my online shop (a link can be found on my website www.lauraparkin.co.uk), Milk It Craft Market www.artandcraftsmarket.co.uk and at local craft fairs I am attending.

So what do you think? Aren't these colours and textures just stunning?  I hope that you'll all rush out and order something pretty from Laura and it just remains for me to say thank you to her for taking part.

As I mentioned I am currently working full time on my jewellery and this week some new work has been added to my website.  I have introduced the Pansies Collection to the Aluminium Collection and Rose Petal Necklace to the Signature Collection.  Both of these items are available from http://www.slicksilverjewellery.co.uk

See you soon!!

Pansies I Necklace

Rose Petal Necklace

Paris, Eyeballs and Courses!

Hello everyone I'm back at the helm!

We've had a wonderful time, visiting my lifelong friends in the Charente region of France, eating far too much fabulous food, making chocolate and then spending an other wonderful week in Paris (eating lovely food and too much chocolate - you've probably got a good picture of me now!!).  We've people-watched whilst sitting at cafes, seen a fleet of tiny dogs in pink tracksuits, seen a happy motorbike riding terrier, seen some eye-popping parking and looked at some amazing art in shop galleries - in all, Paris as we like it.  We've done the touristy stuff before, so this time we hunted out areas not previously visited and found some gems.

Parc des Buttes Chaumont looking towards the Sacre Coeur

I found plenty to inspire me and I will be trying out some new ideas very soon.  I was intrigued by a shop I found that sold absolute weirdness - no other way to put it! You could buy dolls arms and legs of all sizes and eyes of all sizes, old and tattered scrapbook pieces and all kinds of other strange and wonderful things.  I had several items in my hands to buy, but then common sense took over as I contemplated what I could actually do with them! I'm sure that customs would have questioned a suitcase full of eyeballs!

This week represents a week of change for me.  This is my last week at my day job of 17 years.  It would be my dream to sustain myself by making jewellery, but I'm not sure yet if that can happen - anyone want to help me make it happen?  I'm hoping to start teaching some small classes on a variety of subjects.  I have a workshop in mind for card makers and scrapbookers, who I know are always looking for different ways to embellish what they do.  I'd also like to teach some jewellery making for people who want a change from beading, something that can be done with the most basic toolkit (even tools they might find in dad's or OH's sheds!!). I hope to make the courses accessible by visiting groups in their own premises, ie at home for a small group or meeting place (guides, Women's Institutes, etc.), but obviously I can only travel in a relatively small radius of where I live.
So, all change in the SlickSilver household!

Watch this space folks!!

Afternoon Tea and Galleries

Hi folks, I'm a little bit late this week, sorry about that, life took over!

Well, this week we had a real treat - as some of you may know already, we got married last year and we were given a voucher for afternoon tea for two.  Various reasons have prevented us going for it until yesterday, but we set off to find Lewtrenchard Manor and soon found ourselves in an absolutely stunning location.  I have lived near the Devon/Cornwall border for more than 24 years, but I'd never been there before.  The gorgeous house surpassed our expectations and we found ourselves seated in the library, quite alone, with dainty china and a cake stand with tiny crustless sandwiches, fabulous cakes and of course, scones, jam and cream! It was a lovely afternoon, a lovely gift and something we probably wouldn't have otherwise done.  Anyone drooling yet?!?

This week I've been experimenting with some new textures and shapes in aluminium and have been working on distorting the shapes with my rolling mill which kind of gives a faded effect to the applied pattern/printed/dyed surface.  I think I like the slightly industrial feel so I shall continue to explore this and let you see a finished item soon.

On the news front my attention was caught by a report that yet another highstreet store has ripped off the designs of Tatty Devine.  It must be so awful as a designer to have this happen.  Such companies can afford to mass produce and ultimately sell at a much lower cost than the bona fide designer can.  I appreciate that working in similar materials may mean comparison between two or more designers but we all want to work the material in a way that is our own.  There are several designers working in anodised aluminium like myself and I strive to make sure that I'm doing something different and something which is recognisably 'me'.  I really hope that Tatty Devine takes this to court and wins.

Again on the news front, there is a package of my work winging it's way up to a gallery in Inverness as I type!  You will soon be able to buy my jewellery from Hung in Inverness, Scotland http://www.hung-inverness.co.uk and it's also to be found in Gallery Atelier http://www.gallery-atelier.co.uk/ in Barnstaple too! Exciting times.  See you all in a couple of weeks as I'm off on my travels for a little while - tell you all about it when I get back!

Rings and Things

Hello everyone!  Last Thursday night we went down to Royal William Yard to have a social get together with some of the members of Flameworks and ended up having a really enjoyable evening meeting a hot-metal worker, an artist, a photographer, a metal sculptor and a potential new member who's interested in printing as well as my husband, also an artist.  It does increase your motivation to meet up with like-minded creative people!

In my last blog I mentioned that I'd had a request for aluminium rings and that I'd tell you more about what I'd been working on this week.  The customer in question treated herself to two rings so here's a glimpse of my aluminium and silver rings.

Andromeda Wraparound Ring

Andromeda Ring

All of these rings are made entirely from aluminium which has been dyed and forged into shape to produce a unique piece of jewellery.





Starry Nights Ring

I also wanted to work on a ring which combined sterling silver and aluminium.

I hand pierced two flower shapes, filed and polished the edges and then made the sterling silver ring band to which I soldered a small silver wire.  I domed the flower shapes, drilled the centres and stacked them onto the silver wire and cold connected them with the wire acting a rivet.  Hope you like the outcome!

Flower Ring I

So, what else has been happening this week? Well my family have come back to their homes from working in all corners of the globe so that's something!

I've found Pinterest which is great fun and has lost me many hours of my life this week!!! It's so addictive looking for and adding the items that I personally find beautiful, inspirational, funny, cute and plain weird to my boards (like the dog that looks exactly like a loaf of bread!!). If you are also on Pinterest, come and look for me!

In other news my husband is just in the process of redesigning and relaunching his website so if you'd like to see his paintings then pay him a visit on http://www.davidmuddyman.co.uk

See you all next week!

Glass and Leaf Collaboration

Hi again folks! Well, we're off to the Flameworks meeting tonight (where we went last week, but on the wrong night!!) so hopefully I will actually remember to go! I blame my age!

Last week you may remember that I held a competition for guessing the weight of a pendant and I ended up with 2 winners!! The closest answer came through in time but didn't show up in my inbox until after I'd announced my winner, so luckily, I had made two pendants in a similar style and I was able to supply both of them with prizes which are on their way!

The winner I announced was Stevie Davies and when I saw Stevie's work I was enthralled and asked her if she would be part of my collaborative blog series and here she is!

Coaster - detail

1. Where do you get the inspiration for your designs?

 That’s a hard one! Whenever I am asked this question, I tend to start by saying that I not like most other artists I know. I don’t have specific sources of inspiration, not in the traditional sense anyway. My work is an exploration of glass as a medium rather that a theme represented in glass. I am constantly enthralled by the way it softens and moves during the firing process and how the way I can manipulate it to get specific (and sometimes unexpected) reactions. Most recent works involve the manipulation of wire through various textile techniques such as lace and crochet. The shapes and designs in wire then inspire the way I incorporate them into the main body of glass.

Crochet Panel

2. Is there a craft medium you’ve always had a hankering to try your hand at?

I am lucky enough to have had to opportunity to try many different mediums and techniques though my career. Starting with my Contemporary Decorative Crafts degree and through into my 4 years of creative practice, meeting numerous artists and making connections. I suppose I’d have to say the medium of metal, allow many things can come under that umbrella, everything from large scale sculpture through to intricate jewellery. .

Statement Jewellery

3. If you could see one famous person owning one of your designs, who would it be?

Well, I had to think about this one. The person who I would love to own a piece of my work would be Steven Fry, I have a couple of reason for this and I shall explain. The first is that I find the way men view my work is in a very analytical way, they try to work out how a piece is made, especially my 3d sculptures. I find it really interesting to watch, at a show I can see the cogs in the brain ticking over and I know the questions they are wanting to ask. I think Mr Fry would do this too, although he is probably clever enough to know guess anyway, and that would make me smile. Secondly, I love to think that my work can make people happy, I think it is an honor to sell a piece. Whether someone has fallen in love with a piece so much they are willing to part with their hard earned money or whether they are buying a gift for a loved one.

Climbing Rose Canvas

4. Where can fans buy your work?

 I exhibit and sell at various shows, festivals and galleries around the country, primarily in the midlands.

Online include my website www.stevie-davies.co.uk

My folksy shop – www.folksy.com/shops/StevieDaviesContemporaryGlassArt

Ivy Hanging Scultpure

So there you have it, this is what makes Stevie Davies, Contemporary Glass Artist tick - if you love it as much as I do, then why not treat yourself to something lovely and tactile for yourself or your home.

Seeing Stevie's gorgeous Ivy sculpture made me think immediately of what I could show you that I've made this week.  Following an enquiry I've mostly been working on rings made from aluminium and I'll show you more of those next week, however, I've also made a brooch which is a bit of new venture for me.  I loved the leaf shapes I've been exploring in my Signature Collection of late so I decided to enlarge one of the shapes and curve it.  Once I'd done that I felt it was probably too large for a pendant so I decided to turn it into a pin brooch. What do you all think?

Leaf Brooch

I think it looks almost like a tribal shield, but I do really like it! We'll have to see if it's a success or not! It features a lump of reticulated silver at the head of the pin too along with a Jackson Pollack-esque handpainted design on the aluminium.  If you want to find out more about it you can find it on my Signature Collection page http://slicksilverjewellery.co.uk/page11.htm

All that remains now is to thank Stevie Davies for taking part in my collaborative blog at such short notice and to say I'll see you all next week!

And the winner is.......

Thank you for your entries and lovely comments about my work! 

The winner of the competition and closest to the real weight of 5.5grams is Stevie Davies - Glass Artist!! If you'd like to get in touch with me at info@slicksilverjewellery.co.uk with your address I'll be happy to send it out to you! Congratulations!

Thanks to everyone else for taking part.

Competition for a Valentine's Treat!

Hello folks! We've just been to the Seco Lounge to meet up with other Flameworks members, however, no-one turned up so we had dinner and forlornly came home, checked our emails and realised that the meeting is next week - hey ho, dinner out next week too!! #notaseniormoment

So, who would like to win a delicate Valentine's inspired pendant? There's no cost to enter so why not have a go - you could give the pendant to someone you love or you could just keep it yourself!! I know what I'd do!

So how do you enter?  All you have to do is guess the weight of the pendant with chain and the nearest guess will win it!  The closing date is Sunday 5th of February at 5pm so start guessing and post your answers below!

What is the weight of this pendant with chain?

Last week I blogged about Alison Branagan's books on business for Artists and Designers, so I thought I would tell you about another book which is providing me with a lot of inspiration at the moment.  We all get our inspiration from many diverse directions and I get a lot of mine from naturally occurring forms, such as the bark of a tree or a lichen formation.

This book, which I received for my birthday at the end of last year, is proving to be such a source of ideas, even if I only use a colour combination or a small pattern repeat from within the pages.  If colour and texture are your thing too, then give it a try.

It's called Heaven & Earth, Unseen by the Naked Eye by Phaidon and contains stunning photographs of our planet and us, but mostly from the inside!

Do you remember the piece from my Signature Collection I showed you last week? Well this week I have used to same form but in shades of yellow ochre, green and blue, forged it and also designed a pin through it to make a very desirable brooch which would look sensational against black clothing with simple lines.  The oval head of the pin is made from heavily reticulated silver and perhaps I'll post some pictures of it next week.  I've also been working on some simple aluminium adjustable band rings and some not so simple ones!! Pics next week!

Hope you all have a good week - competition results Sunday night!

Good Lunches, Good Business Books and News

Well, another week's over! It's been a bit of a grim one as I've had tonsillitis so have had a bit of time off from making.

So, have you all been and treated yourselves to some fabulous Debbie Orr, Skein Queen, products? I hope you enjoyed looking around her website and I would just like to take this opportunity to say a big thank you to her for taking part. I have met some lovely people through my collaborative blogs so long may it continue - and I do have at least one more in the pipeline for you and I'm always open to suggestions of artists so do let me know if you come across someone we should all know about.

Last Friday, before the sore throat, I attended a really gorgeous lunch at the River Cottage Canteen and Deli at Royal William Yard, Plymouth.  The lunch gathering was held by Ladies Wot Tweat and consisted of a group of ladies who had met each other through Twitter, other social networks, business and word of mouth.  It was slightly daunting to walk in, not knowing a soul, however, I did find I knew one member when I got there and I definitely knew several more by the end of a fantastic meal.  I believe they meet regularly so I shall look out for the next date!

So whilst I've been feeling under the weather, I've been reading.  My husband bought me a great little book for Christmas which is a short punchy business guide, literally only a page or two on each aspect of business for artists and designers.  It's by Alison Branagan and as soon as I started to read it I felt that I also wanted to read her more in-depth essential guide on the same subject.  They're really well written and assume no previous knowledge which is just brilliant for me as I'm just taking the next steps with growing my business into full time hopefully.  I bought both books from Amazon and they're my recommendations for the week!

A Pocket Business Guide for Artists & Designers by Alison Branagan
ISBN 978-1-4081-2992-0

The Essential Guide to Business for Artists & Designers by
Alison Branagan
ISBN 978-1-4081-1903-7






If you fancy a read, these are interesting and not heavy going at all.  I've learned a lot.

So I'm hoping to work on a few designs in the next few days and I'll let you know how I get on and there might even be a Valentine's competition next week!!!

Are you all going to read this next week then? Be in with a chance of winning a very pretty piece? See you all then!!

Collaborative Blog with the Skein Queen!

Well last week I was trawling around the net looking for an artist/designer to feature on my blog and here we are - all done and ready for you to drool over!

When I was little I was taught to knit and well remember my grandad teasing me by suggesting I was knitting a waistcoat for a flea as my knitting never seemed to grow much!! My mum is a fabulous knitter (no cable design too difficult for her!) with a mega yarn stash, but it was my nan who taught me and like her, I knit in her style with the right hand needle tucked under my arm! I'm an occasional knitter only now as most of my free time is spent making jewellery but I love the colours and textures to be seen in a good wool shop.

This brings me to the mouth-watering hand dyed yarns of Debbie Orr aka the Skein Queen.

I asked Debbie a few questions and this is what she shared with me.

Blush

1. Where do you get the inspiration for your designs? For yarn colourways, inspiration comes from fairytales, birds, the sky, botany, food, literature and images in my head of rich, luxurious European palaces. For knitting designs, I always think of what the finished item will be used for, hence Lazy Sunday bedsocks and Day Trip mitts or how the finished item will make the wearer feel ie Cloud Nine socks.

Day Trip Mitts

2. Is there a craft medium you’ve always had a hankering to try your hand at? Two years ago, I learnt to spin and don't feel that I've truly mastered that yet, but if you're talking a brand new craft from scratch, I think weaving would be top of my list. Anything textile-related.

 

Delectable

 

3. If you could see one famous person owning one of your designs, who would it be? For yarn ownership, I guess it would be one of the famous knit designers I admire rather than an out-and-out celebrity, someone like Stephanie Dosen of tinyowlknits or Ysolda Teague. That would be cool.

Squash

4. Where can fans buy your work? My yarn and patterns are available on www.skeinqueen.co.uk. I have shop updates every couple of weeks adding more hand-dyed to the shop. Or to be guaranteed of a monthly delivery of SQ yarn, you can sign up for the Queen's Surprise Club to get colourways inspired by books or film. I also have stands at Unravel in Farnham Maltings on 25th and 26th Feb. and at Fibre East in Thurleigh 14th and 15th July this year. And limited stock is available at yarn stores such as Loop, All the Fun of the Fair, Cornwall Yarn Shop, Lighthouse Yarns and Yarn Cafe.

Desire

As you can see Debbie's yarns are just gorgeous, and as knitting is now trendy and cool once more, why not treat yourself to something very very special? If you knit a garment in one of these yarns you will always love it!

Like Debbie Orr I am motivated by colour and texture and just looking at these fabulous yarns makes me want to dye some aluminium!

Lavaflow Cuff and Necklace

This piece is available from the Signature Collection on my website at http://www.slicksilverjewellery.co.uk



So that's all from me this week, apart from saying a massive thank you to Debbie Orr, Skein Queen, for sharing her thoughts and yarns with us.

Launch of the Signature Collection!

Well, hello again!

This week my husband's been away working so I've been cracking on with my list of things to do and working on my new designs.  I've also added a Signature Collection to my website although it needs a little tweaking here and there when my better half gets back.  I'm lucky to be married to someone who has a great eye for design and  website stuff!

I've also been on the search for new blog collaborators and have approached a couple of really exciting artists so we'll just have to wait and see if they want to be involved here.

So, last week I showed you one of my new designs and I promised to show you more as I developed the idea. So here we go, these are the latest explorations of my theme of 'Heart of the Matter', a kind of lateral thinking from Valentine's Day! These two pieces will be part of my Signature Collection as they are handpierced, forged, rivetted and completely finished by hand using all of my silversmithing skills.

Today I've been in the studio making jewellery for Valentine's Day. I'll put up some pics of those hopefully next week and you let me know what you think of them.

See you next week!