London Calling

London has been calling.

Just for a day to myself, mooching round the shops (for getting material supplies and inspiration NOT clothes and fripperies, you understand!)  A nice break from HAVING to be somewhere and SHOULD be doing something.

Wednesday was earmarked as getaway day -  and it went something like this.

Then just around the corner. 

There are lots of lovely fabric shops in Berwick Street, but I was after one in particular.  I got a fabric from Biddle Sawyer Silks a couple of years ago which I made into many very popular purses, so I was after some more.

Sadly they didn't have it, but the staff were really friendly and I found lots of other great fabrics.  Highly recommend this shop!

Then onto an English classic. I love Liberty for the pure experience.  The building is beautiful and all the things they sell are so enticing. I had to rein in the urge to buy though - it's just a bit too pricey for me.

Wow!  After all that I need lunch.  I wanted to go to a great looking Lebanese canteen in Broadwick Street, but it was rammed.  Fortunately Mildreds vegetarian restaurant had a table for one I could squeeze into.  The food is so good - shame I couldn't finish those last few sweet potato chips.

Right!  Onward!  With bulging tummy.

 

Much fondling of fabrics here, but with most of the ones I stroked coming in at upwards of £30 a metre, it was back to the remnants box for me.  I did unearth a lovely piece in there though, so job done.

I don't think I've got enough time to go to the V&A, so Plan B kicks in - back through the rain and onto the tube to Victoria to visit my mixed media mecca - bookbinding supply shop Shepherds.  The first time I went there and saw their paper, I nearly cried.  Can I get this last bit of shopping done before my train leaves at 4.06?  Not when Shepherds has a huge basket of chiyogami scraps for me to riffle through.  Uh oh.

All this indulgence has meant I've missed my train.  Oh well - back to Plan A, South Kensington and the V&A shop.  This is always worth a visit and is great for stocking up on unusual little gifts -  great books and bargain jewellery. It also showcases well-priced work by lots of different jewellery designers.  This is how I discovered the genius that is Ayala Bar.

(OK OK, I bought some earrings.)

Now I have officially had ENOUGH. My back hurts and so do my feet.  Such a relief to get on the train to Brighton (the comfy Gatwick Express version - oh goodie) and the deeply pleasurable exploration of the bags for the review of the purchases (all the time trying to forget about the tortured wallet, naturally).  

Now I can't wait to get into the studio and start making.

I Think Of Them With My Brain

When thinking about this post in bed this morning, I thought I might call it 'Inspirations'.  Pretty dull though, right?

Then I thought of something my friend Paul Cemmick (illustrator and cartoonist extraordinaire) said when we were talking about daft questions artists are asked - in particular 'Where do you get all your ideas from?'.  I don't know if he ever seriously gave this response, but his 'I think of them with my brain' always makes me laugh.

So here are some designing inspirations, aka the things I think of with my brain.

NATURE
Biggest, first and foremost brain-exploder EVER.  Nothing is more beautiful than nature, in my humble opinion.  All of what I love is here - colour, form, pattern, the lot.

 

Yaaay!  Nature is pwetty!

COLOUR
I love colour and it's really important in my life.  I have something called grapheme-colour synaesthesia, which means I see letters and numbers in colour in my head, and have done ever since I can remember. I'm quite particular about colour matching and getting it absolutely right in my work - I don't know whether these two facts are connected!

PATTERN
It's very difficult - perhaps even impossible - for me to leave anything plain and unembellished.  I see patterns everywhere and love patterned textiles, dresses, tiles - anything.  This affects the way I decorate my jewellery, particularly the mixed media pieces, and has also inspired the fox & hare designs.

 

THE PERFECT CURVE
 I find myself really concentrating on getting a nice flowing curve when I'm drawing out and refining designs.  It has to be perfect!  I love spirals and a nice 'S' curve.

GRAPHIC SHAPE 
Simplifying pieces into a strong graphic shape is a vital part of my jewellery design process.

  

MANY PIECES MAKE A WHOLE
The idea of making something out of something else, so it has many levels of visual interest, is utterly beguiling.

AND FINALLY . . .
The one who brings them all together.  My absolute hero and total genius - Antoni Gaudí.

Usually I'm found overcome and sobbing around Gaudí's work, but just about managing a cheery smile here in Parc Guell

The Story Of Two Hares

Discovering resin in 2012 was frankly quite life changing
 
I did a two-day course in London and clearly remember being so excited after the first day that I couldn't sleep because I had so many ideas.  You can read more about it here if you care to.

I love the effects that it can give and the fact that every piece is different and a complete one-off. I couldn't duplicate them even if I tried.  I must confess that I do often think about laser-cut acrylic and how much easier it would be to produce jewellery like that, but I just can't do it.  Why do I need to make everything so time-consuming?  I don't know.  But I find the results beautiful and fascinating, and when you buy a Shark Alley piece of resin jewellery, you will own something individual that has had a lot of work and time and love put into it.

So come on, let me tell you the story of two hares . . .


Step 1:  They start life as this uninspiring shot glass of thick, clear liquid.

Step 2:  The resin liquid is coloured using various pastes and powders and either poured or applied carefully into the moulds, depending on the effect required.  Here I'm going for a lapis lazuli effect, and 'painting' small swirls of white and gold into a base of clear resin.

Step 3:  Blue resin is poured in over the top until the mould is full.  All I can see now is what will end up being the underside of each piece - I have absolutely no idea what the front will look like and how the different colours have blended.

Step 4:  After 24 hours, the pieces can be popped out of the moulds and I finally get to see how they've turned out.  These look OK!  Now for my least favourite part - the sanding.

Step 5:  The hares have come out of the mould looking quite matte on the top and rough on the bottom.  To get them smooth and shiny, they need wet sanding with 6-7 grades of sandpaper.  These start off coarse, and get finer and finer.  This takes ages, and is hard on the hands.  Have I mentioned how much I hate this part?

Step 6:  Hurrah! The hares (and their friends) are all sanded and are having a final rinse.

Step 7:  All dried off and ready for polishing. Sanding has removed some of the top layers of colour and left behind this lovely natural marbled effect.  They look quite different to how they did in Step 4.

Step 8:  Now it's time for the fabulous and multi-tasking Dremel tool to get buffing.  I have about three different buffing bits that I like to use.  This flat one is good for getting into little spaces and doing a good surface polish.

Step 9:  After the buffing, the hares are given an extra polish with a special magic ingredient  recommended by my friend Moira.  You can clearly see the difference it makes - the pieces look like glass.

Step 10:  The Dremel is put to use again for drilling shallow holes for the eyes to sit in.  If one of the pieces going to become a necklace,  I use a smaller bit to drill through the nose and tip of the tail.

Step 11:  Vintage diamanté eyes are chosen and glued in.

Step 12:  A brooch back is glued onto one hare and the other is put together with a star on sterling silver chain to make the Leaping Hare And Star Necklace.

Step 13:  FINISHED!  These hares have gone up to Crown Studio Gallery in Northumberland.

Spring Cleaning

I've been making jewellery for four years now - I can't believe it!

I seem to have accumulated a lot of pieces along the way and so have finally decided to do a bit of stock Spring Cleaning in the form of a sale.

This has been on my mind for a while, but I have been greatly inspired to get going by a couple of small business-orientated Facebook pages I've been interacting with lately - I Run A Small Business and Hike Those Likes Market Place.  They're very community based and offer lots of fun opportunities for sharing what you make as well as offering advice.

Bizarrely, I realised only recently that I Run a Small Business is the brainchild of my step-sister-in-law, Caroline.  Small world!

I particularly like the idea of having the sale on my own business Facebook page at a particular time to concentrate the attention, although I've already started the album of product photos and I will continue to add to this over the next few days before the sale starts.

If you're reading this before 11th March 2014 and fancy taking part, pop across and take a look at what's up there already by clicking this link.

Here's a little taster:

SHARK ALLEY SPRING CLEAN SALE
Jewellery / Purses / Keyrings
Starts HERE 8pm GMT Tuesday 11th March 2014
Prices from £5.00

Packaging

Lately I've been pondering on ideas to give the Shark Alley experience a little extra je ne sais quois.

I've always thought I should do a bit more in the packaging arena. Personally, I find that I really do notice and appreciate a bit of care in this department when I receive things I've ordered online.  It makes the purchase seem more special and treat-like, maybe even better value for money.  What do you think?

The basics - from Dear Handmade Life

To this end, I've been trawling Pinterest for some inspiration.  I'm leaning towards simple, recycled ideas, with some natural elements. You can see the full board on my Pinterest page, but here are a few of my favourite ideas.

From Do It Yourself Gift Ideas

From Flickr

From La Casita de Calista

From Naughty Shorts

From BellesArticlesElegant on Etsy