Owls, baby! Plus an insight into the creative workings of a crafter's mind . . .

It's a week of firsts for Shark Alley - first craft market of the year (and the first time at Makers Boutique) and first blog!

Having a stall at the market was fantastic for feedback and seeing which pieces people were drawn to and the time I'd spent grubbing around St Ann's Well Gardens for rustic twigs to make a 'tree'* for the bird earrings and necklaces to hang from seemed to pay off!  I'd also spent time and money sorting out the packaging and just generally trying to make the whole lot look smart and desirable.

 Makers Boutique, St Nicholas Church, Brighton, 12th February 2011
(* tree not pictured)

But the best bit was hearing a girl remark that her friends were always buying her owl jewellery, which set off a huge glowing light bulb in my head.  Following on from the folk birds, owls would make perfect subjects for my papier mache creations, being compact shapes with distinctive eyes and lots of scope for decoration, so later that weekend I got scribbling in the sketchbook . . .

After selecting the most pleasing shape, there followed a week of frantic making as The Muse hit big time.  The first efforts are always a bit hit and miss as I work out what works best (I never pre-design - just make it up as I go along, with each piece providing ideas for the next) but I'm pleased with the results - a range of brooches and necklaces.  The lovely owl shapes will also be perfect for the next idea - a range of cards and postcards using the pieces in a creative way, which I'll be working on this week.

Owl brooches (featuring beads rescued from a couple of those semi-precious gemstone bracelets that were popular a few years ago and found lurking in a bag in my studio).