Crafty thoughts from Crafts forum Members

Remember that little ditty said for weddings

“something old, something new, something borrowed, something blue”

This is a piece of jewellery I have created for my sister who got married at the weekend.  I made it a couple of weeks ago, but kept it under wraps until the night before the wedding.

This necklace is called “something old, something new”

Both  our grandma’s couldn’t be there. My gran passed away 8 years ago and my other grandma is 93 and in a home.  The wedding was in sheffield so it was too far to take her.  I knew Philippa would have wanted them there if they could have been so her necklace contained  a clasp from my gran’s jewellery and  beads and an earring that I formed into a drop from my Grandmas jewellery.

I have offered this service for sometime and have incorporated brooches into tiaras.  It can be quite an emotional task!

I am currently in the middle of putting together all sorts of wedding items for my sister and other clients.  I’ve got very, very sore fingers from all the wire work.

It seems that burgundy tones are very much the in colour for bridesmaids so much of my latest work has been with this in mind.

These are three bridesmaid tiaras created with swarovski ruby and Swarovski crystal AB.

The next two photo’s are smaple tiaras.  they are half worked from the centre to the back.  the finishing hasn’t been done.  The client views them and then they can be altered or tweaked as required.

 More to come in the next few days! (fingers allowing!)

Goodness me - it’s been ages since I posted on here. My own blog has been updated a few times but I don’t want to get into the habit of cross posting because that could just get a little boring - and I’m sure Mr M would say it messes around with the SEO or something like that :)  Well the school holidays are coming to an end and Anya goes back to nursery on Monday - she is sooo ready to go back! I’m hoping that it will mean that we are back in a routine and that I can get on with more crafting stuff. I really do need to get on with it though as I have my first ever craft fair (along with Tip Top) in Salford in October. I have a huge list of things to make and I’m still thinking up new ideas that would be good to take along - if only I had the time! Oh and I have about 100 of these to make too……

These are some of my old business cards from when I was Pawprint cards rather than Swirlyarts so these had to go in the bin as it was a bit confusing to have this offshoot of Swirlyarts. Anyway it looks like I am going to be busy, busy for the next few weeks - wish me luck!

New babies arrive all the time.  They are like buses.  Or is there something in the water?  I think the later judging by the number of new borns (and imminents) arriving in my circle of friends. 

I know you usually get a fair bit of warning that a bundle of joy is on the way, but still, I leave it to the last minute in choosing a suitable gift.  As a mother of two pre-school boys, I know how disheartening it can be to unwrap yet another plinky plonky toy with non-replaceable batteries (translation = they NEVER need replacing) with a note to self to buy exactly the same thing when it’s their turn.

Imagine my total delight when finding Sommerwood Designs; bespoke wooden bunting for newborns is just a small part of the Sommerwood range.  Halleluiah!  I duly ordered a bunting for William.  Soon followed by Emil and his big sister Nema (well, you can’t buy for the new born without getting something special for the big sister can you?)  The packaging was perfect – the little bunting wrapped in bright tissue paper as was the customer service.

The little triangles – one for each letter of the name - are beautifully painted in co-ordinating colours with just the right amount of sparkle, delightfully strung with gingham ribbon.  Simple, superb and saying exactly what you want! I’ve ordered another bunting – for Daniel (15 August) and I have a sneaky feeling that another bunting will be requested for a little girl due at the end of September…..  And how smug do I feel knowing that no batteries are required?!

The Blyth Gallery in Manchester is currently hosting a joint exhibition of two distinctive yet complementary styles from two insightful artists – one the Crafts Forum very own Zebra! 

Deborah Moses is one of the UK’s most experimental and contemporary glass designers.  She creates contemporary fused glass designs as simple and stunning as black and white with individual designs having both movement and a soft, but structure nature; inspiration coming from water, ice and rock formations, as well as her Cheshire surroundings. 

The Blyth Gallery is a hidden gem; integrated into a well stocked and treasure trove of a art supply shop; small enough to be personal and welcoming (I didn’t have the urge to shout ‘fire’ as I do at larger art galleries) with very helpful, friendly and knowledgeable staff. 

Deborah Moses uses an ancient glass-shaping technique known as ‘fusing’, first invented by the Egyptians.  During this complicated method, glass is melted to the consistency of toffee and other materials are fused into the glass.  This is then sculpted into various shapes creating individual pieces, including contemporary wall art, free standing sculptures and jewellery.  It’s no surprise to learn that each piece is stunningly beautiful, well crafted and utterly unique. 

Fused glass is something with which I am not familiar.  However within a few short moments of entering the exhibition, I am transfixed by a free flowing, startlingly robust and vibrant ‘picture’. 

It gets worse.  I try really hard not to ooohh and aahhhh as I slowly make my way round the exhibits.  (I also attempt to tip toe my way round as the floor is unnaturally rickety and very creaky.)  It’s a good job that signs demanded ‘no touching’ as I am awfully tempted to reach out to see what fused glass feels like.  Fortunately the jewellery was in a display cabinet so I steamed up the glass. 

As mentioned at the start, the exhibition is shared with John Wesdorp, a well-known Dutch painter, who has returned to the art world after a 35 year absence.  He enjoyed a short but successful career as an abstract expressionist painter, with early work following Joseph Beuys and was heavily inspired by Willem de Kooning and Jackson Pollock.  In the early 1970’s John Wesdorp became a successful entrepreneur in the fields of IT and Telecommunications, but felt a void in his life and in 2006 decided to return to his old love and stepped up to the canvas again.  Also based in Cheshire he is re-launching his artistic career under the tutelage of Annamarie Quinn. 

All Deborah’s exhibits are distinctive and demand attention; the colours and textures are have a vibrancy that I never imagined glass would have.  And I’ll be surprised if I see anything like this again. Manchester’s The Blyth Gallery hosts the Synergy Visual Exhibition until 1 September 2007.

I’ve been wondering for a while what I would do if my card creaser broke.  I’ve not had it a particularly long time – my Mum bought it for my birthday after I’d nearly worn out her Lakeland Craft catalogue, and to be honest, I don’t know what I’d do without it!

 After measuring (to make sure that the fold will be central) I use the sharpish tip to mark where I want my fold line at the top and bottom of the card, I then score between the two.  This gives me the indent where the fold will be and then I simply fold the card and use the rounded edge to press on the fold.  Thus providing a professional looking card! The card creaser is also useful for smoothing down any rough edges to the cards.

Go and buy one!!

SRAJD is a term that is becoming increasingly known among jewellery designers.

It stands for Self Representing Artist Jewellery designers and is a mark of approval among jewellery creators. 

Members of the free to join registration sell their own designs and creations.  Therefore where you see the logo you can be sure that you are buying non mass produced work.                                

There are currently nearing 1000 members worldwide. Every member has a registration number so they can be checked out.

http://www.hathorrising.com/SRAJD/Roster.htm

On the crafts forum we currently have two registered members:

Peter Farrington: www.beadsage.co.uk member no 0659

Karen Clark  www.crystalvelvet.co.uk member number 0956

(if I’ve missed you out let me know  and I’ll add you!)

I just wondered if anyone has noticed a down turn in Craft Events in Britain.  This year I have found the attendance and people buying from craft fairs has been extremely low. 

Could it be that people aren’t looking for handcrafted/made items which are a bit more expensive than you would get in the supermarket, because we don’t have the huge buying power of the big chain stores, plus we have a passion for our craft and I know like very many crafters out there we are perfectionists and would not want to sell something that was less than perfect!!!

Or is it that people have less disposable income because of interest rates rising and have to settle for the less expensive options?

Candles by Lisa each candle Handcrafted - www.candles-by-lisa.co.uk

At my clients office we have a very secure firewall which is updated all the time…

If you don’t know what a firewall is please read this: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Firewall_(networking)

Anyway, today I went to have a look at peter’s etsy shop and found that as of yesterday it now blocked for being flagged as pornography… Yes porn..

Astaro internet security is a massive company that protects loads of business from attacts from the outside and stop people in the companies viewing nasty sites…

Here is what it said about etsy: