Are you excited? I'm excited.
I'm going to have to find a nice hat to pick the winner out of - shame I don't have a nice floral Easter bonnet handy.
Pop along to the Shark Alley Facebook page to get in there before I get back from the pub.
the shark alley blog
Sunday, 31 March 2013
It's Today!
It's today!!!
I'm going to have a nice big Easter lunch treat at the Lion & Lobster pub in Brighton and then I'm going to pick a WINNER.
Are you excited? I'm excited.
I'm going to have to find a nice hat to pick the winner out of - shame I don't have a nice floral Easter bonnet handy.
Pop along to the Shark Alley Facebook page to get in there before I get back from the pub.
Are you excited? I'm excited.
I'm going to have to find a nice hat to pick the winner out of - shame I don't have a nice floral Easter bonnet handy.
Pop along to the Shark Alley Facebook page to get in there before I get back from the pub.
Saturday, 30 March 2013
Only One Day to Go!
There's only one day left to enter the Mad March Hare Easter giveaway before the big draw on Easter Sunday.
This beautiful necklace could be YOURS! Click here for details. Good luck!
Friday, 29 March 2013
Thursday, 28 March 2013
Tuesday, 26 March 2013
Mad March Hare Competition
We're going as mad as the proverbial March Hare here at Shark Alley!
To celebrate Easter and Shark Alley's forthcoming appearance in the May issue of Vogue, we're doing a little competition for you to win one of our distinctive Leaping Hare and Star necklaces.
The hare and star are cast and finished entirely by hand in resin and are slightly offset on the chain to exaggerate the leaping effect. The hare has been finished to give a lapis lazuli effect and has a vintage diamante eye. The chain and findings are sterling silver and the necklace measures approximately 48cm in length (hare approximately 6.5cm).
To win all you need to do is visit the Shark Alley Facebook page, LIKE the page and then SHARE the competition photo.
OR go to Twitter and FOLLOW and RETWEET one of the competition tweets.
Whichever one you choose, remember you need to both like/share or follow/retweet in order to be in with a chance of winning. It couldn't be easier!
All the names will be put into a nice hat and and the winner drawn at random on Easter Sunday.
Go, go, GO!
To celebrate Easter and Shark Alley's forthcoming appearance in the May issue of Vogue, we're doing a little competition for you to win one of our distinctive Leaping Hare and Star necklaces.
The hare and star are cast and finished entirely by hand in resin and are slightly offset on the chain to exaggerate the leaping effect. The hare has been finished to give a lapis lazuli effect and has a vintage diamante eye. The chain and findings are sterling silver and the necklace measures approximately 48cm in length (hare approximately 6.5cm).
To win all you need to do is visit the Shark Alley Facebook page, LIKE the page and then SHARE the competition photo.
OR go to Twitter and FOLLOW and RETWEET one of the competition tweets.
Whichever one you choose, remember you need to both like/share or follow/retweet in order to be in with a chance of winning. It couldn't be easier!
All the names will be put into a nice hat and and the winner drawn at random on Easter Sunday.
Go, go, GO!
Sunday, 24 March 2013
Photo Shoot
I got some good advice recently and decided to act on it. Almost immediately, in fact.
Lisa Lam of U-Handbag suggested that images of my jewellery being worn would be an asset to the Shark Alley website. I used to have shots like this, but shamefully none of the recent products. This is mostly because I'm doing everything on a budget and am low on time, but I do think it's really important for the customer to see how the pieces look when they're being worn.
I have a lovely friend Liz Pichon (who is currently Number 1 on the Bookseller list in the UK with her Tom Gates book - can you believe it?!) and she has an equally lovely daughter, Ella. Ella has been modelling since she was a child and is really stunning (check her out in this Skoda ad!) so we arranged a photo shoot at the house Liz shares with her husband, music guru Mark Flannery and their three children Zak, Ella and Lily.
I arrived to find the house set up perfectly.
And Ella fully prepped by Liz . . .
What great friends!
The session took about two hours and went really well. Ella is so photogenic and looks a bit like Keira Knightley in profile, I think!
These are some of my favourite shots.
And these are my very favourite favourites. I'm so chuffed with how lovely the fox brooch looks on the knitted hat. I'm definitely a fan of brooches on hats.
Some pics are already up on the website and I'll be putting the rest up, along with some new jewellery, as soon as I can.
http://www.sharkalley.co.uk
Lisa Lam of U-Handbag suggested that images of my jewellery being worn would be an asset to the Shark Alley website. I used to have shots like this, but shamefully none of the recent products. This is mostly because I'm doing everything on a budget and am low on time, but I do think it's really important for the customer to see how the pieces look when they're being worn.
I have a lovely friend Liz Pichon (who is currently Number 1 on the Bookseller list in the UK with her Tom Gates book - can you believe it?!) and she has an equally lovely daughter, Ella. Ella has been modelling since she was a child and is really stunning (check her out in this Skoda ad!) so we arranged a photo shoot at the house Liz shares with her husband, music guru Mark Flannery and their three children Zak, Ella and Lily.
I arrived to find the house set up perfectly.
And Ella fully prepped by Liz . . .
What great friends!
The session took about two hours and went really well. Ella is so photogenic and looks a bit like Keira Knightley in profile, I think!
Here's my selection of jewellery all laid out and ready to shoot.
These are some of my favourite shots.
And these are my very favourite favourites. I'm so chuffed with how lovely the fox brooch looks on the knitted hat. I'm definitely a fan of brooches on hats.
Some pics are already up on the website and I'll be putting the rest up, along with some new jewellery, as soon as I can.
http://www.sharkalley.co.uk
Wednesday, 13 March 2013
Patchwork Quilt Obsession
As a kid, I was well into my crafts. In 1980, I started a patchwork quilt and I worked on it until I went away to college in 1985.
It's still not quite finished . . .
My Mum dug the quilt out of storage in 2008 and brought it down. When we laid it on the floor, we both had the most incredible nostalgia when we saw the pieces that had gone into it. The majority of them were left-overs from Mum's dressmaking projects from the 1960s to the 1980s - a time when it was generally cheaper to make your own clothes than it was to buy them. Seeing those fabrics all together like that really surprised us with the powerful memories they evoked. Some were from dresses she made for herself, some from the ones she made for me and some had been given to me by my aunt and grandmother especially for the quilt.
The inspiration to start again came from my lovely work colleague and fellow craft nut, Skye Pennant. We've been egging each other on - she has started her own quilt and I'm trying to finish mine. I'm intrigued with hers as she's been sewing it on a machine - an option I didn't know was possible. I think I prefer to hand-sew as it's more portable and I can do it on the sofa, but machine-sewing would certainly be quicker and easier on my poor, tortured craftsperson hands!
We regularly bring our quilts in to work and compare notes (and swap fabrics). This was Skye's on Monday - with colour-coded post-it notes!
She's being really patient and organising and sewing ALL the squares, then labelling them for assembly later. I'm impressed!
You can find out more about Skye's quilt adventures on her delightful blog - even artichokes have hearts.
Meanwhile, I'm currently trying to resolve mine by straightening edges and working out the size it needs to be. I think it's gone beyond quilt and has entered the territory of bedspread. As it's going to have to be a bedspread on a king-size bed, this is going to require a lot more sewing.
It's all hand sewn, using hexagonal templates.
It's interesting looking at sections of colour now and seeing how much they were the ones that my Mum preferred to wear - blues, soft pinks and browns, navy blues and maybe some sludgy greens, whereas I longed for purples, yellows, oranges and reds. If I could scrape enough money together, I would treat myself to a quarter of a metre of a red floral print or a yellow gingham (I still have some of that left over today!) just to liven things up a bit. The limited fabric choices led to some quite desperate colour juxtapositions which I regret now, but I have resolved to leave them as they are, no matter how I squirm when I see them! The colours I'm incorporating now are much bolder, as are the prints - often a lot larger in scale.
Sewing a piece like this takes so much time - not only in the actual physical sewing, but also the time taken to sit and contemplate how all the different 'arms' of coloured rosettes are going to join up together, and what colour goes best where. My ideal sewing situation is an empty living room with the quilt on the floor, ironing board up and piles of fabric stashed around or laid out next to the quilt, ready to be incorporated.
There are so many gorgeous fabrics I want to make sure are in prominent positions - the last remnants of the retro fabrics and choice cuts from some lovely new ones, like this Loulouthi print by Anna Maria Horner. Amazingly, the three rosettes shown below are all from this one piece of fabric and there are at least three more colour permutations possible.
Will it ever be finished? I hope so. I shall keep you posted.
It's still not quite finished . . .
My Mum dug the quilt out of storage in 2008 and brought it down. When we laid it on the floor, we both had the most incredible nostalgia when we saw the pieces that had gone into it. The majority of them were left-overs from Mum's dressmaking projects from the 1960s to the 1980s - a time when it was generally cheaper to make your own clothes than it was to buy them. Seeing those fabrics all together like that really surprised us with the powerful memories they evoked. Some were from dresses she made for herself, some from the ones she made for me and some had been given to me by my aunt and grandmother especially for the quilt.
The inspiration to start again came from my lovely work colleague and fellow craft nut, Skye Pennant. We've been egging each other on - she has started her own quilt and I'm trying to finish mine. I'm intrigued with hers as she's been sewing it on a machine - an option I didn't know was possible. I think I prefer to hand-sew as it's more portable and I can do it on the sofa, but machine-sewing would certainly be quicker and easier on my poor, tortured craftsperson hands!
We regularly bring our quilts in to work and compare notes (and swap fabrics). This was Skye's on Monday - with colour-coded post-it notes!
She's being really patient and organising and sewing ALL the squares, then labelling them for assembly later. I'm impressed!
You can find out more about Skye's quilt adventures on her delightful blog - even artichokes have hearts.
Meanwhile, I'm currently trying to resolve mine by straightening edges and working out the size it needs to be. I think it's gone beyond quilt and has entered the territory of bedspread. As it's going to have to be a bedspread on a king-size bed, this is going to require a lot more sewing.
It's all hand sewn, using hexagonal templates.
It's interesting looking at sections of colour now and seeing how much they were the ones that my Mum preferred to wear - blues, soft pinks and browns, navy blues and maybe some sludgy greens, whereas I longed for purples, yellows, oranges and reds. If I could scrape enough money together, I would treat myself to a quarter of a metre of a red floral print or a yellow gingham (I still have some of that left over today!) just to liven things up a bit. The limited fabric choices led to some quite desperate colour juxtapositions which I regret now, but I have resolved to leave them as they are, no matter how I squirm when I see them! The colours I'm incorporating now are much bolder, as are the prints - often a lot larger in scale.
Sewing a piece like this takes so much time - not only in the actual physical sewing, but also the time taken to sit and contemplate how all the different 'arms' of coloured rosettes are going to join up together, and what colour goes best where. My ideal sewing situation is an empty living room with the quilt on the floor, ironing board up and piles of fabric stashed around or laid out next to the quilt, ready to be incorporated.
There are so many gorgeous fabrics I want to make sure are in prominent positions - the last remnants of the retro fabrics and choice cuts from some lovely new ones, like this Loulouthi print by Anna Maria Horner. Amazingly, the three rosettes shown below are all from this one piece of fabric and there are at least three more colour permutations possible.
Will it ever be finished? I hope so. I shall keep you posted.
Saturday, 9 March 2013
Tamar Otters
This is the third year that I have been making and selling hand-stitched otters and donating a percentage of their sales to an ottery organisation or charity.
This year the money is going to the Tamar Otter and Wildlife Centre near Launceston in Cornwall.
We spent a great day there in 2011 (despite the rain) and I was particularly struck by the fact that it costs over £5,000 to care for and/or rehabilitate EACH otter, excluding vet's bills. This is an incredible amount - I had no idea - so they were high on my list of recipients.
The centre really is a lovely place and I wish it was a bit nearer so I could spend more time there.
Amusingly, three of the otters share my birthday (though I was born some time before 2005).
We spent a great day there in 2011 (despite the rain) and I was particularly struck by the fact that it costs over £5,000 to care for and/or rehabilitate EACH otter, excluding vet's bills. This is an incredible amount - I had no idea - so they were high on my list of recipients.
The centre really is a lovely place and I wish it was a bit nearer so I could spend more time there.
Amusingly, three of the otters share my birthday (though I was born some time before 2005).
North Petherwin, Nr. Launceston, Cornwall PL15 8GW
tel: 01566 785646
Friday, 8 March 2013
13 Women
Forgive me, Blogspot, for I have sinned. It has been a month since my last post.
I thought I'd break radio silence with a few pics from the launch of 13 Women at Brighton Library this evening - an event celebrating International Women's Day.
My lovely friend Tina Francis is one of the illustrious 13. She makes tapestries using reclaimed vintage tapestry wool, which gives her work incredibly subtle colours and a lovely bobbly texture in places. This piece took a month of intense sewing to complete!
Another piece I loved was an incredible dress created by Tess Howell using hundreds of artificial flowers and leaves, which graduated from autumnal reds to spring greens.
The event was super well-attended and featured a fair few fabulous Brighton arty eccentrics. I wish I'd snapped a few pics. I think the decision to have speakers, poetry readings and other performances was probably a bit of an odd call, as most of people wanted to mingle and chat. Although I definitely fell into the category of chatterer, I did feel for the speakers trying to compete with the general social hubbub.
To round off the evening, on the way home I spied these beautiful Turkish lamps in a shop in Brighton's North Laines. I have passed this shop many times during the day and admired them, but they look absolutely stunning at night.
I Love Art presents 13 Women 1st - 15th March
Jubilee Library, Jubilee Street, Brighton, BN1 1GE.
I thought I'd break radio silence with a few pics from the launch of 13 Women at Brighton Library this evening - an event celebrating International Women's Day.
My lovely friend Tina Francis is one of the illustrious 13. She makes tapestries using reclaimed vintage tapestry wool, which gives her work incredibly subtle colours and a lovely bobbly texture in places. This piece took a month of intense sewing to complete!
Another piece I loved was an incredible dress created by Tess Howell using hundreds of artificial flowers and leaves, which graduated from autumnal reds to spring greens.
The event was super well-attended and featured a fair few fabulous Brighton arty eccentrics. I wish I'd snapped a few pics. I think the decision to have speakers, poetry readings and other performances was probably a bit of an odd call, as most of people wanted to mingle and chat. Although I definitely fell into the category of chatterer, I did feel for the speakers trying to compete with the general social hubbub.
 |
| Competer |
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| General social hubbub |
To round off the evening, on the way home I spied these beautiful Turkish lamps in a shop in Brighton's North Laines. I have passed this shop many times during the day and admired them, but they look absolutely stunning at night.
I Love Art presents 13 Women 1st - 15th March
Jubilee Library, Jubilee Street, Brighton, BN1 1GE.
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