Such a nice day!

Spent a lovely day with a good friend, in our local florists 'Jo Butler Flowers', doing a little day course making table centres. The florist is owned by the lovely Jo, who not only has a great eye as a florist - she also stocks some delightful homewares, and sources and paints one off bits of furniture and household items. It was a perfect blend of floral creativity, cups of tea, nice chat, a lovely lunch, and then at the end of it we had two stunning displays to take home. This one is my favorite.

Obviously the shop is a feast for the senses. At this time of year, there was a wonderful fresh smell of eucalyptus which we used in the long table centre. There was also a gorgeous smell of rosemary which we used in a more traditional red and berried circular display. There was also lots to look at.

ROSE'S TABLE CENTRE

MY LONG TABLE CENTRE

A BOUQUET READY TO GO

SEA HOLLY

PLANTED SAUCE TUREEN

LINDA BLOOMFIELD CERAMICS

You can find Jo's website here, and read about all the courses she offers, including Thursday Night Flower Club where you and a bunch of friends can sit, chat, drink wine, and get creative with flowers.

One for each of them

A daughter commissioned this, many months ago:

2 x 10 mm aqua blue chalcedony, brushed finish

Then her mother commissioned this:

3 x 10 mm aqua blue chalcedony, brushed finish

And now this commission has just been completed for the other daughter.

4 x 8 mm aqua blue chalcedony, polished finish

Obviously all photographed under completely different light conditions.

Sadly, I will never see all three together as they are all in the USA (the international wonder of Etsy). But I just love the idea of the mother and daughters wearing the same, yet different. I feel strangely humble to be able to join a family together like this.

Working to commission

Posted yesterday. One of my very favorite 'Family' pieces. Hours and hours of work.

For me, working to commission means:

The opportunity to create something unique
To make something utterly special for the wearer
To make the people who give and receive commissioned pieces very happy
To sometimes take your own work in a new direction
To sometimes push yourself design wise or technically

And sometimes:

Feeling the pressure to make it perfect
Deadlines keeping me awake at night
The cost of the final piece not = the hours you have put in, researching, designing, making


But I still love to do them as the top list still outweighs the bottom one in my mind.
x

Rings

While everyone is busying themselves with Christmas posts, I am not quite ready for that yet, so instead will show you the rings that I uploaded to the Etsy shop yesterday. Although you may have seen these before, I only just got round to taking individual pics of some of them, and only just got round to their listings.

Aquamarines, moonstone, and sky blue topaz. Large aquamarines and Topaz £110, medium aquamarines and moonstone £85. Handmade, hallmarked, gorgeous, and if I say so myself, a bargain. Click on the Etsy shop on the right hand side if you are tempted to shop!

Snail

I love it when a commission takes you in a direction you may not otherwise have gone in. Look at these teeny tiny garden snail shells sat next to a 5p.

I'll keep you posted on this one as it develops.

The pale sunlight of the north...

...rose across the wilderness.

This little beauty posted today to a new home. This was one of the scribblings I penned on my Arctic trip.

What a lovely Show

I really enjoyed Sparkle. The setting is gorgeous, with the high vaulted ceilings of the Church. There were good crowds, and a lovely atmosphere. Healthy sales, were a pleasing reward after all the hard work of getting ready for it. Here are a few of my favorite stands:

This is Wick Hutton's fabulous oil lamp. I just NEED one of these! Unfortunately naked flames were banned, so you couldn't see the full glory of the flame coming out of the spot. Look at it's feet. Tiny pickle forks! LOVE.

Wick Hutton's garden candles and bird feeders made from vintage cups and saucers were best sellers. Rumor has it Wick had a very late night getting more stock ready for Sunday.

Wick's daughter Emma Hutton, makes the most fabulous jewellery. Her website here is well worth a visit. She makes unique and quirky pieces, which I would wear. She is self taught and has mastered the art of casting. She trained in theatre design, and as you can see here, her jewellery was displayed in a perfect little 'set'. 

Katherine makes the most scrummy sketchbooks, notebooks and diaries by hand, using traditional bookbinding techniques but with some amazing contemporary papers and fabrics. You can find her website here. As a sketchbook junkie, I thought her product was lovely, and she was possibly the most smiley person at Sparkle!

Known to me as the mouse lady, Claire has possibly the cutest stand ever. She doesn't do websites, blogs, or social media so she is tricky to shop from unless you see her in person, but you can e-mail her at claire212jacob@btinternet.com if you see a little handmade treasure on these jam packed shelves that you would like to own. Her prices start at 50p, and I don't think anything is over £10. She has teeny peg dolls, beautifully crafted bunting, palm sized mice, velvet strawberries with individually hand sewn beads for seeds, a stocking fillers dream, and guaranteed to make you smile.

And finally jeweller Alex Yule, who had jewellery made from castings of the most gorgeous minute urchin and muscle shells I have ever seen, amongst other things. Her website is here.