Rainbow Gallery

I was featured in the Orange collection of Fiona JMD's blog. She chose my I Heart Tangerine Dreams Set and made my day! It is available from my Folksy shop, priced £12.

White and Gold

It was a beautiful day today, so I took these photos of the White and Gold set I made a few days ago. They came out really well, I think. It is in my Folksy shop now, priced at £21.

A non-handmade life.

My non-handmade life, or my "other" life as someone close calls it, has been keeping me very busy recently. It has meant that apart from the craft fair I had a stall at, I haven't done anything remotely creative in a very long time.

Eventually I sort of snapped. I ended up making a necklace and earring set, the idea for which I've had in the back of my mind for ages. I was almost scared to make it as the wire I've used is 24 carat gold. I really didn't want to cut it, in case I cut it wrongly!

In the end I just went for it and made it. I'm very happy with the result, it's elegant and pretty. All I have to do now is find time to photograph it. It's a good job I don't sleep much really.

Happy Happy Joy Joy!!

I've won a stall at the a craft fair in Leeds Town Hall on Saturday! I'm really happy, but now I've got to gather everything together and make sure I'm sorted and ready!

For more details, please see The Stalls blog

Looking Forwards

I've been focusing on the old temple today, ie my body. It's a bit like the ones in the Indiana Jones films, it's falling to bits!

I've had a hair cut, which was sorely needed and I went to the chiropractor. She's great and very gentle. I'd be totally lost without her. She was talking about how important it is for me to stay positive and get excited about things as this relaxes your body. Apparently when you hold on to negativity it can affect your posture, which for me is a no-no because it makes the slipped disc problems worse.

So something to get excited about and look forward to...

• My new sunglasses arrived today and they look fab
  
• I've got a decent hairstyle for the first time in months
• I've made a start on my MA assignment (finally!)
• I've had some new ideas for jewellery projects that I can't wait to get going with
  

Those are all short time things and to be honest the mid and long term do look grey and unfocused at the moment. I'm trying to think of things, but right now I can't see anything.

Craft Fairs

I'm trying to decide if I should get back into doing craft fairs. I had to stop when I became ill and since it took 9 months to work out that it was a slipped disc, it's now been well over a year since I did a fair.

The first fair that I did was a complete flop. Had I realised that the place was literally in the middle of no where I wouldn't have booked it. I made a loss and was given the cold shoulder by the other crafts people. I was gutted, it didn't meet any of my expectations at all. I had thought that the other people there would be warm and welcoming and with the exception of one lovely artist I couldn't have been more wrong. Another jeweller, whose work was mostly silver, came and closely inspected my stall without speaking to me or even looking at me. Ah well, sod 'em, I sharn't be going back there.

The Stalls is a new craft market in Leeds, at the town hall. If I'm going to go for it, I'll have to decide more or less straight away, as it's on saturday!
I did the Artsmix Market a few times when it was outside and it has a lovely vibe. I really enjoyed them, even if the wind did carry off some of my stock! They've moved inside now which removes the unpredictability of the weather.

The only sticking point for this is my health. Am I well enough? Well, in a word no. The thing is that if I don't do something other than stare at the same four walls I might go loopy. Well, loopier.

To ring or not to ring...

I've made a few rings for myself but I've never considered making them for sale. Someone suggested I make a few and add the photos to my Flicker Gallery. Since I try to make individual pieces I wonder if it's a good idea to make them without a commission, and what size to make them. My own ring size is large for a woman and I've no idea what the average size is.

Hmmm...


On another note, I really enjoyed Kirsty Allsop's new programme on Channel 4. It's great to see actual crafts people crafting. The tone of the programme was great too as it showed respect towards crafts people, rather than the frankly demented approach taken by programmes like 60 Minute Makeover. For a more indepth opinion of Kirsty's new programme take a look at the lovely Lupin's blog.